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How many are we?
The question has come to my mind lately as to how many woodworkers there are who are focused on using hand tools eschewing the use of power tools.
Defined in the strictest sense and including only those who do so by choice as a hobby and have a reasonable collection of tools (eliminating kids with pen knives and third world carpenters working with a single rusty plane or brace, but not Windsor chair makers or instrument makers), I would guess that we are indeed few in number- possibly numbering fewer than 1,000 worldwide.
This blog gets well over 100 visitors on a daily basis, but I don't think that the majority of my visitors fit the hand tool woodworker description in the strictest sense.
I am now tracking over 50 blogs on this site, but relatively few are dedicated entirely to hand tool woodworking.
The neaderthal forum at sawmillcreek.org is quite active, but there is a lot of activity from neo-neaderthals, or those those who favor hand tools, but would never give up their bandsaws, planers, drill press, etc.
If we include all those who have mixed shops, but favor hand tools, the count would grow dramatically. For many, that is the sweet spot. Even more have power shops and use an occasional hand tool.
What do you think? How many are we, and are modern neaderthals going the way of the ancient neaderthal man?
I'm from Israel.
I work with hand tools only. No power tools.
Why? Mainly since I live in a city and my apartment is small. But I also enjoy it very much - a combination of exercise and therapy. I love shavings, I don't like dust. I also enjoy fixing and renewing old tools.
People who use "some" power tools are not in my league. Sorry. As well as those gentlemen who buy $200+ planes.
My $20-$30 old Stanley planes work just fine.
I treat my hobby as a kind of an art, making things with my ten fingers and not only being a sophisticated "machine operator". I also like to keep those ten fingers ...
:-)
Eldad,
I actually enjoy operating machines and worked as a CNC propylene flame cutter/forklift/crane operator for a while as well as having operated various pieces of machinery.
For a job, it isn't bad as far as I am concerned. For a hobby, well, that is another matter. I am quite happy working with hand tools for similar reasons to what you mention including space/noise/dust constraints plus the need for exercise a break from my real work.
I do find myself looking at woodworking VERY differently now that I am doing hand tool woodworking as opposed to when I worked exclusively with power tools. Of course, that was twenty years ago, and I was a teenager, but there is something about working exclusively with hand tools that makes you look at the craft from a very different perspective.
As for fixing old tools, I have worked on a few, but I am coming to the point I think I would rather either pay the dough for the new one or make it myself.
If I had access to some decent old tools at reasonable prices, it would be different.
Glad to have you hanging around. As you might imagine, I don't get a lot of visitors from Israel.
Interesting, Luke. You're probably right about the number of woodworkers worldwide who only use handtools. But, it seems like the number of woodworkers who have a blended shop has grown significantly in the last 30 years, thanks to companies like Lie-Nielsen and Lee Valley. Prior to that, I bet that very few hobbyist used handtools very much, and had shops with mainly power tools.
While I prefer to use handtools, power tools do help to speed up the grunt work. And since many of us have limited free time, it allows us to be able to actually finish a project or two in our lifetimes.
Although, if I had unlimited free time, I'd probably still opt to use my bandsaw, table saw, and planer for grunt work. ; )
Ah yes, a Neo-neander!
Actually, Kari, your setup just works for a lot of people. I do think people miss out though by delegating all of the hand sawing to power tools.
If I were slight of frame, disabled, or not needing of exercise or focused a bit more on the product than the process, I might go for a planer and possibly a bandsaw.
I would be interested in developing a low power, portable lumber mill for urban and woodlot cutting though. Saw pits hold no appeal to me except as a relic of the past.
It is in the finer stuff that hand tool work really shows its true value aesthetically. The grunt work is great therapy, but doesn't have much effect on the product, just the producer!
I can get stuff planed and even cut to size at the lumberyard although it is pretty rough.
Frankly, though, my 200lb frame needs the exercise, and my wife doesn't need the dust.
Oddly enough, I actually plan on keeping a router and circular saw and a couple of drills just so my kids will have some exposure to power tools. I don't care to use them as a hobby, but I want my kids to eventually have some idea of how to use them.
How "pure" do you want hand tool users to be? Does the exclusion of power extend to the complete shop environment? When it gets dark in the evening, do you use candles, lanterns, or electrons?
Personally, I still use electric lights and an electric fan.
It is just the woodworking that is unplugged, not the shop.
I am not necessarily trying to push people towards hand tool purity. On the other hand, I think a lot of woodworkers are really missing out with all of their whiz bang gadgetry.
Also, when you start adding power tools to do the grunt work, you take things to a completely different level and can easily loose the therapeutic value of the hobby. You also have to consider dust collection, hearing protection, electrical connectivity, building codes, in feed and out feed space, and it really complicates things. A better alternative for a lot of hobbyists is to get the grunt work done at the lumber yard or sawmill or haul the stuff over to their brother-in-laws house occasionally when a really big job comes up.
If someone is really serious about getting into authentic reproductions, it might be "enlightening" to do it the old way with period correct lighting. Otherwise, I don't see that it adds much to the woodworking experience. A lot of hand tool users feel that way about planing and resawing boards too.
If I had an authentic shop instead of working in my carport, I might consider the candle/lantern thing.
For me, it isn't so much about historical authenticity although it is for a lot of hand tool guys. Everybody has their reasons and their comfort levels. Also, people change and situations change.
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