The following is a post I bumbled across and realised I hadn't seen it
in years, so I have reposted it.

A link to the original that I found is at:

http://tinyurl.com/6nvhs

=========================================
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
From: (Ken Smith)
Subject: FAQ: Hand Tools
Message-ID:
Originator:
Sender:
Nntp-Posting-Host: milo.cs.buffalo.edu
Organization: State University of New York at Buffalo/Comp Sci
Date: Sun, 1 May 1994 16:54:41 GMT
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

0) What do I need to know before I start with Hand Tools?
1) General Information on Wood.
2) What Hand Tools do I need?
3) What Hand Tools would be nice to have?
4) What other Hand Tools are out there?
5) Should I buy Hand Tools new or used?
6) Where do I get new Hand Tools?
7) Where do I get used Hand Tools?
8) How do I sharpen chisels, plane blades, etc?
9) How do I sharpen saw blades?
10) General Information on planes.
11) General Information on scrapers.
12) General Information on saws.
13) General Information on chisels.
14) General Information on Japanese Woodworking Tools.
19) Collecting old tools.
20) What books can I get to learn more?
21) Tidbits

Note: I am only the editor of this FAQ. A *small* part of the
information contained here comes from me. The majority of it
comes from books and from previous traffic on rec.woodworking.
The entire section on Japanese Woodworking Tools comes from
Dave
Burnard. The rest of the sections come from many
contributors.
I apologize for not keeping track of who contributed what
information
so proper acknowledgements could be made...

0) What do I need to know before I start with Hand Tools?

For some people the choice between hand tools and machinery is
something of a religious war. Most sensible people realize
that
there is more than one way to skin a cat and to each his own.
If you agree with that then there is no Right Answer to the
question of whether hand tools are better than machinery, it
all
depends on the person. GROSSLY oversimplifying, hand tools
tend
to be less expensive, quieter, generate less saw dust (often
in
favor of wood shavings...), and take longer to use for a given
task (especially for cases where there is a lot of repetition
since often the major time consuming factor in using a machine
is
setup time). THERE WILL ALWAYS BE EXCEPTIONS TO THE ABOVE
(hence
the religious war attitude some folks have). It is hard to
say
whether you will find using a hand tool easier than using a
machine,
this is different for everyone. Some people pick up the
skills
needed for machines faster than for hand tools, for others
it's
the opposite. Using hand tools versus using machines doesn't
have
to be an either/or proposition. It is possible to mix the
two.

If you decide to start using hand tools for stock preparation
or
large shaping tasks you will quickly realize you need a good
bench.
Speaking from personal experience a WorkMate (TM) won't cut it
if
you're trying to use bench planes to prepare rough-sawn
lumber.
Good benches can be bought or made, see the books section for
a
reference.

Another thing you will quickly find necessary is a means to
sharpen
the tools. Sharpening will be covered later. You will
probably
need a set of sharpening stones. If you're fixing up old
tools
you may also need a bench grinder.

If you're a klutz like me seriously consider keeping your
Tetanus
shots up to date. You need a booster shot every 10 years.
This
is especially true if you decide to give fixing up
old/unusable
tools a try... If you cut yourself with something rusty you
run
a risk if getting Tetanus (Lock Jaw). I'm told just cutting
yourself won't give you Tetanus but increases your risk of
getting
it - I'm not sure but will try to find out.

1) General Information on Wood.
Wood is not a material designed for humans to build things
with.
Wood is a material designed to provide life functions for a
living
organism, namely a tree. This (seemingly obvious) fact is
often
forgotten by novice woodworkers, and this fact causes many
problems
that woodworkers need to be aware of.

To begin with a grossly over-simplified model, think of wood
as
being made up of groups of tubes held together with glue named
"Lignin". The circular ends of the tubes are what would be
called
"end grain", while the sides of the tubes would be "edge
grain". It
is much easier to break apart the tubes parallel to the tubes
themselves (i.e. breaking the lignin holding the tubes
together) than
it is to break through perpendicular to the tubes. Keep this
very
simplistic model in mind when you are working with the wood
and
you should be able to avoid some problems. For example when
trying to plane the end of a board (end grain) you can't run
the
plane across the whole end of the board because when you reach
the end of the stroke it is likely the wood will split off on
the far edge of the board because the lignin holding the tubes
together is relatively weak and the tubes along the edge of
the
board will break away rather than be cut by the plane blade.
You
need to stop the stroke well short of the far edge and do a
second
stroke towards the center from that other edge. When using a
chisel
with the blade parallel to the grain there is a tendency for
the wood
to split apart very easily, it is best to first make a cut
with the
chisel perpendicular to the grain at the point you want the
cut to
stop (this is known as a "stop cut") before working the chisel
parallel
to the grain.

To understand things like "tearout" better we need to
complicate our
simple model a bit. Now picture wood as being made up of
tubes
and lignin as before but now the tubes aren't straight. They
are
wavy, with some meeting the surface of the board at an angle.
If
you push a plane "with the grain", meaning along the tubes
starting
where a given tube is below the surface towards where the tube
meets the surface, then any splitting that happens will be
harmlessly
up towards the surface. If you plane against the grain then
any
splitting will occur down into the board, causing "tearout"
(little
holes in the surface where wood has been torn away). These
little
patches of tearout will be noticable. Power planers and
jointers
will also cause tearout if used against the grain.

Wood will expand and contract (people usually call this "wood
movement") with changes in humidity because of water
absorption.
Our tubes generally don't change in length but will get
thicker
and thinner. Thus the wood will expand and contract in the
directions
(note that's plural) perpendicular to the direction of the
grain as
humidity changes. If you do not take this into account when
designing
a piece of furniture then the piece may split or break apart
due to
seasonal changes in humidity. It is usually "cross-grain"
joints,
where the grain (tubes) is running one direction in one of the
pieces
to be joined and a different direction in the other piece,
that this
is a problem. Since wood is much stronger with the grain than
across
the grain (easier to separate the tubes than to break through
them)
you need to design pieces in such a way that the grain is
running in
the direction of the load. But this goal often results in
cross-grain joints. It is usually OK to glue a cross-grain
joint that
is up to 3 or 4 inches wide (some people say a bit more than
this,
some people a bit less...) without too much risk because the
change
in overall width for that narrow a section is small but for a
larger
width the change in overall width will be larger. Joints
wider
than this you run the risk of having the joint self-destruct
over
time. Note that the simplistic model of the tubes getting
thicker
and thinner is much too simplistic. Real wood will expand and
contract more tangentially to the annual growth rings than it
does radially. Explaining this any better requires pictures
not possible with ASCII characters, it is best to find a good
book (see Hoadley's, Korn's, or Frid's books in the section
about
books). This difference in tangential versus radial movement
is why "quarter sawn" wood is better for some applications
than
"flat sawn". Again, explaining this requires pictures so see
the
above books.

When gluing wood the end grain will tend to allow glue to be
drawn
away from the joint (into the tubes). There is also evidence
suggesting that the strength of a glue bond is mostly from
molecular
attraction between the glue and the wood. End grain has
relatively
little wood material (the plastic of the tubes) and lots of
air space.
These two factors mean that glue joints involving end grain
are very
weak and need to be avoided. Try to have as much edge grain
as
possible in a joint. Modern woodworking glues, if used
properly
(meaning use a thin layer of glue on edge grain), are stronger
than
lignin so the wood around a properly glued joint will fail
before the
joint itself.

2) What Hand Tools do I need?

Below is a starter's kit grouped by tool types. Get tools in
the
various groups as needed for projects. See the following
sections
for more information about the various tools and their use.

- paring chisels either bought one at a time as needed
for
projects or a set 1/4" through 1" in 1/4" increments
- morticing chisels either one at a time or a set,
start
with 1/4" and then 3/8"
- mallet for striking morticing chisels
- rip saw (4-6 pt)
- crosscut saw (7-9 pt)
- backsaw (15-25 pt)
- dovetail saw
- coping saw
- block plane
- #4 smoothing plane
- #5 jack plane
- #7 jointer plane
- rebate plane (e.g. Record 778)
- bit brace and auger bit set (1/4" to 1")
- hand drill and brad point bits (1/16" to 1/2")
- scraper, ******* mill file and burnisher
- screwdrivers
In addition general-purpose marking tools you will find
useful:
- measuring tape
- steel rule or folding "zig-zag" rule
- trysquare and/or combination square (protractor head
on
the combination square is optional but nice)
- scratch awl or marking knife
- marking guage
- sliding bevel guage
Misc. stuff:
- workbench is very important
- toolbox (first project you build)
- bench hook (second project, or maybe first and used
to help
build toolbox)
- shoot board

3) What Hand Tools would be nice to have?
- bow saw (many people like these better than the
traditional
rip and crosscut saws; they are harder to find but
you can
make one yourself)
- #71 router plane
- drawknife
- spokeshave

4) What other Hand Tools are out there?

5) Should I buy Hand Tools new or used?

Most of the Hand Tool Gurus will tell you ``They just don't
make
them like they used to''. Planes and chisels in particular
seem
to be in wide abundance in the second-hand tool markets.
Older
Stanley planes seem to be the most often recommended for
beginners
who plan to work with them as opposed to collecting them.
Ergonomics, as much as it's in style today, is often a reason
to get the used tools. Handles of older saws are often more
comfortable, likewise for planes. The fact is tool designers
of old used the tools themselves, while current tool designers
tend to be most interested in how to make a tool for the least
amount of money and won't actually use the tool themselves.

6) Where do I get new Hand Tools?

You can start off looking in the local hardware stores or home
centers but be careful. This type store in some places will
have
some reasonable quality hand tools. In other places this type
store
will only carry junk (new Stanley tools for the Do It
Yourself-er
types and stuff like that). Also see the separate Address FAQ
posting.

American Machine & Tool Co. (AMT)
Fourth Ave. and Spring Street
Royersford, PA, 19468-2519
Phone: (215) 948-0400
Notes: Primarily importer of run-of-the-mill
Taiwanese
power tools, marginal supply of hand tools.

Constantines
2050 Eastchester Rd.
Bronx, NY, 10461
Phone: (800) 223-8087
FAX: (800) 253-WOOD
Notes: No direct experience.

Footprint Tools
33 Dorman Avenue
San Francisco, CA, 94124
Phone: 1-415-920-7068
Notes: No direct experience.

Garrett Wade
161 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY, 10013-1299
Phone: (800) 221-2942
Notes: Best supplier of new hand tools I've found, at
least
in US; catalog well worth looking at for the
info it
contains. Slightly expensive but not too bad.

Lee Valley Tools
P.O. Box 6295, Stn. J
Ottawa, Ontario K2A 1T4
Phone: (800) 267-8767
FAX: (800) 668-1807
Notes: No direct experience.

Leichtung Workshops
4944 Commerce Parkway
Cleveland, OH 44128
Phone: (800) 321-6840
FAX: (216) 464-6764 Fax
Notes: No direct experience.

Lie Nielsen Toolworks
Route 1
Warren, ME, 04864
Phone: (800) 327-2520 (outside Maine)
Phone: (207) 273-2520 (inside Maine)

Trend-lines
375 Beacham St.
Chelsea, MA 02150
Phone: (800) 767-9999
FAX: (617) 889-2072
Notes: Good selection of power tools, marginal
selection of
hand tools but if they have what you're
looking for
odds are they've got the best price (and will
match
if not). Can be a hassle to deal with on
occasion.

Woodcraft
210 Wood County Industrial Park
PO Box 1686
Parkersburg, WV 26102-1686
Phone: (800) 225-1153
Notes: No direct experience.

The Woodworker's Store
21801 Industrial Blvd.
Rogers, MN 55374-9514
Phone: (612) 428-3200
FAX: (612) 428-8668
Notes: Not the best source of hand tools but not the
worst.
Decent prices, regional walk-in stores, good
selection
of hardware like knobs, hinges, etc.

Woodworker's Supply of New Mexico
Woodworker's Supply of Wyoming
1108 North Glenn Rd.
Casper, Wyoming 82601
Phone: (800) 645-9292
FAX: (307) 577-5272
Notes: No direct experience.

Woodworking Unlimited
3931 Image Dr.
Dayton, OH 45414-2591
Phone: (800) 543-7586
FAX: (800) 722-3965
Notes: No direct experience.

7) Where do I get used Hand Tools?

This depends on what condition you're looking for. If you are
looking for tools that are an absolute bargain and you are
interested
in fixing them up to make them usable then it's hard to beat
the
local Flea Markets, garage sales, etc. As an example I picked
up
a Stanley #4 smoothing plane at the local flea market for $7
that
would cost $35 or so at a second-hand tool dealer in usable
condition.
It was unusable in its current condition (rust, blade severely
nicked,
etc.) but it had all the parts and after a couple hours of
work it was
ready to use. Chisels are in wide abundance and cheap but
you'll need
to sharpen them and probably remove some rust.

If you want usable second-hand tools you may be able to find a
store
locally that handles them. A few sources I know of are :

Patrick Leach
RR1 Box 137
Ashby, MA, 01431
Phone: (508) 386-2436
email:

Mark Williams
Classic Restorations
3084 Fireside Dr.
San Jose, CA 95128 4006
Phone: (408) 985-8099



8) How do I sharpen chisels, plane blades, etc?

The following works for me and others I know. There are lots
of other alternatives, some explained later in this section,
but
what follows seems to be a relatively cheap workable
sharpening
setup. A set of Japanese Waterstones including 800 grit, 1200
grit,
and 6000 grit stones can be used for sharpening. Keep the 800
and
1200 grit stones in a tupperware container full of water.
Water
is needed to lubricate and help the cutting action. Also keep
a
squirt-bottle of water handy to add water as needed while
using the
stones. Sharpening chisels and plane blades is roughly the
same.
Start with the back of the blade or chisel (the long face of
the
blade that meets the edge you're sharpening) to make sure it's
flat.
Then work on the bevel. Use the 800 grit waterstone until the
edge is straight and nick-free. Then shift to the 1200 grit
stone
to remove the scratches left by the 800 grit stone leaving
finer
scratches, and finally polish with the 6000 grit stone. At
this point
the back and bevel faces should be mirror smooth. Some final
polishing
can be done with a cloth wheel or a leather strop. Simple
aluminum housings can be bought to mount cloth wheels on, just
add a small electric motor to drive it. Be careful with a
strop or
the cloth wheels - it is possible to round over the edge.

Waterstones require fairly frequent lapping to keep them flat.
This can be done on a sheet of plate glass with some 120 grit
wet/dry silicon carbide sandpaper stuck to it.

There are a variety of ``honing guides'' you can get that help
hold chisels and plane blades while sharpening. Personally I
find them useful for plane blades but not chisels. The bevel
on plane
blades is so small I find it difficult to keep flat while
sharpening
but the bevel on chisels is wide enough I can sharpen those
free-hand.
Some people swear by oil stones rather than waterstones. You
need
a special oil instead of water for lubrication of these
stones.
One argument for them is that water may lead to rust. On the
other
hand the oil may be a bit messier. Diamond stones are also
available
which also use water for lubrication. They are more expensive
but
do not require any lapping (and can be used to lap waterstones
if
you choose to mix the two - there is no reason you must stick
to
strictly one type of sharpening stone but you are best off
sticking
to one type of lubrication so don't mix oil stones with water
stones).
The "grits" of different stone types are in different units.
The
"US grits" are different than "Japanese grits".

If a blade is heavily nicked a bench grinder will save you a
lot of
time getting the nicks out. It is VERY easy to overheat the
blade
on a bench grinder. Keep a cup of water close by to dip the
blade
in regularly. Special "white wheels" are available for
grinders
that will lessen the chance of overheating the blade.

9) How do I sharpen saw blades?

HOW TO SHARPEN WESTERN PANEL SAWS

If you have had trouble cutting with a hand saw, it was
probably dull.
Hand saws work best when kept well-sharpened -- and they are
easy to
sharpen. It will probably take you less time to sharpen one
than to
drive it to and from a sharpening shop, so give it a try.

In Praise of Older Saws

Better old hand saws are made of superb steel; they have
comfortable and
beautiful handles, superior to the rough ones on saws today.
You will
get a lot of satisfaction from restoring one of these old
timers and
keeping it sharp yourself. Best of all, a great older saw can
be
bought for much less than a new saw.

Look for names like Disston and Superior on the saw nuts.
Avoid saws
with bent or pitted blades or broken handles. Other names to
look for
are Simonds, Atkins, Bishop, and Spear&Jackson.

TOOLS for Saw Sharpening: Saw file and vice

The saw file has three equal faces, an equialteral triangle in
cross section. Any hardware store will have them.

You need something to hold your saw while you file it. Called
a saw
vice, this is just a vice with a very wide pair of jaws. You
can make
one from two scraps of plywood, a hinge to hold them together,
and
some rubber to face the plywood with so the process is
quieter. Clamp
the saw vice in your bench vice.

Old saw vices are around used, but they are becoming harder to
find
and really don't work any better than the wood vice you can
make.

THE SHARPENING PROCESS

Basically you just file each tooth the same amount, in the
same
direction the old tooth was filed. Rip saws are usually
sharpened
with all teeth chisel cut, not skewed to the blade. Crosscut
saws
have each alternating tooth skewed to the blade, by about 15
degrees.

Every few sharpenings you will want to "set" the teeth as
explained
below, and once every life time you may need to "joint" it,
also
explained below.

Jointing the Saw (optional)

Start with teeth that are roughly the same height. If they
are, skip
this step.

If the saw has been sharpened a lot, sometimes a dip or bump
in the
height of the teeth develops, which should be corrected by
"jointing"
the saw. Jointing is done by simply filing the tops of the
teeth
level with an ordinary smooth file, held in a little guide to
keep it
perpendicular to the blade. Then proceed to set the teeth and
sharpen
them.

Setting the teeth (Optional)

The teeth on panel saws are set alternately, that is each
tooth is bent
slightly away from the plane of the blade with a tool called a
"saw set"
or a hammer and anvil. This set makes the kerf wider than the
blade
so the saw can move through the cut freely.

You won't need to set the teeth every time you sharpen, but if
the saw
is clean and binds in the cut, it's probably time to set it.

I'll assume you have a saw set which allows you to dial the
amount of
set based on the tooth pitch (4,5,6,...). Once adjusted for
the pitch,
the saw set is used to bend every other tooth one direction,
the saw is
reversed in the vice and the remaining unset teeth are set.

Don't buy a new saw set; they are very common on the used tool
market
and cost much less than new ones.

FILING the TEETH

The goal here is to take off just enough metal to put an edge
on the
tooth. Two to four strokes per tooth should do it. Use the
same file
and the same number of strokes on each tooth. When sharp, the
teeth
lose the shiny flat on the tip, and have just an edge.

As I mentioned, crosscut saws have angled teeth, while rip
saws have
chisel cut teeth. For rip saws, the file is perpendicular to
the blade.

For crosscuts, follow the angle on your saw teeth now. It is
usually
skewed about 15 degrees from perpendicular for crosscuts, and
slightly
pointed on the outer edge of the tooth. Hold the saw file at
a
consistent angle, sloped a little and skewed a little to match
the
angle of the existing teeth. It should take less than an hour
to
sharpen your saw.

Try your newly sharpened saw and you will be amazed at the
difference
in effort and quality of cut you can make with a sharper saw.

10) General Information on planes.

The most common advice for beginners about getting planes
seems to
be get some of the older Stanley metal bench planes (also
known as
Bailey planes in respect to the person who first patented this
style
plane, Leonard Bailey). These can be bought at virtually any
used tool
dealer. If you opt for new planes Record makes planes that
are "OK",
they will need some tuning. Avoid the junk at Sears or the
new
Stanley's in your typical Home Center. If you are looking for
a really
good new plane Tom Lie-Nielsen makes some very good but
relatively
expensive planes.

There is a huge variety of planes available for different
tasks, we'll
just cover the basics here.

The Stanley #5 plane (aka the Jack plane) is considered the
"workhorse"
plane. For example it is what you would probably use to begin
working
a rough-sawn board, taking off the saw marks and beginning to
make
it flat. It is also what would be used for a lot of shaping
tasks
like chamfering an edge, etc. The Stanley #4 plane is known
as a
smoothing plane. It would typically be used to make the final
passes
on the board after the board has been flattened. The Stanley
#7
plane is a jointer plane. It would be used to "joint an edge"
which
means make edges flat and ready to glue two boards together.
It can
also be used in surface preparation to help making large
boards
flat. The last plane in common use is the small block plane,
which
is used to do small shaping tasks, plane end grain, etc.

The main difference between the larger bench planes (#4, #5
and #7)
is the length of the sole. The smoothing planes are generally
about
9 to 10 inches long, jack planes about 14 inches long, and the
jointers run about 22 inches long.

If you get a used plane, and even if you get a brand new
plane,
it is likely to need some tuning. I've bought an old badly
rusted
Stanley #4 plane at a local flea market and made it usable so
I'll
describe what I did to it, incorporating extra information
gained
from books and rec.woodworking postings. If you're starting
off
with a plane in better shape than my lump of rust you should
be
able to skip various steps in this.

Start by taking the whole plane apart. Brush off as much of
the gunk
as you can, then scrub off the parts with a brush (old
toothbrush
worked great - NOT a stiff wire brush because that will leave
scratches) and mineral spirits. This should clean up pretty
much
everything but heavy rust. Some WD-40 and synthetic wool will
get
rust off, as will Naval Jelly. Pay special attention to
cleaning up
where the plane's cast body meets the frog (cast part that
holds the
blade, lateral adjustment lever, depth knob, etc.). With the
plane
cleaned reassemble the whole thing. Put the blade in but set
the
depth so the blade is not sticking out of the bottom. Now set
up
a lapping table. This is a large-ish chunk of plate glass
with
220 grit (rougher if your plane's sole is in really bad shape)
wet/dry
cloth attached to the glass with spray adhesive. Use the
lapping
table to flatten the sole of the plane. If you need the sides
to be
perfectly perpendicular to the sole (this is needed for a
planing
technique called "shooting") then use something long-ish with
a good
right angle on it as a guide to flatten the sides as well.
Some people
recommend using a tool bed for a lapping table. If you've got
a
jointer you may find it perfect for this. Personally I'm
afraid to
use the spray adhesive on my jointer bed and I don't like the
idea
of having metal dust around my jointer but this doesn't bother
some
people. Finally sharpen the blade and adjust it (and if
necessary
the frog). Check to make sure the chip breaker meets the
blade
perfectly along the whole width of the blade, file the chip
breaker's
edge flat if necessary.

11) General Information on scrapers.

I have no personal experience with scrapers yet. The
following is
posts from other folks.

Tage Frid did a long article on scrapers in Fine WoodWorking
that was reprinted in the hardcover version FWW #1. [I also
found
it in "Fine WoodWorking on Hand Tools" in softcover] The
article
includes pictures of each step that make the whole thing a lot
easier to understand. I made notes for myself, intending to
pick
up one at Lee Valley on Vancouver on my next trip over. As
Tage
Frid says "since most people buy only one or two blades in a
lifetime, it is a good investment to buy the best" which he
says
is the Sandvik #475.

Sharpening involves 3 steps: filing, honing, burnishing. He
does
all four edges each time, repeating only when all 4 edges are
dull.

Filing squares the edge to the side. Scraper in vise, file in
hands, fingers below, thumbs above, sliding lengthwise with
scraper between fingers, few long even strokes.

Honing smooths the edge (still square), but involves two
different stones. Honing part 1, with scraper still in vise,
medium wet dry carborundum stone in both hands on edge, thumbs
on top, finges on bottom, sliding lengthwise with scraper
between
fingers, to remove roughness left by file. Honing part 2,
with
scraper still in vise, using Belgian clay water-stone (with
water),
held flat but moved at a slight angle to prevent a groove.
This
will be a problem for most people, since Belgian water-stones
do not
exactly abound these days. When edge very smooth, wipe stone
along
face to remove any burr.

Burnishing takes place with the scraper lying flat on the
bench, with edge extending 1" over the side of the bench, all
scraper edges oiled. With back of chisel, held almost
vertical
(85 degrees) draw it back and forth a few times with light
pressure until a fine burr forms (check with light finger tip
pressure). Some have suggested that (lots) more than light
pressure is required.

Reburnishing, required when scrapings turn to dust rather than
fine shavings, is done with scraper flat on the bench, honing
oil, chisel back applied to remove the burr, then hone again.
If
this does not work (after 4 or 5 times), start again from the
file.

12) General Information on saws.

13) General Information on chisels.

The "They don't make 'em like they used to" sentiment seems
strong
in the chisel area. Chisels available new these days don't
tend to
sharpen as well or hold a sharp edge for as long as the older
chisels.
Manufacturers have tradeoffs to decide on when deciding how to
"temper" the blades of the chisels. The metal can be made
harder
which generally lets it sharpen better and hold a sharp edge
better.
However this makes it more brittle so if you use the chisel to
pry
off paint can lids and things like that it will chip.
Manufacturers
are catering to the weekend warriors more these days so
they're
not tempering the blades as hard as they used to.

You can do your own heat-treating of chisels if you want to
harden
the steel yourself. See Michael Dunbar's book for a
description
of how to do the heat treating. Most new chisels will also
require
some or all of the sharpening procedure above before you can
seriously
use them - it is rare to find chisels that don't need the
backs
lapped and the edge resharpened.

There are two dominant chisel types. The paring chisels have
a bevel down both sides of the blade as well as along the
cutting
end. Morticing chisels have square sides. Poor pictures of
the
ends of the chisels a


------ ---------
/ \ | |
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paring morticing

The paring chisels are usually used for general shaping and
cutting
tasks. Morticing chisels are used to, you guessed it, chop
out
mortices. The square sides of the morticing chisels help keep
the
mortice square. There are also some special-purpose chisels.
One
example is the "crank-neck" chisels which have a curve in the
shaft
of the blade before it meets the handle so that the flat
portion
of the blade can be kept flat on the wood surface even for
large
pieces of wood (regular chisels the handle gets in the way).

If you are buying new chisels the general consensus seems to
be
that Marples Blue Chip chisels are a decent chisel for a
reasonable
price. Robert Sorby used to make good chisels but the feeling
is
that they have dropped in quality recently. Henry Taylor
chisels
seem to be the preferred chisel but they're more expensive
than
Marples and harder to find. High quality Japanese chisels
seem to
be the best of the chisels as far as quality of the steel used
but these tend to be very expensive.

Sometimes you will need something to hit paring chisels with
while
using them (if you can do what you want with hand pressure
you're
best off not hitting the chisel with anything but there are
times
when it is necessary...) and you will definitely need
something to
hit morticing chisels with. DO NOT use a normal claw hammer.
Wooden
mallets with either large flat faces or round faces are
available
for using with chisels, you are best off getting one of those.
I
prefer the round mallet because you don't need to pay
attention to
its orientation when you're striking the chisel and my
attention
is usually focused on the blade of the chisel.

14) General Information on Japanese Woodworking Tools.

What's all the fuss about?
Over the past 20 years many American woodworkers have
discovered that
there are alternative woodworking traditions and tools
available in
the modern world. Many Japanese handtools available today
(saws,
chisels, hammers, planes, etc.) are still made in the
traditional
manner, by hand -- a master blacksmith with his one or two
apprentices, a charcoal fire, an ancient anvil...

Japanese hand tools are often distinctly different from their
western
counterparts. Japanese saws cut on the pull stroke, planes are
pulled
towards you instead of pushed away. Often these differences
yield
advantages over their western counterparts, other times they
are
simply evidence of a different tradition.

Japanese plane blades and chisels are made from laminated
steel (a
hard tool steel for the cutting edge, and a softer steel,
often
wrought iron, for the remainder of the blade). The tool steels
used
in these tools is of a higher quality, and will hold a better
edge
than just about anything else made today. Western tools used
to be
made this way, or at least using higher quality steels, but
the
"home handyman" mentality of most western tool manufacturers
forces
us to seek out our grandfathers tools at auctions and flea
markets.

The first step: Try a Japanese saw!
The next time you have a few dovetails to cut, or a tenon to
saw,
buy a good replaceable blade saw (~$25, see sources below).
For
furniture sized work a 210mm (8") ryoba (ree-o-bah), which
means
two teeth, offers the highest utility (since it has rip teeth
on one
side and crosscut teeth on the other).

The other common saw people start with is a "dovetail dozuki",
a
dozuki is equivalent to a western back saw, and can be
purchased with
either crosscut, rip, or thorn-style teeth (for dovetails).
Dozuki
saws have very little set to their teeth so they leave a very
smooth
cut. Either version is available for $25-30 (replaceable
blade).

By the way, the replaceable blades saws, are really very good.
In my
experience you would have to buy a very fine handmade saw
($100-200) to
reliably find a better saw. Don't think of it like a
disposeable
razor, the reason the blades are replaceable is because with
18-28
crosscut teeth per inch, they are rather difficult to sharpen.
(The
only time I've ever had to replace a blade was when it was
inadvertently used one to prune a tree, and the closing kerf
put a
kink in the blade.) They will stay sharp a long time.

Taking the next step: Mastering your Tools
To really appreciate fine Japanese tools (or their western
counterparts), you need to really appreciate your current
tools. I
don't want to sound elitist, but if you are happy sharpening
your
chisels with 600 grit sandpaper on a piece of glass, then read
no
further. Why, because you just won't notice much of a
difference.
However, if you enjoy keeping a razor edge on your tools, and
can
appreciate the difference between a sharp blade and a really
sharp
blade, then read on.

Chisels. (Nomi)
After acquiring the saws above, the next step is to get a
chisel or two.
Japanese chisels are made from high quality tool steel, that
is only
tempered down to RC63-65 (as compared to RC58-62 for modern
western
chisels), and more importantly, will take and hold a better
edge.
Chisels come in metric sizes that correspond nicely (just
slightly
undersize) to fractional inches. Just say 3mm = 1/8" and
multiply
away... Common sizes are 1.5,3,6,9,12,15, 18,24,30,36. While
they are
available in sets (usually 9 or 10), one can start with a
couple of
common sizes and add as necessary. I recommend something in
the 12mm
(1/2") to 24mm (1") range until your sharpening skills adjust
(note:
sharpening jigs don't grip japanese chisels or plane blades
very well).

Chisels are made from laminated steel, and will have one or
more
hollows on the back of the chisel to facilitate easily
flattening
the hard steel back (contrary to many popular misconceptions
about
why the hollows are there).

Planes. (Kanna)
Japanese planes are nothing like the Bailey style plane most
woodworkers are familiar with. Japanese planes are instead
much closer
in design to the legendary Norris style planes of yore.
Japanese
planes are very simply constructed: a tapered metal blade
inserted
into custom fitted wooden block, with a chip breaker wedged
under a
metal pin inserted through the block. The blade position is
adjusted
by tapping the blade and block with a small hammer. No fancy
adjustment
levers, no moveable frogs, no corrugated soles. The design
focuses on
the simple, yet crucial, aspects of successful planing: A flat
sole
with a narrow throat opening, a solid and well supported
blade, a keen
cutting edge, and a close fitting chipbreaker. One must spend
some
time adjusting the wooden soles, with heavy use and seasonal
humidity
changes, but the results are well worth the effort. I often
use my
Bailey-style planes when rough planing or jointing, but then
switch to my Japanese planes for smoothing, or whenever I
encounter
difficult grain patterns.

Smoothing planes are commonly available in sizes ranging from
24mm (1")
up to 70mm (~3") in width. The smaller sizes are for more
specialized
use, while the larger (60mm) smoothing planes are difficult
to learn
on. I recommend something in the 42-54mm range as a first
plane. You
can find very nice planes of this size in the $70-$120 price
range. A
wide variety of specialty planes are also available (chamfers,
rebates,
groove, sliding dovetail, H&R's, etc.)

JAPANESE WATERSTONES:

Stone Selection: Most people recommend a 1000/6000 pair. But
if you are
using Japanese planes or chisels (or older laminated western
chisels),
the jump from 1000 to 6000 may be too large to achieve the
best edge.
Most modern western tools use a softer steel (58-60 on the
Rockwell
scale compared to 63-65) which is easier to sharpen. On the
harder
steels, it will take a lot of polishing to get out the
scratches left
by the 1000 grit stone, and while the bevel may look like a
mirror,
the edge may not be as sharp as it could be. Unfortunately
there
aren't many types of stones in between 1000 and 6000 grit. The
choices
a 1) use a 1200 instead, or 2) try a 3-4000 grit polishing
stone
before going to the 6000, 3) use a 1500 or 2000 as a middle
stone
(Japan Woodworker now sells both) or 4) Get yourself either a
natural
"Ocean Blue" or "Mountain Blue" middle stone which is
equivalent to
about 2000-2500 grit. Unfortunately these stones are "mined",
not
manufactured and last I heard the underwater "Ocean Blue" mine
was
closed and the "Mountain Blue" mine was nearly so. Last time I
asked
(Early 1994), Hida had just gotten a few of the "Mountain
Blue"
variety. Many of the "Ocean Blue" stones left on the market,
if there
are any at all now, are of low quality and tend to
"disintegrate" into
smaller randomly shaped chunks. Ask about the quality if you
find one.
(A friend just traded a $800 set of chisels for a really nice
one.)

Remember just because they are called "waterstones" doesn't
mean you
need to leave them all in a bucket of water. The general rule
is as
follows: 1) Never leave a NATURAL stone of any grit soaking.
They tend
to disintegrate. Just sprinkle enough water on the stone to
keep the
surface nice and moist. 2) Never leave a manmade stone over
1500 grit
soaking in water, again just use enough water to keep the
surface wet.
Your mileage may vary. Some of the newer natural finishing
stones may
work OK in the water bucket, I haven't felt the need to find
out. I
do leave my manmade 220, 600, 800, and 1200 grit stones in a
bucket of
water.

Flattening Your Stones:
Don't forget to flatten your stones regularly, the "red" King
brand
800-1200 stones wear especially fast. I prefer the Bester
brand ceramic
stones (white or yellowish), which are composed of small
ceramic bits
(unlike the fused ceramic stones that claim to "never wear
out"). I
use a piece of 1/4" glass with a piece of sandpaper on top,
and just
rub the stone on the sandpaper.

Nagura Stones: Nagura stones are NOT used to flatten other
stones, they
are used to enhance the sharpening characteristics of
waterstones.
They are actually very helpful, but your mileage will depend
on the
type of stone you are using it with, as well as the hardness
of the
steel you are working with. On inexpensive "Western" chisels
(sears
or stanley) the steel is "relatively" soft and I find the
nagura
doesn't help much on any stone. With the extremely hard steel
found in
Japanese chisels, and in some of the finer or older western
steels,
using the nagura to create a bit of paste on the waterstone
can really
help. When sharpening, if the tool slips or chirps across the
stone,
try a little nagura. Some natural polishing stones are very
hard, and
really need the nagura to cut smoothly. (Other stones can
contain
impurities that can leave tiny scratches on the blade, the
nagura is
used to "knock down" these impurities to prevent the
scratches.)

My Choices:
I'm fortunate enough to have both blue stones, and they work
extremely
well. The Ocean stone is rather hard, while the mountain
stone is
softer. If such stones are either no longer available (likely)
or too
expensive (also likely), then I think I'd opt for the 2000 as
a middle
stone. My current stone collection includes 220, 600, 800,
1200 (the
workhorse), ocean blue, mountain blue, 6000, 8000 and several
natural
polishing stones. I also have several different types of
nagura stones
to play with, since some work better on different stones. When
sharpening a chisel or plane blade I usually start on the 1200
unless
there are big problems, then move to one of the blue middle
stones,
and then finish up on the 6000 or 8000, or one of the natural
stones,
depending on the quality of the tool (no sense polishing a $3
chisel
on a $200 natural waterstone). I tend to use a nagura with the
middle
and polishing stones (different naguras though), but sometimes
I use
with on the 1200 as well. I don't really like my 6000 grit S1
stone
very much, it seems very "soft". I received the 8000 G1 stone
recently as a gift, and it works much much better than the
6000. As
a result the 6000 has been relegated to sharpening small
chisels and
other tools that can easily damage a polishing stone.


ADVANCED STUFF: SHARPENING "HOLLOW BACKED" PLANES & CHISELS

Japanese plane and chisel blades are hollow on the back side.
In fact
higher quality chisels often have multiple hollows. I'm a
terrible
ascii artist so netters who haven't seen this before will just
have
to look in a tool catalog. The hollow serves a very simple
purpose.
The steel used for the cutting edge is SO hard (Rockwell
63-65) that
flattening the back would take forever, unless you "scooped
out the
middle" leaving only the edges to flatten. Sounds great until
you
sharpen down to the where the hollow starts. Then what? The
story
diverges here for chisels and plane blades, they are handled
differently.

Plane blades:
Unfortunatley, you can't just re-flatten the back (as you can
on a
chisel), is that the blade needs to fit rather precisely into
a
groove in the planes block, reflattening the blade would
destroy
this fit. (Of course, it's fine to just touch up the back on
your
fine stones to remove the "wire edge", from sharpening the
bevel side.)

Instead you need to "tap out" the blade to "restore the land",
where
"land" refers to the flattened part of the back of the blade
between
the cutting edge and the hollow. You know, the part you just
ran out
of. As Mr. Odate recommends you simply "hit the plane blade
with a
hammer" until you create some more flat part. Scared the hell
out of
me when I first read that! At least, until I saw someone do
it, and
tried it myself a few times. I've done it dozens of times
since without
any problems. I even started with a piece of a larger blade
with no
flat part on the sides at all(!), and tapped it into shape.

First of all, realize that you don't have to do this very
often. Plane
blades and chisels come with 1/8 - 1/4" of land to begin with
and
unless you hit a nail or something to take a serious nick this
should
last through several years of heavy use. Then you perform this
process
once in a while to reestablish 1/32 - 1/16" or so of the land.

How to do it.
First off you use a SMALL hammer and you "tap". I use a 3 or
4oz hammer
with a small point on one end (like a nail or saw setting
hammer). You
also need a hunk of iron or steel (like a small anvil), I have
a piece
of 3" round mild steel about 5" tall. Holding the back of the
blade
against the corner or edge of the "anvil" you tap the hammer
into the
soft iron of the blade all along the front (near the cutting
edge) of
the blade. I can't remember if Odate's book shows this very
well,
again I learned by watching someone who had been doing it for
years.
The hammer will leave little marks in the soft iron, and
actually
deforms it and the hard steel so that the tip of the blade
bends over
slightly toward the back. A few quick passes on a sharpening
stone and
presto, you've got some land! Don't hit the hard steel of the
cutting
edge with the hammer, it may chip, especially if you hit very
close to
the cutting edge.

After you've been sharpening and occasionally tapping out
you're
favorite blade for many, many years it will eventually get
pretty
stubby and you will be really deforming the hard steel to keep
some
"land" on the blade. If trouble ever occurs, this is when it
happens.
Your favorite blade, the one you use on birdseye and quilted
maple and
other difficult jobs, finally gives in and breaks.

Still with me...Okay, On to chisels.
Chisels are simpler because you sharpen them differently. On
plane
blades you don't flatten the back very often, only when you
tap out,
or if a big nick has distorted the back. With chisels you
typically
need to flatten the back more often because they endure more
abuse by
being hammered all the time. But don't do it unless it really
needs
it. Anyway, because you end up flattening the back more often,
you
tend to wear away the bottom of the chisel a bit and the
hollow
naturally recedes away from the cutting edge. If this doesn't
happen
naturally you can either "tap out" the chisel as described
above or be
a bit more agressive in flattening the back. If you are too
aggressive
in flattening the back the hollows will be gone while the
chisel is
still young and the hard steel may become too thin and be more
susceptible to breaking. I've heard inexperienced users
describe this
problem (Wow, it was hard work grinding off those darn
hollows!). If
you tend toward this end of the scale, you'll need to ease up
on
flattening and "tap out" some instead.

I tend to do a bit of both. If I distort the back of a chisel
somehow,
sometimes I'll just tap it out until it's pretty flat again
before
going to the stone. Otherwise I simply flatten the back on a
stone,
when it needs it. It seems to be balancing out pretty well so
far
(5 years on these chisels)...


RECOMMENDED READING:

"Japanese Woodworking Tools: Their Tradition, Spirit and Use",
Toshio, Odate, 1984, The Taunton Press, CN.
(The best overall source of tool and usage information, some
do
question Odate's depth of knowledge, but this is far and away
the best
English language book available.)

"Japanese Woodworking: A Handbook of Japanese Tool Use &
Woodworking
Techniques", Hideo Sato (translated from Japanese), 1987,
Cloudburst
Press. WA (Good information on tools, excellent source for
tool use
and construction techniques.)

"Japanese Woodworking Tools: Selection, Care and Use",
Henry Lanz, 1985, Sterling Publishing Co., NY.
(Viewed from a westerners perspective)

"SHOJI - How to design build and install Japanese Screens",
Jay van Arsdale, Kodansha International, NY.
(Excellent general tool overview, plus shoji making. Jay
teaches
the highly recommended workshops at Hida and Japan Woodworker,
listed
below.)

"The Way of the Carpenter",
William. H. Coaldrake, 1990, Weatherhill, Inc. NY.
(History of Japanese woodworking tools and traditions. An
excellent
explanation of how the Japanese tradition evolved toward the
tools we
see today.)

TOOL SOURCES:

Almost every mail order tool catalog these days advertises
some
Japanese tools (usually replaceable blade saws and a few
chisels).
Don't bother. Most of this stuff is of very poor quality. The
businesses listed below are very reputable, and they
understand what
they are selling.

Hida Tool & Hardware (Catalog, Workshops)
1333 San Pablo Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94702
(510)-524-3700
(800)-443-5512

The Japan Woodworker (Catalog, Workshops)
1731 Clement Ave.
Alameda, CA 94501
(800)-537-7820

Nippon-4-Less (Catalog)
248 W Portola Ave.
Los Altos, CA
(415)-917-0706

Garrett-Wade Company, Inc. (Carrying less every year)
161 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10013
(800)-221-2942

19) Collecting old tools.

20) What books can I get to learn more?

Bertorelli, Paul (Editor); "Fine WoodWorking on Hand Tools";
The
Tauton Press; Newtown, CT; 1986; ISBN 0-918804-53-1.
Dunbar, Michael; ``Restoring, Tuning, and Using Classic
Woodworking Tools''; Sterling Publishing Co; New
York; 1989; ISBN 0-8069-6670-X.
Hampton, C. W. and E. Clifford; "Planecraft", ?, 1911,
ISBN ?
Hoadley, R. Bruce; ``Understanding Wood, A Craftsman's Guide
to
Wood Technology''; The Tauton Press; Newtown, CT;
1980;
ISBN 0-918804-05-1.
Jones, Bernard; ``The Complete Woodworker''; Ten Speed Press;
ISBN 0-89815-022-1.
Jones, Bernard; ``The Practical Woodworker''; Ten Speed Press;
ISBN 0-89815-106-6.
Korn, Peter; ``Working with Wood, The Basics of
Craftsmanship'';
The Tauton Press; Newtown, CT; 1993; ISBN
1-56158-041-4.
Salaman, R. A.; ``Dictionary of Woodworking Tools''; The
Tauton Press;
Newtown, CT; ISBN 0-942391-51-9
Spielman, Patrick; ``Sharpening Basics''; Sterling Publishing
Co.,
New York, NY; ISBN 0-8069-7226-2

21) Tidbits

The Early American Industries Association (EAIA) is an
international
(but mostly American) organization dedicated to preserving the
tools
and procedures of bygone industries (loose translation of the
bylaws from memory by the submitter of this tidbit).
Membership
in the EAIA is $25/yr. Periodicals of the EAIA include
Shavings,
a bimonthly containing news of the EAIA and other tool-related
clubs,
and Chronicles, which contains substantive, more scholarly
atricles on
some aspects of early industries. You can write to:

Early American Industries Association
c/o John S. Watson, Treas.
PO Box 2128, E.S.P. Station
Albany, NY, 12220.

Some of the highly regarded Woodworking Schools are :

North Bennet Street School
39 North Bennet Street
Boston, MA, 02113
--
Ken Smith

- From there to here, from here to internet:

there, funny things are everywhere. bitnet:
kensmith%cs.buffalo....@ubvm

----------------
A friend will bail you out of jail, but a true friend will be sitting next to you, saying,
"That was ****ing awesome!".