I’ve been working on a composite sign project: a carved and engraved banner on a wooden oval surmounted by a carving of a schooner. I was using a new rotary device from Dremel to get some paint off a sail. The paint must have been from an old tube and just looked irregular. The little tool did a great job of sanding the paint off. I had seen the little Dremel Versa at the big box store and originally bought it for use in the bathroom for cleaning tile, grout, and such. Then I realized that this would work well in the shop, too. So I bought a second one – just so there wouldn’t be fights about where in hell the doodad used for cleaning the shower was.
But it started me wondering.
I have a shop full of hand tools and power tools. I prefer to use my hand tools, and things like the electrical router sit rather forlornly buried under some toolboxes. And the table saw is rarely used, either. But I’m not some modern-day Luddite who avoids the use of power. Try to take my bandsaw from me, and I’ll go down fighting.
There are some tools and processes I like and others I don’t. When I was doing a lot of carved lettering, the frequent question was, “Why don’t you use the router to rough out your letters?” I replied that I could rough cut all the letters by hand in the time it took to set the darned thing up. This was true as far as it went, but more importantly, I did not enjoy using something I could barely control, and I loved the touchy feelie sensation of the wood under the knives and gouges.
It’s taking me a bit to get around to the subject of this post. But here it is: what some consider the best tool invented for the shop may not match my thoughts. We have to be realistic. We all have our individual loves and hates, and our preferences have much to do with our selection of tools. I disdain the router, but others have a romance with it (ick!)
To some woodworkers, that router may be the most essential tool ever invented for the shop. Or it might be that little powered wheel tool I use for honing gouges and knives. I know several woodworkers who eschew all powered tools and have non-electrical workshops where everything is hand-work.
You’d have to be fearless to walk into a stranger’s shop and start a hot discussion about the most important tool invented for woodworkers. Just too many sharp tools around for safety.
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I’m quite touchy-feely about cooking – I’m not one for fancy gadgets, give me a wooden spoon and a sharp knife and a standard pot or two and I’ll rustle up a culinary storm! 🙂
I feel the same way. My wife is the Instant Pot genius.
This: “woodworkers who eschew all powered tools and have non-electrical workshops where everything is hand-work.” is amazing to me. I love looking at woodworking crafts, and secretly think ‘maybe I could…’, but I fear cutting something off – on me, not the wood – at some point. But doing everything by hand just strikes me as amazing.
I know of several, including a boatbuilder ( who if I remember correctly uses tidal bower to work the bandsaw) and a cabinet maker in the UK.