Every week I get asked where to begin when trying to become a hand-tool woodworker.
The snarky answer is, “I have no idea because I did it the wrong way.”

There are as many different paths to take as there are woodworkers. So anything I
write on this topic is sure to be dissected, digested and disagreed with. And that’s
fine. Every hand-tool blogger should probably make his or her own recommendations
so that people can see the diversity of opinion as they troll the web.

But here are my recommendations. I tried to keep this list as brief as possible. My
unabridged list would take me weeks to compile, and I don’t want to scare people off.
A photo of my library at home would send people screaming to buy a screaming plunge
router.

I like these books. So that’s where I would begin.

1. “Woodwork Tools” by
William Fairham or “Tools for Woodwork” by Charles H. Hayward. This book is a fantastic
foundation for understanding what tools are required and what they do. I grew up with
the Hayward edition, which is hard to find; Toolemera Press has reprinted the Fairham
edition, which is excellent (look for a review next week). I twisted arms around here
to get this book in our store.

2. “Woodwork Joints” by
William Fairham or Charles H. Hayward. This book details all the joinery that goes
on in a furniture shop. It is a complete education, from the basic butt joint up to
complex stuff that even I have yet to try. Again, I grew up with the hard-to-find
Hayward edition. Toolemera’s Fairham edition is fantastic and inexpensive. Avoid the
Sterling edition if you can. All the copies I have encountered are odd in one way
or another.

3. “The Essential Woodworker” by Robert Wearing. This book puts all the puzzle pieces
together. It shows you how to take the tools in hand, cut the joints and make the
foundation projects that lead to a lifetime of proper woodworking. It detail all the
processes for a table, a cabinet, a drawer and a door. Yes, you can teach yourself
this stuff, but you’ll always have an instructor that is just as dumb as you are.
This book is based on traditional training and is very practical.

After reading these books, I would then find someone who knows how to sharpen. Take
a one-afternoon class at your local Woodcraft, school or woodworking club. Experience
a sharp edge and what it can do. Then sharpen a 1/2” chisel as best you can and just
start making cuts on a block of white pine from the home center. See how the wood
reacts differently to cuts with, against and across the face grain. Pare end grain.
This basic exercise will help you understand how wood fails and start you down the
road of understanding how to read a board so you know how to apply the tools.

Start buying your tools, but don’t get too bogged down in the details and trying to
compare one brand to another. Buy the best tools you can afford, and buy only the
tools that are discussed in the three books. Let me say that again in a different
way:

Don’t buy a tool because it looks cool or you think it could do the jobs of three
of four tools. Buy simple tools. But buy the best you can afford.

Before you take another step, build something small and simple using basic joints
and inexpensive and soft wood, such as a box with a lid. Some people wait years to
actually begin building. Don’t do that. Make something and the next steps will be
revealed to you.

— Christopher Schwarz

Woodworking Magazine

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