Thread: My thoughts, as a newcomer, on the hand tool vs power choice-stream of consciousness

Hi McPete,
I'm only over here from the metalworking section cause i started a thread, but now i'm here.....

As a teenager i discovered a love for woodwork, but i guess i was lazy and impatient. I wanted to do as much as i could with a machines and power tools. I then stupidly (well maybe not) destroyed my hobby by doing an apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker. Don't get me wrong, i enjoyed what i learn't and i did a huge variety of jobs but i just find i can't do anything with wood these days without it feeling like work. (hence i turned to metal work)

Anyway, despite the machinery i own and have used i'd much rather do things by hand these days. I find it gives you time to think, relax and enjoy rather than be deafened and sprayed with wood dust. Its also safer and is generally cheaper. And hand tools take up less room and annoy the neighbors less!

However if you do need something dressed, sheets cut up or timber resawn your more than welcome to take the easy way out and drop me a PM.

Cheers,
Ew

Thanks Ew- Interesting you say your choice do do the trade killed your love of the hobby... I've had the same experience with my career in electonics. Out of hours, I avoid tinkering like I used to.

Thanks for the offer- presently my problems with sheet goods especially are mostly transport (you can't fit much into a Fiat Punto!), but should I need the use of a machine, I'll look you up.

Oddly enough though, I've really been enjoying my little foray into turning. It's really fun, if a bit intimidating... having the means to only sharpen one tool (the skew) kinda limits what I can acchieve!

I find that I have a mixture of both hand tools and machine for some items. I am also into turning and the tool that gets the most use when turning is the bandsaw.

I am leaning more to hand tools these days but I still use power for the grunt work of stock prep on larger projects. I first started with only a few handtools and gradually aquired machines. A lot of small jobs are not worth the time setting a machine up. This is especially true in a small space where a lot of stuff has to be moved about. There is also a lot more pleasure (for me) making something by hand but I will be honest and say the things I make are mostly by hand.
I do woodwork because I like to so time is not too important but I am not into self punnishment either so some power tools still get used.
Regards
John

Originally Posted by McPete

. . . . . that plan in my mind for table saws, router tables, dust extraction systems doesn't seem so attractive. I just see a lot of time any money in non-productive equipment, and a means of pissing off my neighbours.

It depends where/how you get your "woody satisfaction".

Some people are product focussed while others may be process focused - and of course there are many mixes in between.

Highly product focussed people shop at Ikea. They actually don't really want the product, they really want what the product can do - they don't really get any woody satisfaction at all from using the product.

People that want some woody satisfaction without having to make anything will spend the $$$ on an expensive piece of woody furniture.

In the WW scene, product focussed people still have their eye firmly on the product so they go for quick setups and processes, they buy jigs, tools and machinery that will enable them to perform tasks and make products as fast as possible

Process focus can be either time spent on working with materials (so more hand tools and slower ways of working), or spend a lot of time setting up tools, jigs, machinery dust collection etc to perform tasks.

Highly process focussed people do things like make tools and jigs, restore old machinery, frequent junk yards, and/or mill their own timber and wait years for it to dry.

Then there are the Super process nutters who do things like make their own timber mill to mill their own timber.

Complete process nutters make the tools to make the mills for milling their own timber . . . . . .

Err . . . . . . I should probably stop here.

It's a bit like some kids that prefer to play in the cubby, while others get more satisfaction from building and modifying it.

Most of us, if not all, use power tools to some extent. Whether the tools are ours or are being used on our behalf by loggers, mills etc is a different matter. It's always been the case even back in the 'golden' days. Much of the power used then came in the form of apprentices.

My experience has taught me that power tools and hand tools have their optimal uses. Power tools however greatly facilitate the making of mistakes and bloodletting.

My thoughts....

People who ONLY use hand tools...have a lot of time to spare........
People who ONLY use power tools......have a lot of money to spare....

You need both ...each have the right time to be used....the trick is knowing which is the optimal tool for the job

I found this out this weekend when making some racks for my clamps

Originally Posted by rob streeper

My experience has taught me that power tools and hand tools have their optimal uses. Power tools however greatly facilitate the making of mistakes and bloodletting.

Like all religions woodworking can be carried to extremes.

For the most part, my power tools are inadequate or too small to be generally useful for roughing out the larger shapes in a wood carving. So, I use whatever is at hand to get that done.
I know what the carving will be, the mallet and gouge work makes me one of the process oriented tribe.
Sometimes it goes quickly, sometimes it stumbles on for weeks or months.
I am coming around to the idea that the speed is directly related to my thought process/concept of the carving result.
Seems perfectly reasonable to have 6-10 Works In Progress. They now vary in age from 4 weeks to 5+ years.
Some are on and off the bench in no time, others, I still can't decide on the finished "look."
Plans? You must be joking.

I recently had to remove a profile from some beading for a particular use in my new house. I thought of how I could do it on a router table or with a hand-held router, or on the bandsaw, or.... In the end I sat down with a chisel and clamped the timber to our outside table and did it by hand. Took a lot longer than it would have doing it on a router table, but I wasn't in a rush, and it was just so peaceful and calming. If I'm going to joint and thickness a few bits of timber for a job I'll use the buzzer. If I want to make 8 dovetail draws or boxes all at once I'll use the router and dovetail jog. If I'm cutting to a pattern I'll use the bandsaw. But I do love using old handtools to do work - it is very good for my soul...

Originally Posted by McPete

Hi All,

I got interested in woodworking as a direct result of finding a Steve Ramsey video on YT. I liked his clear cut methods, and the way he presented the hobby... he made everything look possible.

Between then and now, I've only managed a few small projects being hamstrung by a non-existent workspace (backyard, sawhorses etc) and a few life events.

Now that we're settled in our own house, and I have a single car garage as my workspace, that plan in my mind for table saws, router tables, dust extraction systems doesn't seem so attractive. I just see a lot of time any money in non-productive equipment, and a means of pissing off my neighbours.

What got me thinking was my Dad's birthday present to me last year, a Stanley No.4 Handyman, my first handplane.

An utter piece of junk, but it got me thinking. Over Christmas, I read a few books. One by a fellow called Walter Rose, "The English Carpenter". It's avalible on Google Play Books. Well worth a read.

A read a few more books on hand tool work. I just finished Chris Schwartz's "The Anarchist's Toolchest". I've had a few plays at hand tool work, and I like it a lot.

Although Mr Ramsey gave me my start, in the 9 months or so of starting out in this craft, I've gone in the opposite direction.

Have any of you had a similar change of heart in your woodworking?

I used to be a believer in the 'romance' of hand-made. I mean, who isn't a sucker for the image of the grey haired artisan crafting that masterpiece dining table with nothing but a handplane making perfect photgenic wood shavings and polished by pixie fairy dust in a workshop high in the Swiss alps that would make a great backdrop for a new Sound of Music movie? But two experiences showed the folly of my ways.

First was seeing a Lamborghini Diablo being rebuilt in a workshop. Short of a Trabant, I have never seen such appalling workmanship. It featured the worst welds I've ever seen - uneven with splotches everywhere, panel gaps that would fit a Mack truck and worse still, the left side of the body slightly higher than the right side. The technician fixing the car was virtually tearing his hair out because the tolerances on the engine were so wide, that even Lamborghini's own genuine spare parts wouldn't fit - he had to get parts custom made at a local fitter and turner workshop. Yes, I have heard people say, the Diablo is the last of the totally handbuild Lambos. But frankly I don't care how much people spend on buying a car, but at $650K+ I would expect perfection, handmade or otherwise.

The second was seeing a handmade wristwatch made by one of the worlds finest watchmakers. I will not name the watchmaker, but suffice to say that amongst the watch nuts, he is renowned as one of the best (if not the best) in the world - an average commission (yes, it is a commission) is over $100K and he is known as one of the few watchmakers who can turn a metal blank into a complete watch - movement, case, dial, even screws completely in-house and by hand. Unfortunately, as fine as the watch was, the dialwork was the worst I have seen on a fine wristwatch with uneven engine-turning and awfully engraved calligraphy and uneven ink application. I got into quite a heated argument with some serious watch collectors who defended on the basis that the watch was completely hand made. My argument was that people were too obsessed with process and that the end result is much more important.

Make no mistake. I believe having good hand skills is important - it forms the foundation of our skills as woodworkers. But don't get too obsessed with process or be seduced by the 'romance' of handmade. Afterall, how many people would sit at a fine dining table and ask whether the table flatness was achived by a handplane or a planer/thicknesser machine?

I have almost only hand tools as a result of space but I'm very happy that I've been forced down this path. Namely - noise and safety. I honestly wouldn't trust myself with a circular saw, planer etc.

The only thing I find annoying (I consider myself a novice) is the learning curve. Sharpening has not come naturally to me and it takes me forever to get a just acceptable edge on chisels and planes. It then took me a while to figure out how to properly set up my plane. I also built a shooting board but it doesn't work all that fantastic and I already want to build another one. The point I'm trying to make is that I was surprised with the amount of time you spend not actually working with the timber...

I don't entirely agree with the higher cost of power tools. Of course you CAN spend a lot more but I think there are some machines that can do the jobs of 5 or 10 hand tools (a router particularly comes to mind).

If I was to start out again, some things I'd ask myself are:
- How much space do I have?
- How fast do I want to be able to make something?
- Will I be using already dressed stock or not?
- Do I actually have power available?

The debate or discussion over the hand tool power tool divide is based on the false premise that there is any difference between them. All tools are built to extend human capability in some form or other. They all use the laws of physics to amplify what we can do. Some use an axillary power source and some do not. I like tools. I like the look of them, the feel of them and the use of them. If they use electricity and make my life easier, then good. If they do not, then good. If have some lovely Veritas saws and a nice table saw. Asking me to chose between them is like asking me which leg is my favourite. On any particular day, depending on my mood and the task at hand I will happily use a powered tool or a hand tool with equal glee.

Now if I was earning my $$$ from my hobby then I would build a beautiful storage cabinet for my hand tools. The cabinet would have glass front so I could see them often as I looked up from my work. That is why I do not want to turn my hobby into my job.