What This Is and Is Not

The holidays are right around the corner. COVID-19 has placed a great many of us inside of our homes for a great deal of time. Some people have been locked up so long that they have gone mad enough to engage in a woodworking habit. It could be your spouse, your friend, your neighbor, or even you. A woodworking habit can take hold of anyone.

While it takes its toll on time and money, if started, one should be mindful about how to spend their money and what products to place trust in. There a lot of dealers out there willing to sell a shoddy product that looks like a tool for cheap. They will look like quality tools for a beginner and people will buy it because they do not know better. And those around them do not know better either. Thus I give to you my non-expert opinion about five useful tools every budding woodworker should have as they deep dive into their habit.

This isn’t a series of affiliate links. These are not products I have been given for free to advertise. I don’t even own one of the tools featured here (the block plane). I will be honest, upfront and, of paramount importance, I will try and direct you to the actual manufacturer’s site rather than sending you through Amazon. Let us begin.

The Essential Woodworker from Lost Art Press

The first essential tool in woodworking, specifically with hand tools is knowledge. You will not make progress in hand tool woodworking if you do not read about how to do hand tool woodworking. Watching YouTube videos and perusing Instagram will not suffice – especially if you are working with a limited set of tools. While the majority of the Lost Art Press catalog of published books are a gold mine of knowledge, The Essential Woodworker stands out among them.

Written by the late, great Robert Wearing, The Essential Woodworker was not originally published by Lost Art Press. However, in the past several years they have brought back many amazing books related to the knowledge of woodworking that fell out of print with the major publishers. The Essential Woodworker in particular is – well – essential. At its core, Wearing attempts to (and succeeds) explain the most basic of hand tool woodworking tasks for those who do not have the time, money, or access to formal woodworking lessons.

I, along with many others before me (argumentum ad populum), believe this book to be an essential piece of knowledge. Buy it as a gift or for yourself.

Buy it direct from Lost Art Press: https://lostartpress.com/products/the-essential-woodworker
Buy it from Lee Valley if LAP is sold out or you are international: https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/books-and-dvds/66203-the-essential-woodworker?item=20L0315

The Book

Beautifully bound book

Beautifully bound book but closer now

Publishing information

Narex Bench Chisel Set

You need bench chisels. At the start of woodworking history, edge and wedge tools were used by humans to roughly shape trees felled from the forest around them. As time slowly progressed, edge tools became sharper with better techniques and technology. As they become sharper, early man became wiser about their use and but a handle on them. When you wield a chisel, you wield one of the ancient tools of woodworking. Modern chisels can still absolutely blow though – even pricey ones.

Debates go back and forth about the best starter chisel. Do you buy singles? Do you buy a set? What brand? What steel? The discussions, or should I say the vitriolic discourse will never end. Luckily for you, fellow reader, this is my site and #idowhatiwant. Get a set of Narex chisels. 

Narex is a Czech company that makes wonderful woodworking edge tools among other things. In their standard bench chisel, they use an isothermal hardening method. In other words, their metallurgists use some fancy equipment to bring you quality tool steel. They are budget chisels that are worth it.

I own these chisels. It was the first set of Western chisels that I purchased and I will never regret it. They take and hold an edge well enough. Initial maintenance took no time at all. I bought the set which included a hard wooden case so they had proper storage as I built my first bench and tool box. 

These are budget chisels however. They are not hefty by any means – in price or weight. The finish on the handles will get on your skin the first couple of times you use them. They like to roll so if you do purchase them, tell their recipient to be careful (or tell them to sand/cut a flat spot into the handle). If you are looking for a beginning set of chisels that are of great quality, you cannot beat Narex chisels.

Here is a list of distributors by country: https://www.narextools.cz/en/distributors

Here is the set of chisels I recommend: https://www.narextools.cz/en/set-of-bevel-edge-chisels-in-wooden-box-853053

Bench Chisels

The fancy box they came in

The fancy logo they printed on the box

The chisels, all lined up ready to cut.

Card Scrapers

I did not buy into the magic of card scrapers until about two years into my woodworking habit. Wispy shavings from a mere piece of burred metal that left wood burnished in it’s path seemed preposterous to me. And then I used one.

Card scrapers are a magical tool. It is nothing more than a piece of flat steel, sometimes shaped into curves but usually with a straight edge. Through some delicate work of a sharpening stone and a burnisher, you turn a burr over on the working edge of this steel and use it to scrape along workpieces. The resulting glass like surface on wood is unreal. Get someone started earlier on card scrapers. They are indispensable in the shop.

You can find card scrapers for sale on all the major tool sites. Lee Valley has card scrapers. Taylor Toolworks has card scrapers. Lie Nielsen has card scrapers. Virtually any brand of tool making company makes their own versions of card scrapers.

This is the first set that I purchased: https://taytools.com/products/crown-3-piece-profile-cabinet-scraper-set

Don’t forget to buy a burnisher: https://taytools.com/pages/search-results-page?q=burnisher&page=2

Card Scrapers

A stack of all my card scrapers.Don’t forget the burnisher!Beautiful shavingsBeautiful shavings and a beautiful homemade planing stop

Buy Once, Cry Once

These last two tools on my list may be seen as expensive. One is a joinery saw set from Veritas. The other is a block plane from Lie Nielsen. When I began woodworking, I bought cheap tools. Almost every single time, it bit me in the hindquarters. In the past year or so, I have changed my mindset. Buy once, cry once – meaning purchase the expensive tool once, you’ll cry over the price, but you’ll never have to purchase or cry over it again. If you can afford it for the budding woodworker in your life, I recommend the two items below. If not, the three options above are still excellent choices.

Veritas Joinery Saw Set

My wife purchased these for me as a birthday present one year. The Veritas joinery saw set includes three Veritas saws. A dovetail saw, a carcass saw, and a tenon saw are included in the set. While they are no where near the amazing craftsmanship of Bad Axe Toolworks saws or Florip Saws, they are amazing for the price. The set may seem relatively expensive but you must keep in mind, you are getting three saws.

If you want to start with just one of these saws, that is also an option. You don’t need to purchase the whole set.

Lee Valley sells the set on their site: https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/hand-tools/saws/back/71884-set-of-three-veritas-joinery-saws?item=05T0514

Just the dovetail saw: https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/hand-tools/saws/dovetail/64007-veritas-dovetail-saws

Just the carcass saw: https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/hand-tools/saws/back/66066-veritas-carcass-saws

Just the tenon saw: https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/hand-tools/saws/back/71370-veritas-rip-and-crosscut-tenon-saws

You Saw It

Veritas joinery saw set, all lined up

The dovetail saw

The carcass saw

The tenon saw

No. 102 Block Plane from Lie Nielsen

I do not own this tool. I will one day. I already have a block plane that I should have followed my buy once, cry once policy on. A block plane is great kit. Every woodworker – beginning and professional – should have one. I have talked with several woodworkers who own this particular plane and each one of them swear by it. It is a premium plane for a premium price and it does premium work.

It is based on the Stanley model of the same number and is a time tested design. I would write more about it but that would just be redundant to the information on the Lie-Nielsen site. Since I don’t personally own one, a good buddy from Instagram has allowed me to use his pictures. Make sure you check out Erik Arthur’s profile @rik_works_wood.

Lie-Nielsen has them available on their site: https://www.lie-nielsen.com/products/small-block-planes?path=block-planes&node=4072

If You’re Looking For Me

Planing purple heart

Stacked shavings in an amazing block plane

Final Words

This is by no means a comprehensive list of all the potential items you could get a budding woodworker. There are still all sorts of measuring and marking tools out there. In recent years, there are a wide range of books to be read about the topic. Maybe you could buy them tickets to rehab. I do hope, however, that this has been useful to someone on what tools a woodworker would love to unwrap during the holidays