Too many tools?

[Ukulian]

how many joiners these days could even sharpen and set a saw

 

A few of the older gits, like me !!

[mikeh]

In this day of powered tools and clever gizmos, there is not enough respect for how it had to be done in days gone by. We do it faster nowadays, not better. To be able to do it by hand - that's skill.

[dazmac]

If you think you've got too many tools try having a look at The Garage Journal and have a look at some of our American friends garages and tool collections

[agg221]

In this day of powered tools and clever gizmos, there is not enough respect for how it had to be done in days gone by. We do it faster nowadays, not better. To be able to do it by hand - that's skill.

 

When I was rebuilding my first wooden canal boat (72' butty built by Walkers of Rickmansworth in 1936) I was paying rent on the boatyard space and wanted to finish as fast as possible so I compared methods. For some jobs, such as drilling holes, power tools were much faster and a power plane was much faster than a hand plane. Other jobs, particularly where shapes were more complex, it was a much closer run thing - for a one-off operation it was often faster to pick up a hand tool and do it than to set up a power lead and put it away again afterwards. Some jobs I never found a faster powered method for, notable ones being removing half an inch or more of width from the edge of a 2" thick plank and shaping of complex curved and stepped profiles in a stem post, where an adze was the best tool and cutting mortices in-situ where a saw and chisel beat any alternative (a chain morticer would not have done the necessary shapes or allowed the access).

 

On the current extension build, timbers have been dimensioned with power tools but most other jobs have still been quicker an easier by hand. Really good tools, not necessarily branded or expensive, but which start off sharp and hold their edge have, in my opinion, been the key to this. It's why I have tended towards japanese saws and chisels and pretty much all of them meet these criteria.

 

Alec

[agrimog]

Ukulian, you must be one of the few left...lol. as a youngster I was shown how to sharpen and set saws, why there was different angles for certain jobs, how to sharpen planes, chisels, scrapers, all the skills a carpenter required, how to safely use the machinery in the shop, all before my teenage years, it caused a major fallout at school when I told the woodwork teacher he knew f*ck all about what he was trying to teach, and my father and 2 uncles backed me up, had to do techie drawing instead. these days everything is either throwaway, or goes to a "specialist" to sharpen, and most timber production jobs have been "tweaked" to use machine runs, the old carpentry skills are being slowly lost, never to be passed on

[Ukulian]

Thats right Agrimog. I remember trying to sharpen a plane blade on the kitchen step as a seven or eight year old. They were coarse shavings, but I got there! Father had no idea how to look after tools, he was a pen pusher by trade, so I learned the hard way. Still hand sharpen everything I can, even if its only for the satisfaction.

Got a 16 year old starting with me in the new year (end of the school year) so he'll get taught the proper way. Already does Saturdays and school hols, so he's getting the idea, and his coffee is almost up to scratch! :thumbup: