wannabe neanderthal

Re: wannabe neanderthal

Eric Hedberg

>Frank,

Those questions are pretty dangerous on this board. If you scroll (archive search) through the pages on this board you will hear lots of opinions on what the best is. Web sites to check are Lie Nielsen and Lee Valley (Veritas' parent company). Both have excellent hand planes and hand tools. Another great site to visit is toolsforworkingwood.com which carries a great selection of high quality hand tools. Publications like Fine Woodworking and Popular Woodworking have reviews on hand tools and comparisons (Check their web sites). This site also has book reviews and articles to guide you as well. My suggested start in books is "Choosing and Using Hand Tools" by Andy Rae and any of the Handplane/Hand tool books by Garrett Hack. If you want to get into collecting/using older hand tools be careful as they say here "It's a slippery slope" Eric

Re: wannabe neanderthal

Mike G.

>Slippery heck... some people fall plumb over the edge head first. 8^)

Mike G.

Re: wannabe neanderthal

Nemo Tools

>Frank,

You don't need to read a monthly magazine to get tool reviews. The news hasn't changed. The thing to read about is tips and techniques on how to use them.

The beautifil thing about the Neanderworld is that some of the best tools have been around for 100 years or more. Literally. And surprisingly, almost nobody wants them but us nuts. Older Stanley planes are almost a sure bet, there's lots of them and they sell cheap. Just learn a bit about what to look for in one that is too beat up to rescue. Same for tennon saws, dovetail saws, chisels etc. The name brands haven't changed, there's lots of them out there and no one wants them but us.

Learn to cruise the estate sales and get an account on E-Bay. There are also some reliable purveyors of collectible and usable old tools. They are a bit higher, but you get a reliable screening and assurance that it is going to be a good tool.

If you have to get new stuff, surf up Highland Hardware, Lee Valley or Lie-Nielsen. Bring your credit card.

Just my humble opinion.

???

Ernie Miller Topeka

>Bottomless ravine. I have heard stories from some old guys that they once heard some one hit bottom. I think it is a folk story as I have never heard some one hit bottom.

comments appreciated

frank_shic

>excellent recommendations everyone - thank you! i'm beginning to see some of the advantages of hand tools in the last recent months: less potential for bodily maiming, no power cords to mess around with and the ability to work quietly! i won't sell off all my power tools just yet, but i think that i'll definitely be phasing them in to my garage shop slowly (my wife already yelled at me, "why didn't you just buy them in the FIRST place???")

Re: comments appreciated

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native in FL. Exile :~(

>Yeah Frank, you're in a real mess now ain't cha' spent a whole bunch of $$$$ on P@w@r Tools and now you're tellin' the wife that you'd rather use handtools. Ooooooooooooooooooo sucks to be you I bet. ;~)

Don't feel like the lone stranger tho, most of us did the exact same thing. I know I did, just didn't spend a whole lot on none of them or buy very many of them before I realized that power was not the way I wanted to go. Got lucky on that on. Hard to explain to the wife why I'd rather use a bunch of $15-20 handtools rather than that $2000 jointer, or a bunch of $5 handsaws instead of that $1500 t@bles@w.

Theres lots of good vintage old tools out there, but until you get a bit more familiar with them I'd stick with with Stanley and Millers Falls for planes, handdrills, braces, etc, etc, and Disston for saws.

You kmay not fully realize, nor appreciate it now, but since you've turned to handtools, "You in a heapa' trouble now",----- or soon will be! (snicker, snicker, snicker)

Todd O.