Selecting and Using Hand Tools

Hand tools and the skill to use them properly are essential to precision woodworking. Hand tools range from a simple ruler to complex planes, and with a well-chosen complement it is possible to accomplish any task in woodworking. This collection of articles from Fine Woodworking covers all you need to know about hand tools, from choosing the right ones for the job, to marking and measuring, using chisels, sharpening edge tools and saws, and essential hand-tool techniques.

Introduction

Section 1: Buying Tools
Four Tools You Shouldnt Overlook
Shop on the Go
How to Buy Used Hand Tools
Buying the Best

Section 2: Essential Techniques
Four-squaring with Hand Tools
Bench Chisel Techniques
Backsaw Workshop
Accurate Joinery Starts with a Marking Knife
Hammers and Mallets

Section 3: Marking and Measuring Tools
A Basic Layout Kit
The Combination Square: A Perfect Name for a Near Perfect Tool
Shopmade Squares
Shopmade Marking Gauge
Scratch Awl from Scrap
Story Sticks Leave Little Room for Error

Section 4: Edge Tools
Three Everyday Chisels
Japanese Chisels

Section 5: Handsaws
Choosing and Using Japanese Handsaws
Soup up a Dovetail Saw
Sharpening Handsaws
The Backsaw Makes a Comeback
Build a Bowsaw

Section 6: Shaping Tools
Simple Tools Can Reproduce Most Moldings
Files, Rasps and Rifflers
Sanding Fids

Section 7: Modifying Tools
Making Your Own Tools
Get a Grip on Your Tools
Chisel Handles to Order

I have about 100 times more money invested in machines than in hand tools, but its the hand tools I cherish most. Unlike a machine, a well-tuned hand plane or razor sharp chisel allows me to engage with wood in a personal, satisfying way. Its like driving a car vs. taking a walk. One method gets you there faster, but the latter allows you to see every ripple in the landscape.

Because of our fast-paced lives, we are thankful for machines; otherwise we would not do as many projects promised to our family or to our clients. But at some point all woodworking requires the use of some hand tools. Although you may not think of them as such, a ruler, a marking knife and a square are hand tools that are essential for layout as well as for machine setup. Knowing how to choose and use these tools will make you a better woodworker.

There are times when a hand plane or chisel comes in handy, even if you work mostly with machines. Nothing pares an oversized tenon as accurately as a fine swipe across its cheek with a shoulder plane. To shape curvy parts like a ball-and-claw foot, you will need files, rasps and rifflers.

To do honest period work, you must cut your dovetails by hand. A fine-tooth saw and chisel will have to be employed and eventually sharpened to continue working. For certain details, like a narrow bead with a fine quirk or groove, you are best off making your own simple tool, a scratch stock.

These and other hand-tool articles are excerpted here from the pages of Fine Woodworking magazine. Once you start using more of these tools, you will see your work reach a higher level of refinement and realize that the extra time spent doing hand work is well worth every minute.

Anatole Burkin, editor
Fine Woodworking