Power tools & hand tools

[Chet]

I just find hand tools very "zen".  

Thats a good way of putting it Pug.  I was looking for a word that would describe the general feeling I was getting from everybody's post.

 

[Pete Staehling]

My original post was meant to reference tools such as Planes, Chisels, Rasps and things of this nature that are used in the shaping of the wood.  I was interested in the reasons people have chosen to use these types of tools along with power tools in the manipulation of the wood. Otherwise in the form of Hammers, Screw Drivers. and Rulers yes we all have hand tools.  

Fair enough,  still I find it hard to imagine that there are shops where no one ever reaches for any kind of hand saw, file, scraper, or other wood shaping hand tool.  That may just show my narrow perspective.  That perspective is probably shaped by the fact that I started out with mostly hand tools and just a very few power tools and added power tools along the way.  Some of my preferences and perspective may also come from the fact that most of my work is building stringed musical instruments.  I have built some furniture and a few small boats over the years but my current shop has turned out mostly dulcimers, strum sticks, and guitars.

On the original question.  I reach for the tool in my shop that I think is the best tool for the task at hand.  Pretty often that is a hand tool.  I would have a hard time building one of my custom musical instruments with no hand tools.  I could build them with only hand tools, but it would be pretty difficult for me.  My band saw (for sawing veneers and other wide but thin pieces) and thickness sander save me a ton of time and work, so all hand tools doesn't appeal to me either.  For me and my work the mixed arrangement is the easiest and quickest.  It also most easily yields a quality end product. 

[TerryMcK]

I have what most of us have a hybrid shop.

I use machines to:

• do the basic milling (no fun planing a board from rough sawn wood with a hand plane even though St Roy would have us all believe differently)
• cut profiles with my band saw
• drill with a drill press or battery drill
• occasional veneer cutting with the bandsaw
• use the router extensively (probably the most used type of power tool in my shop)
• use a ROS to sand away machine marks - wish I had a drum sander

I use hand tools on most other non grunt processes. I too started out making stringed musical instruments many years ago and, as Pete eluded to, you just can't make instruments solely with power tools - unless you are Fender/Gibson/Taylor/PRS with lots of CNC machinery - but even they use hand processes too. So that methodology has found its way into my cabinet making too. 

And most of all I just adore using hand tools - put some cool jazz on the shop music system and chop out some dovetails.

[PWRFULZ3R0]

I use hand planes because I have no room for a jointer.

 

 

[cdolcourt]

For me, I have embraced the hybrid approach for a couple reasons:

1) I can get from rough parts to pretty close much faster through power. But it's not perfect. So I try and remember to leave a little room to finesse. 

2) I live in a condo complex and share a common wall with a neighbor. He's never complained, and I want to keep it that way. So the more I can do by hand, the later I can work without worrying about causing issues. 

3) I like the quiet approach as I spend the week talking and interacting with people. Hand tools give that "solace" feeling.ss

4) This reason is far more personal, but I have a physical disability involving endurance as well as a few others. For a long time I'd let these things limit me. But woodworking has been an amazing hobby to me, something I do that few others do with the same care. I don't necessarily have the "craftsman" skill but I think I have the mentality, and the combination of power and hand tools get me close and then get as close as my skill lets me do. Were I strictly hand tools, jointing/ripping, chopping joints, etc, I'd have given up long ago. But if I were strictly power-based, I wouldn't feel the same connection as when I do the best I can to get things to fit and be as close as I want them to be. 

5) Related to #4, I love the feel of hand tools. I feel like I'm part of the grand tradition and using a hand plane, chisel, or spokeshave just gives me a high knowing I am doing something that so many (ye so few) have done before, and my height (4'8) and disability aren't limiting. 

6) well I am a nerd and like sharpening and maintaining things. 

So in sum, as Pug and others have said, power for the bulk. Hand tools for finesse. 

[blakjak220]

I guess mine is both functional and just for the heck of it.... sometimes there is a very small adjusted needed to fit something in it's place. An adjustment so small that it would be a pain to set a machine back up for that little job - out comes a hand plane or chisel and bam, it's done. Also, I think I'm half tool-collector and half woodworker - as in, I enjoy the actual tools themselves as much I enjoy using them to build something. So it's enjoyable to pick up a hefty Lie Nielsen plane and work with it for a little while. So, functionally they do things in ways power tools just can't AND there are some really nice hand tools out there that are a pleasure to use. I am sans-planer right now, but ideally for me I would mill everything with power tools then do joinery by hand (mostly).