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Last week a long-time reader called to ask me about a bullnose plane I had reviewed favorably a few years back.
“What” he asked, “is this thing good for?”
I walked him through some of its uses, such as cleaning up stopped rabbets and leveling up dividers in assembled casework. Then he asked if I used the plane for those operations.
“Not much,” I replied. “I use a shoulder plane.”
After that, I could hear an edge of frustration in his voice. He had bought a tool on my recommendation that he didn’t really need (he had a couple shoulder planes). He only had so many dollars to spend on woodworking, and he wanted to spend them wisely so he could squeeze the maximum functions out of the fewest of tools.
And now he had a tool he didn’t need.
That conversation bummed me out for the whole weekend. There is a ton of equipment out there that is well-made and useful but that is unnecessary for certain types of woodworkers or people who already have such-and-such a tool. I try to add caveats to my reviews, but sometimes those aren’t as obvious as they should be in the text. Or sometimes, I hear from a reader who buys a tool after reading a review without any further research about the tool and its historical uses.
Now, I don’t have the space in the magazine to fully explain every gizmo that passes through our shop, but I can offer two suggestions:
1. If you are unfamiliar with a tool and its uses, do some legwork before you click “Buy It Now.” You might already have a tool that does the same task faster and more accurately.
2. Download and check out my personal tool inventory (two links are below). This is a list I compiled this weekend of the machines, power hand tools and hand tools that I use for about 90 percent of my work. I have a lot more tools than are listed here (as my kids are fond of reminding me), but these are the tools that are within arm’s reach, are always in tune and never put into storage. My woodworking might be different than your woodworking, but this list reflects a good blend of hand and power operations.
I’m sure I’ll update this list in the coming months. Meanwhile, take a look at the tools I have in my shop and see how this core set compares to yours.
Workshop Inventory
Christopher Schwarz
October 2007
Critical Machinery:
1. 14″ band saw, ½ hp motor, cast-iron frame, no riser block
2. 8″ jointer, 2 hp motor
3. 15″ planer, 3 hp motor
4. 10″ table saw, 30″ rails, aftermarket sliding crosscut table
5. Hollow-chisel mortiser
6. Two portable dust collection units, one shop vacuum
7. Floor-model drill press
Critical hand-held power tools:
1. 12-volt cordless drill, 3/8″ chuck, two speeds
2. 1-1/2 hp fixed-base router, used hand-held and mounted in portable router table
3. DeWalt 621 plunge router
4. 18-gauge brad nailer and small 5-gallon compressor
5. 23-gauge pinner
6. HVLP turbine and spray gun
7. Circular saw with quality carbide blades for cutting plywood
8. Variable-speed jigsaw
9. 10″ sliding compound miter saw
Router bits:
1. Beading bit
2. Roundover (three sizes)
3. Pattern bits, a wide variety of diameters
4. Straight bits, spiral bits
5. Chamfer bits (three sizes)
6. Cope-and-stick bits (chamfer-edge profile)
7. Ogee bits (two sizes)
Hand planes:
1. No. 8 jointer plane
2. No. 4 smoothing plane
3. No. 5 jack plane
4. Low-angle block plane
5. 1-1/4″ shoulder plane
6. Large router plane
7. Small router plane
8. Record 044 plow plane
9. Moulding planes: 1 pair hollow and rounds
10. Moulding plane, 5/16″ beading plane
11. Moving fillister plane
12. Small scraping plane, Stanley 212 size
13. Bevel-up jack plane for shooting
14. Card scrapers, about 10
15. Spokeshaves, flat sole and round; large and small
Saws
1. Dovetail saw, 15 ppi, filed rip
2. Carcase saw, 14 ppi, filed crosscut
3. Tenon saw, 10 ppi, filed fip
4. Handsaw, 7 ppi, filed crosscut
5. Ripsaw, 4 ppi, filed rip
6 Lee Valley Japanese flush-cut saw
7. ModelmakerÕs saw
8. Coping saw
9. JewelerÕs saw, equipped with scrollsaw blades
10. Hacksaw
11. Fine Japanese saw, filed crosscut, for detail cuts
12. Two sawbenches
13. 8″ dado stack
14. 24-tooth rip blade
15. 40-tooth combination blade
Chisels
1. Bevel-edge chisels: 1/8″ to 1″ in 1/8″ increments
2. Mortise chisels, ¼”, 5/16″, 3/8″
3. Mallet
3. Paring chisel, 2″ wide
4. Skew chisels, left and right
5. Set of small-scale carving chisels
6. Corner chisel, 3/8″
Layout tools
1. 6″ 4R rule
2. 6″ and 12″ combination squares
3. 8″ try square
4. Miter square
5. Sliding T-bevel
6. 12Õ tape
7. Saddle square
8. Dovetail square
9. Tite-Mark marking gauge
10. Blue Spruce marking knife
11. Awls, scratch and bird-cage
12. Two dividers
13. Set of three French curves
14. Compass
15. Protractor and center-finder for combination square
16. 24″ aluminum straightedge and 32″ wooden straightedge
17. Levels, 18″ and 48″
18. 5mm-lead mechanical pencil
19. Dial caliper
Percussive tools
1. 22 oz. wooden mallet
2. 16 oz. hammer
3. Plane-iron hammer
4. Warrington-style hammer
5. Nail pullers, Japanese and Western style
6. Dead-blow mallet
Boring
1. Brace, 8″, 10″ and 12″
2. Augers, full set of 13
3. Auger bit file
4. Forstners, ¼” to 1″
5. Brad-points, complete set by 1/64s up to ½”
6. Instybits, pilot and countersink bits, set from No. 6 to No. 10 screws
7. Countersink
8. Set of spade bits
Clamps
1. Two 12″ F-style
2. Six 4″ F-style
3. Eight 12″ parallel jaw
4. Fourteen 26″ parallel jaw
5. Four 40″ parallel jaw
6. Four handscrews, large size
7. Four quick-release plastic clamps
8. Eight spring clamps
Shaping
1. Cabinet rasps and files
2. Floats, ¼” mortising float, bed float
3. File card
Screwdriving
1. Complete set of screwdrivers, Phillips, straight, Robertson
2. Set of index bit and driver for drill/driver
Sharpening
1. Eclipse honing guide
2. Duo-Sharp Diamond stone (x-coarse and coarse)
3. Sharpening stones, waterstones, 1,000, 4,000 and 8,000
4. Plant mister
5. Hand blocks (medium and fine)
6. Oil and oil-soaked rag
8. Burnisher
9. Cheap 6″ stainless ruler
10. Kell honing guide
11. 6″ grinder
Miscellaneous
1. Detail carving knives, used for a wide variety of tasks
2. Sloyd shop knife
3. Sanding disk for table saw
4. Paraffin
5. Bench brush
6. Needlenose pliers, locking pliers
7. Putty knife
9. Two drawbore pins
10. Spray gun cleaning kit
11. Wide and varied collection of screws, nails, bolts, nuts, hardware
12. Hemp string, for measuring diagonals
Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.
Pardon the late response; I’ve been on a trip.
1. The list is not really in order of importance or in that of acquisition. It’s order by when I saw it in my shop. Rank-ordering my tools is something I’ll have to do another day. But the band saw is the most important machine to me, followed by the jointer and planer.
2. These tools were acquired much like your collection, I imagine. I started with a core set and then expanded as the projects demanded. For many years I always tried to add one tool and one skill with each new project. I bought a lot of useless tools this way, though the skills are all good…. And I think the jointer plane is the most powerful hand plane in my shop and the one I would acquire first (followed by a smoothing plane and block plane).
3. As to showing my entire collection of tools, I think you’d be disappointed. Graham Blackburn has a rule he follows that I adopted long ago. If you don’t use a tool for a couple years, sell it and buy one you will. Most of the additional tools I have are for special tasks, such as chairbuilding. I do have a lot of tools in my box that I am testing, but those don’t really count as ones I recommend or need.
4. Yes, you need a workbench. And please buy my book.
5. I like the No. 8 more than the No. 7 because it’s like a freight train and plows through tough grain easily thanks to its momentum. That said, I was happy with a No. 7 for a loooong time.
Chris
I am surprised that your primary jointer is a #8 as opposed to the lighter #7. Is that because you just happen to have a #8, or do you really prefer it for everyday work over the #7?
Mark
Dang it, Chris!!!!!!!! I have done all I can to try to make you a marketing whiz, yet you continue to miss opportunities.
You did not mention a workbench on your list.
You should have mentioned a workbench on your list.
Then…you could have put in a shameless plug for your soon to be published book on workbenches.
Are the kids already assured of full ride scholarships? Why do you keep missing the chances to jump on the marketing roller coaster, screaming toward the land of prosperity?
I am very close to just washing my hands of you, but I truly believe there is a profit-driven capitalist inside everyone. I just struggle to find the one in you…
You say your children are happy to remind you that you have a lot more tools than those listed; the amount of tools you have could be quite useful to most of us: How about publishing a picture of all your tools brought together? This would relieve some guilt people have in owning "too many" tools. Of course this would put you in a much worse position in the "wifes against Schwarz" issue…
This is a joke, of course, the real reason is that I am curious to see, because I imagine you have an interesting collection… other people could do the same: show their collection and tell what sort of woodworking they do most. Why don’t you make a survey among readers?
The situation your reader had is, I think, a pretty common one. Stretching the woodworking budget can be tough. It seems like I’m always torn between buying wood, a key ingredient, or buying tools, another key ingredient. Finding that balance between enough wood and enough tools is a constant struggle. The fact that my wife continually wants to fritter away our money on the mortgage, utilities, food, and clothing doesn’t help either.
I’m more interested in the order of acquisition of your tools. For example, when you had zero planes which came first, the jointer, the jack, or the smoother? Given the opportunity to revisit some of those decisions would you have done something different? Did you acquire tools with the idea of building a specific project or did your projects force you into buying new tools?
Chris,
Is your list in order of importance? IE, is the bandsaw the most important tool in your arsenal?
I also use the binder clips. I swipe them from old reports being recycled or discarded in our building.
I’ve seen them for sale, but they are pricey.
Chris
May I offer Alex a "Scotsman’s solution"? Go to an office supply store and buy a pack of those cheapie report binders, the clear ones with the clips for the long edge of the papers. The clips slip on and off. I’m pretty sure you can get a pack of 10 for about a dollar, give or take change. Use the clips and "recycle" the plastic covers.
If you’re really religious about it, any store with "Depot" in its name should work for you. You may already be a Home Depot regular, nothing wrong with going to Offec Depot for the clips, the protractors, the compasses, the drafting triangles, etc., etc. (Just having a little fun here, that’s all).
Anyway, Chris, that’s a fine piece. I’ve found woodworking (and gardening and living frugally) to be exercises in problem-solving. Half of problem-solving is finding different uses for the things your already have.
The real challenge here as readers is to avoid inferring a prescriptive message from the ultimately descriptive field of woodworking journalism.
Chris’s work is exceptionally authoritative, which makes it all the more tempting to read his body of work as one of the missing Gospels, but it doesn’t absolve us as readers from doing our own soul-searching.
As an aside: Chris, where do you get those nice-looking plastic blade guards for your back saws?
Cheers,
Alex
chris,
The idea that not only do you have to review a tool, but
somehow must guess at how it might or might not be appropriate for any given reader is absurd.
You can only review a tool on its specific merits. It’s
up to the individual to figure out if their particular
needs are met by the tool.
The fact that he asked you "What is this tool good for?"
pretty much sums it up; who buys a tool having to ask that
question?
As it turns out, a bullnose plane IS highly specialized
so it’s not surprising that he isn’t finding day-to-day
use for it around the shop.
Moeshe,
I do have a lathe, a midi-sized one. I debated putting it in the list, but I rarely use it. In fact, I probably would have been better off not buying it and simply borrowing the use of one when I needed to turn some legs, chair spindles or tool handles.
Perhaps my lathe will become more critical to my day-to-day as I get back into chairmaking.
Chris