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Don’t Try Woodworking without a Wood Planer

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So you want to know what is a wood planer. Don’t feel alone. Many novice woodworkers ask us that question, though we have to admit it amazes us that they don’t. As professionals, a wood planer is as necessary to us as a good table saw. A piece of wood has to get smooth and straight somehow and a wood planer is what gets it that way.

Let’s start with the obvious – a tree does not grow out of the ground in the form of a plank! After it is cut down, it has to be milled into planks of various widths, lengths and thicknesses. This is usually done in a mill with a big wide-toothed bandsaw. Then it is set aside to dry naturally or, more often than not, kiln-dried.

When most of the moisture has been taken out of the planks, they are ready to be planed smooth to uniform thicknesses and widths. The big industrial machines spit out thousands of yards of 2X4’s per day.

Rough sawn wood is usually sold to enterprises that have more exacting needs than the construction industry. Furniture manufacturers of all sizes buy rough sawn wood and plane it themselves. Depending on the size of the operation, these wood planers range from high capacity planers all the way down to portable thickness planers and compact multi purpose machines that combine a table saw, edger and thickness planer in one.

There is a multi purpose machine for almost any sized wood shop. Many medium scale cabinetmaking businesses have at least one that they use for specialty work and many small scale professional craftsmen have found that a good quality 3-phase machine can give them a lifetime of service and produce the fine results they need.

There aren’t many wood workers out there who don’t have a hand held wood planer. It was probably the first one they bought and they still use it for rough work. But eventually, a thickness planer becomes a necessity. It needn’t be an expensive model. You can buy a portable thickness planer that will do the job for softwoods and narrow planks or a larger free-standing unit for wider planks and hardwoods.

One mistake first time buyers often make is that they buy a wood planer for their first project that is not powerful enough for their later needs. Hobbyists tend to take on greater and greater challenges as they gain experience. It may be wise to get a planer that can take on those challenges with you.

What is a wood planer? It is a terrific piece of equipment that can help you get magic results out of a simple slab of wood. When you see your first rough slab of walnut come out the other side of the planer looking like a natural work of art, you’ll be glad you bought one!

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Woodworking As A Hobby

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Woodworking As A Hobby

Take for example, you go to your nearest tool store to get a power tool. Now there is a variety of manufacturers and of course, prices differ too. Like in any product, the more expensive, then the better the quality. Better quality tools in wood working have better design features and parts, as well as a high tolerance in manufacturing. They also perform better. Buy the best tool that you can afford. Come up with a budget on how much you are willing to spend on a particular tool. This is important because you will be using your tools on a frequent basis. But if you are just beginning and you can only spend limited cash to set up your woodwork shop, don’t go for the absolute best then. You can resort to the one that is trusted by most woodworkers that come in a reasonable price. There are exceptions to the general rule mentioned above. If woodworking is simply a hobby you enjoy during the weekend, then you do not have to get the top-of-the-notch tools. The key is getting a tool that is within your budget. But as much as possible, veer away from the cheapest tools and materials. It being cheap already says something – these aren’t worth purchasing. Here are the element tools a woodworker newbie must have in his workshop:

1. DrillGet one with the cord and the screwdriver attachment. It will let you single handedly accomplish tons of tasks – literally and figuratively. They may be quite a bit expensive, but this is one woodworking tool worth investing on. 2. Circular SawUse this to trim and cut plywood. 3. Finishing SanderThis is used for finishing. This is perfect for smoothing out planes. It can also be used for finishing and painting. You can also use this on round planes to clear out the edges. 4. Jig SawThis is a hand held saw that is used for cutting the plywood’s curves and for smoothing out rough outlines. 5. Table SawLike the drill, this is another tool that you must have and invest on. Although there are some inexpensive table saws but they are not as high-powered as the pricey ones. They don’t work as well as you hope too. Get a table saw with a good motor, one that is powerful enough that it can be used over and over again. If not, the blade will stall during the course of you ripping wood. It may even burn some of your masterpieces and no woodworker would want that. 6. RouterA router is like a table – when it comes to the necessary woodworking materials a newbie must get. It is a tool used for cutting a profile on the edge of pieces of wood. They are also used in cutting molding and to trim plastic and cut parts on a template. Routers come in two forms: plunge and fixed. The plunge router is loaded on the base. It can be pushed flat down to a work piece when special cuts are called for. Whereas the fixed router holds the work piece into place. 7. Band SawThis can also be used to other projects and not just woodworking. This is used to cut curves and shapes onto the wood. It can also be used as a bandsaw which is appropriate for sawing lumber. 8. Compound Miter SawThis is used to cut, like the table saw, but is a lot easier to handle. 9. LatheTool is a turning tool and is one of the equipment you should invest on. 10. Biscuit JoinerIt joins together the pieces of wood. The tool cuts small slots in every side of the join. The biscuit is inserted and glued in between, holding the parts altogether. 11. Belt SanderThis is great for quickly smoothing plywood and also for shaping objects. 12. Drill PressThis is used for consistently drilling holes into wood. As a woodwork newbie, you must get the best tools you can afford. But that also depends on the projects that you plan on handling. Before dropping by your nearest hardware store to get your tools, ponder on what exactly you will be making.

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A Professional Furnituremaker Discusses The Woodworking Hand Tools Experience

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I feel fortunate that I was able to get a solid base in hand woodworking during the early part of my career. I got in on the tail end of a traditional cabinetmaking program at an old vocational college run by a master woodworker who had learned his trade in his father’s carriage shop. Each student was assigned a bench and a drawer containing the basic hand tools: a plane, a backsaw, chisels, a small hammer, a square, and a marking gauge. As we worked at the benches, the teacher and his helpers walked around the shop, offering assistance. Although there were some heavy machines in the shop, the predominant atmosphere was one of bench work. Our first task was to make a half-lap joint from a rough piece of poplar using only the tools from our drawer. We started by planing one face flat and from that face squarely an edge. Then we marked and planed to the finish thickness, cut the piece in half squarely, and outlined the joint. Next, we sawed and chiseled the joint, all the while checking for square. Once we felt we had a good joint, an instructor would inspect it from all sides for square, flatness, and fit. This exercise demanded intense concentration and it provided the groundwork for my attitude toward woodworking. Attention to detail, a respect for handwork, and the importance of good joinery provided firm cornerstones.

Twenty years later, as a professional furnituremaker, I still that it is important for me to maintain a balance between handwork and machine work. Being in business sets some of the limits. You may not want money to dictate how you work, but it is a major concern if you are going to work wood for a living. The question of whether a particular process should be accomplished by hand or machine raises a number of questions: Which method is more efficient? Which produces better work-or makes a more valuable finished piece?

I feel that dovetails,for example,can be done best by hand. Even with the new generation of jigs, the extra-fine hand-cut look cannot be achieved with a machine; nor is jigging much faster when there are only a few joints to do;Hand-cut dovetails will also give a piece a much greater investment value. On the other hand, planing a rough board by hand doesn’t usually add value. It may be rewarding personally , but hand planing isn’t more efficient than using a thickness planer, nor are’the results better.

There are many occasions when it is quicker to pick up a hand tool than to set up a machine for a simple operation. I usually cut tenon shoulders with a handsaw and chisel rather than working with a band saw or a table saw. But I taper table legs on the jointer, instead of bandsawing to a line and hand planing the legs smooth. Finding the right balance of hand and power tools is a highly individual matter, balancing the combination of efficiency and value that suits each of us.

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Why I Do My Woodworking Using Hand Tools

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Most people know little about woodworking using hand tools. This may be completely new to you if you are a modern day woodworker. Some woodworkers avoid old tools at all costs. They think that they are outdated, less accurate and slower than the modern day machines. This simply is not true in most cases. This article will provide you with some facts about using planes and saws in your every day wood working projects.
Hand tools are safer. This is a major reason to consider using them. Woodworking machines with their sharp blades move pretty fast. You can have an accident and lose a finger or hand before you know what happened. You can be as careful as you can be but it only takes one small slip and you are off to the hospital or worse. Working by hand can get you hurt but the injury is normally not as severe. When you are operating the tool you usually have more reaction time to stop before it gets out of hand.
You can use a smaller work area. Table saws and planers take up a lot of room. It physically takes more space to operate your home shop with machines. Starting out by hand you can start in the corner of your garage and be just fine.
Hand tools are in some cases faster than machines. You may find that hard to believe but sometimes it is a lot faster. Sure if you are cutting out one thousand boards for a wood factory you cannot touch that by hand. However for the guy at home doing one single project by the time you set up your machine, adjust the fence and make a test cut you will be done and going on to the next step by using old fashioned tools.
It costs less to get started woodworking. Starting out with woodworking machines that are of any quality cost a lot of money. Even though you can spend plenty on high quality planes and saws the fact is you can start with a few tools and get your project done without breaking the bank.
Hand tools make less noise. This is one reason I choose to use to use these tools. There is something to be said about planning a board and hearing the blade smoothing the wood.
Achieve greater precision. Early on when using my table saw it was very easy to cut a little too much off my project. I have thrown away many a good-looking piece of wood because of some small mistake. When I use my hand saw it is much easier to sneak up on my mark and not overdo it.
I choose to use work by hand as much as I can. For myself it is a more sensible way to work with wood. The best system for most would be some sort of combination of the old and the new. Woodworking using hand tools is hard work. The rewards are worth it for me.

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The 7 Essential Woodworking Hand Tools For the Galoot In Training

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First off, a definition. A Galoot is someone who favors the use of antique or antique-styled hand power tools saws over the use of power power tools saws. Often times Galoots go in for the collection and restoration of hand power tools saws as much or even more than woodworking, though this is a matter up for debate. Think of Galoots as the “historic reenactment committee” of woodworking and you’ll be on the right track.
Before we launch into the essential power tools saws for the Galoot woodworker we’d like to offer a few tips that could indicate that you’re a Galoot in training. So in case you ever had any doubts, here are a few of the ways you can tell:
1) You might be a Galoot in training if you have a working arsenal of power power tools saws but still harbor a strange fascination with planes and chisels. . .
2) You might be a Galoot in training if you enjoy tinkering with your power tools saws almost as much as working with wood. Especially that charming, captivating backsaw that your dad got from his dad’s woodshop.
3) You might be a Galoot in training have antique hand power tools saws that you would never, ever use on actual wood and you find yourself believing completely with all of your soul that “they don’t build them like they used to”.
4) You might be a Galoot in training if you prefer to watch Roy Underhill to Norm Abrams. Enough said there.
If you somehow made it to the hand tool collection phase without realizing you were the member of an elite group then I give you my best wishes and hopes for the future as you discover your true family – the Galoots. Do a quick web search on the term Galoot and the OldPower tools saws mailing list. Presto, you’re home.
The 10 essential power tools saws for the Galoot in training is something of a misnomer. Sort of. If you’re not a pure collector yet then you’re ideally buying these antique hand power tools saws as you need them for specific projects you have in mind. Look at the following list then as a suggestion for what to use in place of all those expensive, high torque power power tools saws you talked your significant other into letting you buy.
So here goes, and true Galoots please don’t get mad we’re not Galoots ourselves only hoping to guide home the lost and lonely of your tribe:
1) Chisels (Paring, Morticing)

This pair is crucial, and no, one can’t replace the other. The morticing chisel is used with a mallet and often to cut across the grain. The paring chisel is less often hit with a mallet and is more delicate. It’s used for taking thin shavings off of your work piece. Further, chisels are typically in wide abundance at flea markets and antique stores.
2) Wooden Mallet

You can well make your own if you like, or if you’re a collector then get out to those yard sales and dig through old boxes. Using a wooden mallet is crucial for not damaging your beautiful chisels. . .
3) Plane (Block, Smoothing, Jack, Jointer)

Planes smooth the surface of your work piece. The block plane is for shearing off the end grain of your piece, the smoothing plane is for very small shavings with less chance of tear out, the jack plane is a smoothing plane with more blade depth, and the jointer plane is a long plane used for flattening the joint face of a board.
4) Saw (Rip, Crosscut, Coping)

When choosing your saw pay attention to the rake – the angle at which the teeth are ground, the pitch – the number of teeth per inch and the set – the “wave” that the teeth have that gives the cut its width. Of hand saws you’ll find especially useful the rip saw, which has a zero rake for cutting down the length of the grain, a crosscut saw’s teeth will have negative rake for cutting across the grain, and the coping saw gets you cutting intricate designs and cuts inside a panel.
5) Brace and Bit + Hand Drill

Making holes in wood didn’t start with the invention of the electric drill. It sure got easier though. Get back to the roots of your tool using heritage with a tag team of the brace and bit for making large holes and the hand drill (or egg beater) for making smaller bore holes. You could also consider the Yankee push drill.
6) Measuring and Marking Power tools saws

Accuracy is one of the chief hallmarks of good woodworking. Stay true to your cuts and to your love of hand power tools saws with a combination square – look for fine machining and deep etch markings. A try square will get you into smaller spaces and is important for furniture making. A sliding bevel will help you transfer accurate angles from one working piece of wood to another. Folding rulers have been mostly replaced by the tape measure. Don’t let that bother you – use your folding wood rule with pride. Marking knives, gauges, and awls will keep your fine cuts as accurate as possible.
7) Your Tool Box and Workbench

Finally, we suggest that your first project as a Galoot is to build your own tool box (and then workbench), in much the same way that Luke Skywalker had to build his own light saber. This will connect you to the true force of hand power tools saws. May the Galoots be with you.

Power Tools Saws

Don’t Try Woodworking without a Wood Planer

Woodworking As A Hobby

A Professional Furnituremaker Discusses The Woodworking Hand Tools Experience

Why I Do My Woodworking Using Hand Tools

The 7 Essential Woodworking Hand Tools For the Galoot In Training

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