Woodworking using hand tools may be
completely new to you if you are a modern day woodworker. Most people 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 They think that they are outdated, less accurate and slower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. contractors
tape measure
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. Hedge
Shears
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.