Traditional Woodworking Handtools

by Graham Blackburn

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Traditional Woodworking Handtools describes all the major handtools that were used by cabinetmakers, furnituremakers, carpenters and numerous other woodworking trades in the centuries before the introduction of powertools and machinery. These are the tools that built the masterpieces we now know as Chippendale, Sheraton, Hepplewhite, Federal, and many other styles.

This brand new book by well-known woodworking author and illustrator Graham Blackburn, covers every aspect of choosing, rehabilitating, and getting the most out of traditional handtools for woodworking. In this age of machines, handtools remain the best way, and are often the only way, of creating beautiful details, perfect fit, and final finish. Handtools liberate the furnituremaker, builder, and general woodworker from the limited artistic vocabulary of machinery. With handtools, there are no technical limits.

Traditional Woodworking Handtools explains how to set up and use each tool, and puts the tool in the context of the complete woodworking process. Blackburn includes interesting historical information as well as telling anecdotes drawn from his forty-year career at the bench. Readers will come away with not only the knowledge they need to improve their own woodworking, but also a deeper appreciation of their craft and its role in the construction of civilization.

This copiously illustrated new book is thus both a guide for collectors and antique-tool enthusiasts as well as an essential manual for all woodworkers who would increase their vocabulary of woodworking techniques.

Chapters Include:

1. The Classic Workbench
2. Clamps, Cramps, & Pin Vises
3. Miter Trimming
4. Measuring & Marking Tools
5. The Square
6. Bevels
7. Gauges
8. Handsaws
9. Sawfitting & Sawing
10. Framed Saws
11. Backed Saws
12. A Plane from the Past
13. Bench Planes
14. Successful Plane Racing
15. Scrub, Jack, & Jointer
16. The Smooth Plane
17. The Jack Plane
18. Block, Miter, Bullnose, & Chariot
19. The Rabbet Plane
20. The Dado Plane
21. The Plough
22. Sash Fillisters
23. Match Planes
24. Badgers
25. Panel Raisers
26. Moulding Planes
27. Hollows & Rounds
28. Beading Planes
29. Adzes, Axes, & Hatchets
30. The Scraper
31. Old Chisels
32. The Mortise Chisel
33. Carving Tools
34. Spokeshaves, Shaves, & Drawknives
35. Pre-electric Routers
36. Chamfering Devices
37. Boring Tools
38. Bits & Pieces
39. Threading Tools
40. Striking Tools
41. Bench-top Accessories
42. Select Bibliography
43. Tool Associations
44. Tool Dealers
45. Tool Auctions