Hand tools, where have you been all my life?

[DB10]

Where is a good place to look for some of the older chisels and hand planes? Is that the sort of thing you can find at flea markets?

You might strike lucky there, but check the regulars places like eBay.

 

[gippy]

My 2 favourite hand tools so far:

1) Lie Neilson block rabbet plane. Lovely to look at, cuts extremely well.
2) Old Stanley spokeshave. Bought on eBay, one of my all time favourite tools. I use it for mallet handles, smoothing curves, making spoons and so on. I might get a Lee Valley spokeshave at some point but my old Stanley model does an excellent job (the new Stanley ones are junk)

To me a spokeshave is almost (maybe) the tool of an artisan ... I know they're good, but I'm still a way from mastering it [embarassed]

Paul Sellers has a couple of Youtube videos where he uses a spokeshave to make a spoon and a couple of other things. Those videos really helped me understand the tool better.

 

[bigjonh]

Where is a good place to look for some of the older chisels and hand planes? Is that the sort of thing you can find at flea markets?

[member=27567]Vanquish[/member]
I buy from this guy from time to time.
http://www.supertool.com/forsale/2015julylist.html
He does a monthly sales email list. There are sought after collectors items in there but also good affordable workers.

 

[otis04]

If you happen to go to Maine on vacation, this is a very nice shop.  He also has one near Bar Harbor.  The online presence doesn't seem to be anything special.

Modified to include the link.  http://www.libertytoolco.com

 

[waho6o9]

Have some fun and make your own:

http://hocktools.com/products/kits.html

[attachimg=1]

 

[mike_aa]

A great source for learning more about hand tool use is Roy Underhill's Woodwright's Shop on PBS.  He's been at it for 30 plus years and gives a good insight on how hand tools are used as well as a great understanding of the materials properties of wood.  What I found most interesting is how, hundreds of years ago, the trades  utilized this technology and built objects that were able to last for centuries.  Roy has also published a number of books.

Mike A.

 

[Kev]

Where is a good place to look for some of the older chisels and hand planes? Is that the sort of thing you can find at flea markets?

Downunder we have these guys ...

http://www.toolexchange.com.au

Bet there's many US equivalents.

 

[waho6o9]

Here's an excellent link for Hand Tool enthusiasts:

http://www.wkfinetools.com/contrib2/HendricksJ/cigarShave/cigarShave-04.asp

 

[Vanquish]

Thanks a lot for the links. I've been going through them and there's a of interesting tools and info.

 

[blakjak220]

A good hand stitched rasp is one of those tools that doesn't seem like it's worth the money until you use one. Auriou, Liogier or Gramercy brand... really nice. Router plane is great also. Not sure if it counts as a "hand tool" but a good combo square like a starrett is really handy if u don't already have one.

 

[John Broomall]

A Lie-Nielson number 5 jack plane for general use and a No. 7 jointer for joining long boards. Veritas is making excellent planes as well there are some nice lower priced ones around now. The old Buck Brothers or Butcher Brothers cast steel chisels are always useful. 

 

[Birdhunter]

I've collected and use nearly all the L-N planes and a lot of chisels. They became a lot more fun to use after I bought the Work Sharp 3000 sharpener.

I had tried water stones (messy, fussy, slow), Tormec (messy, fussy, slow), diamond stones .(need guides and Still inaccurate ), and grinder (inaccurate and can burn tools).

The Work Sharp produces a mirror finish incredibly sharp blade every time I've used it. You absolutely need to know the bevel angle of the blade you are sharpening.

It uses sandpaper adhered to a thick glass plate spinning at a moderate RPM. The blade rests on a guide the user sets to the correct bevel angle. The blade is pushed gently against the sandpaper and then withdrawn repetitively. 

The first time the blade is sharpened, you have to work through all the grits. Touch ups require only one or two grit passes and can be done in less than 5 minutes.

My L-N planes now produce shavings thinner than paper and I hardly have to push the plane. I get the neatest "swish" noise as I make a pass.

 

[Kev]

I've collected and use nearly all the L-N planes and a lot of chisels. They became a lot more fun to use after I bought the Work Sharp 3000 sharpener.

I had tried water stones (messy, fussy, slow), Tormec (messy, fussy, slow), diamond stones .(need guides and Still inaccurate ), and grinder (inaccurate and can burn tools).

The Work Sharp produces a mirror finish incredibly sharp blade every time I've used it. You absolutely need to know the bevel angle of the blade you are sharpening.

It uses sandpaper adhered to a thick glass plate spinning at a moderate RPM. The blade rests on a guide the user sets to the correct bevel angle. The blade is pushed gently against the sandpaper and then withdrawn repetitively. 

The first time the blade is sharpened, you have to work through all the grits. Touch ups require only one or two grit passes and can be done in less than 5 minutes.

My L-N planes now produce shavings thinner than paper and I hardly have to push the plane. I get the neatest "swish" noise as I make a pass.

You're not helpning [sad] [embarassed]

I've got a Tormek T7 with all of the bells, but I've been considering a WorkSharp. I was initially against them as I thought it would be too easy to cook the metal, but it's really a technique and practice thing.

I also got the monster drill sharpening jig for the Tormek, but I'm just tool lazy to use it.

 

[Bohdan]

I was initially against them as I thought it would be too easy to cook the metal, but it's really a technique and practice thing.

You can leave the Worksharp setup and it only takes a minute to restore a dull edge. If you need to repair the edge I find that I hit the tool hard on a coarse grit and then let it cool off, both tool and motor, coming back to grind it as I walk past while doing something else. I find that if you push it too hard the thermal cutout on the motor limits your efforts.