Thread: 100 tools

For anyone not familiar with Sloyd knives, this is what I'm talking about.

Laminated Steel Sloyd Knives by Mora of Sweden



Toby

Well, now we're opening up a real can of worms. There are of course a heap of things that are not regarded as ww tools, but which are absolutely necessary to have on hand. I've just made a list from the two drawers that I have allocated for the "most used" things in my barn. These are the top two drawers under the bench, and therefore easiest to get get to:

Dust mask
Gloves
Loupe/Magnifier
Camellia Oil
Scissors
Pliers
Calculator
Clutch Pencil (and leads)
Pencil eraser
Small LED torch
Allen Keys
A few spanners
Bulldog clips
Compass/Dividers
Non-slip mat
Small clip top plastic bags
Masking tape
Gaff tape
Circle gauge
Sanding block/s
Glue/s ("you can't always get what you want")
Eye protection

and what about a small(ish) supply of your favourite abrasives, in case they aren't unavailable (particularly if you use very fine grits). You could always mail order some more in, but in the first instance it might be good to have some on hand.

Personally, I couldn't be without an ROS sander (and therefore Ear muffs), even if it meant just using the household vac or using it outside.

Actually, I think I'd include the ear muffs anyway - they're the best reason excuse ever for selective hearing.....

FF, together with the magnifier I need a magnet to find the small bits I've dropped.
Cheers,
Jim

Didn't put it in because of space issues, but there's one in the drawer

I've sat down to write a reply to this more than twice, we'll see if I get it done this time.

Firstly on Krenov and his tool kit. I've read a bit of his writing and that of his protégés. He was quite a fan of the bandsaw and the workshop at the Inside Passage School of Fine Woodworking (which was established and has a teaching methodology based on Krenov's philosophies) has a well-equipped machine shop.

Krenov's tools as pictured reflect the areas he did high frequency handwork in; fit and finish. Dimensioning of stock and much shaping were done by machine. He then moved to the items in his tool kit that have been shown. So, that's by no means his full kit of tools and was not put together to allow a full set of operations independently. It was a set for a shared facility where many of the low frequency of use items were held in common.

I quite like the set of tools you've posted. I'd add a few:

Mortise guage (cutting): others have mentioned this and I use one a lot, whether for fine work or other more rough applications I like to have it close at hand.
A second sliding bevel: semantic maybe but if there is one odd angle there will always be a second one that needs to be cut, jumping between angles is frustrating and introduces inaccuracies, I favor a 7" size.
A 10" brace, the 14" is good for big work but the 10" gives control in small applications.
Plug cutter bits, 1/2" and 3/4" if you use a screw and want to sink it and cover it these do the job.
Cabinet scraper kit and carbide burnisher rod with handle. I avoid sandpaper and these scrapers are an important part of that. The burnisher rod can, if you get the right one, double as a pin for draw boring.
Dowel plate: commercial dowel is often out of round or not available in the timber or dimensions you need.
Coping saw and tube of blades: sure you may stick to straight lines but if you want to make a handle or cut an opening this will save you.
Router plane: so useful! Smoothing hollows for hardware or preparing other indents this is a fantastic tool.
Spoke shaves, one flat-bottomed and one convex. Indispensable, shaping legs and arms giving a bit of shape to edges.
Medium block plane: end grain work and trimming up cabinets.
Small wood carvers knife: make your own drawer pulls or knobs or just for shaping inside edges of joints, I wouldn't be without it.
Tack hammer, for brads
Claw hammer.
Nail puller pliers.

I'll add more comments later.

Horaldic

The thread has gotten pretty elaborate, but have files gotten any love in here?

I don't know where I'd be without files on hand for final finish-shaping before sanding.

There are two books that come to mind that make useful reading:

The Tool Chest of Benjamin Seaton ...



"The Anarchist's Tool Chest" by Christopher Schwarz

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LogUUF3qXJg]Inside The Anarchist's Tool Chest DVD Trailer - YouTube[/ame]

Now I will comment on the chisels (just because they are easy). This is just an example of many such changes that can be made with experience and when you know what you plan to do with the tools ..

Chisels
Bench – 6, 10, 13, 16, 20, 26
o/c Gouges – 8, 18, 28
Mortice– 6, 9, 12, 14
Skews – (left & right) 10
Paring – 3, 20, 40

Too many bench chisels since they are close in size. I'd have 3, 6, 9, and 18 as long as they have minimal lands (since they then double as dovetail chisels). 3 is too small for a paring chisel. I'd have a 25 and 37 in paring chisels.

1 mortice chisel is all that is needed, a 6. If you are going to build big stuff, then get a 9 as well.

1 fishtail in 12mm will take the place of all the skews.

Are you going to use gouges, or are these dreams?

So, 8 chisels replace 18 of yours.

This is fun

Regards from Perth

Derek

Matt ... just to be clear ... your not looking for this? http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...l-of-tools.gif


then three words ... Don't Start Carving: http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...e3/Chisels.jpg


(they're not mine!)


btw: no mention of woodie planes yet, was there? - there was ... just ignore me

Paul.

Originally Posted by derekcohen

......1 mortice chisel is all that is needed, a 6. If you are going to build big stuff, then get a 9 as well.

Derek, some good points, but I take issue with your one & only tenon size. I make lots of 3/8" tenons as well as smaller thicknesses. I find 1/4" tenons to be flimsy-looking things & prefer 5/16" (whatever that is in metric, too lazy (tired) to do the conversion) in stock around 20mm thick, though I know 6mm is closer to the 1/3rd-of-stock-thickness thumb-rule. It's just a matter of appearance, I'm sure there is little difference, structurally, but it does allow you to have another chisel size.......

Of course you can chop mortises with BE chisels at a pinch, & I did, for too many years, but they aren't the best tool for the job, as you very quickly discover.

Cheers,

I left the chisels alone, as my choices would have been quite different and perhaps esoteric. This is where the scale of your work can play a significant role. However, the gates are open!

We can all agree on the fishtail instead of the skews so let's go from there.

First of all I'd want a slick, 3" is a good size. Fantastic for working big tenons and smoothing the sides of mortises and if you swap handle sizes surprisingly efficient in other case work. If you are building your bench by hand or putting up a wooden structure without power tools you'll grow to love it.

2 1/2" long-handled roughing gouge I love mine, it doubles for a scorp or a gutter adze in your travelling kit as it is more space efficient. Once you move in properly you can send for these.

Next the mortise chisels. I'm looking at mine and wondering which I'd take first - a hard decision. I'd want 1/2" and 1/4" but if I could find space for my 1" I'd try and fit it in.

Now, let's move on to the bench chisels. 1/4", 1/2", 3/4" and 1" go in first. Then it gets a bit harder, there are several contenders but I'd grab a larger size, 1 1/2" is useful.

Hmm, and smaller gouges, well I'd want two, or three. 1/2" and 3/4" plus something finer for a bit of finer decorative work, maybe a 1/4".

I'd only bother with one paring chisel, the 1".

Pretty esoteric but that'd be how I'd go.

Horaldic

Originally Posted by pmcgee

Matt ... just to be clear ... your not looking for this? http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...l-of-tools.gif

That's just compulsive hording.

There is no rhyme or reason to that behavior, since it isn't being conducted with any objective to govern it. It's always just "buy more, buy more, buy more perhaps if I buy one more, that will finally be the one that has the magical powers I've been looking for!!"

Obsessive collecting and hording 'gear' takes massive amounts of energy and time; time that's probably better spent engaging in the hobby itself, rather than spent engaged in studying, hunting and acquiring more and more gear.

Just to be clear, I'm not speaking from any sort of high horse or ivory tower here. I'm a reformed 'collector' a reformed 'horder' who once upon a time used to engage in that same nonsense. I had my cathartic moment about 10 years ago and promptly set out to change my ways, but it seems that most never do.

Also worth pointing out- the internet forum medium is an incredible resource for a lot of things. It's tremendously good at delivering information, but often times, is a very poor source of 'knowledge'.

There is a lot of irrelevant theorizing made out to seem critically important that goes on in forums. This can be influential, when people see large groups of people seemingly 'agreeing' that one must precisely use model XYZ in order to achieve outcome ABC, lest they be working from a terrible disadvantage.

Forums seem to be magnets for folks of the academician/theorist personality type, which is good for theories, but isn't always good for reliable knowledge. This forum doesn't seem to suffer from this phenomenon too badly, but other forums are intolerable, in this regard. Either way, any forum you participate in, you should be aware of this and take what you read with a grain of salt.

I believe "Gear Addiction" is a hugely counter-productive hang-up that can prevent the acquisition of skill. You see it in every hobby.

Guitarists who suck at playing guitar but own 50 of them, or commission a $11,000 instrument to play their 4 chords ...
Golfers who suck at playing golf but have $30,000 set of Honmas...
Shooters who couldn't hit the broadside of a barn, but own 200 firearms...
Woodworkers who suck at woodworking but have elaborate shops, richly outfitted with every tool imaginable, most of which they hardly know how to effectively use...

When you see what early woodworkers were able to make with what little they had, its a pretty good reminder that skill trumps all, and most of the tools we get hung up on aren't much more than timesavers.[/QUOTE]






Making Chips,
Thank your lucky stars there are people with 50 guitars and want to commission more. All these guitars being made have to go some place.

I go to a bass forum quite a bit and can't belive the turnover of basses and gear. I mean very good stuff that could handle all your requirments the rest of your life. Since the dollar has been strong it's been a free for all. This is a good time to buy a used bass in Oz.

Toby, I left a knife like that behind in the UK when we last were there. My father worked for a Swedish paper mill and they all had one to cut the paper (thin board really) off the rollers when there was a break etc. It held an edge like nothing I've seen but I gave it to a friend rather than get held up in customs. Still regret it.
Cheers,
Jim