Monday 13 April 2009

What Tools Do I Need part 3

Planes Chisels Pincers


As you probably realise, I’m not one of those bloggers who turn out five posts a day, however this particular post has taken a bit longer than usual to appear, hope this hasn’t dented your enthusiasm.

Planes and chisels are two of the most important edge tools that any woodworker will use, so it’s important to choose ones that will perform properly. We looked at how you could save money on disposable saws last time, but it would be a big mistake to think you could do the same with edge tools. Because an edge tool needs to take a keen edge and retain it for a reasonable amount of time. A bargain may look appealing and may even make a few good cuts, but inevitably you will be making too many visits to the sharpening stone. The all important ingredient is the type of steel that the manufacturer used to make the blade.

That said lets first take a closer look at the type of plane you will need. Now you may find that my advice is at odds with that which you may find elsewhere. This is because I’m focussing on the home woodworker who just wants to have a go at making something before making a huge financial commitment on tools.

For a first plane I would advise a small Stanley block plane the 60 ½ (top left) this will be adequate for immediate your needs and its suppressing what can be achieved with one. You can graduate onto other more specialised planes if you feel the need at a later date and you will then have some practical experience on which to base your future choice. The plane will not work straight out of the box and will need some ‘’fettling’’ to make it work right. I’ll cover this at the end of the series.

The other planes in the picture are a Stanley 220 (top Right) a slightly more basic model that has its uses. The plane in the centre is an ECE wooden block plane that works superbly when ‘tuned-up’ the drawback with this type of plane for your type of work is the wearability of the soul. You will be doing a lot of chamfering and this can scar a wood bottomed plane and eventually spoil it. Then on the other hand, I would prefer a ‘woody’ anyday when working on the flat. You can see how easy it is to end up with a cupboard or whole workshop full of tools.

Probably the chisel sizes you will find most useful will be a ¼’’/6mm, a ½’’/12mm and a 5/8’’/16mm all with bevelled edges. After a lot of thought and consideration, I would advise that you buy some Japanese chisels as these will give you the best cost/performance ratio and require the least ‘fettling’ to get you working. Buy a chisel roll to keep them in; otherwise the cutting edges will get damaged, no matter how careful you are. Like western chisels there are a number of different styles of Japanese chisels to choose from. The most robust are Chu-usu Nomi (third left) and were used by Japanese temple builders; these are capable of making heavy cuts or taking the lightest of parings. This quality here, are a mid priced chisel, about 30 euros each, anything cheaper is probably not worth considering. If you are lucky enough to have inherited some 19th century cast steel chisels (second left) that aren’t rust pitted, its going to be worth rehabilitating them. Email me on that one.


Pincers, you can probably find a nice clean pair like those in the picture for a few pounds on EBay, just make sure the gripping edges are not deformed. See if you can pick-up a pin punch at the same time. I forgot to add this on the list, but you can be sure you will need one.