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Product Description
Hand tools (tools that are not powered, such as hammers and chisels) are currently the hot trend in woodworking purchases. Hand tools require specialized training. Without it, the experience will be disappointing. Learning to use woodworking hand tools properly makes it easier to understand how power tools work, plus they offer a quieter, safer and more pleasant woodworking experience. This book shows the woodworker how hand tools can be used in tandem w… More >>
Hand Tool Essentials: Refine Your Power Tool Projects with Hand Tool Techniques
November 2, 2009 at 6:58 pm
I’ve done my first read through of this book and I think it is outstanding. It will definitely be a used reference book in my shop. Almost like having a master carpenter to tutor you.
Rating: 5 / 5
November 2, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Let me start by saying, this is a great book. I have been a wood worker since high school. Up untell now my work mostly has been with power tools. I have wanted to start using more hand tools, but have not known where or how to start. I dont realy have the time to take a class right now so the next best thing was books. One day I was roaming through the book store looking for books that would apeal to my needs. I thumbed through a handfull with nothing realy having everything in it I was looking for. I wanted something that covered a lot of differant tools, so I didnt have to get 4 or 5 differant books. I found this one on the bottem shelve and knew right away that this was the book for me. It covers planes(just about all of them), saw, chisels, drawknifes, spokeshaves, dovetails, awls, marking knives, try squares, drawboring, the rasp, and great info on sharping. I read some of the other reviewers complain about all the content on sharping. I thought it was very usefull. The editors cover all areas and let you the reader deside which is best for you. There is also a section on a great workbench close to the end. This book is as close to hands-on training a book can be. Great, easy to read writing, lots of color pictures of the things you need to see. I have read this book in part about half-a-dozen times. a great book to keep going back to.
Rating: 5 / 5
November 2, 2009 at 7:42 pm
As a relative new comer to woodworking, I have gone the way of hand tools for almost all of my projects (very small space with a strong desire to lessen dust and shavings). I bought this book as a means of gathering more info and techniques. I read almost half of the book the day I received it. Great information from a bunch of different authors. The articles have the level of detail I was hoping for and more. If you are on the fence about using handtools for your projects or if you are a power tool woodworker who is looking for ways to improve your work, this book is for you. Loaded with how to from sharpening to planes to saws, etc. This book will be a great reference and will live in my workshop’s library. You will not be disappointed with this book.
Rating: 5 / 5
November 2, 2009 at 10:07 pm
What is really good about this book is that many of the articles deal with the usefulness and expedience of hand tools in a power tool shop.
I reach for this often. Yeah, it’s armchair stuff, but really good and quite inspiring. I think I will make the workbench at the end. Just as soon as I finish my tea…
One last thought. For sharpening; where it all begins (after the match and pig iron slag, of course), Ian Kirby’s “Sharpening with Waterstones: A Perfect Edge in 60 Seconds”, is really the best and most straightforward book on the subject of sharpening. The title is incomplete: he starts with a bench grinder.
Rating: 4 / 5
November 3, 2009 at 12:18 am
Regardless of your skill level and experience, you will enjoy and appreciate this book. Each author is a seasoned woodworker and student of the craft. Several topics are covered from different points of view by various authors. You won’t have to read 3 books and wade through many chapters of “the history of sharpening” to appreciate the strengths of the various techniques for keeping your tools sharp.
Beyond content, “Hand Tool Essentials” stands out for me because it is so well edited. Photography, layout, quality of materials are all there. Usually I buy a “generalist” type book when I’m doing a one off project (building a fence or dry walling) and wish after reading through it that I hadn’t wasted my money. These books normally offer no deeper look than you might get by talking to the guy at Home Depot. Not so with “Hand Tool Essentials”. Each section is solid in what the author attempts to discuss but does not pretend to be a full treatment of the topic. Shame we can’t get this in politics!
My only complaint for this book is that there has been only one from this team. I suspect the editors could produce another one or two of the same quality if given the time. I hope the sales of this books affords them that opportunity.
Rating: 5 / 5