Lost Art Press

Though my days of teaching woodworking might be over, the process has left its mark on the tools I use. During the last 10 years, I made changes to my tool set to make it less intimidating to my students.

I gave my Eccentric Toolworks saws to a friend. I mothballed my Seaton saws from Mike Wenzloff. They were all fantastic tools that were made by people who I am proud to support. But they are unobtainable today. And I don’t want students to think there is anything magic about tools. The magic is in your fingers.

So here are the tools I use now. Only one is exotic. So let’s get that one out of the way immediately.

My tenon saw is a Wenzloff & Sons tool that was copied from the Benjamin Seaton tool chest. This saw was one of the first saws that Mike Wenzloff ever made – before he really decided to become a full-time sawmaker. It’s unsigned. It’s handle is polished and worn to fit my hands. I can no sooner get rid of this saw than sell a child. It’s sharpened rip at 10 ppi with just a bit of fleam.

My carcase saw is a vintage Wheeler, Madden & Clemson that I’ve owned forever. It’s sharpened crosscut at 14 ppi.

My dovetail saw is a Lie-Nielsen with an apple handle. Thomas Lie-Nielsen got his hands on a few chunks of apple and made this handle for me in exchange for a piece of furniture. While there are lots of good dovetail saws out there, it’s hard to beat the Lie-Nielsen. When I started woodworking they were made by Independence Tools (run by Pete Taran and Patrick Leach) and seemed exorbitantly priced at $125. Now the $125 seems the best bargain out there in saws (and I can’t believe it’s still $125).

The flush-cut saw in my chest is the Veritas one with the black plastic handle. I used to have the Veritas one with the bubinga handle, but after kinking its blade I went to order a new one and Lee Valley was out of stock of the bubinga saw. Hence the plastic one.

The saws I use for breaking down stock are vintage panel saws that Matt Cianci restored. I have a Disston panel saw that is sharpened crosscut at 8 ppi and a Spear & Jackson panel saw that is sharpened rip at 7 ppi.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my Stanley Sharptooth saw that I use for breaking down rough stock. It lives in my truck, not my tool chest, but has been an important part of every project during the last five years. I want to hate the $10, plastic-handled (but made in the USA) thing. But that would be disingenuous.

Speaking of saws that don’t live in the chest, I have a vintage Langdon miter box below my bench that I use for precision crosscuts and miters. The original sawblade was trashed, so I replaced it with a Lie-Nielsen miter box saw.

A lot of people ask me about the Veritas saws with composite spines and wooden handles. Why don’t I use those? They are excellent saws. I’ve used many of them that were owned by students and I regularly recommend them to beginners. When I assembled my kit of tools, Veritas didn’t make joinery saws. If Veritas had made joinery saws back in 1999 I’m sure would have stocked my chest with those.

Next up: marking and measuring tools.

— Christopher Schwarz

Part 1 of this series on handplanes can be found here.

I get a lot of questions about the specific tools I have in my chest. On the one hand, I resist answering the question. “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” was written to give you the ability to make those choices for yourself.

On the other hand, I’d like to tip my hat in appreciation to the toolmakers who have busted their butts to make these tools that put food on my table.

So here is my current inventory of tools. Know that I paid the “bronze price” for every one of these tools. No discounts. No freebies. Full retail.

Handplanes

My bench planes are little changed. I use a Lie-Nielsen No. 8 as my jointer. I still have the same Stanley No. 5 (a Type 11) as my jack plane. My smoothing plane is a Lie-Nielsen No. 3 in bronze with a 45° frog, improved chipbreaker and a (gasp) Veritas PM-V11 iron. I am a huge fan of this steel. It takes a wicked sharp edge that lasts a long time.

My block plane is still the same Lie-Nielsen No. 60-1/2 with the original high-carbon steel iron. This plane will be buried with me. It’s the best production block plane I’ve ever used.

For rabbet planes, I’m still using the Veritas Skew Rabbet Plane. The depth stop has broken off (that’s OK; I don’t use it much). And the fence is off the plane as much as on. It’s a great plane. I also fell into a used Clark & Williams 3/4” straight rabbet plane that I use about half the time. I should probably get rid of one of these planes. I don’t need both.

My plow plane is a Stanley No. 45 that I picked up from Patrick Leach. I decided to mothball my Barrett & Sons plow because its price was so intimidating to beginning users. And Barrett & Sons seems to have closed up shop. The No. 45 is an outstanding plow.

On moulding planes, I’ve been scaling back. I’d purchased a half-set of Clark & Williams (now Old Street Tools) hollow and rounds. That is total overkill, but that was the “frugal” option offered in the 1990s for people who didn’t want a full set. I use my No. 6s, 8s and 10s for the most part. The other planes lie dormant. I’ve been giving away unused planes from this half set to people who need them.

For beading planes, I still have a 3/16” beader that I use all the time (also from Clark & Williams). I’ve tried out 1/8” and 1/4” beaders, but they really aren’t necessary for my work and aren’t in the chest.

But I’ll never get rid of my Mathison 1/2” square ovolo. I love this tool. I also have added a 1/2” ogee plane from Caleb James to my set. It’s another winner.

Years ago I sold off my Lie-Nielsen No. 48 tongue-and-groove plane. That was a mistake. I now have the Nos. 48 and 49 in my chest (I hate buying tools twice, but there you have it). These are essential for making back boards and bottoms for casework.

For router planes, I have the Lie-Nielsen large and small router planes. I own all the extra accessory irons, but those aren’t necessary unless you do specialty work. I never use them.

I still have the Lie-Nielsen No. 73 shoulder plane.

The big addition to the tool chest was the Lie-Nielsen No. 51 shooting plane. The Veritas version works just as well (John Hoffman owns one). But the Lie-Nielsen came out first, so that’s what ended up in my tool chest. The good news is that it fits in the chest (barely).

In my next entry I’ll cover saws.

— Christopher Schwarz