Ponderings #6: A Romanticized View of Hand Tools?

Good points, all.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Yes you will find all types of woodworkers out there. Some that only use power tools and some that only use hand tools. There is a growing number of woodworkers that use both. I think a blend will give you the right mix of speed and quality. Except when it comes to a lot sawing (ripping mostly), I think the idea of hand tools being slow is way off base. There are a lot hand tool operations that can be completed much faster than with a power tool. I think about how much time I spend setting up a cut and test cutting and still not getting it right on.

I’m still working towards completing a project, where I use only hand tools from start to finish. I see it as a test to see how far my hand tools skills have come. I don’t think I will ever get rid of my power tools. I’m trying to use each tool (power or hand) for what it does best.

Through a friend, I was able to read a draft of a book by a local woodworker that only uses hand tools. He has not power tools what-so-ever. He’s already said that he would like me and show me how he does his work. Hopefully in the next few weeks I can plan some time to go see him. It will interesting to see how someone works without any power.

-- http://theinquisitivewoodworker.com/

Mike,

I’m jealous! I’d definitely love to see someone work who uses no power! That would be great!

I plan on using some power, much like most folks who use power tools I imagine. However, they’ll be limited due to space restrictions. A circular saw, a jig saw, drill, etc. However, I do plan to do a couple of projects with just hand tools…just to see.

Who knows. I may like it.

-- "Give me your poor tools, your tired steel, your huddled masses of rust." Yep, I ripped off the Statue of Liberty. That's how I roll!

people walk their own paths and we are all doing it differently… enjoy your power tools.. enjoy your hand tools.. enjoy your carving.. enjoy your cabinet making.. enjoy your pyro…...... gosh just ENJOY!!! :)

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Apropos that this is my first post/comment on LJ.

I’m in much the same boat. I’ve got a ton of mechanic’s tools, and numerous tools for home improvement (think electrical, plumbing, framing, etc.) But stuff that I would use to build nice things out of wood.. not so much. My first inclination is to get a table saw, and a router w/ table, and a drill press, and a band saw, and jointer, and a planer… you get the picture.

After I recover from the sticker shock, I start thinking about getting some nice hand tools – nice chisel set, some good planes, etc.

And once I again recover from sticker shock I begin thinking about what I would really build given the time, and what I really needed to do an acceptable job. Will I be building a highboy? No… But can I build something acceptable with some really basic stuff? Absolutely…

The question of “what tools do I need” is a loaded one. As Tomcat1066 implied – answering such a question without regard to the asker’s budget, space limitations, skill level, and most importantly intentions is really a disservice. I’ve decided that in lieu of asking such questions I should first answer some of the others (what I want to spend, what do I want to create, where would I do such work) and look at what others have built with similar limitations and intentions. That’s where I think LJ is a great resource for that. Whether it’s a romantic notion or not is not really relevant. Respecting the askers situation and what they want to do without judging is likely the best response one can give.

-- - living vicariously through lumberjocks

Rick,

I’m still a newbie, so I can completely relate. As for the sticker shock, I find myself sliding down the slippery slope of old tools. Everything I buy, I plan on using. However, I get quality saws for about $8.00 a pop that just require a little work on my part. Same thing with planes. Unfortunately, there’s just no stopping now! ;)

Thanks for making this thread your first post! ;)

-- "Give me your poor tools, your tired steel, your huddled masses of rust." Yep, I ripped off the Statue of Liberty. That's how I roll!

My background and approach to woodworking is from remodeling. Therefore power tools are the mode of operation. I have some basic planes and I haven’t used them in 2 years. I use my hand chisels and card scraper in addition to my power tools endlessly and without shame.

Many believe that somehow power tools are rough and can’t be tamed like a handplane. You must have mastery over your power tools just as any hand tool. I constantly strive to achieve technical perfection, but I need to make money. Power tools get me there.

My work speaks for itself.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

Good point Todd. Mastery is needed for either type of tool.

As a professional though, you have needs that must take priority over anything else, and that’s putting food on your table. However, it sounds like you have a somewhat romantic view of woodworking in general, be it with power tools or hand tools. I have to admit…I like it :D

-- "Give me your poor tools, your tired steel, your huddled masses of rust." Yep, I ripped off the Statue of Liberty. That's how I roll!

I can’t help it, I still have a very romantic view of woodworking. It is just tempered with harsh reality.

I do believe that you can become quite proficient and skilled at running a hand plane and dovetail saw. I don’t have the time for that mastery. If you are forced to use it then I imagine you could get pretty quick at it.

I don’t believe there should be such a dichotomous view of hand and power tools. There is always more than one way to perform any given task in the shop.

I give my views and techniques for others to ponder and decide for themselves.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

Interesting topic. Most of my tools were handed down to me by my father-in-law. He was so much of a “tool romantic” that he enjoys spending an entire day “properly” sharpening a chisel and learning the entire history of chisels more than actually using the tool to produce something. He knows more about traditional and contemporary woodworking tools and methods than almost anybody I know but he has produced very little in his life and has little desire to do so anyway. He just likes and appreciates the craft of it.

He and I both love tools but in some ways we are very different. Although I have a deep appreciation for the history and the old methods of woodworking, my goal is to produce woodwork, not to romanticize with the tool. Even he admits that I have a very practical approach.

I am open to new or old ways of doing things and try to learn as many different methods as I can. I try to incorporate hand tool use into my woodworking as I learn more about them. And the more I learn, the more uses I find for hand tools which actually outperform power tools in time and effort. But power tools, like Todd said, get the job done.

On the other hand, I must admit, I am very romantic about my radial arm saw. Here is an example of one tool which is probably used more because of it’s “character” than it’s practicality. I just really like it. But other than that, most of my romance is hanging on the wall (just out of reach) in the form of my small antique tool collection.

-- Check out my new website! http://www.blakeweberwoodworking.com

Blake,

I just read the post on your radial arm saw. I’d be a romantic about that bad boy too! A cool tool with a cool story! It just doesn’t get any better than that, now does it? ;)

I’ll be honest…I’m a fair amount jealous of that bad boy! I don’t care HOW much power it has!

Todd,

I think we’re in complete agreement. Different strokes for different folks, but the result can be great either way :D.

-- "Give me your poor tools, your tired steel, your huddled masses of rust." Yep, I ripped off the Statue of Liberty. That's how I roll!

I would say that the best bet is to learn to use what you have to the best of your ability. If you only have hand tools use them. The artistry is not in the tool but in the mind and translated to the hands. I once bought a ranch and didn’t have much leftover. I asked myself what I HAD to have to run cows on this place. I had grass and water. I needed good horses, lots of catch ropes and salt. Some barbed wire and some staples rounded it out. All that and a lot of thinking and tough. I guess it worked. I tripled my money on the place in three years.
I make no distiction between power tools and hand tools, I use what will work best. Many times I can do it with a hand plane in less time than it would take to set up a power tool.

-- Thos. Angle

Just what I love about LJ, the diversity.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

Horses for courses I’d say. As I see it, either views are perfectly fine, you just need to know what are your priorities and which approach would you like to take on the craft. As some have said above, there are people who enjoy as much, or even more, tuning a chisel or flattening a sharpening stone than using that same tool to produce a fine piece of furniture. Those are the romantics who do it for the sake of their own pleasure, relaxation or whatever you wanna call it. Then there are the pros or, simply, the pragmatic ones who want to produce something beautiful that demands to be looked at and touched. Those would often privilege the end product, the goal over the process in itself and will be perfectly happy working with either power tools of a mix of them and hand tools. I guess I rather fall on this last category but this doesn’t mean I despise the former. Is the same approach I take on computing. I use Macs because they just work and are transparent. I don’t want to spend hours tweaking a Win machine to get it doing the job I need the way I want, I just want it to make my life easier. Been there, done that (for more than twenty years) and got the T-shirt. And I don’t want another one, thanks. Then, if you like to tweak and fiddle around with the machine itself pass the Mac, got a PC. And this is equally fine if this is what you wanna do.

Don’t forget one thing though: power tools weren’t created only for speed but also—and specially—for easing the burden of some repetitive tasks AND for accuracy and repeatability of results.

As many of you know I have no proper shop nowadays so I have done things like cutting and trimming long sliding dovetails by hand with a dozuki saw, a couple of chisels and no workbench or clamps whatsoever (other than my feet!). I can tell you, not only is this a freaking boring repetitively long task but the results would never be neither the same nor as good as with a router and 5 minutes to spare. Not to talk about the unavoidable bunch of small injuries related to the chisels and the no-clamping technique. It is not in vain that the telltale sign of a great handcrafted piece are the slight imperfections it contains. You can look at them in a romantic way with your pink spectacles on but they ARE imperfections anyway… and some customers are not that romantic when holding the checkbook in one hand and the blue tape on the other!

As I started saying: horses for courses. I do love the “imperfect” handmade pieces and admire the guys of the 17th that were able to produce a Highboy with no power at all—don’t forget that the craftsman weren’t alone either, a small army of apprentices had to swallow the worse tasks that the master was just “too good” to do, as any famous chef does nowadays inside the kitchen—. I think those imperfections add character to SOME pieces but I wouldn’t accept them in a contemporary-styled piece of furniture.

My take on this is plain and pragmatic: use the best tool for each task at hand and don’t bother to think whether it has a cord behind or not. I bet this same debate has been—and will be—going on for centuries and it has no definite answer to it. Sure enough lots of those same craftsman we idealize today for their fine mastering of hand tools were thrilled when Sister Tabitha came with the circular saw and turned around the minds of the Shaker community. Heresy for some, Heaven’s gift for others… who cares? If you like them use them, otherwise forget them.

Live and let live I guess. And I’m happy to see so many respectful opinions among us LumberJocks, I didn’t expect anything else frankly.

Now let’s make some saw dust. Gentlemen, start your engines… err… or sharpen your chisels, whatever! ;o)

-- Jojo, shopless in Kyoto · http://twitter.com/kagushokunin

Whoa there! The respect for one another is getting out of control here! How about a little intolerance?

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

I use both hand tools and power tools. My big interest is building stringed instruments, which suggests a lot of hand work, but there’s a place for power (jointer, planer, bandsaw, drum sander) too.

Todd,

We don’t need any of your mess in here!!!!!

Better ;)

-- "Give me your poor tools, your tired steel, your huddled masses of rust." Yep, I ripped off the Statue of Liberty. That's how I roll!

I’ve been woodworking for 30 years. I own one hand plane and i probably go a year and find a total of 4 minutes that i might need it.
I have to agree with Todd about the “harsh reality” thing.
Woodworking in all its facets can be worlds apart. With a background in Architectural Woodwork, i walk into a chair makers shop and feel like i’m on another planet. A planet where claustrophobia will set in quickly if i’m not careful. We’re talking a guy that spends half his work life in a 5 foot radius. A guy in such cramped quarters you can just tell he may have never had to joint and plane a 16 foot board in his life. Jigs, Jigs and more Jigs! And just how many different types of wooden mallets does it take to build a frickin chair to sit in anyway??? Now that i’ve vented…No disrespect meant to my dear chairmaking brothers!!! There are those pattern making guys in foundries that come from other universes and make a chairmaker look normal!

-- miles125, Alabama.."Architecture is frozen music""

I once built saddles in a 8 foot by 8 foot cubby hole in a big shop. I couldn’t even see a window. since then I have made sure that I have a large space to work in. I might only work in a 8×8 space but I can at least see out.

My saddle shop has one electric motor on a small sewing machine. Every thing else is done by hand or foot. My harness stitcher is run by pedals and man-power. I guess I’m “Into” hand tools. LOL

-- Thos. Angle

Tomcat,

Very interesting post and good points made – especially the one about just as much romantiism that goes on with power tools! I think I agree with just about everything that was said inthe replies. There are many ways to do things and each person may have a different “path” to reaching his destination As some have said, not all people may even have a destination in mind.

I actually wrote a post on this subject on my blog a while back. You can have a look at it here.

-- Mark, Webster New York, Visit my website at http://thecraftsmanspath.com

A power man, but starting to use some hand tools to make things fit. The old measure once cut twice concept fits in and parts might be a little small so it’s easier to gut a little big and fit it into the space using a little hand finesse.

Great post.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

I like a little hand tool work.. Probably 15- 20%.

Shoulder plane for cleaning up tenon joints.
Block Planes for chamfers, and fitting drawer parts, and cleaning up joints.
Chisels for cutting through mortises, cleaning up router work, paring joints.
Japanese pull saw for all kinds of nonsense.
Flush Cut saw for dowels.
I like to cut trim miters with a hand miter box.

Many times these tasks are much quicker than setting up or getting out a power tool. I rarely use the round over bits anymore I just ease the edges with sandpaper or block plane.

Some tasks take too long though. I agree with Jojo… they would have passed them on to the apprentice.

Best available tool for the job. That said.. It is fun to plane.

-- -John "Do I have to keep typing a smiley? Just assume it's a joke." www.flickr.com/photos/gizmodyne

As I have travelled back and forth from Montana to Ohio the last 4 1/2 years I took the opportunity to study furniture makers big and small.

The quality output of a power tool is misrepresented by people making bad decisions in a high production factory.

Quality is achieved is by making good decisions about what wood to use or not and where to use it. When a craftsman in a small shop makes furniture he tends to take more time to make the good aesthetic decisions.

Thos. Moser and Stickley are 2 of my favorite companies. They have been able to successfully blend a high level of craftsmanship with industrial power tools. They are capturing the best of both worlds, profit (for survival) and quality.

The fact is that they slow down enough to make a better decision, but they let the machinery do the laborious tasks at industrial machinery speed.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

Tomcat,

I’m pretty much in the camp with the “to each his own” folks. This said, I originally got into woodworking as a stress reliever and to fulfill the need for a creative outlet. I had visions of coming home to work on some project and having to go slower due to the learning curve and the therapy this could provide me. However, in my haste, I became intoxicated by the allure of the power tool and the ability to get that precision JoJo mentions. (I like attention to detail. I like it too much sometimes.) Due the good fortune of a couple of years of generous bonuses from my employer I have been able to tool up my shop quite nicely. This includes some hand tools but I did not pursue those purchases with the same intensity as I did with my power tools. Aside from my block planes, my other hand tools have not been used as much as originally intended.

In hindsight, I think I went about it a little backwards by not focusing on patience and hand skills first. But, the path I took likely had a direct relationship to the other forces in my life at the time so it is what it is. At least I am following a path, however meandering it may be.

Now, for reasons such as less ‘need’ for quick execution, and the harsh cold of Minnesota winters, I am working mostly with my hand tools in my home until the spring thaw. I think I will use my tools of the man-power variety much more going forward but I’ll not give up my other toys. I’m just realizing my original vision of the satisfaction a person can get from traditional tools. So much so that I’m attempting to make a simple box, completely sans electricity for my entry in the “Not Just Any Box” Winter Challenge. I’ve been considering a blog on the subject and have been documenting the process with photos. Thanks to this discussion, I have the additional inspiration I need to start writing it.

-- Jeff, St. Paul, MN

Wow! I never figured so many people would read this, and the discussion has been great. Obviously, I hope this continues.

As I’ve said before, I don’t think there’s a right answer for how to do something. Even from a power tool perspective, something like a dado has a lot of options. A dado stack on the table saw, a dado stack on the radial arm saw, the router, all options for putting a 90 degree ditch in wood.

That’s the interesting thing about woodworking, at least to me. Say we all made a table of the exact same design. We had detailed plans, but no instructions so we had to figure out the how on our own (not to hard to imagine really). Now, let’s say we all posted the projects after they were completed and laid out the how then. What you’d have is damn near as many variations as you have people doing the project.

That’s why it kind of gets to me when people try to push someone toward one extreme or the other. With no 100% right answers, why insist that your’s is right? Luckily, that’s just not happening here.

-- "Give me your poor tools, your tired steel, your huddled masses of rust." Yep, I ripped off the Statue of Liberty. That's how I roll!

The worm forgives the plow and doesn’t care what pulls it. The wood doesn’t care how it was shaped, only the quality counts.

-- Thos. Angle