Buying hand tools on an online auction site

Here are a few tips and suggestions for a more successful experience buying usable vintage hand tools on online auction services.

Note that this article was originally written to cover a certain famous online auction service. I have since found buying through them to be difficult and cancelled my account as well as my account with an online payment service associated with them. I have moved on, and suggest you think seriously about doing the same until things turn around. In the meantime, you might poke around the classified forum section at www.sawmillcreek.org

1. Only buy items that are adequately pictured and described. You don't necessarily pay a premium price for items that are thoroughly and effectively displayed and you greatly reduce your risk due to defects that you couldn't see.

2. For little or no apparent reason, auction prices vary wildly. Sometimes very similar tools (from the perspective of those of us looking for quality usable tools) will vary by a factor of four or greater. For instance, a hand brace can vary from $20 to over $100 for two similar models for no reason or perhaps because one carries a certain name even though it is identical to another lesser-known brand. Have fun and have patience. Don't get attached to a particular tool.

3. Your list of items you were outbid on should be much longer than the list of items you win. Perhaps 80-90% of the tools that are sold are overpriced for your purposes.

4. Inspect items thoroughly. Many of the items sold are incomplete, missing essential parts, broken, worn out, chipped, cracked, and otherwise compromised. Good items are often sold for about the same price as damaged stuff. Unless you are running a vintage tool repair shop, wait for the good stuff.

5. The search engine is your friend. When you come across an unknown brand or a tool whose heritage or identity are in doubt, look it up. Someone, somewhere has probably written an article about just that tool.

6. Cheaper tools and disposable tools are usually better bought new. Things like chisels, spokeshaves, sharpening stones, routers, files, screwdrivers, awls, knives and suchlike are often in poor condition, improperly handled or stored, difficult to correctly identify, damaged, missing parts, suffering from neglect and abuse and otherwise compromised. If you have lots of patience, are really lucky, or can combine shipping costs of multiple items, you might still be able to get a good deal on some of those things. Also, some tools like sharpening stones, have modern versions that are significantly better than the vintage versions.

7. There is a risk factor in buying used tools on online auctions. Some of the things you buy will almost certainly require repairs, reconditioning, new parts, excessive filing or dressing or sharpening, or otherwise be a general pain or worse, be useless or cost money to fix. Factor this into the price you are willing to pay. If you are really careful about what you buy, and do careful research, you might think about pegging this risk factor at about 25-35% of the value of the tool. In other words, for every $100 you spend, figure that you will have to spend $25-35 repairing or replacing useless items. For people who don't do proper research, and for certain kinds of tools, I would suggest that this might run much higher. In addition, a lot of things you buy will undoubtedly require a serious investment of time to bring into proper working order.

8. Use a sniping service if one is available for your online auction of choice. This does three things. First of all, it will help prevent you from overpaying by forcing you to decide on a price and not giving you a chance to change it ofter you actually make the bid (you can change it up until just before the auction ends when you bid is entered). Also, it helps prevent others from getting "auction fever" as they watch the price go up and are tempted to enter higher bids to win. Finally, this may be more subtle, but a sniping service helps you avoid the marketplace's marketing schemes. By using an alternate interface for part of the transaction, you aren't constantly bombarded with their marketing tactics.

9. Do your research. Know what you are buying. You should be able to look at the item you are buying and have a pretty good idea if it is a quality tool and if all of the parts are present.

10. You should know what you are looking for before you go shopping. You should not just be shopping for a hand plane. You should be shopping for a #4 smoother or a #5 Jack or whatever.

11. Fortunately for us, the needs of collectors and users are generally different. Collectors are usually looking for rare stuff. Users are generally looking for the more common stuff that everybody used. If you are looking for specialty items that are hot collector items, you may just want to buy new ones.

Chisel and plane sharpening

Many who have worked with power tools just buy carbide tipped blades and throw them away when they can no longer force it to cut any longer. While that might not be the best strategy with power tools, it is completely unworkableable with hand tools. Being able to produce keen edges ground at the proper angles is essential to woodworking happiness.

Things to consider

For hand tools, there are several things that must be taken into account for the woodworker to have a satisfactory experience and to produce satisfactory work. First of all, he must have quality tools that have quality steel cutters. Carbide is not used in hand tools since it doesn't hold a sharp edge like steel can. A poor quality steel may be made to hold a decent edge, but will quickly dull. Even quality steel can be damaged by heat buildup from mechanical grinding processes (like your $39.99 grinder from the local home store). Generally, even those can be salvaged by grinding back the edge a bit more past the steel edge that got too hot.

Second, the tool must be a quality tool and be in good condition and (for many tools) properly adjusted and tuned. You should get it through your head from the beginning that you local big box home store won't likely be selling the kind of tools that dedicated hand tool users are looking for. Tools can be old, but they must be well made. In fact, there are many wood workers using hand tools that are over 100 years old who intend to pass these same tools on to their children and grandchildren!

Third, the process of sharpening is something of an art that has to be learned. There is no single right process to getting a super edge that you can shave with. There are people who can produce decent edges with processes that many would regard as inferior and others who can't produce sharp edges on the best of equipment. The fact remains though that if you are going to get quality edges, you need some sort of stones or sharpening equipment.

The three stages

There are three stages to the sharpening process. The first is grinding. On tools that haven't been damaged, or need some serious work, you can skip this step. However, if you need to change the angle of a tool or take out a nick or otherwise remove some serious material, you will want to use a rough stone such as a 250 grit waterstone or a rough diamond stone, or another method that allows you to remove a lot of material quickly.

The second stage of sharpening, honing, is where you will spend most of your time. In fact, for many wood workers, this is the only step that they need for day to day work. Honing involves using something like a 1,000 grit waterstone and then jumping to a 4,000 grit waterstone and even up to an 8,000 grit waterstone. Ceramic, arkansas oil stones, sandpaper, and other techniques can also work for this stage and each have their advantages and disadvantages.

The third stage of sharpening is polishing. For most of us, this really isn't necessary. Basically, it involves a few light passes with the finest stone or abrasive you can get, like the 8,000 grit waterstone and then a bit of work on a leather strop with some rubbing compound. If you are doing very fine work such as hand carving, this might be useful. For general work, unless you are a certified perfectionist, it probably isn't necessary although it can't do any harm.

Sharpening methods

Scary sharp

This is a poor man's method. At least the start up costs are lower. Scary sharp is a technique that seems to have been around about as long as abrasive paper has been produced in fine grades. Basically, the idea is that you stick about half a dozen or so different grits of sandpaper on a piece of plate glass or granite and using a bit of oil or water on the paper, work your way from the rougher grits to the finer ones.

Some people don't care much for this method since it can use quite a bit of sandpaper, but it does produce sharp edges.

Japanese waterstones

Stones like the Norton waterstones seem to be one of the favorites of many hand woodworkers. They take up little space, cut fast, and produce sharp edges. The two disadvantages are that you do have to use water and have to be careful not to get oil on them (remember that old saying about oil and water not mixing), and also they wear fairly rapidly (they are constantly exposing new surfaces to cut, which is why they can cut so quickly), which means they need to be flattened regularly. This can be accomplished fairly easily with a stone designed for the purpose, a rough diamond stone, rubbing two stones of the same grit together or using a fine drywall screen on a flat surface.

Arkansas oil stones

These stones have the advantage of using oil so that you don't have to have water around your tools. They can also produce fine edges. They wear more slowly than waterstones which means they last longer, cut more slowly, and don't loose their flatness as quickly.

Ceramic

Ceramic stones can produce a fine edge without using any lubricant. However, they cut slower than other stones. Generally they are used for fine tools like carving tools that might easily wear a groove in a softer stone.

Diamond stones

Diamond stones have the distinct advantage of being flat and retaining their flatness throughout the life of the stone. They can be lubricated with water and will produce a good edge. There is nothing "wrong" with using quality diamond stones, but waterstones are usually preferred since they cut faster and can more easily produce a superfine edge.

Getting started

First of all, note that this article only deals with sharpening blades such as those used for chisels and planes. Saw sharpening is a different art and involves the use of files.

You will need a to use a process similar to what we have outlined about. A good way to start might be the Norton Waterstone starter kit. Also, you will need some handholding. If you can't find a mentor, I would suggest getting a good book such as The Complete Guide to Sharpening. Alternatively, you could do a lot of reading on various websites.

Please feel free to comment and I may add your suggestions into the text of this article.

Understanding handsaws

Ah, the magic of handsaws! For many of us, the image of handsaws brings back nostalgic memories of our childhood as we stand with an old dull crosscut saw in one hand and a half-cut two-by-four laying in front of us while we examine the blisters that are forming on the hand that is supposed to be doing all of the work. We vowed that one day, we would find a better way to cut our boards.

Well, that day has arrived. Actually, it has been around for quite a number of years now. The "golden age of western handsaws" was around the turn of the 20th century. It doesn't have to be like we might remember it. Let's get down to business and figure out how we can turn an awful excercise in frustration into something that is at least satisfying, if not outright fun.

Types of saws

Push or pull?

Western saws cut on the push stroke. That is probably the one you wore blisters with as a kid. One advantage to this saw is that it tends to push the dust down through the kerf leaving the work surface relatively dust free so that your cutting line isn't obscured. Also, notably, these saws can be sharpened with a file. It does take a bit of patience and a fresh file (you may wear out a side on your file in a single sharpenening), but it can be done with a minimum of tools and some practice. Some people love sharpening their own saws. For others, well, let's just say that it is sort of a love-hate relationship without the love. If you want to learn to sharpen your saws and don't have a mentor, you should think about getting a good book and/or a video demonstration. For those looking for instant gratification, there is an excellent treatise online on sharpening vintage saws.

Japanese saws cut on the pull stroke. They aren't as common in the US, but they do seem to be gaining a following. Because they cut on the pull stroke, the blade can be much thinner meaning that they also require less force to saw. Quality Japanese saws are made of very hard steel that can't be sharpened with a file. When the blade finaly gets dull, you just discard it and buy new. With some saws, you have to replace the entire saw, with others just the blade. For those who detest sharpening their own saws, this is a God-send. For those who love it, it is a deal-breaker.

Cross or rip?

Both Japanese and Western saws come in two general versions, crosscut and rip. Due to the nature of the wood fibers, the appropriate saw should be used for the right job although one will obviously work for either job in a pinch. Rip saws are used to cut with the grain and have realtively simple teeth that are more like little chisels. Crosscut saws are made to cut across the grain and have a more complex pattern that sort of tears the fibers as the saw is pushed or pulled through the wood. The Japanese Ryoba saw actually has teeth on one side of the blade for crosscutting and teeth for ripping on the other side.

Teeth

The teeth on a saw are what does the work. I know, you though you were doing it. Well, anyway, as you doubtless already know, the more teeth per inch a saw has, the finer cut it produces and the slower it cuts. Each tooth takes a bite and the bigger that bite is, the rougher it leaves the edge of the board. Some saws actually have progressive teeth sizes, that is, more teeth per inch on one end of the blade than the other.

Set

Another important aspect to a saw is the "set" of the teeth. Each tooth is slightly bent out to the side. This allows the blade to pass more easily through the work without binding. If you are sharpening your own saw, you will probably need to adjust the set about every other sharpening.

Straightening

Your saw has to be straight to cut correctly. Kinked, bowed, and warped saws present unwelcome problems. If you have a junk saw and want to try straightening it, you might check out this article. It isn't for the faint of heart though, and will likely make your problem worse if you aren't careful. You have been warned.

Other saws

There are other types of hand saws other than the standard rip and crosscut saws. There is the tiny coping saw which is useful for cutting fine curved edges.

For resizing lumber or other heavy duty cutting, you might consider a frame saw.

The bow saw is considered to be a type of frame saw. Fine Woodworking magazine also has an article on building a bow saw (Subscription or free trial required). These are useful when you really need to do some heavy duty fast cutting where finish or accuracy aren't that important.

The turning saw is considered to be a type of bowsaw. It has a finer blade and is sort of like a heavy duty coping saw.

For nano-logging, there are also the one and two man crosscut saws. No one ever said it was easy to cut up logs this way, but does make less noise than a chainsaw provided you don't have a partner that talks too much.

For a wide selection of saws, you might try www.traditionalwoodworker.com.

Remember

Quality handsaws cut efficiently and rapidly. They still require a bit of umph, but that is part of the fun for the unplugged woodworker. Whether you go western or Japanese or some combination of the two, buy quality saws and use the appropriate tool for the job. This time, you don't have to cry tears of frustration.

You can buy decent saws from these sources:

www.traditionalwoodworker.com
www.leevalley.com
www.lie-nielsen.com

Helpful sites

www.disstonianinstitute.com
www.vintagesaws.com

Workbenches

You need a proper workbench. It is probably the single most important tool you can have for hand tool woodworking.

Chris Schwarz says that for most woodworkers, a workbench needs to be able to pass the kitchen cabinet door test. In other words, it should be able to hold the door in a position to work its faces, edges and ends with no fancy add on jigs or clamps.

Chris is right. Oddly enough, even most commercial benches somehow fail this simple test.

If you have read this far, you really need to take a moment and get Chris's workbench book.

A workbench should be solid, not rack, buckle, twist, turn, or scoot across the floor. Think "boulder" nor "folding table" here. Your bench should be massive.

If you want to use hard maple, Cumaru or Lignum Vitae, that is your choice, but even carefully selected construction grade species like fir and southern yellow pine can be great choices.

Remember that essentially, they are a work holding device.

One of the obstacles that a new woodworker runs into is how to build a workbench without having a workbench. There are no easy answers. My suggestion is to do what it takes to get it done as quickly as possible. If you have to "cheat" and use power tools, or build it in a friends shop, just do it, and get on with it.

While a workbench is a great item to practice hand sawing and and other techniques on, it is an exercise in frustration to do it with hand tools without having a workbench.

One idea is to make a couple of saw horses and put the thickest and stiffest plank of wood on it you can find. This is a concept similar to a Japanese workbench. If you straighten the top of the plank, it might make a reasonably decent surface to hand plane your boards on.

Another idea is to get a couple of portable workbenches from Blum Tool Company. It will cost you some money, but you will have a couple of nice portable workbenches when you are done.

One final thing. I think most people should make their own workbench. There are some who should not. If you are disabled, not physically strong, working by the hour, or heavily focused on making smaller projects, you should seriously consider buying a workbench.

It is non-trivial to manhandle the various components to put together a proper workbench due to their massive size and weight. Imagine with me what it would be like to drop your 300 pound workbench on your leg as you are trying to turn it over. Not only would you likely have to have your crushed leg set or amputated, you would also have to find a couple of stout fellows to get the bench off your leg before you could go anywhere. As I was saying, not everyone should try building their own workbench. In any event, be sure to have enough help around to move things around in a safe manner.

Whatever you do, make sure you get a decent workbench. To fail to do so could be dangerous to your physical and mental health!

Therapeutic Woodworking™ is about relaxation not aggravation.