Curated quality minimalist tool list for a beginner woodworker

[tibi]

Fair point Ian
I missed that point that Dictum tools could be the biggest outlet in Slovakia.
It's only recently that one has to take this into account, I must be more thorough in future!
There must be something like Homebase and maybe also an engineers supplies close to Tibi, that he might get a good long stout stainless ruler or two from
and some other bits and bobs, for a reasonable price.
Pick up as you need kinda things.
If a certain job is down the road and needs a tool, and one can only afford secondhand, then planning is a good idea.

This probably makes buying used tools like planes on ebay uk a bit more troublesome to find a seller that has cheaper postage than the rest.
There maybe cheap alternatives like a parcel motel service for Slovakian's to use?

As for new..
I would bet that quality controlled tools from Soba might be available from Dictum for a cheap engineers square or verniers for example.
I imagine for that price that there could be seconds to be found, maybe not so much these days with everything CNC'd...
I suppose this kind of thing would relate to cast iron or other soft metals rather than precision machined blanks of tool steel.
Something middle of the road, rather than the absolute cheapest.

On a slightly different note Stavros Gakos in Poland might be a youtuber or other forum to follow also, as there could be folks in the same boat regarding tool sourcing.


All the best
Tom

Thank you Tom for your reply. I have a 300 mm , 600 mm stainless ruler and I have an aluminium 1500 mm straight edge. I would like to also buy 1000 mm stainless ruler. So I will be more then equipped with rulers.

As for combination square, I can buy Soba here, but as far as I know, it is made in India, so I am a little bit concerned about the quality. It would not be a big upgrade from the chinese aluminium one, that I have right now. I will probably spend 50 € to buy a 150 mm student version of Starret.

We have some resellers in Czech Republic, that sell tools from Dictum or Fine Tools. Prices are the same as on German Sites or even lower, but the number of products is far lower and the shipment is sometimes even more expensive than get it directly from Germany.

I know Stavros Gakos as well, he makes really nice hand made tools. But he has a handful of machines as well to work with both metal and wood.

 

[Droogs]

You could try Narex directly for tools they have a shop in Brno i believe

 

[tibi]

You could try Narex directly for tools they have a shop in Brno i believe

I can buy this set of 4 chisels for only 33 €. They are not Narex Richter ( those cost the same, but per piece).
These chisels have a handle of hornbeam, so they may last some use. I do not know much about the quality of the steel for this line.

 

[Ttrees]

Maybe it's just me but I wouldn't want to rely on an adjustable square.
This 150mm all steel engineers square is what I was talking about, might be worth looking at.
Good enough for me anyways

Tom

 

[Droogs]

I have a full set of those exact chisels, the full 8116 range and they are my main chisels I use. The handles cope with mallets very well and the metal holds its edge very very well. Once you get past the first couple of mm of the blade. They Do need to be sharpened when you get them as the first little bit of the blade is slightly softer thatn the rest due to the process used to make them. Once done thay are superb for the price

 

[tibi]

I have a full set of those exact chisels, the full 8116 range and they are my main chisels I use. The handles cope with mallets very well and the metal holds its edge very very well. Once you get past the first couple of mm of the blade. They Do need to be sharpened when you get them as the first little bit of the blade is slightly softer thatn the rest due to the process used to make them. Once done thay are superb for the price

Thank you very much. That review will help me a lot. I do not want to buy chisels where one piece costs 50+ Euros, if I can get the job done with these Narex chisels as well. Do you also use mortising chisels or these bench chisels can handle mortising decently as well?

 

[tibi]

Maybe it's just me but I wouldn't want to rely on an adjustable square.
This 150mm all steel engineers square is what I was talking about, might be worth looking at.
Good enough for me anyways

Tom

I already have a similar solid engineer's square, it works pretty well. I use my cheap combination square for locking a dimension and transfering the same dimension to multiple places.

 

[Droogs]

I have a range of imperial pig stickers for morticing and just use those. More than accurate enough for the rule of thirds when making M&Ts. The 8116s will be fine but as per their design will have a tendency to twist in use as a mortice chisel. The Narex mortice chisels will be more than good enough for you to add to your set

 

[tibi]

I have a range of imperial pig stickers for morticing and just use those. More than accurate enough for the rule of thirds when making M&Ts

Thank you. I will try to use those Narex Chisels for mortising as well and If it will be difficult, I can buy mortising chisels from Narex as well. They have some. I have not seen pig stickers in my country, maybe in Germany there will be some available, or they can be ordered from ebay.co.uk as second hand ones

 

[Droogs]

Pig stickers are an "English" tools rather than a continental one much like differing styles of wooden plane

 

[jorge]

For bench planes you have more than enough, but you'll need a few joinery planes

-A plough plane, for making grooves. There are plenty second hand options, wooden or metal
-A router plane, for cleaning and helping with joints
-Some sort of rebate plane, wooden, metal, fenced or unfenced, to make step-downs along the edges of woods. Again plenty of second hand options.

When you will need those will depend on your projects, but if you are going to make all that, and will make them with hand tools, then you will need them.

 

[jorge]

For bench planes you have more than enough, but you'll need a few joinery planes

-A plough plane, for making grooves. There are plenty second hand options, wooden or metal
-A router plane, for cleaning and helping with joints
-Some sort of rebate plane, wooden, metal, fenced or unfenced, to make step-downs along the edges of woods. Again plenty of second hand options.

When you will need those will depend on your projects, but if you are going to make all that, and will make them with hand tools, then you will need them.

 

[SteL]

Read The Anarchist's Toolchest. You can pick and choose what specific tool you'll buy, it gives you a very good idea of what is *really* needed rather than desired. I loved reading it and I've significantly cut down my use of Ebay since then.

I read The Anarchist's Toolchest recently and would also recommend. The only problem is that it triggers that part of the human brain to want to collect things - like panini stickers I suppose. I've had to fight the urge to tick off the tool list in that book. The other thing is it leads you on to building a tool chest, so without tools, it's going to be a pretty empty tool chest. I'm just trying to buy the tools as I need them but I do have the occasional relapse!

 

[mc281]

Hello,
I would like to apologise for a long post and using metric units only in my post.

I have started my woodworking hobby recently and I would like to set up my shop. I have decided for spacial and practical reasons to use only hand tools (except for powered hand drill – unless there is any obvious advantage to use brace and auger bits instead). I currently have a very limited space, but I plan to build myself a 4x4m shop in the garden in the future. I like the quietness, dustlessness and finesse that go with the hand tools. Conversely, I do not like the dust and noise that is connected to the power tools (and my neighbours would not like them either)

My woodworking motivation is very simple. It is a therapy after a day in a fast paced and stressful job. Time to finish any individual project for me is not an issue, so I am not obviously concerned about speed. My objective is to build and replace every piece of MDF furniture in our house with a bespoke one, that will be made by myself and will be made of solid hardwood. I have the rest of my life to finish this project. And also to build a few tools along the way (i.e. hand planes, spokeshaves, panel gauges, etc.). My grandfather was also a hobbyist woodworker and his father, my great-grand father was a chief woodworker by profession, who was in charge of 30 craftsmen in the workshop 60 years ago. Unfortunately, he died before I was born, so I could not get any knowledge of him.

I would like to buy a set of quality hand tools and measuring tools, that will last me a lifetime and I will pass them to my son, if he shows interest in woodworking in the future. He is quite uncertain yet if woodworking feels right for him, but I cannot blame him, as he is only one year old.

My approach to woodworking is to buy only the quality tools and have only those tools that are absolutely necessary to get the job done. Having full shelves of dozens of planes and other woodworking instruments in multiple instances of the same kind does not appeal to me. Also I do not want to own tools, that I will use once every other decade for a special purpose.I do want to build a kind of furniture for which I have tools for, not to dream of the next tool that I need to buy to feel well equipped for a short while, until the next shiny tool comes along.

I would like to have those tools, that are absolutely necessary to get the job done in a reasonable manner (i.e. I do not want to dimension all my wood with a block plane or a chisel, just to be called a minimalist)

I would like to ask here more experienced hand tool woodworkers what tools should I buy in the first batch, second batch and last batch and which tools are absolutely necessary if I only want to have a minimal toolkit that will cover 80% of woodworking needs. I will regret the 20% that I will not be able to produce with the given toolkit.

I would prefer to use Japanese saws, because I have one and it is easier to start a cut with and has a thinner kerf. And I can use maybe one ryoba and one dozuki instead of 5 different western saws to get the job done. I would like to have a big saw maybe 300 mm Ryoba that will help me cross cut and rip cut the wood quickly, and then I will use a shooting board to get it precisely square.

Types of joints that I would like to do: mortise & tenon, dovetails, dados and their variations. I would do almost no ornaments or curved pieces and no moldings. Size of furniture that I would like to build is up to 2 meters in length or width including beds, chests of drawers, all kinds of tables, storage furniture, bookshelves, etc.

Tools that I currently own to get me started:

- Pine wood for a small workbench 1,5x0,6m, that I would like to build next year that would fit into my current limited space 2x3m. After I build my own shop 4x4m, I would like to build a bespoke beech workbench, - once I have more experience.

- One Stanley Fatmax Japanese saw of low quality 7TPI and 18TPI, that I would like to replace with something better and faster

- Stanley no.4 and no.5, wooden scrub plane made by Czech company Pinie (with size as no.4 Stanley), One old beech jointer plane inherited from my great grand father with a lot of worm holes inside (I would like to buy another wooden jointer plane from Pinie or build myself one). Also I have some other old bespoke inherited hand planes with single irons, worn out mouths that also serve as worm dwellings.
- set of 3 chisels – 8 mm, 14 mm and 20 mm (cheap ones)
- diamond sharpening stones (240,600,1500) and water stone (1000/4000)
- honing guide that has a narrow wheel and makes a deep groove into my water stone if I sharpen too enthusiastically
- card scraper, rasp, files, power drill and bits
- low quality 150 mm combination square, 300 mm, 600 mm ruler, 600x400 mm try square
- some other small tools

- I also have a Makita Thickness planer, Bosch electric hand plane and Makita Circular saw, all of which I had bought when I had thought that I would build a bigger shop and have powered equipment. Once I feel that I do not need those tools and my skills are good enough to build quality furniture with hand tools only, I will sell them.

Can you please help me curate a list of tools that I need to buy - maybe with some examples of good brands. I do not need high end tools, but tools that are reliable enough to be called precise in right hands and sturdy enough that they can last a lifetime or two (except for disposable blades of Japanese saws).

Thank you very much for your insight.

I'm now 71 and have just decided to transfer to hand tools where possible. I have been trying to decide which power tools to part with and which hand tools to keep or replace with better.
I would never profess to be a skilled woodworker but more of a 'Chippy' (UK term for a wood botherer) with decent, if machining, skills.
Keep reading.......
I am getting to the point..... When I was young and handsome,l apart from a spotty complexion, I became a motor mechanic's apprentice and for my birthday I received a toolbox, Ball Pein Hammer, Hacksaw, Socket set, Screwdriver set and little box of Elastoplast from my parents...... Still getting there.... Keep reading.......
The advice I wanted to offer is the same as the mechanic I was apprenticed to and it was to start out with just those VERY BASICS and ONLY buy something when your project DEMANDS a tool you don't have, but need. His next bit of advice was to buy the very best my pocket would allow (buy good, buy once).
After 50 years wood bothering I now know where my hand tools fall short and will follow the same advice but using money generated from my Festool and other surplus tool sales rather than my £7 10s per week wages (£7.50 GBP).
I have not cut a joint solely by hand since my school days and it irks me to admit it. However, that is about to change.

 

[Katomi woodsmith]

Only things I can add to an already impressive list
Carpenters pencil
A good knife, stanley
Wood mallet, I made my own and looking at your posts and tools I think you could make your own
Have fun

 

[Gary B]

I find that for a hobbyist like myself, researching and purchasing quality tools is part of the fun of the hobby. I agree with the sentiment about purchasing tools only as you need them in a project, but I would first think about which of the manufacturers you feel would most suit your needs. When I started buying, I decided to go with Veritas, so now my chisels, planes, sharpening stuff is all Veritas (maybe due to my OCD). If you are similar, then research Veritas, Lie Nielsen, Clifton et al to check out their range of products and see which you think would suit your work and objectives best, and then when you do find the need for a new tool, you know exactly what to get, and where from. For all the other stuff that these manufacturers don't offer, I just do some research on which gets the best reviews as and when I need to buy it

So there you go, some insight from an OCD woodworker

 

[Spectric]

I would think @tibi now has his tools and that after four years has moved on from being a beginner and if he is around might show us some of his work.

 

[Gary B]

Doh, didn't check the dates

 

[Amplidyne]

Doh, didn't check the dates

I make the same mistake often.