I recently knocked up a couple more commodes and have now turned my attention to the second of the Stooges - The Moravian Back Stool. I'm very fond of this design and whilst the commode was all square this one's all angles and I'm starting out by tooling up. A lathe...
Woodworking Hand Tools
Understand Your Woodworking Hand Tools – Improve Your Woodworking
Hand tools are the core of what we do and how we build.
There’s many ways to approach your woodworking, but I’ve always believed that a minimal tool kit is the best.
Fewer tools means we get to understand each one that bit better. We learn how they work, and build up skill with less confusion.
And in all honesty, woodworking by hand is simple. So you really can be minimal.
Below you’ll find all our posts on hand tools.
From saws to hand planes, & drills to marking tools.
There’s thoughts on buying, videos on setting up, and ideas for building you own…
Why Small & Sweet
Small Planes Are The Best For Smoothing When writing these articles I hope to provide an insight in to my ways of working. This is never to dictate, and if you read it as though what I do is the right, or the only way to go about things then you could end up...
Smoothing Plane – Buying A Dedicated Plane
In one of the recent videos I was whining on about the jack plane, and how feel that the No 5 is the best all round, multi use bench plane. In another video I've also mentioned my love for a nice small smoothing plane, so I thought it'd be worth going...
Choosing Your First Hand Plane
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65sVCcvewB0] Which Hand Plane Should I Buy First? That's a question I get asked a lot. If you're getting in to woodworking by hand then I can't recommend the No 5, or equivalent jack plane length of plane...
Hand Plane Guide – With VIDEO
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqA9BL3CJU0] In this video I take a look at the different types of bench planes, and discuss options such as whether to have wooden or metal hand planes, which lengths of plane I prefer for different tasks, and generally...
Mallet Rant – VIDEO
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2Lgs5Bavl8] Here's video blog number one. I'm starting out with a quick rant about 'lumpy' my mallet since this was one of our most repeated comments from the previous videos. Put an end to tear out - Watch This Video...
More On Buying Hand Tools
Advice on buying hand tools is always an interesting and provocative subject that has the ability to either enlighten or confuse those new to woodworking. On the surface there are many contradictory approaches to planning your first tool kit, dig a little deeper and...
Smoother Restoration
Wooden planes can be quick and easy to restore compared with metal ones, as material can be removed quickly with sand paper and chisels, unlike the relatively slow material removal when working with metal. By the same nature though, wooden hand planes can often be...
Tool Haul
All I'm missing now are a few chisels, apparently. I had expected Richard to find me a little saw, and perhaps a plane to show willing. But between conversations at Mr Arnold's recent charity sale, he filtered through boxes and tables and kept adding to his stash. By...
Sharpening Stone Types & Preference
My favourite type of sharpening stone has always been oil, but these are certainly not the most popular choice for woodworkers today. I think it's important to realise that there isn't one type of sharpening stone that's best for all. It's more a case of choosing the...
Related Posts:
Tools That Need No Box
I don't know if this is just me. Whenever I have a jolly good tidy up, I find there's the same old handful of tools, and odds and sods that I don't bother to put away. This is because if I put them away, I'd get them straight back out... again. Off the top of my head,...
The Best Woodworking Marking Knife
All my tools are fairly rough and basic. I've never had much bother finding tools that work, although two things have always troubled me. The first; finding drill bits that don't rag out the work in slow hand powered drills. And finding a good marking knife....
How To Set A Wooden Plane
Twat... ...nothing happens. Twat….nothing happens. Slightly harder twat... ...And the iron's sticking half inch out of the sole of the plane. Wooden planes look good. They are good. But they ain't half got awkward sod written all over them. Since hand tools became a...