Hand Tools, Hand Planes, and Chisels

Tool Maintenance Made Easy If you're like most woodworkers, you've invested a lot in your tool collection, both financially and in the time you've spent choosing, acquiring and setting up the tools that make up your shop. But how much time have you devoted to taking good care of them? Taking care of your tools is important, and if you've been neglecting your tool maintenance program because you think it involves lots of specialized equipment and complicated, time-consuming machinery tear-downs, we've got good news. With just a few facts, a modest investment in tool maintenance equipment and supplies, and a little time, you can keep all of the tools in your shop running at peak performance year-round.

Guide to Hand Tools

Most Woodworkers who do not inherit a wood shop start with simple hand tools. Having the right ones is a good start on your collection.

Hand Tool Basics

Hand tools are still essential for any woodworker, power tools may adequately replace many hand tools, but some tasks are still best done my hand. Some still say that a truly crafted piece can only be made by hand.

Hand Tools Introduction

Even basic tools have a variety of different types. Know which ones you should have in your tool box.

Hand Plane Basic

Planes are used to shape, flatten, reduce the thickness, and impart a smooth surface to a rough piece of lumber. When a wood piece is large a shape planer can produce a flat inclined surface. Bench planes have cutting iron bedded with the bevel facing down and attached to a chip-breaker. Block planes don't have a chip-breaker, and the cutting iron bedded with the bevel is up. The block plane general;y a smaller and can be held with only a single hand. The block pane is used for general purpose taks, smoothing piece, removing a knot in the board surface, or for making sawed board's end square.

Using a Plane

Operating a plane uses a blade advancing mechanism for depth of cut and a right-left tilt for making the cutting edge straight. Older planes often offer better positive control than newer planes.

The Wood Chisel

A wood chisel is shaped cutting edge with a blade on its end for carving and cutting wood. A wide selection of chisels are available, for the large range of possible tasks and variety of projects that are often completed with a chisel. Woodworking chisels are used by forcing them into a board cutting the wood. Force is applied by hand or by striking it with a mallet. Chisels run from small chisels for tiny details, to large chisels used to rough out the design by remove big chunks of wood. The wood carver will start with a larger tool,roughing out the design and progressively use smaller chisel to finish the increasingly more fine details.

The Protection and Maintenance of Tools

The condition of your tools is important to the quality of your pieces. Your tools working correctly and efficiently add to the satisfaction of your efforts, but also ensure your safety. You probably have spent a lot of time and money collecting your tools, and even more setting them up and arranging in your work space. But it is just as importance to set up a routine maintenance program to assure everything is running correctly, are correctly sharpen, that calibration are true, and tool are clean.