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  1. #1
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    Default Tools you love the most (gift ideas for milestone birthday)

    Heya,

    I'm fast approaching a milestone birthday, and my wonderful friends, family, and loved ones are asking (via my wife) what I might want. This is a premium opportunity to acquire tools that wouldn't buy normally.

    Have at it at - what would be on your list?

    Since it's a milestone, I'm thinking 'keep forever' tools. Power tools are out. I'm a hybrid guy, and have the big stuff I need. I'm finding that I want more and better hand tools for finessing things. Especially for furniture joinery and also finer work, like little hardwood boxes, and maybe kumiko later.

    Here's my starter list:
    • Henry Eckert Low Angle Jack. You might have seen I grabbed a stanley #62 recently, but returned it because it wasn't quite right. The HE should be very, very right! Also a nice keepsake, since these are made not far from where I grew up in SA. I might even take a trip to do the half day sharpening workshop when borders open again.
    • Medium shoulder plane. The Lie Nielsen looks grand.
    • Medium router plane. Veritas?
    • Bridge City Chopstick Master. It's frivolous and silly - perfect as a gift. As it turns good chopsticks are hard to buy, and comes a great mini block plane. So it's not all that silly, really.
    • Fret saw. What's good?
    • Paolini pocket rule.
    • Nice winding sticks. I know... I can just use angle iron, levels, or some scrap. But it's nice to have nice things sometimes.


    I quite like learning too. I want to do the Bern Chandley class one day. Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking and Victoria School of Woodcraft also have some nice options.

    What are some tools things you've been given and have loved?

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  3. #2
    Join Date
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    Default

    Gah, this probably should be over in the Hand Tools forum. With this other almost identical thread from The Spin Doctor!
    Sorry about that!

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
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    Quote Originally Posted by rogerwilco View Post
    Heya,

    I'm fast approaching a milestone birthday, and my wonderful friends, family, and loved ones are asking (via my wife) what I might want. This is a premium opportunity to acquire tools that wouldn't buy normally.

    Have at it at - what would be on your list?

    Since it's a milestone, I'm thinking 'keep forever' tools. Power tools are out. I'm a hybrid guy, and have the big stuff I need. I'm finding that I want more and better hand tools for finessing things. Especially for furniture joinery and also finer work, like little hardwood boxes, and maybe kumiko later.

    Here's my starter list:
    • Henry Eckert Low Angle Jack. You might have seen I grabbed a stanley #62 recently, but returned it because it wasn't quite right. The HE should be very, very right! Also a nice keepsake, since these are made not far from where I grew up in SA. I might even take a trip to do the half day sharpening workshop when borders open again.
    • Medium shoulder plane. The Lie Nielsen looks grand.
    • Medium router plane. Veritas?
    • Bridge City Chopstick Master. It's frivolous and silly - perfect as a gift. As it turns good chopsticks are hard to buy, and comes a great mini block plane. So it's not all that silly, really.
    • Fret saw. What's good?
    • Paolini pocket rule.
    • Nice winding sticks. I know... I can just use angle iron, levels, or some scrap. But it's nice to have nice things sometimes.


    I quite like learning too. I want to do the Bern Chandley class one day. Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking and Victoria School of Woodcraft also have some nice options.

    What are some tools things you've been given and have loved?
    For Fret saw, the knew concepts ones are hard to beat. Really nice to use.

    For shoulder plane, i just went with the Luban. For the amount of use it gets i couldn't justify going premium but it's still be well made.

    Veritas router plane. Awesome, especially if you have a couple of different sized blades with it

    LAJ. Never tried HE but loving my Veritas one. The build quality is excellent. Blade size is identical to their BU jointer and BU smoother so different angled blades can be swapped between them.

  5. #4
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    For Fret saw, the knew concepts ones are hard to beat. Really nice to use.
    I've heard the same. Thanks for confirming!

    For shoulder plane, i just went with the Luban. For the amount of use it gets i couldn't justify going premium but it's still be well made.
    Agree. If it were my money, I'd go for the Luban. I might have be overestimating how much I'll use this. I do prefer mortice and tenons, and I cut the tenons with a dado set on the TS. On the last project i really wanted to fine tune and crisp-up those shoulders to get perfect and clean joints. A little bit tricky to get this perfect straight off the saw.

    Veritas router plane. Awesome, especially if you have a couple of different sized blades with it
    Yep. This seems like a tool that would be nice to buy right, buy once. Trim router and a pairing chisel probably gets you there a lot of times, but I do think it'd be hard to beat the a router plan for fine tuning.

    LAJ. Never tried HE but loving my Veritas one. The build quality is excellent. Blade size is identical to their BU jointer and BU smoother so different angled blades can be swapped between them.
    Everyone loves the Veritas. I'd buy one, except they're impossible to buy right now. Later, I might grab a Veritas BU smoother. Still learning the ropes on my Stanley #4 which is doing fine for now.

  6. #5
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    Oct 2018
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    Hi RW. I find that my router plane (a record) is indispensable and once you get one you find many uses for it (including cleaning up tenon cheeks). I have long lusted after the Knew concepts coping saw.....one day

  7. #6
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    ...once you get one you find many uses for it (including cleaning up tenon cheeks)
    Absolutely. The main uses I have in mind are tenon cheeks, and rebates/recesses for various hardware. I'm not into inlays, but I bet it's a good tool for that too!

  8. #7
    Scribbly Gum's Avatar
    Scribbly Gum is offline When the student is ready, the Teacher will appear
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    If you don't have a set of dovetail chisels, Blue Spruce are hard to beat.
    They are made to order so there is a bit of a wait.
    Tom
    .... some old things are lovely
    Warm still with the life of forgotten men who made them ........................D.H. Lawrence
    https://thevillagewoodworker.blogspot.com/

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
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    Brisbane
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    Have a look at the Blue Spruce ultimate coping saw with fret blade adapter. It's luuuurvely. I don't even use my coping saw much and I still want one.

  10. #9
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    Mar 2010
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    US
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    I'd find a nice vintage set of chisels from England and import them. Not like later marples, etc, but older chisels that are well finished (earlier marples, ward, i. sorby, etc).

    I had mostly premium tools when I started, and those are mostly gone now in favor of good vintage versions (and not for money reasons at all). Some of the good vintage stuff is getting steep, but I'd still rather have it.

  11. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scribbly Gum View Post
    If you don't have a set of dovetail chisels, Blue Spruce are hard to beat.
    They are made to order so there is a bit of a wait.
    Tom
    Ermagerd. That looks amazing. This is the kind of tool to that urges people to find dovetails where there ought not be dovetails, right?

  12. #11
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    Victoria
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    I got a Veritas plough plane for my 40th, don’t use it a lot but I smile when I do. Would have got a Veritas router plane had I not already had a Stanley, so useful. With chisels you can get them one by one over time as needed, for me it would be hard to justify (or hide as the case may be !) picking up a $400 plane + extra blades outside of special occasion.

    The Veritas low angle really is a corker of a plane too. The blade swapping thing is over-stated in my opinion, it’s more of a bonus than a reason to purchase.
    You boys like Mexico ?

  13. #12
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    I picked up a secondhand one of these a while ago, and is one of my favourite planes to use.
    I find a reason to put a chamfer on nearly everything .

    Tachibana Mentori Kanna - Aogami (Blue Paper Steel) | Japanese Tools Australia

  14. #13
    Scribbly Gum's Avatar
    Scribbly Gum is offline When the student is ready, the Teacher will appear
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    Quote Originally Posted by rogerwilco View Post
    Ermagerd. That looks amazing. This is the kind of tool to that urges people to find dovetails where there ought not be dovetails, right?
    Hahaha - yes - brings to mind that old saying
    ".....when all you've got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail....."

    Here you go:

    20210923_144336.jpg
    .... some old things are lovely
    Warm still with the life of forgotten men who made them ........................D.H. Lawrence
    https://thevillagewoodworker.blogspot.com/

  15. #14
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    McBride BC Canada
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    Good friend is a manufacturing jeweler. I like to use stones, metals and shell inlay in my wood carvings.
    She uses a Knew Concepts fret saw, the one with the rotating blade. I bought one.
    They really are as precise as everybody claims.

  16. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by rogerwilco View Post
    Heya,

    I'm fast approaching a milestone birthday, and my wonderful friends, family, and loved ones are asking (via my wife) what I might want. This is a premium opportunity to acquire tools that wouldn't buy normally.

    Have at it at - what would be on your list?

    What are some tools things you've been given and have loved?
    not so much a tool given to me,
    one day I plan to "replace" my LN #9 with a Veritas shooting plane (Veritas's version of the Stanley #51)

    to which you might add a
    shooting board and a plane track
    regards from Alberta, Canada

    ian

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