I hope I’m not being too presumptive to offer some advice for the inexperienced.
The photo has some of my hand tools laid out on my cabinet bench. I am especially fond Japanese tools, but have German, Swiss, Swedish, English, Canadian, and good ole USA tools among others. They are not always the most expensive.
(1) Measuring and layout.
Accurate measuring is next to Godliness. Scribe if at all possible with sharp pencils or a marking knife. Also in this category, are the folding carpenters rule, sliding bevel gauge, the calipers, mortise gauge, and up on the wall I have a mm /inch rule. There is no such thing as close enough, at least in your work habits.
(2) Maintenance and Sharpening.
I hone all plane irons, chisels, gouges, drawknives, spokeshaves and anything else that has a micro bevel before, AND after use. I know it’s retentive, but I own it. Japanese water stones are the best IMO. Camelia oil is used on all blades before storage.
(3) Saws.
I only laid out 4 of numerous. Dovetail saw is wonderful for all cross cutting. Japanese pull stroke(2) are superb and stay sharp forever. Small detail keyhole saw is the best I’ve ever used. My Luthier son uses one extensively on his violins.
(4) Cutting tools.
I laid out 5 of many planes, which would be most useful for shamisen. The Gent’s (wooden wedge) smoothing plane, and the wooden block plane are by German manufacturer E.C. Emmerich, and are among the best for modest $$. The low angle Stanley Bailey block plane, The wooden wedge Japanese detail plane, and the Luthier’s finger plane, are all modest in price. There are various chisels on the wall. Good bench chisels, (mine are Swedish), are great for larger removal tasks. My 4 short Pfeil (Swiss) butt chisels are great for dovetails, mortising and cleanup tasks. The small Veritas detail chisels (Canada) are outstanding for small detailing. The Pfeil gouges (Swiss) are both incannel and outcannel, for various curved removal. The 2 adze on either side are good for bulk removal on a chopping block. (Always be aware of where your fingers are!!!) with any of these tools. Cut away from yourself as much as possible. I still have all 10 fingers after 45 years of carpentry/cabinetmaking. And I intend to keep them for awhile longer. Spokeshave and drawknife on left would be useful for shaping the Sao and Dou curves for example. Carving knives on wall are often very useful.
(5) Smoothing tools
My two favorite files are the small Japanese files on the right side. They are extremely aggressive, so I use them early on and move to the finer files and rifflers on the wall. The micro files are great for small detail. There are two sanding blocks shown. Larger is made from a sander belt and a piece of plywood. The other is a “store bought” rubber block that you can find at any hardware, paint or home depot. Last, but not least are cabinet scrapers. You can buy them, or make your own out of old handsaw blades etc. Any good steel sheet will do. You can grind to a given radius, and burnish. You don’t need an expensive burnisher. A file edge or even a screwdriver shaft will work. (Go to you tube to learn how to burnish) They are absolutely superior to sanding IMO. They tend to close the grain on most woods which is better for finishing. I tend to sand aggressively early on, and then use 1500+ wet/dry in the latter stages before applying finish.
(6) Misc.
Bees wax (under finger plane) is great for screw threads and lubrication for plane soles.
Finally, I’m sorry this ended up so long. I certainly didn’t cover everything. Hopefully, I haven’t insulted anyone’s intelligence, and this info will dovetail
with Kyle’s superb guide. I welcome questions for any specifics anybody might have.
Peace and regards,
P
