Handtool guides

[neander.normite]

The other day on a lesser woodworking forum (Lumberjocks) someone posted a youtube link (

) showing a device that guides a pull saw on a track held at 90 degrees on a carriage, mentioning that it was a good item for handtool users. Am I the only one that thinks this is kinda odd, or have I just become a handtool snob? Hope it’s not number two.

Let me explain my position I guess. If I doing a DIY project and want to make a perfect cut without the effort I am going to wheel out my heavy granite topped tablesaw (which I am thinking of selling and getting a tracksaw for those rare times) and make the cut. This item and those like it (Veritas dovetail saw guides, Bridgecity jointmaker, etc) seem like they are turning handtools into inefficient powertools. This thing is simply a slow track saw in my mind. You’re putting in the work of cutting by hand but without learning the skill and flexibility of truly using them “by hand.” If you can’t afford a track saw and looking for something to fill that void I guess this can be useful, I just think you’re kind of losing the nature of the handtool with it.

[jwatson]

i guess it depends on what you mean by guides? now the jointer plane fence type where they are trying to take powertool concepts and put them to hand tools i think they're superfluous. however guides like shooting boards have been around for sometime and are helpful. i guess i havent ever really paid attention to the veritas dovetail saw guide i think. i stopped using the sharpening jig i bought to sharpen my irons with because it seems to just get in the way. i figure if it takes longer to setup than use i wont use it.

[neander.normite]

I'm not talking about bench hooks, shooting boards, or any of the other appliances we regularly use. I'm talking about items that let you guide your tool along without much thought or effort, just hook it up to the tool and push or pull until it finished.

[rmac]

Am I the only one that thinks this is kinda odd

I don't see the thing on YouTube as any more odd than a miter box.

I'm not talking about bench hooks, shooting boards, or any of the other appliances we regularly use. I'm talking about items that let you guide your tool along without much thought or effort, just hook it up to the tool and push or pull until it finished.

I'd argue that a shooting board lets you guide your tool (the plane) without much thought or effort. Its whole purpose is to orient the workpiece and the plane properly with respect to each other so that you don't have to.

-- Russ

[neander.normite]

I don't see the thing on YouTube as any more odd than a miter box.

Ah, you're killing me, I just got a SH era #246 about two weeks ago, but I guess your right

I'd argue that a shooting board lets you guide your tool (the plane) without much thought or effort. Its whole purpose is to orient the workpiece and the plane properly with respect to each other so that you don't have to.

There is truth to that but something about it still sits different with me. Maybe because one is "old", not sure what it is. Something about that thing and the dovetail guides, etc just seem to take it to different level. I guess I need to rethink it abit which is why I posted this.

[neander.normite]

I'd argue that a shooting board lets you guide your tool (the plane) without much thought or effort. Its whole purpose is to orient the workpiece and the plane properly with respect to each other so that you don't have to.

-- Russ

Thinking some more about this I think I have figured out why it is different to me. Last night I was planing the end grain of a board about 17" long by 9" wide and 1 1/2" thick. I stuck it against my crochet and made it square, smooth and straight with my LA jack. Seems to be a bit trickier if the board was 48" long by 2" wide. The shooting board to me is something used to hold pieces that otherwise would prove very tricky or for very fine miter adjustments, not for all the time routine work. That I think that is the difference to me, its not hampering my skills using a shooting board every now and again, but the handtool track saw I think would.

[joestyles]

Some of those things will help the total new person. I dont need a guide to hand cut on a marked board I can follow the line but I spent hours doing that when I was young. My Gramps believed in the power of the hand tool and didnt trust most power tools. We built a house using almost no power tools and did it in a a couple months. I don't know many kids today who grow up with those kinds of experiences and figure those guides are aimed at people like them. Just like training wheels on a bike I figure not meaning offense to anyone who uses them. I got to figure if you cut a few thousand feet with that guide on you could just throw it away and cut straight with your eyes closed cause your body will have the memory of how to do it. Me I got the pleasure of cutting a lot of crooked boards then fixing them until I got it right Gramps came unglued a few times before I got it right LOL I was no allowed to use a hammer until I could drive four spikes into a piece of scrap without bending them over, took me about a week to do it I was a slow learner

[HoboMonk]

Here is one source for this device: Traditional Woodworker

[bois]

There has been a lot of talk lately about power tools versus hand tools, and how hand tools have really come back into vogue. I think this thread goes another level deeper, suggesting that there is this emerging hybridization of hand tools that is maybe taking some of the purity away from hand tools. Heck, even this forum is divided into two camps. I've gotten to scratching my head more and more about why we even draw an almost religious distinction between the tools that plug in and the ones that don't. By that same logic, should we also start some "red tool" and "blue tool" forum threads as well?

So the more I mulled this over, I think I look at the distinction a bit differently. For one, time in my shop is scarce enough as it is, and often times I'm building things for clients. So for me, even with my own projects, time is money. For that reason, I seldom have much tool bigotry - I use whatever tool, technique, jig, etc. that provides me with the best:

1) Safety

2) Speed

3) Accuracy

4) Repeatability

In almost any operation there is a trade-off between some of these items, so the priorities are always shifting. But in the end, I'll use a hand tool if it gives me a safer or better result even if it's less repeatable. Or a power tool if its faster and just as safe. If adding a guide or a jig to a hand tool moves it up on one of those scales (such as accuracy or repeatability) then why wouldn't I use it? Will my great grandfather turn over in his grave or will there be a sudden disturbance in the Schwarz?

I think maybe the distinction is where there are some fences or guides out there that are effectively "training wheels" for hand tools. They help the user accomplish what they might not be able to without a certain level of expertise with a given tool. I would put this more in the class of an educational aide, but wouldn't fault someone for wanting to improve their skills.

I'm sure hundreds of years ago, when the first joiner brought the first shooting board into the shop, all the other joiners gave him hell for it. But once they saw that it created faster more repeatable results, they all wanted one of their own. Remember, tools are just tools, and don't define the woodworker. That said, I need to get back to fitting the dust collection port on my jack plane.