subject: Tools Used For Woodworking [print this page] Working with wood is very hands on; it is manual work, even though the woodworker may make use of woodworking equipment and power tools. Because of this, it is imperative for woodworkers to understand how to take care of their tools. This usually means keeping blades and bits sharp, because sharp tools will lessen the amount of 'hard work' when processing wood.
In general, rough work is carried out by machine, whereas fine work is done by hand. Therefore, hand tools such as chisels, saws, planes and rasps have to be kept clean and sharp in order to reduce the amount of elbow grease necessary to use them efficiently.
These days many blades are disposable as are whole tools such as jack saws, although there are still some 'old school' carpenters and woodworkers who pass a few hours a week keeping their hand tools in shape. For example, often carpenters were permitted an hour or two on Saturday morning by the employer to hone their tools' blades and reset their saws' teeth.
This no longer happens and I should think that many young woodworkers do not even know how to do it. In fact, modern 'tungsten tipped ' blades cannot be sharpened and are made to be disposed of. The blades on machinery are disposable too.
The tools for cutting timber are naturally very important, but a carpenter cannot make an accurate cut, without first measuring and marking the wood. There are two types of rules, except the electronic varieties. There is the four-jointed wooden rule, which is nine inches long, but which will open up to 36 inches or one yard. There is also the more modern three or five meter self-retracting, metal tape measure.
Most woodworkers use a pencil for marking, because it is easy to rub out, which is essential if the timber is to be stained and not painted. The conventional carpenter's pencil is oval, not round in shape. Some say that this is because it allows the pencil to draw a finer line, others say it is because the shape is a more comfortable fit behind the ear.
Carpenters have hammers, usually two or three. A carpenter may have a light-weight hammer for driving small nails or tacks home; a larger 20 ounce hammer for normal nails and a roofing hammer, which has a spike on one end of the head instead of the typical claw. Claw hammers are helpful for extracting bent or bad nails; roofing hammers have a spike so as to make a hole in a slate to take a nail.
Chisels come in various sizes because they are used for fine work. A carpenter would no sooner use an inch wide chisel where he should be using a quarter inch chisel, than a diner would use an axe to eat a steak instead of a knife. However, in order to be supremely useful, a chisel must be as sharp as a razor. If the chisel is sharp, you can actually push it through timber, whereas if it is blunt you will have to hit it with a mallet, which means that you may cut further than you meant to.
