With the holidays past, maybe you’ve got a nice gift certificate for your favorite tool catalog, or maybe you’ve got a few bucks left over after gift giving and feel that the time has come to be the recipient of your own munificence. Better still, maybe you actually need some new tools to complete a compelling woodworking project. Well, you’ve come to the right place for a bit of unsolicited advice. Here goes.

Personnel directors of pro sports teams and kids choosing sides for playground sports both know the value of choosing the best athlete available, often despite specific positional needs. A fine athlete who is assigned a role somewhat outside of his usual position will usually perform better than a lesser athlete even if that is the latter’s usual role. For example, even though a football team has enough safeties and needs a linebacker, they ought to draft the athletic safety over the mediocre linebacker and probably adjust their defensive schemes accordingly. Similarly, I would rather have a great math teacher, in preference to a mediocre history teacher, be the substitute for a history class.

You see where I’m going here: buy the best woodworking tools you can afford, choosing quality over quantity and narrow specificity. I would rather spend money on a Lie-Nielsen jack plane and sometimes use it for smoothing and jointing, rather than have dedicated but cheap smoother, jack, and jointer planes. I would prefer paring with an excellent bench chisel than a with cheap paring chisel, or ripping with an excellent bandsaw than with a cheap tablesaw. The more specialized tools can be acquired in due time, as the work demands.

More is not better, quality is. Woodworking procedures can often be adapted to suit the available tools without changing the project design. For example, one can clean up that slightly rough ripped edge from the bandsaw with the high quality jack plane.

Furthermore, avoid squandering your woodworking budget on gadgets. Instead, build a cadre of quality core tools that will prove their versatility and longevity. A woodworker will often build better shop jigs than he can buy.

There is another, less tangible benefit to surrounding yourself with high quality tools. They engender high quality workworking and a general orientation toward excellence. Indeed, I believe they will foster what we seek: happy woodworking.

It can often be read or heard in discussion among woodworkers that the construction of a project having been completed, it is time to decide on a finish. Yet therein lies the problem: that is not the time to decide on a finish!

Just as careful selections of wood species and specific boards are critical to creating quality woodwork, so is the finish placed on that wood. Because the character of wood is altered with a finish, it is a design choice that should be integrated into the entirety of the piece. Furthermore, harmony among species and figures can be enhanced or devastated with the choice of finish.

The tenor of a piece should be thought through and envisioned early on, and though it may be altered a bit as realizations come forth during building, one must maintain a solid sense of the essence of what one is trying to create. The finish should not be a surprise or a disappointment, but rather a crowning touch that is unified with the whole – a “finish” to what was begun.

As a practical matter, the construction process is often altered depending on the finish that is planned. For example, a padded shellac finish can go a lot easier when some of the components are finished before assembly, thus avoiding inside corners and narrow crevices. Also, the anticipated finish will be a key factor in the final surfacing of the wood, such as whether to hand plane or to sand to a certain grit. This in turn will alter how flatness and trueness of components are managed as construction proceeds. Decisions will vary significantly if, for example, one is choosing a pigment stain covered with varnish versus a plain oil finish.

In all of this, there is an inviolable rule in finishing: test first. Save some cutoffs to test, compare, and coordinate finishes. Ignore this rule at your own peril.

In an upcoming post, I’ll present some photo examples.

By the way, though there are many excellent books and articles on finishing, my favorites are those by Bob Flexner. I think his book Understanding Wood Finishing is not only one of the best books in the woodworking field, but one of the most lucid books I’ve read on any subject. His magazine articles are wonderfully concise and informative.

I imagine it is possible to do good woodworking with mediocre tools, but who would want to if better options are available? Yet, it would be a rare woodworker who enters the craft with a full set of tuned, high quality tools.

Trying to coax good performance from a fundamentally poor tool is futile. A chisel made of lousy steel or a table saw with a wobbly arbor will never work well. Stay away from these.

At another level there are tools that are OK. They usually get the job done, maybe without a struggle, though not often with ease. These tools are not likely to inspire confidence. A woodworker reaches for this kind of tool not with eagerness but for lack of something better. Practically, however, used with a bit of finesse, these tools may be good enough, or maybe they just allow us money left over to buy other tools or to eat. My drill press falls into this category. That’s life, and so on.

Then there are the tools you really want, those that inspire confidence and are dependable. These are the shop players that you give the ball to in crunch time. While no one would reasonably contend that tools alone make the craftsman, these tools can help make you a better craftsman and are likely to extend your skill and range as a woodworker. Get them on your team.

The odd thing about all of this is that these thoughts gelled due to my recent experience with a very simple tool, a birdcage awl, also called a square blade awl. I had been using a widely available “OK” version without feeling particularly deprived. Then, at a recent Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event, I was demonstrating at a bench next to Bob Zajicek and his array of Czeck Edge tools. I knew it was only a matter of time – I picked up one of his awls, tried it out, and . . . so that’s how the song should be sung! I could feel how this type of tool should really work. The handle is more than beautiful; it facilitates placing, pressing, and twisting the tool. The precisely formed edges of the blade do the actual cutting and allow it to fly into the wood.

So I bought it, and back home in the shop it is becoming a go-to tool for a variety of tasks including marking and starting holes, boring small holes, and other marking tasks. An excellent tool!

[As with other tool reviews on this blog, this is unsolicited and unpaid.]

In designing cabinets and boxes, it is often necessary to limit the travel of a door or lid. Hardware options include folding stays, sliding stays, chains, and various types of supports. While some are purely practical and some more elegant, I did not feel any of the manufactured choices I was considering for this pair of small doors was in keeping with the overall nature of the piece. The problem was the metal itself – hard, noisy, overbuilt, and, well, metallic.

I wanted this component to be quiet and organic, so I did some experimenting and came up with a wood and leather concoction that functions well and complements the overall piece. It is also simple.

Braided bolo leather cord, 1/8″ diameter, in a tan color that matches the wood, is epoxied into a 1/8″ diameter hole going fully through the length of a 1″ x 7/16″ x 7/16″ maple block. To further secure the cord, a brass 0.050″ wire brad (local Ace Hardware) is gently tapped through a slightly undersized hole crossing the width of the near portion of the block and passing through the cord. The pin is clipped and filed flush at each end. A small countersunk screw attaches the block to the door or cabinet interior.

Experimentation will show where to place the blocks, considering these factors:

• the desired limit of the door opening
• a balance between putting the blocks too far away from the hinge side where the cord will be too obtrusive, and too close to the hinge side where too much leverage placed on the cord risks breaking it
• the blocks must not bump into each other when the door is closed
• there must be room for the cord to easily tuck away without curling too much when the door is closed (also, avoid twisting the cord)
• what looks right

The diameter of the cord, up to ½”, and the sizes of the blocks and fasteners would be adjusted according to the overall size of the piece. I sized the components as seemed right for these doors which are about 16″ x 10″. In testing, I was able to break the 1/8″ cord with a strong pull but it certainly is adequate for its task in this project.

I think the bit of desperation involved in the genesis of these stays ultimately helped produce a unique touch to the piece.

Illustrated here are several uses of the system of holes, Pups, Anchors, and stops described in the previous post. The simplicity of the layout engenders versatility. If it was tailored too narrowly to specific tasks, much of the creative range of the system would be sacrificed. As it is, introducing a piece of scrap wood here and there can effect solutions to the continually evolving work-holding demands of new woodworking projects.

On the left side of the bench, a nice piece of scrap wood acts as a planing stop. It is secured to the bench with countersunk 1/2-13 flat head blots that go into the removable Anchors positioned in holes in the bench top. I prefer the recessed bolts because I am uneasy with protruding metal in the vicinity of a moving hand plane.

Note that the “nice scrap” has an extra pair of holes that allow it to be used in a pair of holes parallel to the length of the bench with Anchors in them. The two pairs of holes in the nice scrap serve as permanent templates for producing other Anchor accessory pieces as needed. This kind of stop is also useful for work with the Domino joiner.

The photo below shows a board blocked on three sides using the stops on the left side of the bench, Pups in the vise chop, and a piece of scrap bolted into Anchors. Note that the pair of holes in the scrap are offset to one side, giving two effective projection widths from the Anchor points. Think of these scraps as extended dogs.

The photo below shows a drawer held in position with creative use of Pups, Anchors, and scrap wood. In this arrangement the top edges of the front and two sides can be planed without the work budging.

On the right side of the bench in the photo below, the regular bench dog and tail vise system is used in conjunction with two Pups in their holes (prairie dogs?) that prevent lateral shifting of the work. This is an alternative to the setup on the left side of the bench and it can also accommodate options with Anchors. This three-sided blocking of the work piece is handy, for example, when scrub planing diagonally across the board, which might be necessary for this piece since it is too wide for my  machine jointer. These systems are also especially handy for planing door frames which inevitably involves frequent changes in direction of attack with the plane.

The main point is that there are surely undiscovered variations and creative adaptations of this system that will evolve as the work demands. With a minimum of hardware and alteration to the workbench, its foundation is simple and easy – the way I like it.

Holding short, wide boards or intermediate assemblies such as drawers and cabinet doors can be awkward on traditional-style workbenches. Attempting to solve these problems, I have been gradually altering my bench to incorporate two helpful products made by Veritas: Bench Pups and Bench Anchors. This involves drilling 3/4″ holes in the bench top with considerable forethought. As with any redesign of a basic tool, true success can be declared only after a long time of use encountering a wide variety of jobs. So, I have tried to research and anticipate well and, so far, so good.

A Bench Pup is a 2 3/8″ long, round, brass bench dog that fits in a 3/4″ hole. A Bench Anchor is essentially a portable 1/2-13 threaded insert that is secured in a 3/4″ hole by means of an expansion system. While the function of the Pup is simple and obvious, the Anchors allow an unlimited variety of stops, boards, and accessories to be secured to bench surfaces. I also added two shop-made dogs on the side of my bench.

Let’s start at the left side of the bench. I wanted a planing stop but not the typical wide slide-up stop at the left end of the bench. The problem for me with that design is that the front vise gets in the way of my left hip when planing. Furthermore, the vise handle is at just the right height to bump into parts that I’d rather not have bumped. This causes me to crane over the work piece, creating lower back stress. So, the first two holes were placed in the bench top near the right end of the front vise. There the Anchors can be placed and a ½” board with countersunk holes can be secured into them with flat head bolts.

The next step is to permit those two holes to do double duty working with the front vise. Two more holes are placed in the bench top, each equidistant from the vise face with one of the first two holes. Then two more holes are placed in the vise chop, equidistant from the face and each in line with one of the pairs in the bench top.

I wanted the holes in the bench top to go fully through to allow access to the Pups and especially the Anchors from underneath. Now, it would have been nifty to arrange the four holes in the top at the corners of a perfect square which would allow one hole spacing to be used in auxiliary boards, but the constraints of my bench and vise hardware did not allow this.

Two shop-made slide-up dogs were added to the left end of the bench. These are secured with 1/4-20 finger bolts that enter threaded inserts planted in the side of the bench.

Now to the right side of the bench. Two holes were placed parallel to the row of square bench dog holes, one slightly to the right of the closing point of the tail vise, and the other about 7″ to the left of the first.

With these alterations to the workbench, I tried to make each hole contribute as much versatility as possible. The next post will show a few of the possibilities for holding work with this system.

The reason I titled this “More workbench upgrades” is to reference an article that I wrote for Popular Woodworking magazine, November 2007 (#165), pages 57-61, “Upgrade Your Workbench,” which readers may find helpful for more ideas on the most important tool in the shop. Back issues are available on the PW site and a short video relating to the article is also on the site.

The little hole drilled into the face of the Bench Pup allows one to lever it up with a small screwdriver or hex key. Thanks to Alejandro Balbis! – who contributed this tip to the December 2009 Popular Woodworking.

• When: December 4 and 5, 2009, Friday Noon – 6 pm, Saturday 10 am – 5 pm.
• Where: Holiday Inn, 242 Adams Place, Boxborough, Massachusetts

This is an excellent opportunity to do something you can hardly do at stores and certainly not online: get your hands on lots of hand tools, give them a real test drive on wood, and scrutinize them to your heart’s content. The Lie-Nielsen folks will, of course, be there answering your questions and running two interactive workstations, sharpening and plane tuning.

Four guest demonstrators, including yours truly (representing Popular Woodworking magazine), will be there for the entirety of both days, at workbenches, to demonstrate, discuss tools and woodworking, and to make shavings and sawdust. You will undoubtedly enjoy the offerings of Bob Van Dyke from the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking, Matt Kenney from Fine Woodworking magazine, and Bob Zajicek from Czeck Edge Hand Tool.

I will present a demonstration and talk on shooting at about 2 pm each day, which will cover how to make a simple shooting board, how to use it, and which planes to employ.

Readers, if you are anywhere in the area and can make some time – hey, this is woodworking we’re talking about – come over and say hi, it will be fun to see you. This promises to be an enjoyable and informative two days.

Recognize the date? “The Eagle has landed.” This was a joyous and monumental accomplishment for our country and all humankind.

At 14 years old, I had my own little additional private cause for joy that day having finished my first drawer. I knew then, and certainly now, that this crude fir plywood nail-‘em-up dresser valet was a long way from fine craft but the drawer moved in and out and it closed well. It could hold things. I made it.

The drawer and I have survived the ensuing four decades of use. Can’t complain, I suppose.

So, what of the youthful hours spent in the basement messing around with wood and tools, trying to make things? There were boxes, bird feeders, bookcases, tie racks, more boxes, and on and on. (Note to mom: thanks for putting up with sawdust in the laundry room.) It is enough just to have enjoyed the time.

Yet, looking back, there were also lessons learned about planning a project and progressing through the steps, a certain discipline of thought and action. Further, valuable experiences were accumulated: the feel of tools in the hands and of steel on wood, the quirks of wood, and how things can go wrong and right.

Most meaningful, is the honest joy in having an idea and making it simply be there. That and the drawer endure, so I feel very fortunate.