Craftisian.com is crafted with passion and great attention to detail.
We are 3,824 members crafting 4,173 projects, 1,092 updates and 763 topics.
© 2021 Craftisian.com. All Rights Reserved.
Any posts on Craftisian are posted by individuals acting in their own right and do not necessarily reflect the views of Craftisian.
Craftisian will not be held liable for the actions of any user.
I use my Systems Engineering skills to pay for the use of my woodworking skills. I've worked in the information technology field about 20 years. My career transition was from being self employed as a general contractor where I did a lot of custom woodworking, cabinet making and furniture building, along with typical carpentry and building activities. Basically my hobby became my job and my job became my hobby.
At 54 years old I finally built myself a decent shop and began working more with hand tools and less with power equipment. I’m by no means a purest and still love my shaper, but sometime the quietness of a hand plane is soothing enough to not want to turn the planer on. I like the Quiet and Solitude that comes with working with the handtools.
That said I've also always like to restore things. Almost anything from old Victorian homes to screwdrivers. My shop is full of tools I have restored. My grizzly cabinet saw was $200 and a few days of sweat Equity. I recently restored a Walker Turner 16" bandsaw I bought for $100. I have restored well over 300 handplanes of all types. My planer is a restored Craftsman (Belsaw) planer.
The list goes on and on, but I couldn't have afforded the quality and quantity of tools buying new. I understand restoration isn't for everyone, but it sure is a fun way to get what you want if you enjoy it like I do.
I'll still never part with my table saw or bandsaws. I don't turn my jointer on a lot (restored delta), and i could probably be convinced to live without my planer, but I also have a sawmill, so I use rough sawn almost exclusively. I like the mix and every hour in my shop is a decision, hand or power.
-- -- There is nothing like the sound of a well tuned hand plane. - http://timetestedtools.com (timetestedtools at hotmail dot c0m)
Show the restoration before and after.
Don — This worked well elsewhere, so why not try here. I thought it would be...
What to look for when buying vintage planes
Don — Buy a vintage hand plane for the first time can be a little daunting. There...
A #4 surprise and its for sale.
Don — You guys know I don’t post my planes for sale here very often. My web site ...
new blog series on mobile
Don — Not what I would call a catastrophic event, but if I click on “Start a new...
tool collecting
Don — It would be nice to finally have a tool collecting forum topic separate from...