Tony Wilkins Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 Every week I watch the bevy of woodworking shows on our local PBS - starting with Rough Cut on Monday all the way to the pinnacle of Roy Underhill on Thursday. Wednesday I watch the American Woodshop mainly to see just how many pocket screws Scott Phillips can fit into any given project - it would make a heck of a drinking game. As some may know, I've eschewed power tools totally so far in my woodworking. Partly this is due to wanting to slow down and do woodworking as recreation. Also I like doing things in a vaguely historical way. Most of all the horrible sound of most woodworking power tools doesn't mesh well with my PTSD. However, this week, my dedication to that stance is waning. Monday, I noticed how easy Tommy MacDonald ripped thick boards with a track riding Festool circular saw. Tuesday, I screwed through a board with my cordless drill because I don't have a small enough bit or a hand drill - wasn't too bad - started thinking I would have been straighter with a drill press. Today (Wednesday), as I contemplated making a little cresh for my wife and a little house for my boys, those pocket screws looked better than usual. So talk me back to the brink before I order a bandsaw for resawing!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 No, embrace the power! Come to the dark side! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doomwolf Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 I thought we *were* the dark side. Though having mostly done power work before I can't really talk too loud. If you want something to pull you back from the edge, cost out what it would be for a bandsaw, tablesaw, jointer, planer, and dust collector + all assorted 'add ons', then figure out how much wood that would get you for your existing tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G S Haydon Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Tony, there are almost no woodworkers who are hand tool only. I can think of perhaps one or two, Folansbee, Underhill? Please feel free to keep the faith. Here is my short list of hand tool hates, Using egg beater drills > Use a drill driver Winding in general purpose screws > Use a drill driver or Estwing Planing all stock by hand > Use machines Breaking Down Rough Sawn Stock > Table Saw or Bandsaw The rest I can live with but I am more than happy to go to a machine tool to help me out for any task. Sometimes I like to do the above hand tool tasks (with the exception of egg beater drills) when the mood takes me. Woodworking is (should be) fun, I love it, but I'm not adverse to making my life easier with power when I feel like it. A FWIW the skills needed to use power tools is equal to hand tools. Embrace it when you feel ready my friend :-). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cochese Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Once you go hybrid, you never go back. Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Graham, are Underhill's treadle tools really hand tools? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Tony, thank you for the honesty!I gravitate to hand tools because I feel they are inherently safer. Some of you know, but I'll let everyone know... I am missing half of my right lung due to a collapsed lung that was complicated with a fungus growing in my lung. Nobody knows why, it's just how it is... I have had three collapsed lungs (yes, one twice) and am very lucky to be alive. No kidding... I was clinically dead twice on two separate occasions while in the hospital, and I almost didn't wake up after my first surgery.As a guy that absolutely loves hand tools, even I refuse to do all of it by hand. I have a tablesaw and a 12" sliding miter saw. However, the two power tools that get the biggest workout are my bandsaw and my thickness planer. I use these on my power tool days. Unlike my friend Graham, I love my egg beater drill. I find it to be great for tight drilling especially with small drills for pre drilling screws.I don't mind jointing boards by hand, (which makes me feel like I've accomplished more than I have). But I don't hesitate to run them through the thickness planer and then smooth them by hand.For tongue and grooving I love my Stanley #45. For beading I use either a handplane or a trim router, depends on the wood.In short, it's ok to take a break from historical methods in the name of getting the job done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Wilkins Posted December 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Wow Mel, I did not know the challenges that you face. Occupational hazard but I'll pray for you if it's ok. A bandsaw is the greatest woodworking power tool draw for me - mostly for resawing and ripping. I have to admit that any spinning, running blade makes me somewhat nervous - something about not having full feeling and at times full use of my arms and putting them close to something that can remove same said limbs in a second makes me queasy. Not to mention the cognitive issues from MTBI that make me a bit slow at times. I think I'd like using a hand drill. I like using brace and bit but it does wear me out fast - might be less if I had the right lead screws for hardwood on my bits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Thank you.I have been getting better as time goes on. I'm only 33, but I feel like I'm 50. Lol... My lung capacity is down to 70%.I should be clear that my illness wasn't due to woodworking.I'm with ya on the spinning blade thing! I really don't like using my table saw. I only use it for ripping. I could use my bandsaw for that, but the table saw is a great tool for the job. I bought a nice dado set, and it's still in the box. Maybe I'll try it out sometime. I do my tapers by hand, and I don't see a reason to change it. I love the sound of the plane reducing a square piece into a beautifully tapered leg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 ==> So talk me back to the brink before I order a bandsaw for resawing!!!! "Listen to me. Do NOT go into the light. Stop where you are. Turn away from it. Don't even look at it...." Category: '80s Pop Culture References for $200 Alex.... Question: "What was the movie... anyone ... No Google allowed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Amityville Horror? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 ==> Amityville Horror? Right idea... think early Spielberg... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doomwolf Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 I see myself getting a bandsaw someday for cutting long curves and similar such work, as well as resawing. Also, as Marc has demonstrated, a little set up time and you can really batch out the tenons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Poltergeist!! What do I win? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Damn, I was so close....lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 I've seen that one a few million times Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 ==> Poltergeist!! What do I win? Well, I'll buy a reindeer... D'oh! already did that... hate when that happens 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilburpan Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Get what you want. If you want a given tool or machine, that’s the only justification you need. I like hand tools a lot. But there are some machines that I have, and use, mainly because there are some tasks that I either don’t like to do by hand, or I’m really bad at doing by hand. This is my list of machines: 1. Bandsaw 2. Jointer/planer combo machine 3. Drill press 4. Lathe Why? I use the bandsaw for resawing and long rip cuts. I use the jointer/planer for milling that I need to get done fast. I have the drill press because I’m bad at drilling, and I have the lathe because I’m bad at carving a bowl out of a chunk of wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G S Haydon Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Mel, great to hear you are on the mend, sounds like a bumpy ride! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisG Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 I'm not going to talk you off the brink. Some power tools are really REALLY nice to have. Get a bandsaw, do it, do it now. I think you know that I just got my first bandsaw after several years of 99% handtool woodworking and I am in LOVE. I'm perfectly ok if that makes me a 95% handtool guy instead of a 99% handtool guy. I enjoy handtool work, but I do not enjoy resawing by hand, and even with regular rips I do enjoy using my bandsaw over my 5.5ppi disston. I've had a small TS for a long time but never use it....would much rather rip by hand...the bandsaw though I love. Buy one, learn to set it up correctly and enjoy yourself. Wilburs comments are right in line with my own thinking. I just got a drill press too which I find quite handy and I would like to get a thickness planer (though I don't feel a need for a jointer) and a lathe someday, but those are really the only other stationary power tools I see myself getting. BTW, I love egg beater drills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 @OP... Maybe a more serious answer... Life's too short to rough-mill stock... Even Chris Schwarz breaks-down and rough mills using power tools... If you're going to start adding power to your workflow, that would be my suggestion... so a planer/jointer is a good log-term investment.. The other area is ripping... Maybe you're a wiz sawyer, but long rips with a handsaw are not fun... you could get a bandsaw... In addition to ripping, you'd be able to re-saw your own book-matched panels, veneer, etc... Anyway, that my 2c... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CStanford Posted December 13, 2013 Report Share Posted December 13, 2013 Blended builds have been the standard for decades - rough out parts with machines, copious use of the bandsaw, hand cut joinery and finish plane with hand planes. The Barnsley operation in Great Britain was probably the last holdout and they mechanized around the time that Alan Peters finished his apprenticeship. In reality there is nothing "Neanderthal" about any of this or what most are currently doing. We're not doing much of anything differently than the way it was done fifty+ years ago. There is actually quite a bit of skill involved in four squaring, by hand, a complete array of stock for a significant woodworking project. Those who are shelling this out to the machinery obviously aren't 'hand tool' woodworkers in the strictest sense any more than the blokes from decades ago would have described themselves as such. They used machinery. Out of necessity, I'm working with only one significant electric tool - a 1970s Delta Homecraft lathe which will be used to turn drawer pulls for this project, about a thirty minute affair. Attached are pictures of a writing desk commission in process in cherry with quartersawn oak runners, kickers, doublers, etc. This desk was designed to pair with a Form 75 (Denmark) desk-on-frame the client already has. The top is made, the drawers the only significant components to be built. This desk was built entirely by hand other than for whatever electric tools the sawyers and supplier used to provide the lumber to me as roughsawn 4/4, 8/4, and 5/4 stock. Time on this piece to date is about 40 hours. The desk has one application of a proprietary oil/varnish blend with two to three more to go. Total time budget on this job is about 65 hours which includes a day and a half of drafting time and preparation of the cut list, transmitting the lumber order, and general job administration and communication via email and phone with the client and suppliers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Wilkins Posted December 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2013 Very nice desk sir, nice indeed. I still keep coming back to one thing - I haven't been eschewing the use of power tools out of some allegiance to methods of bygone eras but because I just can't stand the high pitched whine of power tools. I'll have to overcome that before I run out to get my domino joiner and bandsaw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G S Haydon Posted December 13, 2013 Report Share Posted December 13, 2013 Charles, do you have a website or similar? I am very interested in your work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CStanford Posted December 13, 2013 Report Share Posted December 13, 2013 Charles, do you have a website or similar? I am very interested in your work. Unfortunately, no website just an old fashioned portfolio. My next project is to reproduce the piece in the photo attached for a local Art Deco enthusiast. If this goes well, he has around six pieces he wants to do after that. That'll keep me busy for some time.Dominique Club Chair.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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