Woodworking and carpentry thread

[masraum]

Originally Posted by look 171

No need to go nuclear. 5/8"? Man, that's one big chuck. Any 3/8 or 1/2 drill will do the trick. Put it on slow or low, it will cut its way through cleanly. Do get a new bit for that because this holes for the bench dog will be with you for long time. I think the bench dog I sent you is 3/4 dia. if you are using that?

Forstner bit will take until tomorrow. They are slow and dulls easily.

5/8" is what I've already got other than a 12V cordless. Yes, I'll be using and going with the 3/4" dog and dog holes.

[beran earms]

Interesting to hear opinions of "old" tools being next to worthless and slow , inefficient and inaccurate. I'm a professional woodworker with a shop full of equipment and I find properly set and proper use of hand tools to be way faster and more precision than lots of machine work. I have big equipment too. My son is wrapping up school and works with me now, he has been making commissioned pieces of his own since he was 15, started at 12-13, and he prefers almost all hand tools. He has just started to accept using one of the larger bandsaws to help rough out lumber especially resaw quicker. We can knock out dovetail boxes in less time it takes to set something up. If we're comparing that to commercial work which I've done for decades then ya you cant do that, but for quality heirloom pieces almost nothing can compare. McDonalds vs homemade!

[rwest]

Originally Posted by beran earms

Interesting to hear opinions of "old" tools being next to worthless and slow , inefficient and inaccurate. I'm a professional woodworker with a shop full of equipment and I find properly set and proper use of hand tools to be way faster and more precision than lots of machine work. I have big equipment too. My son is wrapping up school and works with me now, he has been making commissioned pieces of his own since he was 15, started at 12-13, and he prefers almost all hand tools. He has just started to accept using one of the larger bandsaws to help rough out lumber especially resaw quicker. We can knock out dovetail boxes in less time it takes to set something up. If we're comparing that to commercial work which I've done for decades then ya you cant do that, but for quality heirloom pieces almost nothing can compare. McDonalds vs homemade!

Amen,

I have both power and hand tools; they both have their place.

I was in charge of making wooden trophies for our woodworking guild’s annual show and a newly retired gentleman who had bought a shop full of high end power tools volunteered to help out. We were working on them in my shop one Saturday and we had the shape cut out and needed to clean up edges. I pulled out a hand plane and he let out a big laugh and said he would use a power sander- I took two passes with my plane and handed it to him... next day he ordered a hand plane! Sander would have taken several grit changes and several passes per grit and likely would have rounded over edges and left a less than straight edge.

I also find that since I do woodworking as a hobby, the journey can be more important than the destination, so I sometimes choose a slower process for the satisfaction of mastering a skill.

Rutager

[masraum]

Originally Posted by rwest

Amen,

I have both power and hand tools; they both have their place.

I was in charge of making wooden trophies for our woodworking guild’s annual show and a newly retired gentleman who had bought a shop full of high end power tools volunteered to help out. We were working on them in my shop one Saturday and we had the shape cut out and needed to clean up edges. I pulled out a hand plane and he let out a big laugh and said he would use a power sander- I took two passes with my plane and handed it to him... next day he ordered a hand plane! Sander would have taken several grit changes and several passes per grit and likely would have rounded over edges and left a less than straight edge.

I also find that since I do woodworking as a hobby, the journey can be more important than the destination, so I sometimes choose a slower process for the satisfaction of mastering a skill.

Rutager

I will occasionally do something with a hand tool because it would take far longer to get X tool out and setup and then perform the action and then clean it all back up and get everything put away.

I suspect there's a big difference between a huge shop where everything is permanently setup and sitting there waiting for a flip of a switch. Also, for a pro, if you've got to perform an action 10, 20, 50 times, then it may be faster and easier and more consistent to do that action on power tools.

I enjoy knowing how to use the old stuff, and can then judge, if I have the hand tool and the power tool and I know what each can do and what I need to get done, which tool will do the job better and/or faster.

If I had to cut wood flooring, for a room or two and the flooring was 3.25" TnG, and I had to make 500 cuts, it'd probably be faster to get the table saw or circular saw setup and make those cuts. If I had to make one cut on one board then it might be faster and easier to use a hand saw.

And as you said, sometimes the journey is a big part of it as well as the finished product.

[masraum]

hand planing a floor in Austin, TX 1890s is the caption that was associated with this pic.

[1990C4S]

For me most hand tools went away with battery operated drills and drivers. I barely use a screwdriver now.

The hassle of finding an electric drill, then an extension cord made the egg-beater drill faster. Now I just grab the battery drill.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by masraum

hand planing a floor in Austin, TX 1890s is the caption that was associated with this pic.

Yeah, that looks like loads of fun.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

For me most hand tools went away with battery operated drills and drivers. I barely use a screwdriver now.

The hassle of finding an electric drill, then an extension cord made the egg-beater drill faster. Now I just grab the battery drill.

Battery powered stuff is very nice. It's just a toss up for me. Some jobs are great for hand tools, some for battery op tools and some for corded tools.

Yesterday, I was trying to drill out some rusty old screws in the mount for our mailbox. I was able to pull the mailbox and take it to the garage. For that, I used a 5/8" corded drill. I can't imagine what the job would have been like with a little cordless. I drove a bunch of screws with a cordless drill/driver. I do occasionally use a regular screwdriver.

I'm on a facebook group for "beginner woodworking." It's got a weird range of posts from "how do you price the stuff that you produce or jobs that you get" to things almost as bad as "how does a saw work?" THere was a post the other day by someone with a small craftsman cordless drill trying to run what I believe was a 6" hole saw. The ask was "why isn't this working?"

[masraum]

Originally Posted by javadog

Yeah, that looks like loads of fun.

Hahah. Excellent! I'll have to see if I can find one of those scrub planes with a long handle for when we're ready to redo our floors. Do you want to do handle the scrub plane standing up or do you want to be the guy on your knees with the smoothing plane? I'll give you your pick of jobs.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by masraum

Hahah. Excellent! I'll have to see if I can find one of those scrub planes with a long handle for when we're ready to redo our floors. Do you want to do handle the scrub plane standing up or do you want to be the guy on your knees with the smoothing plane? I'll give you your pick of jobs.

I’ll hire a guy with a drum sander and sit under an umbrella in the backyard drinking margaritas.

[javadog]

Better yet, I’ll fly to New England for two weeks and go on vacation, like I did the last time I had my floors redone.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by javadog

I’ll hire a guy with a drum sander and sit under an umbrella in the backyard drinking margaritas.

Better yet, I’ll fly to New England for two weeks and go on vacation, like I did the last time I had my floors redone.

ROFLMAO! Sounds like a plan.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by javadog

Yeah, that looks like loads of fun.

I can see the ZEN in that dude's face.

There are times for hand tools and there are times to unwind the long cord, bring out the big boy tools and get it done. I can't see using a plane to true up the edge of a 5' board while the jointer is right there three step away with the push of a button. Sure there's fun in using an old plane to shave the edges. Its the journey, I get it.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by look 171

I can see the ZEN in that dude's face.

ROFLMAO!

Yep, he's definitely in the zone. Probably that "get that damn camera out of my face before I put it where the sun don't shine" zone.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by masraum

ROFLMAO!

Yep, he's definitely in the zone. Probably that "get that damn camera out of my face before I put it where the sun don't shine" zone.

That's me daily right after I get out of bed having to go to work or when I have to cook.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by look 171

That's me daily right after I get out of bed having to go to work or when I have to cook.

Hahah. I'm ready to retire (but not ready). I've probably got ~15 more years which sounds like a REALLY long time.

I found a facebook group called "Unplugged Woodworkers" which is a lot more interesting than the "woodworking for beginners" (a little entertainment value in this one which is the only thing that's kept me from leaving). The unplugged is about, you may have guessed, woodworking with hand tools. Lots of planes and planing and braces. There's been some interesting tools history posts.

[masraum]

This is pretty cool.

[pmax]

[look 171]

Steve, I drove the old air cool car out to the shop yesterday and found the brace and an old egg beater hand drill. They are in really good shape. I ended up doing some cleaning after digging out the brace and lost track of time but will go back next week and see if there are any more old hand tools for ya.

Interested in a couple of rasps? I think I know where there's a few Riffler files somewhere. They are yours if you like fine woodworking. Its your turn to do the fine stuff. I spend a lot of time with my kids now. We are finally building our second floor deck. He will be learning how to build a night stand first for my mom after deck is done then the rest of the bedroom furniture including a new bed frame. The fine stuff? He will have to learn it on his own.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by pmax

Hopefully, not any time soon! Especially since I've heard that lumber prices are insane. I never thought of the wood at the big box stores (and other wood) changing in price that much. But it seems like even things like construction 2x4s and cheap plywood has gone through the roof, at least, based on the grumbling that I've seen online. I haven't bought any wood in a long time (although that won't last for long).