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Questions tagged [hand-tools]

Tools used by hand, the work/power is supplied by the tool user.

1 vote
1 answer
78 views

What is the origin story of panel planes?

What is the general history or origin story of panel planes? I’ve tried looking it up in books like The Handplane Book by Garrett Hack, Handplane Essentials, Revised & Expanded by Christopher ...
1 vote
1 answer
109 views

Stock preparation for tapered tenon cutter

I’ve got a Veritas tapered tenon cutter and feel like I am missing something obvious for using it efficiently. Suppose I have a square chair leg 4 cm (1 1/2 in) thick, and I want to create a tapered ...
0 votes
1 answer
91 views

How straight should my hand saw be?

I'm new to hand tools woodworking, and started working with a ryoba saw. I wanted to know - to what extent does the straightness of the saw affect the straightness of my cuts? How should I test the ...
2 votes
1 answer
171 views

What is this adjustable/foldable rack for?

I inherited this whimsical object along with several other woodworking tools. The item resembles a stepladder, albeit a very small one (about 50cm). A hinge is connecting the two main sides - one ...
1 vote
0 answers
62 views

Setup improvement for planing faces of long boards

Apologies in advance for the long intro — I thought it would be relevant to explain the setup I am looking to evolve and why. I’ve started woodworking with power tools on a balcony, and as such my ...
1 vote
0 answers
126 views

How to make stuff concave - large radius - with handtools?

I’m trying to bestow a 5-foot long hollow to a board, to use as support for the base of a midcentury modern tv cabinet. E.g.: the long horizontal member of the leg base in the image below: I’m ...
1 vote
1 answer
104 views

Making very small mortises/grooves in wood

I'm wondering if there is a best way to make such holes in wood, size 2mm x 10mm. Should I use small chisels or any other approach you recommend?
1 vote
0 answers
97 views

Flattening a maple woodblock by hand for fine art woodcut printing on a press

I have had considerable problems trying to flatten maple woodblocks by hand for printing on an etching press. I often print with a jig below the block to allow me to register multiple colors -- the ...
-2 votes
1 answer
696 views

Cutting perfect 45° by hand

I am trying to cut wooden planks with a 45° to joint them together. For this end I have made this jig for my handsaw. All the angles measured are perfect. I cut very slowly to avoid to much play from ...
1 vote
1 answer
165 views

What is this choppy defect called and what was it caused by?

What causes the splitty defect pictured below? Is there a special name for it? I think that working it out with hand planes would require removing too much of the surrounding wood. (Am I mistaken in ...
5 votes
2 answers
398 views

What are the ideal traditional tools to use for creating an inlay?

I know how I can create one kind of fake inlay. I would like to know what is involved, at least at a basic level, how one creates inlays using traditional techniques and tools. What tools could I ...
7 votes
5 answers
1k views

Why does the blade of a sliding T-bevel have a point?

Does anyone have a good reference for the reason a typical wood or metal sliding T-bevel comes to a point? I've always wondered, and recently this tool came up in a semi-famous YouTube video, which ...
17 votes
4 answers
3k views

What criteria would want me to bevel my chisel in a certain way

In my continuing attempts to learn all the things another question stemmed from watching a chisel sharpening video from Paul Sellers. When sharpening his new chisel (he explained that he does this to ...
2 votes
1 answer
391 views

Getting dust with smoothing plane?

I am new to hand planing. I have some S12E cedar and when I take my smoother (old Sargent) to the rough face I just get dust in the mouth and it gets stuck on the board. The blade is sharpened to 1000 ...
0 votes
0 answers
155 views

How can I attach hardwood backing panels to a frame?

Preface: I only have access to hand tools. I am a novice at design and drawing perspectives, I unfortunately only have technical abilities right now because I've only copied other people's work to ...

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