# What hand tools do I need?



## cck (May 21, 2014)

Hi all, I have all the power tools I need and wanted to start getting some more hand tools. I currently have a set of Stanley Wood Chisels.

What are the basic hand planes and what are their functions? I was looking at shoulder planes to clean up joinery and also smoothing planes so you have a finish ready surface. I'm just confused at what to get because there are so many different options. What brands are good planes, but not extremely expensive?

Then with all these hand tools I am going to need a way to sharpen them. What is the basic equipment you need to keep these tools sharp?


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## arvanlaar (Dec 29, 2014)

If you are looking for info on planes, I found this great resource yesterday when I was looking for info. Hopefully it helps  http://www.popularwoodworking.com/tools/understanding_bench_planes


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## cck (May 21, 2014)

arvanlaar said:


> If you are looking for info on planes, I found this great resource yesterday when I was looking for info. Hopefully it helps  http://www.popularwoodworking.com/tools/understanding_bench_planes


Thanks, that really gives good explanations on all the planes.


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## gadabout (Dec 21, 2012)

For planes, I would suggest a block plane and a No. 5 jack plane. My first planes were Record and Stanley planes purchased over 25 years ago. They were reasonably priced at that time. I'm not sure how the current quality of these brands compares. Currently, I'm a big fan of the WoodRiver planes. They are not outrageously priced, but they're not cheap either.

For sharpening I use a 1000/8000 combination japanese waterstone and a Veritas MKII sharpening guide.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

If you're not afraid of elbow grease it is hard to beat old Stanly Bailey's.


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## mturnmm (Dec 1, 2012)

I have been looking into this question for myself lately. There seems to be a great deal of variation on what you need vs. what would be ideal. From my research the jack plane seems to be an all around plane. Then you get looking at the different types of stones or hones to keep the blade sharp, there are encyclopedias with differing opinions. From all this research this is what I've come up with...get what works for you and get what is within your budget. If you make projects that look and function well...no one but you has to know you got all your tools at Harbor Freight.


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## punkin611 (Sep 17, 2013)

*hand tools*

I started going to estate, yard sales etc. there are many great hand saws, hand planes (Stanley the old ones) plus many other tools you'll need for your shop available for cheap. join local woodworking ciub in your area. they are a good source also for tools. Find a old Stanley no.4 and tune it up for use you'll have a good time doing it as a bonus.:thumbsup:


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## amckenzie4 (Apr 29, 2010)

If you've got all the power tools, I assume you have a table saw, band saw, and drill press, along with a thickness planer and jointer. Based on that, here's what I'd look for.

1) A set of backsaws. You want a small fine tooth dovetail saw for dovetails and small parts, a medium sized carcass saw for making precise cuts across the grain, and a large tenon saw for cutting tenons on large furniture. You can make two saws do the job, though... I mostly use a Veritas Carcase saw, 12tpi with rip teeth, for most work. It's great for dovetails, it does pretty well for crosscutting small parts, and it does really well for ripping small boards. I also have a larger tenon saw I picked up at a flea market for doing larger work. It's probably around 10tpi, filed rip.

2) A smoothing plane. Something like a Stanley #3 or #4. I have both, and I mostly prefer the #3. You don't really need a jointer plane, because you have a powered jointer. You don't really need a fore/jack/scrub plane, because you have a thickness planer. Pick up a couple of card scrapers, too... those are the other half of the smoothing toolset.

3) Some specialty planes. I'd recommend a rabbet plane, a plow plane, and, if you can find them, a set of match planes. The rabbet plane and plow plane are fairly self-explanatory, and a set of match planes will let you do tongue and groove joints without having to think or set anything up. I also love my beading plane, and I'd like to start making a couple sets of hollow and rounds.

4) A really nice set of chisels. I'd probably buy from Narex if I were doing it from the beginning, but the Wood River sets are surprisingly good for the price. If you're happy with the ones you have, stick with those. I've tried cutting mortises with both standard chisels and mortise chisels, and I don't really see a big improvement for small (1/4" - 3/8") mortises. I might change my mind if I were looking at a 1" mortise.

5) Sharpening supplies. I've tried oilstones and diamond plate, and the diamonds won hands-down for me. I've got a set of three DMT plates, in 325, 600, and 1200 grit equivalents, plus a strop. I gave up on honing guides... I could never get them to work, and I just seemed to be making my tools duller when I worked. I watched a demo by Paul Sellers of his freehand method, gave it a try, and loved it. If you're happier with a guide, awesome. If you try freehand and like it, awesome. Go with what works. I like sandpaper for really badly damaged tools because it cuts fast and I don't care if I damage it. If I weren't afraid of my grinder, I'd use that instead.


I think those are the big ones that I'd use for supplementing power tools. Once you start wanting to replace the power tools... well, that's where it starts costing a lot of time and/or money.


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## cck (May 21, 2014)

amckenzie4 said:


> If you've got all the power tools, I assume you have a table saw, band saw, and drill press, along with a thickness planer and jointer. Based on that, here's what I'd look for.
> 
> 1) A set of backsaws. You want a small fine tooth dovetail saw for dovetails and small parts, a medium sized carcass saw for making precise cuts across the grain, and a large tenon saw for cutting tenons on large furniture. You can make two saws do the job, though... I mostly use a Veritas Carcase saw, 12tpi with rip teeth, for most work. It's great for dovetails, it does pretty well for crosscutting small parts, and it does really well for ripping small boards. I also have a larger tenon saw I picked up at a flea market for doing larger work. It's probably around 10tpi, filed rip.
> 
> ...


Thanks, this helps a lot. I am going get a Stanley #4 off of ebay, a shoulder plane, card scrapers, sharpening supplies, and maybe new chisels. I'm going to wait on the hand saws until later.


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## amckenzie4 (Apr 29, 2010)

cck said:


> Thanks, this helps a lot. I am going get a Stanley #4 off of ebay, a shoulder plane, card scrapers, sharpening supplies, and maybe new chisels. I'm going to wait on the hand saws until later.


Sounds good. I've got to say, though, I think the hand saws are the best place to start. There are a lot of cuts that are really complicated to make with a table saw that are quite simple with a hand saw.

With the card scrapers, make sure you also get a burnisher. You might or might not be able to use the shaft of a screwdriver, but a burnisher will definitely work. I neglected to mention that in my section on sharpening supplies... it makes a big difference.


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## cck (May 21, 2014)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/15175197120...48&var=450947976025&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Is this waterstone any good? 

Also, can I use this (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e=as2&tag=mattcrem-20&linkId=N6ZZFVJOCMOLMPG7) to flatten the waterstone and also for sharpening extremely dull tools?


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## Nick Sandmann (Oct 24, 2014)

If you want to buy a few up front, my suggestion would be 1 good back/dovetail saw, a couple chisels, a 5 or 5 1/2 jack plane, an accurate square, and a sharpening setup to sharpen edge tools(stones, diamond paste, etc...). 

The sharpening setup in my opinion being 1 of the most important pieces of equipment. You can spend all the money in the world on fancy planes and chisels, but if you can't sharpen them, you've wasted your money.

After that just pick 1 task for each new project that would require a new hand tool, and buy that 1 tool you need. Focus on learning how to use that hand tool for the applicable tasks at hand, and use your power tools for everything else. This will not only spread the cost of buying new tools over a longer time span, but it will also eliminate you buying tools that you "thought" you needed, that will just collect dust, and more importantly, you will learn how to use that 1 tool you purchased.


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## Nick Sandmann (Oct 24, 2014)

cck said:


> http://www.ebay.com/itm/15175197120...48&var=450947976025&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
> 
> Is this waterstone any good?
> 
> Also, can I use this (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e=as2&tag=mattcrem-20&linkId=N6ZZFVJOCMOLMPG7) to flatten the waterstone and also for sharpening extremely dull tools?



No experience with that brand of water stone, but the price makes me nervous. Most norton/shapton/other commonly used brands start around $80 and go up to a few hundred for combo stones of those grits, so I would be nervous about the quality. Though for $25 you wouldn't be out much if it didn't work.

I use an atoma diamond plate for flattening my stones and it works great. Different brand, but basically the same thing. It also works great for regrinding the primary bevel on my chisels and plane irons.


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## cck (May 21, 2014)

I got a Wards Master no4, I plan on getting a no7 to flatten board that won't fit on my joiner. I'm going to hold off on everything else besides sharpening stuff until I need it.


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## amckenzie4 (Apr 29, 2010)

cck said:


> I got a Wards Master no4, I plan on getting a no7 to flatten board that won't fit on my joiner. I'm going to hold off on everything else besides sharpening stuff until I need it.


I also started with a Wards Master #4. It's a decent plane, but there's a fair amount of slop in the side-to-side adjustment mechanism. Keep an eye on that, though it may have just been a problem with the particular one I have.


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## Dovetails (Jun 8, 2014)

This is an old thread. But, in my experience, an old stanley no 4 is NOT a good place for you to start for a brand new hand tool user. Without knowing how a proper plane is supposed to work, you'll never know that your old stanley has a gap between the chip breaker and blade and you're plane gets clogged, you blame your technique, and you quit and give up... 

If you have someone that can show you, or help you set up the plane, or whatever, then give it a go.... Otherwise, if you are on your own, I would suggest a woodriver no 3 or 4. The $120 or whatever is worth it. 

A $15 Stanley from the antique shop will eventually work fine, but without a lot of knowledge, skill, and tools to get it ready to go, you'll have a sub par and frustrating experience.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

So far, nobody has mentioned a woodworker's mallet. ShopFox and Wood-Is-Good make several weights and the non-slip polyurethane facing is my choice. The day will come when you MUST tap two parts together. The woodworking _Lignum vitae_ (wood species) mallets are essential.

$5 and a smooth surface will get you a sharpening set-up. Look into the fine grit grades of 3M wet&dry sandpapers as sold by Lee Valley = brand new and fresh grit surface any time you want one. Buy a bar of CrOx/AlOx and some hard cereal box cardboard will make you a honing strop better than leather glued to a stick.
Wrapped around mandrils of various sizes, I get carving sharp edges on all of my adzes and all of my crooked knives. Carving sharp.


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## amckenzie4 (Apr 29, 2010)

Robson Valley said:


> So far, nobody has mentioned a woodworker's mallet. ShopFox and Wood-Is-Good make several weights and the non-slip polyurethane facing is my choice. The day will come when you MUST tap two parts together. The woodworking _Lignum vitae_ (wood species) mallets are essential.
> 
> $5 and a smooth surface will get you a sharpening set-up. Look into the fine grit grades of 3M wet&dry sandpapers as sold by Lee Valley = brand new and fresh grit surface any time you want one. Buy a bar of CrOx/AlOx and some hard cereal box cardboard will make you a honing strop better than leather glued to a stick.
> Wrapped around mandrils of various sizes, I get carving sharp edges on all of my adzes and all of my crooked knives. Carving sharp.


Oh, yeah, mallet! That's one I forgot. I bought a cheapo panel mallet at Harbor Freight (now listed as a "soft face mallet"), and it works quite well for chiseling, knocking boards together, and it's alright for adjusting the irons in wooden planes.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

For wood carving finer that what I can do with any of my 3 adzes (Stubai Carver, Kestrel elbow and Kestrel D-adze) the 12oz ShopFox is nice. To get anything done with a 9/15, a 5/35 or a 2/30, The W.I.G 30oz lead core is a dream.

I just looked at that "SFM." That's not what I mean at all because you have to look at it, pay attention to the strike. Carving mallets, for some reason, don't miss the gouge handle. They don't slip. They have no particular strike face to pay attention to. Their footprint on the bench is minimal because they stand on end.


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## amckenzie4 (Apr 29, 2010)

Robson Valley said:


> For wood carving finer that what I can do with any of my 3 adzes (Stubai Carver, Kestrel elbow and Kestrel D-adze) the 12oz ShopFox is nice. To get anything done with a 9/15, a 5/35 or a 2/30, The W.I.G 30oz lead core is a dream.
> 
> I just looked at that "SFM." That's not what I mean at all because you have to look at it, pay attention to the strike. Carving mallets, for some reason, don't miss the gouge handle. They don't slip. They have no particular strike face to pay attention to. Their footprint on the bench is minimal because they stand on end.


Yep. Round carving mallets are a lot better for carving. But cck wasn't talking about doing carving: he was looking for a recommendation for hand tools to add to a powered furniture shop. Sure, a high quality mallet will eventually be valuable, but early on they're not really necessary.

The other thing is that for the work I do (cutting mortises, excavating dados, things like that) I've never had a need to look at the mallet. It's like using a hammer, with a shaped grip to make sure your hand more or less automatically holds it properly. I wouldn't recommend it for fine carving, but for bench work it's just fine.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Cleary, if cck has to ask questions, he has not yet been infected with T.A.S..
Tool Aquisition Syndrome. I'm OK, I can handle it.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

Robson Valley said:


> Cleary, if cck has to ask questions, he has not yet been infected with T.A.S.. Tool Aquisition Syndrome. I'm OK, I can handle it.


 Women like to buy shoes and clothes and other makeup crap that they never wear. I like to buy tools I don't need.


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## amckenzie4 (Apr 29, 2010)

Robson Valley said:


> Cleary, if cck has to ask questions, he has not yet been infected with T.A.S..
> Tool Aquisition Syndrome. I'm OK, I can handle it.


Fair.


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## timetestedtools (Aug 23, 2012)

I think before I say I buy tools I don't need, there need's to be a definition of "need". Anyone with a sickness needs their medication!


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

I take my medications just in the form of old iron. I just don't take pills. Buying tools is probably cheaper anyway.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

CCK: my apologies for setting off these wood butchers and derailing your thread.

When it came time to start to build stuff, those stupid little blister packs of screws, dowel pegs and so on are NOT cost effective. I use half a dozen lengths of #8 Robertson screws, never less than 250 at a time. 

Did a lot of aluminum sheet work, did a little math. Boxes of 500 pop-rivets are the answer.

Get some jars/plastic cans and buy nails by the pound or more.

I hope that you enjoy the hand work. There's peace in the shop.


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## ShepherdCinder (Aug 12, 2014)

I am also looking some hand tools. thanks for very helpful thread.


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