Using Hand Tools
If you follow my blog, you know I’ve recently taken quite an interest in hand tools, especially planes. Over the past twelve years, I’ve perfected many of my woodworking skills, but I’ve relied almost exclusively on power.
I’ve always wanted to improve my hand tool skills, but I’ve always had a personal project or commission I wanted or needed to complete first. I didn’t want to take the time to stop and learn to use hand tools when I knew I could get the job done with my power tools.
I recently found a YouTube channel that motivated me to purchase some planes and a couple of hand saws so I could learn some basic hand tool skills. I’ve tried a few times to cut hand-cut dovetails and use hand planes, but I’ve had less than great results. After watching Matt Estlea’s channel, I’ve learned some great techniques that have helped me dramatically with my hand tool skills. He has great videos on sharpening and setting up as well as practical techniques for using the tools.
A few weeks ago, he started a series to build a box with hand-cut dovetails using only hand tools. I decided to follow along. I’m quite pleased with the results. I’m not finished yet — one of my projects interrupted my progress, but I managed to do all the planning and joinery with only hand tools. It’s been a lot of fun, and I’ve learned so much. The dovetails definitely started out pretty rough, but got better with each set. If you’re interested in improving your hand tool skills, I highly recommend watching some of his basic videos and perhaps even trying out his online school. https://www.mattestlea.com/school