Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Neanderism Really Helps My Carpentry

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    Edmond, Oklahoma
    Posts
    1,749

    Arrow Neanderism Really Helps My Carpentry

    Hi All,

    What Neander techniques do you use in carpentry type projects you do, those where Neander approaches work better for you than more typically power tool techniques?

    In my case, we are remodeling our house, after moving here following my retirement. Getting all of the needed supplies has been a disaster, but at least my part has been not hampered in that regard.

    I am currently working on building shelves for my wife's kitchen pantry. Having sharp hand planes has been a big help. Many years ago I would have tried to do the same tasks with belt sanders, etc. I used a good grade of soft wood plywood for the shelves, and have cut up dimension lumber 1X8s (mostly) for cleats to support the shelves and for edge trim to cover the edge grain of the plywood.

    For the cleats I cut the 1X8s into 2&1/4 inch pieces, working around knots to get good stock. To smooth out the rough saw edges, I used a sharp old Stanley #4, and it did the job great. I had to watch for reversing grain, and switch plane directions more than once on some pieces.

    Next I used a block plane to take off the bulk of the material for chamfering the edges, followed by using a hand block sander to do the final rounding and smoothing. The block plane speeded up the chamfering process a lot over using just the block sander alone.

    In a few cases I had to straighten an edge on the 1 by lumber prior to using the table saw, and a Stanley #5 did a great job of that. I don't have a jointer.

    To cut up the plywood I used a 12 point hand saw. By careful saw work I got a straight enough edge to add 7/16" 1 by stock to cover the edges of the plywood shelves with no further preparation other than a small amount of edge chamfering to prevent splintering.

    The dimension lumber I ripped to 7/16" for edging the plywood was thicker than the plywood, so after biscuit joints and glue up I used a Stanley #4 to plane off the extra thickness, followed by a block plane if grain direction of the ply vs dimension lumber were in conflict.

    When I was young many carpenters (typically older guys) carried hand planes, typically a #5, and used them, a few others, typically younger guys, had power planes. Some didn't carry any type of plane at all. I don't know a lot of carpenters now, but at least some don't even own a hand plane. I was visiting with one the other day and mentioned that a sharp and tuned up hand plane was a joy to use. His reply was, "if you can find one."

    Carpentry techniques and power tools have improved over the past several decades, but I find that Neander type hand tools and techniques greatly help the home projects I do that are carpentry. Being able to get chisels and plane irons pretty sharp is a huge help,

    Regards,

    Stew
    Last edited by Stew Denton; 10-09-2022 at 10:07 PM.

  2. #2
    One that immediately comes to mind is coping baseboards and small-ish moldings. I really love the way that works out. When I need to lay down half-inch quarter round molding, a Dozuki saw is my preferred tool for the miter (if I don't cope it). And a block plane fixes many fit problems.
    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

    “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Missouri
    Posts
    2,151
    I tend to look at it by time involved. If I have many cuts to make I’ll usually go for power tools. If the layout time is more than cutting time I’ll go for the handsaw. If you have all of your hand tools set up and ready and you have all of the tools you need I tend to favor hand tools. What I mean by this is, if you want to flatten a piece of construction lumber for a handrail and you have a scrub, a jack and a smoother ready to go as to setting up a jointer, a planner and a table saw. Remember the clean up too. I would not want to tackle the same job with just a smoother in my kit.
    When hand tools were used the craftsmen were well schooled in sharpening, planing, sawing to the line.
    Jim

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
    Posts
    8,973
    Best tool for the needed job can be either.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Crystal Lake, IL
    Posts
    87
    I have a few examples where getting more comfortable with hand tools has really helped my carpentry skills:

    1. I'm a lot more comfortable at coping baseboards and associated trim, and the results are way better directly off the saw.
    2. I've repaired damage in floors, casings, and railings with a tight-fitting, grain-matched dutchman quite a bit. I suppose people do these with routers, but I do better with chisel/plane.
    3. Using an hand plane as the first pass on a hardwood floor to remove high spots saves a bunch of time sanding and reduces the amount of dust I have to deal with. I'm sure there is some reason that I shouldn't do this, but it really works out well for me.

    --Dan

  6. #6
    Handtool woodworking saved our behinds when we hired a contractor to do some partial remodeling done to two of our bathrooms.

    master1.jpg
    Craftsman style false frame and backsplash in our master bathroom. The vanity my wife bought is one of those backslapshless things that are apparently popular now (no clue why!!!). With the drain handle angling backwards there was no space so I made a 1/8” backsplash to solve the problem and that turned into making a false frame for the medicine cabinet as well. I’m really happy with how it turned out. Major problem turned into a big aesthetic upgrade. I made all the parts in the shop going back and forth to mark notches and such to get around brackets and did final trimming on my “low staked bench” (hahahaha) on site. Then back to the basement to paint all surfaces so I could also get the backsides (to minimize expansion/contraction with the ridiculous humidity of a bathroom). Then installed (used a nail gun – ain’t gonna lie on that one) and some paint touchup and then caulking the backsplash.

    guest1.jpg
    The main bathroom medicine cabinet had a hideous mirror frame that we’ve always hated. So I replaced it with a walnut one with a small molding detail. This was my first time shooting 45s and just clamped a triangular carpenter’s square to my shooting board. The wood spacer for the previous frame was anything but flat and required a ton of trimming with the block plane so that I wouldn’t crack the new one. I also replaced a store bought floating shelf with a solid walnut one. This was the most complicated molding I’ve ever done so I’m happy it turned out fine. It is attached to a 1x1 cleat and it was the most time consuming drill & pare I’ve ever done in my life to make the mortise on the back. We also needed a few accessories to fix issues we had. Because it turned out where my wife wanted the vanity didn’t look good, we didn’t have appropriate space for the typical toilet paper holder on one side, or a waste basket on the other side. As we, and the installers, were sitting there contemplating what to do I confidently said in my best Neander voice, “just put the vanity where it looks best and I’ll figure something out.” So I made a toilet paper stand to solve that problem and the world’s narrowest waste basket to fix the other. A few visitors have said, “I’ve never complimented anyone on their toilet paper holder, but…..” So I’m rather proud of that one.

    These were all fun things to build and unlike any of the other handtool project I’d done before so I learned a lot.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •