"Eli the Bearded" wrote in message ...

I read _Craeft_ (Cræft) by Alexander Langlands last year. He attributes
the death / dying of true craft to the availability of power tools (not
just electron power, but anything more than human hand). Power removes
the connection between human and the material. He doesn't deny that
things can be made faster or well with power tools, but he does argue
that there is a loss of understanding of material that comes from the
mediating effect of just being able to apply more force faster.

I generally use the stationary tools to dimension the wood and then use the
hand tools for the joinery and final surfacing... the latter steps require
more "feel."


I love a good handtool, but I have limited space, limited money, limited
time. And no source of tools to inherit. I'm going to have to content
myself with never finding the craft Langlands admires in myself.

I used the term "inherit" loosely... Some really were inherited but many
were given to me by people who found them in their father's or
father-in-law's shop and had no interest in them. In many cases they had no
idea what they were... some are woodworking and some are machinist's tools.
A woman I worked with brought me a box of machinist tools and woodworking
tools. She was delighted when I identified things for her and assembled a
transition plane from parts in the box--the family had no idea what those
parts belonged to but managed to keep them somewhat together.

I inherited two union carpenter's tool boxes from a friend's father... they
were his and his father's. He directed his wife and daughter to give me his
tools a few days before he died... He had no one to pass them on to in the
family who would know what to do with them or would want them. The father
died at about age 86 to give you an idea how old those two tool boxes are.
The grandfather's tools were well used... a couple chisels had been
sharpened so many times that the blades were as short as an inch... handsaws
came to points. There were however very nice specimens of a Stanley router
plane, Stanley No 6 for plane, a wooden scrub plane and a couple block
planes in the grandfather's box along with a sliding bevel, folding rules,
and other layout tools. The father's tool box had braces, a complete set of
auger bits, compass bits, screwdriver bits, reamer bits, etc.

When I bought this house there was a Stanley No 45 combination plane
complete with a set of cutters, the original steel box, instruction manual,
nicker package, etc. in the garage. The cutters had never been sharpened...
It was essentially a new tool.

The vast majority of these tools took a trip through my electrolysis set up
to remove corrosion. In some cases the tools simply needed to be cleaned of
"dirt" and sharpened. In other cases just sharpening was needed... i.e., the
45.

All that said, I'd let people know you are interested in old tools to use.
You are not a collector and aren't looking to sell them... You may be
surprised how much stuff will come out of basements and garages for free.


My projects have tended towards crude or small, eg:

https://qaz.wtf/qz/blosxom/2020/05/15/mini-drawers

But I find some satisfaction in being able to make the things I need.

We all started somewhere... I don't know anyone who came out of the womb as
a skilled woodworker! Keep at it!