Well I thought we might have had a few lists by now, but obviously everyone's too shy. Still have no idea of the budget so might have to get a bit long-winded. All right, a bit
more long-winded than usual... :roll: I'll pinch Byron's helpful list as a starting framework.
Marking & Layout
- Marking gauge - check. I think I'd go with a wheel type myself (Veritas - or Titemark if I had a Lottery win), but that's a personal choice thing, and also more expensive than an ordinary wooden one with a pin. Or you could make your own, to help the budget - which applies to all gauges really.
- Panel Gauge - been on my list of things to make for an age, but so far I haven't needed one. Something to make yourself anyway, so it won't eat your budget.
- Cutting Gauge - depends on the terminology. If it's genuinely a gauge for cutting, dinna bother. If it's for cross-grain marking, tune up your marking gauge and it won't be a problem IMO. But you'll probably want more than one gauge anyway, so what the heck. All the experts seem to advocate getting the cheap gauges without fancy woods and brass btw; dunno if any one make is better than the others. Might find secondhand is as good as any.
- Straight Edge, and 6" Engineers Sqaure (Groz make a good one) - Decent steel rule (anti-glare/satin finish if you've any sense) and certainly go for Engineer's squares over the fancy wooden stock ones; much more accurate. A combination square can fulfill a multitude of tasks, if you get a reasonably good quality one. Don't know which is a good middle-of-the-road make; the one I got from Axminster has changed byt the looks. There's a lot to be said for making your own wooden straight edges, as they're lighter and easier to manhandle - and one day I mean even find the tuit to do it...
- Scalpel - Or any knife you find comfortable for marking with. I find a scapel a bit too sharp, in that the line is too fine so you often can't see it. Don't ask me, I still haven't found a marking knife I'm really happy with.
Sliding bevel
Mortise gauge - anyone have an opinion on a good one?
Chisels
- Bevel Edged Chisels (I have the Kirschen 1101's from Axminster £55) - or a bit of a step up from them would be either the Ashley or Ray Iles chisels. Or Japanese chisels, which don't get mentioned much these days so I thought I would, are quite a good way to get a good chisel for sensible money. <cheap shill>I've got a set of four, hardly used, I'm looking to off-load
</cs>
- Mortice Chisels ( I have a couple of Sorby's which are nice) - Depends on whether you intend to start doing mortises by hand. On the whole I'd say leave them for now, unless you know you're going to use them. Even then you can do a lot with ordinary chisels. Be wary of Sorbys, whatever you do; sometimes they can be good, but sometimes they can be truly awful. It's a bit of a lottery. I'd go for secondhand for mortise chisels I think, anyway.
- A Skew Chisel - useful for cleaning the snot out of dovetails - get any old chisel and grind your own; it's not a demanding task as far as edge retention is concerned, so you can save a bit of dosh.
Planes
- Apron Plane (My most used tool. I use the Lie-Nielsen Bronze Apron)
- Block Plane (Veritas seem good) - do a search for block planes on the forum, and you'll get more opinions than you want. You don't need both to start with though.
- Jack (5 1/5) - take a look at the current thread on
Plane Advice
- No.7 could be useful - indeed, but if your jointing requirements aren't particularly long, the #5.5 size plane will do the job. So no rush.
- Smoothing plane would also be a nice addition. Again, no rush if you invest in one
good quality jack - it can do extra duty as a panel plane without too much angst. And act as a guide to performance when/if you come to tune up other, secondhand planes too...
Rebate plane of some sort - shoulder, rebate block, whatever. Yeah, so technically you can clean up with a chisel etc. But when you're starting it's likely you'll need
more help in cleaning up your joints while having
least skill with the chisel... Consider a skew wooden rebate plane; very handy planes, and I keep forgetting to suggest them. #-o
Others
- A tenon/dovetail saw (I have a jap saw from axminster) - Japanese is probably the easiest way to get a working saw cheaply. Many people find they want to upgrade to a traditional western style though. If you want to go that route, essentially assume you'll have to learn a little about set and maybe do a little handle remodelling on any new one - unless you want to pay £90 or so. Old saws will need cleaning, sharpening etc, but if you're willing to do that, you can get really fine saws for very small
monetary outlay. Dunno if I have anything likely... :-k
- A Crosscut Saw - budget wise, you might just as well get a <cough>hardpoint saw</cough>. But should a nice handsaw, say 22" long panel saw, cross your path, it's nice to have. And you feel like you're doing things properly. :wink:
- A Mallet - How's the budget? Making a mallet's good fun...
- Sharpening Stones Arguably should be at the beginning - using blunt hand tools is just depressing. And dangerous. Lots of discussion on this. ](*,) For initial cheap start up, Scary Sharp is hard to beat. Although waterstones aren't too bad either, as long as you have water in your w'shop. Don't be afraid to use a honing guide if you want to.
Now ideally I'd point you to one, all-encompassing, book on the subject too, but there really isn't one. I suppose the nearest to covering everything would be "Choosing and Using Hand Tools" by Andy Rae. Additionaly a huge number of tuning and fettling tips can be found in David Charlesworth's books - albeit perhaps slightly intimidating when you're first starting.
Cheers, Alf
