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Woodworking with old hand tools.

Started by Dave Shepard, February 06, 2007, 08:40:03 PM

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Dave Shepard

I was wondering if anybody here does any woodworking using only old hand tools? I have collected a bunch of antique tools to use in timber framing and I've been messing around in the shop building a few things with them lately. I have been looking for books on how to build things with just hand tools, but every book I pick up they seem to want you to have a full cabinet shop just to think about making anything. And routers, what's with the routers? You can't even cut a 2"x unless you have at least two routers in the toolbox according to these guys. Every time I've used a router I feel like I have my head in a giant pencil sharpener. My hand planes don't make any dust and just a whisper as they put a perfect chamfer on the edge of the board. If anybody knows of any good books on the subject I would greatly appreciate it.


Dave
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

DanG

Dave, look for some of Roy Underhill's books.  Not only do they contain a lot of info about old tools and techniques, but they're entertaining reading, too.
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

Dave Shepard

Thanks DanG, I'll look for Roy's books.


Dave
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

low_48

Also John Alexander does a great job with chair making. He wrote a book for Tauton Press a long time ago, "Build a Chair From a Tree". He now has a video to go along with that. He has a good website with plans for a shaving horse (No DanG it is not something done before the Kentucky Derby) :D, a taper scraper for chair leg holes, etc..... There are also some good books out there on rustic furniture (sticks). For some reason I really enjoy that. I bought a 5/8" tenon cutter from Lee Valley. So it's just cut some sticks, drill holes and tenons, you have a chair. Great Fun!

Murf

I do some work with just the old tools passed on to me. Sure makes it easy to make 'rustic' looking pieces.  :D

Also gives you a real appreciation for the fellas that earned their keep with them too.  ::)

There's no where to plug a battery in to a one of them, and they're real work at times, but worth every bit of it.

It took me years to get the hang of them, and the knowledge didn't come from a book either, in fact one of my teachers is still around, I'll be at his birthday party next weekend, he turns 101 next week.  :o

And he plans on driving himself to the party!!!  :o
If you're going to break a law..... make sure it's Murphy's Law.

SwampDonkey

Them old time cabinet makers didn't live as long around here murf.   :( No one in my family made stuff from wood that I can recall. Only an old uncle of mother's came close, but he never made furniture that I can recall. He was a dobber. Instead of replacing something with new, like a whole new paint job, he'd dob paint on the pealed sections.  ;)  :D Other than building houses and barns, I'm the only one making a stab at making furniture once in awhile.  ;)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Dave Shepard

Murf, just make sure your friend has a designated driver for the ride home ;) That's great to hear of someone doing so well at that age. My neighbor is still farming at 90, wouldn't think of "retiring". I purchased a toolbox last year that had belonged to a cabinet maker that was working in the early 1900's. I was planing a piece of oak last night and for fun I picked out a big Seargent No. 8 and ran it down the board. It cut like butter. I was told that none of these tools had been used in at least 50 years! (I purchased them from the mans nephew, who is 89) They are some of my most prized tools.


Dave
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

solodan

Roy Underhill's  books are great. His TV show is great  as well.  Look for any inf on Don Webber or Google "bodgers" or "green woodworking"

sawguy21

My dad had a lot of the old tools and I enjoyed watching him work with them. He had power tools but preferred a good Stanley plane or a brace and bit. My nephew has a dovetail joint pine desk dad built in high school in the early thirties. That desk has seen a lot of household moves and hard use yet is still quite solid.
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

TW

I do not use "only old hand tools" but they get used a bit. I do mostly repairs and what is needed so I cannot invest much money in furnituremaking tools. My furnituremaking tools are for a big part old handtools bought as junk at fleamarkets and auctions and some inherited and even some found at the dump. Many of them are more than 100 years old. I am trying to get machine tools when money allows but it will be good to have the old ones as backup.

Then the house carpentry tools are a different matter. They earn some money now and then and are consequently allowed to cost a little. Of cause there are some secondhand among them too.

Dave Shepard

I went to my local bookstore to look for some books on working with hand tools, especially a Roy Underhill book. No luck. :( They didn't have anything on working with hand tools. They did have a couple of books about handtools that were very nice. Everything was for powertools. I am not against powertools, but I don't have any and don't have the money to buy any right now. I do have a ton of old cabinet makers tools that I would like to learn how to use. Here is a partial listing of books they did have:

"Throwing away your grandads tools: 3 easy steps to becoming an electron junky"
"How to make noise and fine airborne dust particles with your powertools"
"Spending your lottery winnings to build a $15 box you may or may not show your friends"
"How to fit a tablesaw, jointer, and bandsaw into your hall closet"
"Wood: understanding it and how to come to come to terms with the fact that you probably are never going to build anything that isn't going to warp or twist the next time the temperature changes, and that you should probably take up knitting"

I guess I will have to order the Underhill books online. I do like to support the local stores though.


Dave
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

SwampDonkey

Lee Valley may have something. They even sell hand tools, so that's what makes me think they have some books on them as well.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Dodgy Loner

Quote from: Dave Shepard on August 17, 2007, 09:01:54 PM
"Throwing away your grandads tools: 3 easy steps to becoming an electron junky"
"How to make noise and fine airborne dust particles with your powertools"
"Spending your lottery winnings to build a $15 box you may or may not show your friends"
"How to fit a tablesaw, jointer, and bandsaw into your hall closet"
"Wood: understanding it and how to come to come to terms with the fact that you probably are never going to build anything that isn't going to warp or twist the next time the temperature changes, and that you should probably take up knitting"

:D :D :D :D :D

Let me cast my vote for Roy Underhill.  I have three of his books - The Woodwright's Shop, The Woodwright's Companion, and The Woodwright's Workbook.  They're all fantastic.
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

leweee

just another beaver with a chainsaw &  it's never so bad that it couldn't get worse.

solodan

And, The Woodwright's Eclectic Workshop is another great one :)

Dave Shepard

I would like to learn how to hand cut dovetail joints to make a small box, or a carryall for tools, which of Underhills books would be best for this? The MA library system has a bunch of his books and I can order them into my local library, that way I can check them out to see which ones I want to buy. Thanks.


Dave
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

thedeeredude

Dave, I'm a hand tool junky.  I went to an antique tool dealer a couple weeks ago and got a Sargent 410 smoother, a stanley 220 block with a wooden knob, a "eggbeater" drill, a brace and a Stanley sweetheart carpenters hammer.  And Ill be going back again for Christmas presents ;D   I cant really do much hand tool work until I have a good workbench though. 

MemphisLogger

This is the best page of collected handtool links on the web . . .

Handtool Knowledge
Scott Banbury, Urban logger since 2002--Custom Woodworker since 1990. Running a Woodmizer LT-30, a flock of Huskies and a herd of Toy 4x4s Midtown Logging and Lumber Company at www.scottbanbury.com

Dodgy Loner

Quote from: Dave Shepard on August 19, 2007, 12:05:46 AM
I would like to learn how to hand cut dovetail joints to make a small box, or a carryall for tools, which of Underhills books would be best for this? The MA library system has a bunch of his books and I can order them into my local library, that way I can check them out to see which ones I want to buy. Thanks.


Dave

I believe The Woodwright's Shop and The Woodwright's Workbook both have chapters about dovetailing by hand.  The Woodwright's Shop is more in-depth.  I've been dovetailing by hand for a couple years and I've gotten pretty good at it.  Let me know if you have any trouble with it, I've made just about every error you can imagine ;).

Quote from: thedeeredude on August 19, 2007, 10:21:55 AM
Dave, I'm a hand tool junky. I went to an antique tool dealer a couple weeks ago and got a Sargent 410 smoother, a stanley 220 block with a wooden knob, a "eggbeater" drill, a brace and a Stanley sweetheart carpenters hammer. And Ill be going back again for Christmas presents ;D I cant really do much hand tool work until I have a good workbench though.

TDD, a good workbench is the most important tool you could own.  My own woodworking got much better immediately after I built mine.  Have you read any of Chris Schwarz's articles about workbenches?  They're probably the most helpful woodworking articles I've read in the last year.  As helpful as my bench has been, I'm already planning to build a new one based on his advice.  Here's a ling to his blog if you're interested.
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

Dave Shepard

Thanks for the advice everyone! I too have trouble with my workbench. It is an excellent sturdy bench, but it has no provisions for clamping. I screwed a couple of pieces of wood to the top so I could plane against them. I have to build a real workbench soon. I picked up a few books at the Hancock Shaker Museum gift shop today that cover woodworking with hand tools. I volunteer there so I get a great discount. ;)


Dave
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

Dodgy Loner

My bench has the same problems.  It's very heavy and very sturdy, but I have difficulty holding certain pieces to work on them.  It has a face vise and dog-holes, but they aren't located effectively.  My bench is also too short (ironic, because I got the design from Popularwoodworking, which is where Chris Schwarz works).  Schwarz's advice on vices and bench dogs are very helpful and eye-opening.
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

SwampDonkey

Lee Valley has bench plans and bench vises, but quite pricey.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Dodgy Loner

Yep, next time I built a bench I intend to buy a wood tap and die set to make my own bench vises.  You can spend a lot of money in a hurry on a vise.  The bench plans offered by Lee Valley, ironically, are really too wimpy to be useful to the avid hand tool user.  No need to buy plans, anyway, when there are better plans available for free on the internet.
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

SwampDonkey

Dodgy, they have some beefy benches to, unless they discontinued them since I got my last catalog back in 2000. Those tap and dies for big wood screw vises aren't cheap either I would imagine.  ;)

A friend had an old bench with wood screw vises, I don't know what became of it. Except maybe the lady that looked after the old timer got them because she also works with wood some. I know she got the house. The old timer had no family 'cept nieces and nephews that rarely visited. He could be a tough old fart to take because he was a know it all type who could be quite critical. After awhile people get tired of the attitude.  :-X
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Dave Shepard

The Workbench Book is a good read as well. Those wooden screws sound like a good use for beech.


Dave
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

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