New to Hand tool woodworking

[Alan Cassidy]

Hi Everyone!

First time posting, thank you in advance for any feedback.

I've been doing some mostly power tool wood working for a few years now and have become a huge fan of it. I'm relocating to a place where I won't have the space to use really any power tools for 6-12 months and seems like the best opportunity for me to really dive into the hand tool side of things. I'm nearly finished with my workbench build, Scandinavian inspired.

I plan to be mostly making small-large boxes that will work in the limited space, maybe some small furniture pieces. Want to focus on dovetail joinery. Will probably have to do some lumber squaring but plan to get s2s lumber if I can't find any good s4s readily available.

Hand tools I currently have (have a bunch of flat/phillips drivers and clamps /squares /marking gauges etc already as well)

I currently have 3 various number 4 Stanley planes I picked up cheap and restored. Plan to use one for scrubbing, one for smoothing. probably just keep the other as a back up / shelf dust collector tentatively.

I've acquired a router plane and a plough plane.

I have a decent set of chisels to start with 1/4 1/2 3/4 1"

What i will be acquiring in the near future

I plan to purchase either a Japanese Pull saw or Vertitas Western style Dovetail saw.

I plan to purchase a 1/4 mortising chisel

Going with a Tren 300/1000 grit diamond stone and probably will land on a 5-8k grit finishing stone of some sort as well

The one thing I can't seem to make my mind up on for the life of me is what I want to use for my shooting board.

The options that I believe i'm leaning towards currently are (in order of what I currently think is most likely decision at this time)

Veritas Shooting Plane

Veritas Jack rabbit plane (read a really cool article I found on this forum of a guy that converted it to be able to be used for shooting and seemed to work very well.

5 1/2 Veritas custom


TLDR;
What to get for shooting board as new hand tool wood worker.

My thought process in leaning towards the shooting plane is I feel as though I'll have a much higher likelihood in finding a 5 or 5 1/2 in a flea market this summer pretty soon here than a shooting plane (especially a reasonably priced one) however I don't necessarily like that the handle on the veritas is toward the rear requiring me really to put a outside track on the board to keep it from wanting to pull out, really n ot a big deal and an easy fix.

I also like the idea of having a low angle jack plane in my arsenal of planes I start out with which is probably the most enticing part of the JRP to me at this point. Seems like it could be "jack of all trades" + shooting board plane with little effort.

Was wondering if anyone had any feedback, my main worry about not getting a 5 1/2 if i'm not able to find one would be can I make do with small boxes/ small furniture/ squaring up small-medium lumber easy enough with a No 4? At what size of board does it become beneficial to have a 5+ for squaring lumber?

Any Cons to the Jack rabbit plane used as a general use plane/ shooting board plane that i'm not thinking of?

Sorry for the super long post and thank you again!

[Alan Schwabacher]

There are many valid ways to approach this, so this is simply my own preference. Have fun with this.

Your list looks like a reasonable start. I don't think you need a dedicated shooting plane at this point. A simple bench hook is useful for crosscutting, and you can use it to shoot the ends of boards by running the plane along the bench next to the bench hook. A plane a bit longer than a #4 is likely useful to straighten edges (and faces) of boards longer than is convenient with the #4. An old #5 is more common than a #4, so should be available. A #5 1/2 is a lot less common.

Bevel up planes are simpler than bevel down ones, but I like the versatility of the cap iron in bevel down planes that lets me adjust instead of change the sharpening angle to avoid tearout. The sharpening angle matters more for the low angle bevel up plane since it determines the planing angle, while it's only the clearance angle for planing bevel down. That means freehand sharpening without a guide is easy to learn to do quickly and well for a bevel down plane, but it seems to me that those who use bevel up planes depend more on honing guides. I could be wrong.

You do need saws: a crosscut saw of some sort, a rip saw, and a dovetail saw. I and many others have both western and Japanese styles, but you can choose one or the other and do just fine. It's relatively easy to learn to sharpen western saws, but not as easy for Japanese ones. I am a believer in using whatever you have. Make it work, and you will find out as you work which tool will give you a significant advantage. If you crosscut with a rip saw, for instance, it will make a messy edge. You can shoot the end clean, or knife before careful cutting, or get a cleaner cutting crosscut saw to fix it. My preference is to let the experience show you why you want each tool while you get some work done.

[David Carroll]

Welcome! That all sounds great! You do mention focusing on dovetail joinery and then, almost as an afterthought, you mention lumber squaring. In my opinion, you have this backwards. First learn to square lumber, and thickness accurately. Doing so will make dovetailing much easier. Even if you're starting out with S4S stock, it is rarely flat enough and wrestling with cupped boards to force them (under protest) to join together sweetly is an exercise in frustration. Apart from that, it sounds like you have a good plan and solid start! Let us know how it's going and ask questions!

DC

[Tony Wilkins]

One thing on saws: you may find you like one more than the other and it may not be the one you expect. I thought I’d love the Japanese pull saws and I don’t mind them. However, after trying my first western saw I was hooked and use them much better than the Japanese variety.

You have some interesting choices for your next purchase. All of them are useable but I would call any of them necessary or the best choice. If any of the #4s are square to the side (and they should be) then just use that to shoot.

[Jim Koepke]

Hi Alan and welcome to the Creek.

Depending on how big you make your boxes, a #5 might be your best all around plane. If the sides of your boxes get much longer than two feet you may want to use a longer plane. A #6 is an easier plane to find in the wild than a #5-1/2. My #6s are often the go to planes for edge joining or larger surface prep.

Working in Cold Shop ~34º.jpg

That is one of my #6 planes on a 3X8X7' piece of hemlock fir. (Oops, added the image before realizing you are not a contributor and can't see pictures.)

A shooting plane is nice but other planes can handle the job. I purchased a LH Veritas shooting plane and added a fence to my shooting board to keep it tracking straight. It is an amazing plane.

A rabbet plane is good for cutting rabbets and not very good for shooting. One reason a bench plane makes a good shooting plane is the step or table of a shooting board will have a small area of the edge the plane rides on. A rabbet plane will remove this edge and that will be one problem. The blade can also cut into the guide ramp for a second problem.

Also, rabbet planes are not very good doing the work of a regular bench plane. A rabbet plane is more likely to leave tracks in panels or wide boards.

Third, most rabbet planes do not have as much area behind the edge. The sharpening for regular use will cause the blade to need replacement before a regular bench plane blade.

Specialty planes are best left to being used for their speciality.

For dovetail saws I am impressed by the Veritas dovetail saw. One was purchased for my grandson as a gift. After trying it out, even with a few dovetail saws already in the shop, a 20ppi saw was bought to add to my saws.

I purchased a Narex 1/4" mortising chisel and am very happy with it.

jtk

[Ben Ellenberger]

Have fun!

I don’t have much to add to what’s already been written. You’ve got all the planes you need to get started, but don’t feel bad about getting something else if you really want to. Get whichever saw seems good to you (I started with a Japanese saw, but pretty much exclusively use my Veritas dovetail saw now).

flatten and square some stock and get to it. Throw away the first three joints you cut, then just start making boxes.

[William Fretwell]

Welcome Alan,
Start with a simple shooting board, you will make more!
A low angle jack 5&1/2 is good. Mine came from Lee Valley. Make a hot dog handle, mine is held on with a rare earth magnet in the groove, works well, very secure along with the fitted groove. Make the hot dog in two halves, that way it’s easy to fit the groove to the plane shape, add the magnet and size the groove width before you glue it back together.
Rub some beeswax on the groove the plane rides in.


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[Charles Guest]

Build something this weekend, with the tools you have, even if it's a simple box or even a cutting board.

Don't get stuck at the tool acquisition phase, thinking you have to have a ton of kit to build things out of wood.

Next weekend, build something a little more complex.

Purchasing and restoring woodworking tools is not woodworking any more than collecting old surgical instruments makes you a surgeon.

[Alan Cassidy]

Thanks for the input! Going to look into a bench hook.

[Alan Cassidy]

A simple bench hook is useful for crosscutting, and you can use it to shoot the ends of boards by running the plane along the bench next to the bench hook..

Thanks for the input going to look into one of these

[Alan Cassidy]

Thanks everyone appreciate all insight very helpful. First things first, i've got some nice walnut I know to be square and my saw should arrive in the mail soon. Going to take a stab at dovetails for the first time and then hit the flea markets to see if i get lucky before getting anything new. Have a great weekend!

[Reed Gray]

There are a lot of good video channels up on You Tube. Some of my favorites are Rob Cosman, Johnathan Katz Moses, Matt Estlea who has one on which planes do you really need, Wood by Wright, and others. Sharpening is a key, a big key, and there are so many ways to do it. Check out the JKMoses one recently about sharpening. Have fun. It took me about 10 tries to finally get a set of dove tails that actually looked like I did it correct....

robo hippy

[David Carroll]

I know not everybody likes Paul Sellers, but I like his videos for their practicality. He seems more focused on making projects using a limited number of readily available tools and materials (S4S pine mostly) than some of the other internet personalities. I wish that I had seen his videos when I was new to hand tool woodworking. But that was a long time ago. He does have a pay site, but there is a lot of content free on his YouTube channel.

DC

[steven c newman]

He also has a FREE Masterclasses set of videos.....where he does a complete project with just his selection of hand tools....all YOU need to do is simply log onto his site....select a project....and get busy....for free...

[Jim Koepke]

Purchasing and restoring woodworking tools is not woodworking any more than collecting old surgical instruments makes you a surgeon.

Of course it isn't woodworking.

It is a way to become well informed in how the tools work. The other advantage in buying & restoring old tools is the profit that can be made.

Not too long ago my rust hunting paid off by buying, restoring and selling old hand planes and other tools. This earned me enough money to purchase some new tools without raiding the household budget. Since then my income has improved and I do not need to restore tools for income. Now it is enjoyable to find and restore tools to give to any of my grandchildren who are interested in woodworking.

If one enjoys fettling old metal it is a fine thing to do. If one doesn't enjoy working on metal, then skip it and buy ready to use.

For me it has allowed me to have a well equipped shop for a much smaller cost. Besides, woodworking tools are not the only tools in my shop. There are a lot of restored metal working, automotive, plumbing, gardening and electrical tools to help me keep things working around the house and the rest of the property.

jtk