The Anarchist's Tool Chest - A Review

[G S Haydon]

Lol Charles, you must have been a terrier in a former life :lol:. A chap called Mafe did a review http://lumberjocks.com/reviews/2291.

Anyone can take some writing and see it two different ways. On balance I think it is a very good source for the new woodworker. As I mentioned seeing the interest Chris took in an old style tool chest really drew me back into woodworking for fun. I think if I had to come up with a one word review I would say "catalyst". I can't quote from it as Toby has it now. Not sure on his thoughts on it.

You can't fault his choices, if I was presented his tool choice I'd be more than happy. However I personally prefer other things. David Savage has a good list on his website tool.

 

[Trafalgar]

I think I'd get along really well with Mafe. If anybody reads the review that Graham linked, know beforehand that English is not Mafe's first language. He's a Danish architect apparently.

Definitely a Terrier Graham, most definitely.

The images of the chest I see when doing a search on on the book title are pretty much of a classic English chest as featured in Bernard Jones, et al. Pretty slick job of repackaging. I will give him that. So you get a tool list, a set of recycled plans, and a bit of Schwarz philosophy on life all for $35. I'll pass fellas.

 

[iNewbie]

... the book is not political in the slightest.

Then why the title?

As annoying as the video can be. This should clear it up.

http://video.pbs.org/video/2265289533/

 

[G S Haydon]

That's the one! Terrific video.

 

[Trafalgar]

Oh gawd not Cornpone Roy. Watching that guy makes me want to go out and buy $50,000 worth of power tools in a fit of binge shopping and dump all my Record gear into the Mississippi River.

OK I watched a portion. Is Schwarz asserting that his entire kit will fit into that chest? Watch it for the first few minutes. Sounds like it to me. Do they, I wonder? Is this true?

 

[iNewbie]

Its like watching a dog chase its tail...

 

[G S Haydon]

Watched the whole thing again. Great stuff! I like that video more than the book. I think they make a very good duo.

 

[Trafalgar]

You're a saint Graham. Truly a saint.

 

[G S Haydon]

Lol, I'm far from a saint . I do truly mean it when I say I like this video a lot.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Three minutes was enough for me. #-o

 

[Andy Kev.]

Oh FFS. Just f***ing read it!

I've already said why I won't:

I wouldn't buy or even read this book for several reasons.

First is the title.

Second is if I'm paying for a new book then I would like it to include metric measurements.

Third is, as mentioned, old books by Charles Hayward, Robert Wearing etc will have all the info you need. And in any case, Chris Schwarz probably had to look up stuff in old books and magazines and re-write what he found for his own writings.

4th reason is I prefer to stick to UK woodworking terms.

To answer suggestions it's my loss; I'm a beginner but I don't mind finding out things for myself (reading books, forums etc, watching other people, practicing hand skills etc) , and making mistakes is all part of learning. I normally only buy 2nd hand tools and if there are any duds it's not a big deal and they can be repaired or used for parts. I don't have any power tools or machines and from the start Ihave no interest in buying or using them.

I had a think about this last night and I think a number of points can be made.

First, your aesthetic, subjective and possibly political dislike of the title is effectively an absolute and it is of course your right to take that view. It does however, have little bearing on the content of the book.

Consider your second point in the light of your fourth. You want to stick to UK woodworking terms and there is, in my experience, nothing in the reading of the book which would be likely to deny you that wish. I found after reading it that my rebates had not made the orthographic hop into becoming rabbets and although I did acquire a mild case of the dadoes, after somebody on here pointed out that in British English they are housing joints (which I did not previously know), I can assure you that in future all my cases will be so equipped. All this however, leads me to find your adherence to the metric system to be amusing because it is so damned foreign, having been imposed upon us some time in the seventies (I think). The N. Americans have preserved our tradition for us. FWIW I think that metric makes sense if you are an astronomer, nuclear physicist or mathematician but the woodworker is probably better served by imperial (even Europeans think in terms of halves and quarters in every day life). And there's something soulless, vaguely EU-ish and faintly treasonous about metric (a judgement as subjective and as valid as your dislike of "Anarchist" in the book's title).

As for your third point, of course one can be perfectly content with the works of the authors you mention and I'm sure that Chris Schwarz himself would never claim that he is offering dazzling new insights. Indeed, he frequently mentions and praises other authors in the book, including Wearing and he cites Hayward as being his great hero. He is doing what many authors in specific fields do: providing his own take with a few original observations. That is why the books is probably as good as any and better than many for the beginner while being of less obvious value for the experienced. His great strength is, as described by Cheshire Chappie, to provide a comprehensive survey of the necessary hand tools, to explain in depth why they are necessary and to offer useful observations on the qualities they should possess.

And of course if you do not need that survey, then this book is most definitely not for you.

Here, for those who may be interested, are two quotes from the introduction:

This book is the result of my experience with tools for the last 30 years, from the time I acquired my first coping saw at age 11 until the day I decided to sell off many of the tools I'd amassed as an adult. It is the tale of my sometimes rocky relationship with my tools and how these hand-held pieces of iron, steel, brass and electrical wire have changed the way I approach my work and life.

and,

The "anarchist" in the title is me. I dislike that word quite a bit but it is the right one. I hope to make the case that most woodworkers I've met are "aesthetic anarchists" - people who work with their hands, own their tools and seek to live in a world where making something (anything) is the goal of each day.

Woodworkers generally labour alone, producing objects that are the result of just our tools, our minds and our hands. And the objects that we build are a slap in the face of the chipboard rubbish that is forced down our throats at every turn.

So though woodwork might seem a traditional, old-time skill, it is quite radical in this consumerist age where buying stuff is good and not buying stuff is considered fringe behaviour.

 

[Trafalgar]

Of course the central problem with this line of reasoning is that one has to buy a whole helluva lot of stuff in order to build things so as to "not buy" other things. And the vast majority never quit buying. To the extent that Schwarz is saying 'buy these tools and not any or many more' then I agree with him. But that's not a new message either. The old classics don't tell you that you need three jointers, four smoothers, five sets of bench chisels, fifty screwdrivers, a four figure investment in grinding and honing kit, then do it all over again in a bevel-up configuration, etc. etc. Schwarz is not only recycling the tool chest plans from these old books, but the underlying philosophy as well.

Bottom line is this: if one cut their teeth on Hayward, Jones, and the others mentioned in this thread then they would already be in a place where Chris Schwarz appears to have just arrived.

By the way, Taunton Press published a great tool chest (tool box) book by Jim Tolpin and of course a workbench book several years ago. Notice a pattern?

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Gad, Charles, don't you know a different tune? :?

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Trafalgar]

Not really Derek. Do you for one second believe that all of Chris Schwarz's woodworking hand tools fit in the chest featured on Roy Underhill's show?

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Not really Derek. Do you for one second believe that all of Chris Schwarz's woodworking hand tools fit in the chest featured on Roy Underhill's show?

**** No, Charles ... I think that he would struggle to fit his bandsaw and drill press.

I read the book some time ago, but I took the whole thing differently from you. I recognise CS's schtick and it does not bother me. I accepted that he is caught somewhere between being a modern teacher and a publicist. He is a teacher in the modern idiom insofar as he uses the internet and DVD as classroom, and he is a publicist for his company spreading the word by touring. I do not have a problem with this. Everyone has a right to to build a business, and CS does this while bringing pleasure to many. His audience is the hobbyist, and I do not hear any complaining. You are not a hobbyist and appear to find him offensive. However CS is pretty ethical in that he acknowledges his sources ... Hayward, et al. What happens is that the hobbyists on the forums take the comments and quotes he offers on his blog and attribute them to him, rather than the original author. I can see that gets up your nose. You can continue to rave about the forums turning him into a cult leader, but it will not change anything. Anyhow, as I have mentioned before, I like Chris and doubt that he takes himself as seriously as you.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Trafalgar]

Read the post. I said "woodworking hand tools."

He appears to have gone to some length to make an ethical argument. One can't help but wonder if he follows his own advice. Has he really divested himself of tools down to a grouping that will fit in his chest? I suppose so. When I read Hayward, et al. they never mention building a chest that will only hold half of one's tools. The presumption is that they'll all fit in there I guess. Otherwise, what would be the point? We're obviously excluding clamps, shooting boards, etc. that are considered shop fixtures and not hand tools, per se.

What difference does it make that Schwarz's audience is hobbyists? Hayward's audience was hobbyists. Bernard Jones too for the most part.

I don't like or dislike Chris Schwarz. I've never met him. Never spent one minute with him. We're discussing what he writes.

If he's actually proposing a comparatively abbreviated kit of tools to the hobbyist (which I guess he is) I'm a bit surprised your back isn't arched up.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Read the post. I said "woodworking hand tools."

He appears to have gone to some length to make an ethical argument. One can't help but wonder if he follows his own advice. Has he really divested himself of tools down to a grouping that will fit in his chest? I suppose so. When I read Hayward, et al. they never mention building a chest that will only hold half your tools. The presumption is that they'll all fit in there I guess. Otherwise, what would be the point? We're obviously excluding clamps, shooting boards, etc. that are considered shop fixtures and not hand tools, per se.

I was teasing you. So, no, his chest does not hold all his handtools. For example, I cannot imagine that he has his LN #51 inside it. There are no doubt other handtools that he has acquired since. I'm sure that his collection has not stood still.

In my understanding the issue is not about fitting a certain number of tools into a box .. tool chest. It is really to make one think about what tools are capable of, and how you can make tools work for you ... how to extract the maximum from each ... and in the end it turn full cycle and becomes about the skills of the user, not the capability of the tool, per se.

I have a great number of tools - more than I need in this lifetime and the next, enough for several members here ... at least (no letters please ). But it is just a hobby for me. I like experimenting with them, learning from each .. and I try and pass on this information for the benefit of others. However, I never think that I must have this or that tool in order to do the work. Often I ignore the specialist or premium tools and just use what is at hand. When it comes to work one does what one needs to get the work done. Special tools are sometimes helpful, but more often it is a mindset and hand skills. You know this. On the forums there will always be those who aspire to being "a woodworker" and believe that they "need" that special tool. Chris Schwarz' scribblings are an argument against this stance. The trouble is, what many see are that the tools he keeps are premium tools. There are few, if any, old and worn tools. He, like others (and myself), get pleasure from using "nice" tools. So what? For myself, in the end it is always going to be what one does with the tools, and not the tools themselves.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Trafalgar]

The L-N 51 is only 15" long and at $500 an accommodation probably ought to be made for it. But, I'm specifically excluding shooting boards as being shop fixtures so sure I could see the 51 and board being stored somewhere else. It's beside the point. I guess.

Beyond this, why wouldn't the rest fit in there? Did you read the book and come away with the impression that the chest was not to hold all of one's hand tools? I thought this was the central thesis given the ethical, philosophical, and anti-consumerist overlay he chose to present in the book. If this isn't the central thesis, then what is? Not just a set of tool chest plans, obviously. That sort of thing is done in a magazine-length article.

Did he by chance mention in the book that the reader might need to make two, three, or four chests? If not, how to make a choice about which tools to leave out in the wide-open spaces, or even better which ones he left out in the wide-open spaces?

 

[bugbear]

If he's actually proposing a comparatively abbreviated kit of tools (which I guess he is) I'm a bit surprised your back isn't arched up.

Why?

Minimal tool kits are discussed with great knowledge, enthusiasm and wit on OLDTOOLS from time to time.

Desert island, car trunk (boot, Jeff), camping, etc.

No-one actually *has* one, obviously.

BugBear

 

[Trafalgar]

You're right BB!! It's all theoretical, a running joke, or in books by long-dead authors. I just figured if Schwarz was enthusiastic enough about the concept to have written a book about it that he might be the exception rather than the rule. Must just be the thinnest of veneer over cheap particleboard. The thing he professes to hate.