Your top 10 hand tools for a beginner

[Jacob]

.... Also for housings, but for a beginner, useful for accurate cutting to length in general. .....

Nothing intrinsically accurate about a knife line. "Precise" yes, but not "accurate" if it's in the wrong place, which is why they aren't suitable for beginners.
NB you don't need knife like precision for sawing to length - the sawn end is almost certainly going to be out of sight, if not it will be finished with a plane and sawing slightly over the line would be best. With frames with through tenons it's normal to leave "horns" - well over length to be sawn off and trimmed after it's glued up

 

[Andy Kev.]

.... Also for housings, but for a beginner, useful for accurate cutting to length in general. .....

Nothing intrinsically accurate about a knife line. "Precise" yes, but not "accurate" if it's in the wrong place, which is why they aren't suitable for beginners.

I work on the premise that I need all the help I can get, therefore the precision offered by the knife, with the marking subsequently emphasised by running a well sharpened pencil in it, is my default. And once the habit is formed, it is hardly time consuming. I'm happy to use just pencil when rough cutting pieces to over length or over width.

 

[Jacob]

.... Also for housings, but for a beginner, useful for accurate cutting to length in general. .....

Nothing intrinsically accurate about a knife line. "Precise" yes, but not "accurate" if it's in the wrong place, which is why they aren't suitable for beginners.

I work on the premise that I need all the help I can get, therefore the precision offered by the knife, with the marking subsequently emphasised by running a well sharpened pencil in it, is my default. And once the habit is formed, it is hardly time consuming. I'm happy to use just pencil when rough cutting pieces to over length or over width.

Precision and accuracy are not the same thing.

 

[Andy Kev.]

Precision and accuracy are not the same thing.

You're right in that they are not the same. However, I'm quite happy to enhance my accuracy - with which I am content - with precision. It's a case of two different things complementing each other.

 

[El Barto]

It's a pretty loaded question. I'm new to woodworking too and I'm just building up a collection of tools as I go, and based on the kind of things I want to make. Maybe start with the very basics - marking tools, chisels, mallet, saw and plane - and mess about with them. You'll be surprised how quickly your collection grows.

There are also a couple of books which will help a lot:

The Essential Woodworker (this is a must have and can be bought at Classic Hand Tools here in the UK)
The Woodworker's Pocket Book
The Anarchist's Tool Chest is interesting as its based on the theory that you can make anything with no more than 50 tools.

Hope that helps.

EDIT: Just seen someone else has recommended these books. Woops.

 

[MrTeroo]

There are also a couple of books which will help a lot:

The Essential Woodworker (this is a must have and can be bought at Classic Hand Tools here in the UK)

It would have to help a hell of a lot at this price:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Essen...868988?hash=item211677c5fc:g:7osAAOSwYIxX92Os

 

[El Barto]

There are also a couple of books which will help a lot:

The Essential Woodworker (this is a must have and can be bought at Classic Hand Tools here in the UK)

It would have to help a hell of a lot at this price:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Essen...868988?hash=item211677c5fc:g:7osAAOSwYIxX92Os

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

 

[G S Haydon]

Hi Squib!

Vintage #4 Stanley/Record via ebay

300mm Combination Square - Bacho is a well priced option

Tape Measure

Norton India 8 x 2 Combination Oil Stone

Combination Mortise/Marking Gauge (pin type, not wheel cutter)

1/4" 1/2" Chisels, Narex are a good budget option.

Tenon Saw 14", Footprint do a decent one that'll cut fine enough for most dovetails and coarse enough for tenon work.

Irwin Jack 880 Hardpoint Saw.

Mallet

You'll be able to knock up some basic stuff from DIY store pine with that and you can expand the collection if you get bitten by the bug. I usually totally agree with CC on most things but I don't agree on the book purchase. Read this review first http://lumberjocks.com/reviews/2291 . I used to think the book was good until I actually read it.

As a for instance this one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Practical-Hom ... SwZJBYBwTh is far superior. There are so many good books for next to nothing, I recommend picking one or two up. They often have the benefit of being written by a professional rather than a self taught amateur.

You'll get lot's of conflicting advise, just keep it simple. Hope you have fun!

 

[El Barto]

Hi Squib!

Vintage #4 Stanley/Record via ebay

300mm Combination Square - Bacho is a well priced option

Tape Measure

Norton India 8 x 2 Combination Oil Stone

Combination Mortise/Marking Gauge (pin type, not wheel cutter)

1/4" 1/2" Chisels, Narex are a good budget option.

Tenon Saw 14", Footprint do a decent one that'll cut fine enough for most dovetails and coarse enough for tenon work.

Irwin Jack 880 Hardpoint Saw.

Mallet

You'll be able to knock up some basic stuff from DIY store pine with that and you can expand the collection if you get bitten by the bug. I usually totally agree with CC on most things but I don't agree on the book purchase. Read this review first http://lumberjocks.com/reviews/2291 . I used to think the book was good until I actually read it.

As a for instance this one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Practical-Hom ... SwZJBYBwTh is far superior. There are so many good books for next to nothing, I recommend picking one or two up. They often have the benefit of being written by a professional rather than a self taught amateur.

You'll get lot's of conflicting advise, just keep it simple. Hope you have fun!

That review is borderline illegible :shock:

 

[AndyT]

For a book about woodworking tools which just describes what they do and how to use them, I recommend Charles Hayward. You can read his book on tools free here

http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=m ... =1up;seq=1

and then buy a second hand copy if you want one.

(Do at least look at pages 176-7 for the basic tool kit.)


Also have a good root around the sticky in General Woodworking

free-downloadable-woodworking-books-plans-ref-sites-t82220.html

 

[G S Haydon]

His English is better than my Danish, and it's underlying thoughts are correct.

 

[Squibb]

I get the feeling I will be referring back to this post many times over the next year... Thanks again everyone for your input!

 

[Ttrees]

If you can find a fire door from a skip
I wont get into some obvious things ,but instead mention whats important to me .
1. You need a DEAD flat surface to at least check your work ...preferably to
work on though ....
What you don't see with, say... Mr Sellers work is that he could get you into trouble,
giving you the illusion that you can work without a reference point at this stage .
Its slower and a lot more difficult and I strongly suspect he would not be without a DEAD flat surface
out of sight ....I do enjoy watching him overcome these obstacles though, sometimes its a bit painful to watch.

2. A 5 1/2 plane with a thick sole ..so you can lap it when the time comes later down the road.....
a titemark style marking guage from Axi ...instead of some racking wooden marking guage that will
make multiple incorrect lines

3. A 40" stainless steel ruler for a tenner from homebase (just got another one the other day)
4. a fine diamond lapping whetstone ...the ones with solid steel hunk nickel plated underneath
5 .Another stone for bevels on your plane/chisel irons
6.A cheap eclipse honing guide
7.An angle poise worklight
8.Workzone(Aldi) heavy F clamps set ...you need loads of clamps
9.Lumber wizard style metal detector if your a skip diver
10. an old hardpoint handsaw that you can cut up to make cabinet scrapers with
11.a small 4" angle grinder which you would use to cut the saw up with a 1mm melt your clothes disc ..
you could use the grinder too for establishing your primary bevel on your plane back to 23 degrees .
Did I mention a flat surface for reference ?
Good luck
T

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I was thinking to compile a list - I'd start with a bradawl, a honing guide, a nail punch, a low angle jack plane, a combination square, a rip saw, a
... but they're all the things I managed for decades without.

That review of The Anarchist's Toolchest did rather put me off. :lol:

 

[Jacob]

If you can find a fire door from a skip
I wont get into some obvious things ,but instead mention whats important to me .
1. You need a DEAD flat surface to at least check your work ...preferably to
work on though ....
What you don't see with, say... Mr Sellers work is that he could get you into trouble,
giving you the illusion that you can work without a reference point at this stage .
Its slower and a lot more difficult and I strongly suspect he would not be without a DEAD flat surface
out of sight ....I do enjoy watching him overcome these obstacles though, sometimes its a bit painful to watch. .......

Don't agree. The basic apparatus for checking for straightness and flatness is your eyeball. You do it by looking ; squinting along a length from the end or casting an eye over a surface from the edge. It's quicker and easier than fiddling about with straight edges - with the exception winding sticks, which are very handy.
Even if you have a straightedge, flat surface etc - you still are checking for straightness by looking - unless you are going to go all round with feeler gauges or something
Winding stick tip; make them square section, then you have four faces to set against each other to check for straightness of the sticks themselves i.e. each face can be matched against any of the other four.

 

[Andy Kev.]

That review of The Anarchist's Toolchest did rather put me off. :lol:

It looks a bit bitter and twisted to me and all that stuff about mid-life crisis is sadly no more than the reviewer revealing his own prejudice and of course it has no relevance to the book - unless of course he can show that the author was undergoing a midlife crisis at the time of writing.

Anyway, I thought my review (see Reviews section for anybody who may be interested) was fairer, mercifully much shorter and it did generate a hilarious discussion. :mrgreen:

 

[El Barto]

That review of The Anarchist's Toolchest did rather put me off. :lol:

It looks a bit bitter and twisted to me and all that stuff about mid-life crisis is sadly no more than the reviewer revealing his own prejudice and of course it has no relevance to the book - unless of course he can show that the author was undergoing a midlife crisis at the time of writing.

Anyway, I though my review (see Reviews section for anybody who may be interested) was fairer, mercifully much shorter and it did generate a hilarious discussion. :mrgreen:

Link plz!

 

[Andy Kev.]

It's in the Hand Tool Review Links sticky which is another sub-forum of Hand Tools.

 

[Ttrees]

Don't agree. The basic apparatus for checking for straightness and flatness is your eyeball. You do it by looking ; squinting along a length from the end or casting an eye over a surface from the edge. It's quicker and easier than fiddling about with straight edges - with the exception winding sticks, which are very handy.
Even if you have a straightedge, flat surface etc - you still are checking for straightness by looking - unless you are going to go all round with feeler gauges or something
Winding stick tip; make them square section, then you have four faces to set against each other to check for straightness of the sticks themselves i.e. each face can be matched against any of the other four.[/quote]

Hello again
First I swipe the high spots off until I cant see light under the wood anymore, using my stinkin worklight
This should be an angle poise ..SOMEDAY I will find a suitable spring(s) and make 10 angle poise lights
using old aluminum box from redundant cable TV aerials and white faced aluminum panels from Aluminum Fascia and Soffit sourced from the new flats around the town after a storm as it needs to be lightweight .

I don't mess with feelers I just wiggle the wood on the bench and I can see or feel where the high spot is .
I am soo spoilt with this wonderful top although I have a fire door aswell ....both are slippy too so I can clean the remaining dust off it easily and have a
gawk at the other end of the timber and not get dust on my head and down my neck aswell.
I seem to be a bit sensitive to the timbers I work with .
I have seen every planing video on youtube exc mostly in English , and have tried these methodical methods which should, in theory yield a perfectly flat surface but not so .... to my liking anyway .
I will soon be making a proper bench though, to the tolerance of this plate with the best, time tested stable wood I have in my possession .
Here's some pics of some stuff I like having ..although I will mention I already have scrapers
and I've added a single cut farmers own fine file (second cut??) for the scraper .
And another shot of stage one,de-nailing and cleaning removing glass and crud ....
although their needs be vicegrips there too .
You could do with a protractor too ...but check the bloody thing before you buy it if you want a good'un .
Even a plastic one will add consistency for marking out angles on a block, so you can check your grind and secondary bevels on your irons .
Make your own stuff when you can, like multiple scribes from steel nails
A bench grinder would be nice for these things ,but an angle grinder would get you by .
Keep your safety glasses in a box
Have fun

 

[G S Haydon]

That review of The Anarchist's Toolchest did rather put me off. :lol:

It looks a bit bitter and twisted to me and all that stuff about mid-life crisis is sadly no more than the reviewer revealing his own prejudice and of course it has no relevance to the book - unless of course he can show that the author was undergoing a midlife crisis at the time of writing.

Anyway, I thought my review (see Reviews section for anybody who may be interested) was fairer, mercifully much shorter and it did generate a hilarious discussion. :mrgreen:

Not really, nearly all reviews are good about ATC, it's actually healthy to read alternative views. You can also watch here for free https://vimeo.com/155917528 . I really enjoyed the look of the tool chest and made one with all the info that was provided on the Lost Art Press blog. Very pleased with it too! After putting some money aside and bought a copy of the book. I thought the blue book on workbenches was a very good piece of work and had high hopes for ATC. However after digesting the contents it seemed to be a strange moral compass, using a provocative title which borrows from a cult book from the 70's with little or no information that was helpful to a woodworker that knows their own mind. It seemed to rely more on journalism and writing skills.
If you need help working out why you want to make something then this could be for you! Thankfully LAP sells the "Essential Woodworker" and more recently the Hayward project. I'd personally refer people to those works, written by experienced and skilled woodworkers and finished to a high standard by a publisher with a fine eye for detail. Much more helpful than the hand-wringing of a midlife crisis.