Hand Tools vs Power Tools

[Roman]

As I read the postings on this forum I often wonder why there is so little talk on the benefits of hand tools, and what hand tools are popular.

I have several favorites including the stanley low angle block plane, the dazuki dovetail saw, and my cabinet scrapers. My pet peave is that stanley occasionally changes the plane and does not keep the old irons for there older models. Thus they force you to buy another hundred dollar plane.

I watch new woodworkers using every gadget available to remove kerf marks, all being power tools when I can remove them with a scaper in a tenth the amount of time. They will search high and low for a skill saw but will not pick up a hand saw.

Whats your favorite hand tool?

Best regards Roman

[Jamie in Brantford]

My block plane has got me out of a lot of pinches over the years. Just last week, rather than run back to the shop to rip an eighth off a piece of moulding, I ran my block plane over it and voila, 30 seconds to perfection. I could afford to take lunch that day.

[Ron Evers, Beeton, ON]

[Meritt]

[Tree Amigo in Field BC]

Roman,

by far the most used handtool I own is my jack plane, the most abused is a 3/4" chisle that is used as a glue scraper, and the most fun is my compass plane.

Michael D Byck Furnituremaker (http://www.treeamigo.com)

[Roman]

Jamb one of those into the thumb muscle and you quickly learn the rights and wrongs of holding a piece of wood.

I watched my brother work a chisel that I sharpened for him, and warned him that his postioning could be wrong and he quickly snaped back that he knew what he was doing.

Twelve stitches later, and a good soaking in the rain due to the fact he passed out from the site of his own blood he now knows how effective a good hand tool is.

Best Regards Roman

[Roman]

[Tree Amigo in Field BC]

Roman,

theyr planes with adjustable beds and work on either convex or concave surfaces. My latest piece requires a 60deg chamfer on a concave edge of a table top. The compass plane is the easiest and fastest way to do this without searching high and low and paying for a router bit ( never seen a 60deg chamfer bit )

Cheers

Michael D Byck Furnituremaker (http://www.treeamigo.com)

[Roman]

Eh Amigo cool tool, maybe the next on my christmas wish list

Best Regards Roman

[Darrell in Oakville]

Hand tools, eh? Yup, I got a few of 'em ;^)

My favourite planes are an old transitional jack plane and the St James Bay smoother I built. Here's a picture of the smoother.

Cabinet scrapers should be in *everyone's* shop. Why would anyone spend half an hour sanding their way through half a dozen grits when a couple of swipes with a scraper will produce the same results? Madness. Not to mention that wood dust is a carcinogen.

My latest cool hand tool is a foot powered mortising machine. Probably 100 years old and still works great. Where's your hollow chisel mortiser gonna be in 100 years? The dump. Mine will still be going strong.

Darrell
Just say "bury me with a brace and a drawknife"

http://showcase.netins.net/web/iabonsai/LaRue/sjbt.jpg

[Randy Gillard]

An ancient Stanley/Bailey #6 that I found rusting away in my late fathers old toolbox. I spent hours restoring and making a new handle for it. I never use it, but it is my favorite.

I use my cabinet scrapers a lot as well.

Randy

[Andy in Georgetown]

Since I have been able to sharpen them I'd have to say chisels. I love to grab a piece of wood and run a freshly sharpened chisel across the end grain. There's something really satisfying to watch end grain curl up and stay in one piece as you push the chisel.
Does this have a practical use you ask? I've not found one I just enjoy doing it.
It's raining in S Ont. I'm going to play in the shop all day :)
Andy.

[Bev, Ayr]

Don't think that I have built anything that this has not been used on. Everything from a garden shed to my computer desk!

[Paul O'H Ingersoll]

Roman
if you are into hand tools this site covers restoration, rust removal, sharpening, laping, etc.
Quite intersting
http://members.nbci.com/_XMCM/nlindsey/restoration/Restoration.htm
paul

http://members.nbci.com/_XMCM/nlindsey/restoration/Restoration.htm

[Andy in Georgetown]

Please show us a pic of your putor desk, it could be one of my winter projects and I'm in need of inspiration.

Thanks Andy.

[Meritt]

Couldn't agree more Roman. Thats why I have "my" chisel set and a "guest" chisel set. The Guest one is for those dunderheads that use a hammer (serrated head of course) on them or think that they are a pry bar.....

[Mark Bertoia]

You have to learn how to use them properly first. This takes a lot of time and my wife wants everything now not later. Here is my to do list for learning how to use hand tools. I want to cut dovetails by hand but first I must learn how to use a dovetail saw. Before I do that I want to learn how to sharpen chisels. Before that I must read a few more books and look at videos concerning both these topics but before I do all this I need to builkd a CD cabinet so Lucas doesn't ruin all my CD's ( I have over 750 Cd's). ARRRG !!!! Before I do all this I have 3 training courses for work I need to get done so I don't loose my job!! 24 hours in a day is just not enough time :) I also forgot I have scrapers but I keep forgetting to use them.

A little off topic but I needed to vent!! :)

Mark :)

[Duncan S Robertson]

I have just spent a week at SAIT ( southern Alberta institute of Technology) in Calgary and my favorite hand tool has changed! I was able to sharpen all my chisels and plane blades on a set of the new " skinny" Shapton stones. These stones are fixed to a 1/4" sheet of float glass and use use a dedicated lapping plate to flatten all the stones. I have been using the Norton stones and have been very happy with the edge I achieve sharpening by hand and without using any jigs. The norton process is to create the secondary bevel on the front with the 1000 grit and then the micro bevel with the 8000 followed by the " ruler trick" on the back created using the 8000 stone. The ruler trick is only on the plane blades, never on the chisels. With the shaptons I have now introduced a micro-micro bevel using the 16,000 grit, yes 16,000 grit!! then the ruler trick, also with the 16,000 grit. Why, you ask? Same question that I had. The answer is that they cut even faster than my norton stones and by going to the 16,000 grit to create the final edge, you end up reducing the size of the peaks and valleys on the cutting edge of the blade and you end up with an edge that lasts about twice as long as the edge created with the 8000 grit stone. Wow!! great system and my new favorite tool.
Duncan

[planeguy]

I would have to say my stanley 9 1/4 or 9 1/2.I carry one of them in my tool bag,and they are put to use just about every day. (Sometimes i have to look for a reason to use it)

[Chris Fournier]

I choose neither hand tools or power tools. In this day and age we don't have to. I choose not to be without either!

[Frank D.]

Boy,
Talk about a bunch of long gone threads being revived lately! It feels like Halloween (that's OK I like Halloween).
I try not to see them in opposition (power vs. hand). Not using one or the other simply out of fear or ignorance or snobbery is a shame. I go from one to the other for all kinds of reasons (pleasure, safety, speed, convenience, lack of space, exercise, precision, efficiency...). But that's why I love being a non-professional...I can afford to use whatever tool I want to.

[Jim Shaver, Oakville Ont.]

No Kidding Frank...


Anyway I think of Chris Schwarz's DVD, Course-Medium-Fine. I combine hand tools and power all the time, some times I find that I can efficiently complete the course work with power but I count on the accuracy and control of my hand tools for my medium and fine work, besides that I love the feeling I get by doing the details by hand, I feel I have put more of myself into my projects when I do.

[Dara]

I have a few favorite hand tools
a fine dovetail saw that cuts sooo sweet
a med shoulder plane that puts such a nice edge on a tennon shoulder
a couple of heavy morticing chisels that are such fun to hit
that LV cabinet scraper sure has its place
and a bunch of others

but lately
when I can't think of what to do in the shop
I just pick up a piece of rough scrap with some figure to it, and go at it with my new 4 1/2 smoother, just to see whats below the roughness and hear the shavings come off
I even have a few favorite sticks sitting around now with linseed oil and a quick rubbing of shelac, just cause they look pretty

can't say as I ever fired up the TS just cause i couldn't think of what to do at the time

[J.P. Rap]

but lately
when I can't think of what to do in the shop
I just pick up a piece of rough scrap with some figure to it, and go at it with my new 4 1/2 smoother, just to see whats below the roughness and hear the shavings come off


Hee hee. I do the same thing...but with a lathe.:D :D :D

Hey...That's sorta like hand tools.:p

[ERic In Nova Scotia]

JP, I turned my first pen last month at a LV work shop. Need a lathe some day.

Anyway,

hand vs power? Power tools are boring, really, really boring. I have many in my shop, but they are a necessary evil. For me they are the "because I don't have the skills with my hand tools yet" tool, and that is boring as well.

Hand tools are fun! They are intimate. They force you to understand the wood you are working. Each time you use them you develop a skill when you take a risk, (rather than lose a finger) and you can listen to music at a reasonable level.

[KenR in Whitby]

old thread for sure....

Seeing a post from Mark Bertoia really brings back some memories.....

KenR

[Dara]

Hee hee. I do the same thing...but with a lathe.:D :D :D

Hey...That's sorta like hand tools.:p

I would like a lathe just for that reason

but there is a problem

tools lead to more tools


I never thought i would ever want/need that Rigid spindle sander
But as you know, last week, I got a band saw

now it's next on my tool list, and VISA just may have to get a workout, cause i need it now

what would a lathe do to me?

[J.P. Rap]

and VISA just may have to get a workout, cause i need it now

what would a lathe do to me?

Not to worry. Visa can afford a lathe too.:D :D :D

[clumsy]

Stanley No 71
The quiet router

[Stephen in Ottawa]

Favourite handtool, hmmm.... that's a hard one. Not sure I have one favourite. I enjoy using any of my hand tools, provided they are sharp and working well :) I have recently come to appreciate a well balanced chisel and I do love the few LN bevel edged ones that I have. Also, I have sharpened and tuned some old saws which are a delight to use. Then there is making mouldings with moulding planes. That is a lot of fun!

To me, as Frank has mentioned, it isn't a question of hand being superior to power tools, or speed. I do almost all my joinery by hand because I have better control. I do have a few machines which get used occasionally, more so when I'm working with construction lumber but I always hate running the DC and wearing a dust mask. Machines are great for repetitive tasks, but for the one off pieces I make, hand tools are a lot more fun for me.

- Stephen

[John in Saskatoon]

I am a hobbiest and do woodworking for pleasure. For me the process is as important as the product. Hand tools are a challenge, allow me to get a better 'feel' for the wood, are quiet and personally provide a real sense of satisfaction. This being said I still love my bandsaw :)

[sw686blue]

My favorite hand tools are chisels (sharpened, of course :) ), dozuki saw, low angle jack plane and my scrapers.

Nick

[Dean]

My Veritas #4 handplane. Smooths a glued up tabletop in half an hour. I don`t even want to think about how long sanding would take, and even then the planed surface would be smoother and perfectly level.

[matt in golden]

Man,

I thought Roman was posting here again, to bad it was a false alarm.

Dean,

I'm jealous, haven't used a handplane for months.

Matt

[Ferris]

I love using chisels, hand planes, saws and scrapers. I'll use the power tools for big dimensional changes, but I enjoy the relative quiet and personal interaction of hand tools. I'm looking into comverting an older lathe to foot-power just for kicks.
I'd say my favourite is the scrapers, followed closely by a wooden block plane I made. It's not as nice as others I've seen, but it works for me, and I was there when it was born. :)

[Norman (Ottawa)]

I use a combination of both, machines for the preparatory phase
then onto hand planes. Occasionally I will prepare nicely figured boards completely by hand, too risky to run thorough a planer.
edge jointing I like to do with hand planes, I trust this method better
and don't have any snipe issues.

I do want to mention the merits of a decent shooting board. Ever since I made one I use it very,very often to square ends of boards and trim miters just so. Sorry, it only works with hand planes :)

Good thread!

Norman