Thread: Hand tools for beginners - where to buy?

While at the markets look for loose plane blades with the chip breakers. You may want to have ago making a plane. Or look for a badly damaged timber plane with cutter and chip breaker intact. Hurl the body and use the rest.

You will find threads on this site and elsewhere about plane making. After the first one it's pretty easy and very satisfying.

Welcome mate

Woodworking is better than drinking/homebrew! lol!

Not so long ago I was a nooby to woodworking, I was incredibly lucky to inherit my late fathers hand tools but there is no shame in starting off with heading down to Bunnings and picking up some basic tools.

By the sounds you are looking to go purist hand tool route and I applaud people who have the patients to mill wood by hand.

Have a look at Richard Vaughns introductory woodworking course - 7 weeks, he teaches getting the basics of using hand tools right first time! He also gives you a list of tools to get you started.

I wish someone would have given me some guidance on what to get first, so hear are my thoughts

3 chiesels - two pairing (one wide, one narrowish) - and one mortising say 1/4 inch. I went to Carbatec and purchased Japanese, they were actually not that expensive.
1 Japanese pull saw - they are pretty cheap and the blades are cheap to replace
1 Sharpening stone - DMT Duo wet stone fine.course - (I went Jap stones but they are a bugger to keep flat) Learn how to sharpen - very important.
1 Stanley sharpening jig - cheap, easy to use.
1 Fret saw - very handy
1 No 4 Stanley Jack Plane - the most used hand tool - $30-$100 ebay, markets, tading post - and if you can find a good No 7 Jointer plane then even better - PM me for the Frank Klausz hand tool DVD, it is really good for people getting started.
1 Rip saw - Irwin Bunnings, ebay, markets

Total Budget - $500 approx

Jigs

Bench Hook - A must
Shooting board - A must

A bench - Finewoodworking.com "Getting started in Woodworking series" their bench is really easy to build and cheap!

As you progress you might want to start buying power tools, I went the combination of both! I got a cheap GMC curcular saw, I upgraded the blade for ripping, a cheapy router and eventually a small home planer from Carbatec.

These tools made the process of milling stock down to usable sizes a lot faster and less frustrating. I then went on to get a second hand table saw and then band saw......all the while I still love using my hand tools but I see the value in using both.

I live in Brisbane too, so always happy to help spmeone starting out!

Cheers

Bryan

Thanks Bryan, that gives me a lot to think about

No probs!

As a nooby milling wood to size and getting things flat and square was my biggest frustration.

Once you have things flat and square the fun part is learning the joinery and that is where your hand tools come in to play .

If I started out again the first thing I would buy is a 6' (pref an 8") jointer, you can pick cheap ones up. once again the ability to have a flat face and a square edge to start with makes life easier.

you can get buy with cheaper hand tools go the jointer!

Bryan

Hi Again Sean,
There is a Japanese Chap & His Wife, sell 2nd. Hand Tools from Ocean Grove, Vic.
I had a look, but could not find them. They have Chisels, Saws, Adzes, Hammers & so on.
I would give the Saws a miss, as I went through most of what the had, picked one, tried it out at home, BLUNT. Should have known better, " Buyer beware ".
Chisels looked good, needed sharpening of course.
I have to admit I'm not much good at this on an ordinary Stone, but, The Ezy Lap " Stone " I find a bit better.
Actually I sharpen my Hand Chisels on a White Wheel, then I use the Stitched Cloth Wheel on my Grinder with Green Rouge, & they come up pretty Good.

A good cheap honing option is diamond paste on mdf. The cost of sharpening systems can be a bit disheartening when you're on a tight budget. The stuff off ebay is under $30 and offers a good range of grits. Not cheap but worth every cent for ease of use is the veritas mk2 honing guide. Sharpening freehand isnt rocket science but a honing guide provides consistant results.

Japanese saws are great and make sawing a straight line really easy but the entry level ones go blunt quickly in hardwood. In pine they're absolute magic. A ryoba is a nice starter. Email Stu, he'll put you on the right path.

If you intend to get high end hand tools then your home brew set up will have to be worth a couple of grand at least. Have a look on line at CARBA-TEC - Woodworking Tools and Woodworking Machines

They have an extensive range of all hand tools (and machinery) from economy to advanced. Start of with the economy stuff as in 12 months time you might want to go with the dedicated machinery route.

Originally Posted by Pariss

Start of with the economy stuff as in 12 months time you might want to go with the dedicated machinery route.

I would argue that there may be a danger of the former resulting in the latter. If you buy cheap nasty hand tools, you'll quickly get frustrated, and you'll end up buying machinery because "hand tools are useless."

I'm not saying you need to buy top-end stuff (I sure haven't) but be very wary of most cheap, new tools: many just aren't fit for purpose and are a total waste of money.

Originally Posted by NZStu

I'm not saying you need to buy top-end stuff (I sure haven't) but be very wary of most cheap, new tools: many just aren't fit for purpose and are a total waste of money.

Yep. I started 2 months ago and have a nice little pile of cheap tools that don't work. A couple of spokeshaves, mini carving scrapers, a chisel set etc., but have also bought a few cheap but pretty decent hand-tools like the Groz #4 Smoothing Plane from Carbatec, (needs tuning & sharpening before use) and their wood + brass finger plane. Keeps an edge surprisingly well.
A lot of the cheaper clamps aren't worth s..t, either, I've found.

For a lot of the more common tools like a GP handsaw, backsaw etc, Stanley are fairly good quality and a low price.

Originally Posted by Hermit

Ha. I gave up home brewing (and drinking) a little while ago and replaced it with woodworking. Much more satisfying. I kept my brewing gear, though. Been meaning to find it a new home.

I'm starting to think that this may be a trend, I just recently dabbled in homebrewing, I haven't given up yet but I am waiting for the beer to mature a bit and thought woodworking would be a good thing to fill the weekends in until then. Strange

Originally Posted by Irvs

I'm starting to think that this may be a trend, I just recently dabbled in homebrewing, I haven't given up yet but I am waiting for the beer to mature a bit and thought woodworking would be a good thing to fill the weekends in until then. Strange

If you were closer I could pass the remains of my gear on to you. Capper, hundreds of caps, even unused Lager brew kits.

P.S. I know Parkdale well, was born in Chelsea and my grandmother lived in Parkdale. Bet it's changed in the 35 or so years since I was last there

Oh, yeah, back on topic, I meant to add that a Dremel and attachments is a cheap way to get started. My collection includes an edge planer, (2" capacity), a plunge router, a router/shaper table, jigsaw, 1 1/2" circular saw, (for what it's worth), drill press, vice/clamp bench.
From here, I figure it's easy to buy 'real' tools one by one and meantime I can learn.
Without it I'd still be sitting here scratching my head wondering how to get my first box finished, instead of being on the 5th or 6th.