What are your favorite hand
#11
tools and why?

For me it is the #3 plane which I use alot in making the finish smooth and my shoulder plane that Rob Lee gave me to do the edges of rabbited areas which were did not come out to smooth.

No pictures yet until I borrow my daughters camera.

Should also mention someone gave me a #3 woodriver plane and I have a stanly #3 which I like alot.

I would add a 1/2 chisel but do not use it much.
As of this time I am not teaching vets to turn. Also please do not send any items to me without prior notification.  Thank You Everyone.

It is always the right time, to do the right thing.
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#12
Bench - Veritas low angle jack, because it is like a jack of everything.

Joinery - Veritas plow, cuz it's well built and easy to use.

Simon
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#13
(01-22-2022, 01:41 PM)Arlin Eastman Wrote: tools and why?
and my shoulder plane that Rob Lee gave me to do the edges of rabbited areas which were did not come out to smooth.

Which size? Medium or large?

Medium is the sweet spot for me.

Simon
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#14
Oh boy. So many. My Koyomaichi chisels. Wow, they stay sharp in the worst woods. Some of my homemade hand p lanes that cam out better than some of my other homemade hand planes. Every form of scraper I own (card, cabinet, plane) -- I would be scrod without them. The custom dovetail dozuki I got from Stan Covington and his master saw smith. It is a gem.

I'll name 2 that don't get called out often enough. A sharp file. Sharp, mind you. I send mine in to Harry Boggs. They work wonders for minor smoothing and removal of small dings in hardwoods. 

Floats. I have a bed float I bought for its stated purpose, and discovered what a great shaping and small-area smoothing tool it is. And very easy to sharpen.
Best,
Aram, always learning

"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery


Web: My woodworking photo site
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#15
Favorite tools?
Striking knife - just like it. Like the way it looks. My saws same. Cool looking tools.
Sculptural tools, tools that present risk or do cool stuff:- draw knife, hatchet, not good at it, but carving tools. These are always exciting for me to use. Chisels less so but close seconds.
Tools that are fun to operate - dadoes, moving fillester, my drawer bottom plow or mini plow, hollows and rounds, and center bits and shell bits - much nicer than augers, which I think tear stuff up. Complex molders less so due to pesky fences.

Least fun: Foot adz, cross cut timber saw, veneer saw (hard and boring at the same time).
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#16
I have more tools than any sane person actually needs, and have spent the past year thinning the herd - not that this is noticeable! There are two factors that have been evident to me all along, and simply become reinforced as I go down this path …

The first is that I am not strictly a “collector” of tools. I do not have sets or duplicates. But I love these tools as much as I love using them.

The second factor is that most of my tools have a story. They may have been something made or given by a friend, something I made myself, a competition prize, and so on. I cannot sell them or give them away. Each has a memory and they are with me as I work.

Singling out a few …

Lee Valley/Veritas LA Jack: this is how I met Rob Lee. I had completed a restoration of a Stanley #62 back in 2004, and Rob asked if I would like to compare it with his version, which was new at the time. Rob is a good friend of many years now,

Veritas PM-V11 chisels: Just about everyone knows that I have spent many years now involved with road testing and reporting to Lee Valley on their planes, saws and chisels. I had a wonderful time in 2013 visiting the factory in Ottawa. It took some years testing plane and chisel steels before PM-V11 was introduced. I had already written a review of the original O1 version. The PM-V11 set I have were custom made for me as a gift from Rob, and there is no other like it. The handles are round - without a flat, which is standard on the production versions - and made of Ebony.

Independence Tools dovetail saw: This was one of the dovetail saws that re-started the hand work revolution. Made by Pete Taran, he and I are good cyber friends. I feel honoured to have this saw.

Lie Nielsen Skew Block Plane: I “found” a very dilapidated plane with missing and broken parts on eBay. I ordered replacements from LN, but they did not fit. It turned out that I had the original plane (before the more modern current version), and Thomas LN worked with me to restore it. It is now stunning.

Lie Nielsen #51 shooting plane: I restored a 1890 Stanley #51/52 chuting board about 20 years ago. The #51 shooting plane was always rather fragile and let down this wonderful tool. I promised Thomas LN that I would purchase the first one he made, and duly did so. It arrived signed, and is the only one of its kind. I have the Veritas Shooting Plane as well (from road testing before final production release), and it is slightly better user, but the LN joins it on the #52.

Chris Vesper squares, sliding bevels and marking knives: Chris lives in Melbourne, and each year (before Covid) he would stay with my wife and myself for the Perth Wood Show. I would join Chris on his stand at the Show, and together we would have a lot of fun - usually with some build competition to attract the crowds. I consider Chris to be the #1 toolmaker of his kind in the world. I have his squares and sliding bevels, which are just a joy to use (as much as candy for the eye). Several years ago he asked if he could incorporate my marking knives into his catalogue. Of course I said yes (and, no, I get nothing financial from this).

The list goes on and on. I am so fortunate with the friends I have made and the opportunities to explore and experience so many wonderful hand tools. The tool reviews I have written have been my attempt to share with others whom have not had these opportunities.

Regards from Perth

Derek
Articles on furniture building, shop made tools and tool reviews at www.inthewoodshop.com
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#17
(01-22-2022, 08:15 PM)Derek Cohen Wrote: I have more tools than any sane person actually needs, and have spent the past year thinning the herd - not that this is noticeable! There are two factors

i like your post......because you agree with me on the LAJ.

Seriously, the stories behind those tools of yours were very interesting.

Simon
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#18
I thought about this the other day and I think it is my vice. I use it for a lot more than woodworking.
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#19
Chris Vesper’s tools are really special. Everybody should have at least one of his little squares. Recall the tool storage discussion. My Chris Vesper square is brass or bronze with a stainless blade. Looks like a jewel but really very usable.
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#20
As Derek, there are a lot of tools around me. The ones I love the most are the tools that were made for me. Our saws. A Liogier rasp with a saw maker pitch. Saw vises friensds made for me. File Handles by friend Alex, Matthias Fenner and Gerd Fritsche. A little Hammer Jim Hendricks sent me. the 16th centuira saw I made in colaboration with Jim and a Swedish Plane maker. The Veritas Chilesls, Rob gave us for testing.

The first Doppelhobel (wooden plane 45° Iren Chipbraker. but not German smoother) I rehabbed ond brought to a wisper shaving.

Most of it it memories and relationships.

Cheers
Pedder
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