I might now be hooked on hand tools

[Amy Leigh Baker]

Okay, so I posted the question about to hand-cut dovetails because of necessity and ended up with a ga-jillion responses. I thought to myself, "Wow, these guys LOVE to hand cut things."

Then last night I used a chisel for the first time. Wow, it was fun! I haven't yet figured out why, but I had this urge to find something else to chisel. The reason I used the chisel was to shave off an area that wasn't lined up correctly from when I cut it on my TS. (Gee, lesson to be learned in that, maybe?)

I should mention that the area I chiseled came out amazing smooth and level, much more than I would have imagined from ME.

:D Amy :D

[Dan Racette]

Confidence is building!

The "slope" as they call it around the neanderthal area, is starting to "slip" from under you.

(as in you are sliding down to the side of realizing the value and ease of use of hand tools).

Congrats!

Dan

[Sam Yerardi]

Congrats Amy! Power tools still have a place in my shop but like you're discovering, there's nothing to compare with working with handtools. When you mentioned wanting to chisel SOMETHING it reminds me of the joke that if your only tool is a hammer pretty soon everything starts to look like a nail :).

[Joe Cunningham]

Cool! Wait till you take a whisper thin shaving with a hand plane. :D

I personally get a big thrill out of the "gee, that came out pretty good. Who'd have thought *I* could do that?" part of it. And seeing improvement from project to project to boot.

[Jim Koepke]

Cool! Wait till you take a whisper thin shaving with a hand plane. :D


Sometimes, just before I go to bed, I go out to the shop just to take a few shavings off a piece of scrap.

Swirling wisps floating by send me off to the land of dreams. I have some power tools, but do not use them much.

jim

[Ron Brese]

Amy,

Just wait till you experience a well tuned hand plane, you'll be gone for sure after that.

Ron Brese

[Jim Becker]

Indeed....these tools can be a wonderful addition to your work environment!

[Brian J. Williams]

First it's the chisels. Before you know it, you will have collected 10 (or was it 20, or 30) old Stanley planes, and you will visibly twitch when, at a garage sale, you notice a Stanley bench plane about 6 inches long (i.e., a No. 1) marked at something like $50.00. The slope is slippery, but the ride down is a hoot.

Brian

[Pam Niedermayer]

First it's the chisels. Before you know it, you will have collected 10 (or was it 20, or 30) old Stanley planes...

Now, now, Brian, there's no point in discouraging Amy by suggesting she collect Stanley planes.

Pam

[Mike Cutler]

Sometimes, just before I go to bed, I go out to the shop just to take a few shavings off a piece of scrap.

Swirling wisps floating by send me off to the land of dreams. I have some power tools, but do not use them much.

jim

Jim
When you find the meeting place for the 12 step process for folks with this affliction. You, uh.... Well ya' just might want to post it here . There could be one or two folks, okay there are probably more, that need directions.

I'll bring the Do-nuts for the first meeting. Who's got the coffee?

Hi. My name is Mike. I like to sharpen planes and test them late at nite, and no I don't eat the eyes out of the chocolate easter bunnies first.:eek:,:eek:.;)

[gary Zimmel]

Welcome to the slope.....

Most of us have had to get second jobs to support this side.

[Amy Leigh Baker]

Thanks everybody!

As I've heard people say around SMC, there are definitely worse addictions to have. The other day I actually dusted the cobwebs off a Corona that had been in my fridge for nine months. And even with tool purchases I would say we spend less the die-hard party-goers and barflies.

[Jim Becker]

I bet that "vintage Corona" was just as sharp as the day you bought it... :D

[Greg Cole]

Thanks everybody!

As I've heard people say around SMC, there are definitely worse addictions to have. The other day I actually dusted the cobwebs off a Corona that had been in my fridge for nine months. And even with tool purchases I would say we spend less the die-hard party-goers and barflies.

Well, in my early 20's I'd say my weekend habits were about as costly as they are now.... just spend much more productively, or at least spent on something I can put my hands on... not just my aching head.;) I can't think of a beer that lives 9 months in my fridge though? Well, Corona might sit there for a good long while though....
Hand tools have been around forever for woodworking & they will be around forever for good reason.
Now that the little bug has given you a bite, take the next step and get a sharpening system in place, be it motorized, water stones, scary sharp sandpaper method etc (as many methods for this as there is for cutting DT's :p).... once you use a well sharpened chisel or plane it truly is an epiphany.

Cheers,
Greg

[Dan Racette]

Yes, let's not suggest she collect things. Maybe she'd like to make things??

;)

Perhaps she's handy and she'd craft a plane of her own making!

Dan

[Kevin French]

Amy Wait until use take your Amce Langdon Mitre saw up into your Living Room, do all the trim work and then in the end, fold up the drop cloth and your done. No Dusting, No Vac, just a great job.

The 'Slope' draws all to it who have an open mind.

So sit back, Strap yourself in, and enjoy the ride.

Welcome to the light.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Hi Amy,
I'm sure that you will end up having a goodly number of other epihanys as you begin to use more hand tools. Several of the nicer ones are listed below.
1 It's quiet in the shop and you don't have to wear hearing protection. Heck, you can even listen to the radio.
2 You just cut a board with a hand saw in half the time it would have taken you to even set up the tablesaw or bandsaw.
3 You just completed hand planing a board for a project and it doesn't need any sanding. Wow, no dust in the air.
4 The shop now and its contents now gets dusted about 1/4 as many times as it used to and it's still cleaner. Your broom however is starting to show signs of wear.
5 Why has the electric bill gone down?

Many others will come to you in the future and most will be technique based. It's amazing how much simpler and faster many oeprations can be done with hand tools when you're only making one of something. You'll be making a whole lot fewer jigs and fixtures too.

Work Safely

[Johnny Kleso]

Amy,
Wait till you use a hand plane and cut an even nicer finish on a wide swatch...

The thing about using chisels or hand planes is you need some sharpenig tools, you can read up on sharpening at my Webite www.rexmill.com (http://www.rexmill.com) make sure you read Scary Sharpe at my website or google it for more info..

Welcome to the Slope

PS Please excuse the link if it is not OK this is my first post here

[Greg Cole]

Hi Amy,
I'm sure that you will end up having a goodly number of other epihanys as you begin to use more hand tools.

Epiphany twice in the same post, gotta be a first here.:rolleyes:
It's all downhill on this slope, even when ya fight an uphill battle...

Greg

[Tony Zaffuto]

As an addendum to Dave's list, I would like to add the family dog will come into your shop and stretch out for a nap now that you aren't starting and stopping all that noisy power equipment!

T.Z.