The Preliminary Tool Kit
1. Crosscut handsaw, 22″: This is technically a panel saw. It is useful for breaking down large planks you before flatten them.
2. Backsaw, 10″: Presumably a carcase saw and filed crosscut, this tool will make your finishing cuts and is typically used with the bench hook.
3. Dovetail saw, 8″: We prefer a 15-point saw that is filed for ripping cuts.
4. Jack plane: Hayward seems to prefer this plane for processing rough lumber. A 14″-long plane is typical.
5. Fore plane: Hayward seems to prefer this size plane (about 18″) for shooting the edges of boards instead of a jointer plane.
6. Smoothing plane: The smoothing plane is the last plane to touch the work before scrapers or sandpaper. A 10″-long plane is a typical size.
7. Firmer chisels, 1/4″ and 3/4″: These were once common tools without the beveled edges that are common in catalogs today.
8. Warrington hammer: These small hammers have a cross-pane on one end for starting brad nails. Very handy and still available.
9. Mallet, 5″ head. For driving chisels. Beech is the preferred wood.
10. Nail punch, fine: A small tool for setting nail heads below the wood’s surface with a few short blows.
11. Pincers: A handy tool for pulling errant nails.
12. Screwdrivers, 8″ and 3″: Traditionally, these would be straight drivers. You’ll also need Phillips, square-drive and others.
13. Cutting gauge: A marking tool with a knife for making its mark (instead of a pin).
14. Ratcheting brace, 8″: Still useful, even in a power-tool shop.
15. Auger bit, 3/8″.
16. Twist or brad-point bit, 3/16″.
17. Countersink bit.
18. Center bit, 3/4″: A bit for making flat-bottomed holes. Now Forstners are the standard.
19. Brad awl: Designed to start holes for nails and small screws.
20. Try square, 6″.
21. Card scraper: This tool cleans up tear-out left by the smoothing plane.
22. Oilstone: Buy one with coarse and fine grits. Waterstones are now common.
23. Folding rule: Or a tape measure.
Useful Additional Tools
1. Bow saw, 12″: This saw is useful for deep and curved cuts.
2. Keyhole saw: Used for fine work, particularly keyholes. These days one with a Japanese tooth pattern are more common and useful.
3: Coping saw: Useful for clearing out waste between dovetails and shallow curved cuts.
4. Bullnose plane: A now-uncommon tool for cleaning up rabbets.
5. Shoulder plane: A useful tool for trimming the cheeks and shoulders of tenons.
6. Compass plane: If you do circular work, this plane is helpful. Others never need it.
7. Rabbet plane: For the woodworker who prefers to cut rabbets by hand.
8. Toothing plane: A useful plane for roughing up surfaces prior to veneering.
9. Plow plane: A useful hand tool for making grooves and small rabbets. Not found in a typical power-tool shop.
10. Firmer chisels, 1/8″ and 1/2″.
11. Paring chisel, 1-1/2″: Useful for a wide variety of fine cuts. Beveled edges are typical.
12. Mortise chisels, 5/16″: If you work with machine-processed stock, you’ll probably want a 1/4″ tool instead.
13. Patternmaker’s hammer: Like the Warrington next to it, but smaller.
14. Marking gauge: A gauge with a pin used for marking across and with the grain.
15. Mortise gauge: A marking gauge with two cutters to mark the two walls of a mortise simultaneously.
16. Spokeshave, wood body: Useful for curved shapes in easy-to-cut woods.
17. Auger bits, 1/4″ and 1/2″.
18. Center bits, 1″ or as required: Again, substitute Forstners. Buy them as you need them.
19. Sash clamps, 36″: Begin with one pair and purchase as needed.
20. C-clamps: A modern equivalent would also be F-style clamps.
21. Handscrews: Useful for all sorts of tapered and odd workholding needs.
22. Try square or combination square, 12″.
23. Miter square: Useful for laying out and checking mitered work.
24. Sliding bevel, 8″: For marking and measuring angles other than 90°.
26. Gouge: A large tool for removing large amounts of wood quickly – not a carving tool.
26. Surform tool: It looks like a cheese grater and is used for shaping curved and compound work, such as cabriole legs.
27. Router plane: Used to trim tenon cheeks, deepen grooves and to cut hinge mortises.
28. Dividers: Basic tools that step off dovetails or other joinery.
Homemade Tools and Jigs
1. Miter block: A sawing device used to help cut small miters.
2. Miter box: A more complex and accurate device for cutting miters in mouldings.
3. Shooting board, 36″ long: An appliance used to plane the long edges of boards true.
4. Straightedge: Make as many as you need; they’re wood.
5. Square, 24″: Useful for laying out joinery full-scale on cabinet sides.
6. Winding sticks: Two identically sized, straight sticks used to check boards for twisting and cupping.
7. Oilstone case.
8. Veneering hammer: This tool presses veneer against its substrate.
9. Bench hook: An essential appliance for accurate crosscuts with a handsaw.
10. Scratch stock: A small tool with homemade cutters filed to cut small shapes, such as beads.
11. Miter template: An appliance clamped to your work that allows you to chisel accurate miters.
Power Equipment
1. 10″ table saw
2. 8″ jointer
3. 12″ benchtop planer
4. 1/2″ drill
5. Random-orbit sander
6. Drill press or hollow-chisel mortiser
7. Jigsaw or band saw
8. Two-base router kit (2hp)
9. 10″ miter saw