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Woodworking is one kind of art. An artist crafts his thought and imagination into some pieces of woods.
It varies from man to man. For some, woodworking is their hobby and passion, but for others, it turns into a profession. Whatever your goal is, first, you have to select the right hand tools for woodworking to help you deliver magic in your woodworking project.
Well, if you are a professional or a hobbyist, you must know about woodworking hand tools. But if you are a beginner, then you will need several guidelines.
In this article, you will find 17 woodworking tools for beginners that are essential for all woodworking projects.
Firstly, you have to know what a woodworking hand tool is.
Woodworking tools are the tools required to resize, reshape, or design wood by hand rather than a motor. Hand saw, coping saw, bench chisel, mallet are the most common hand tools used in different woodworking projects.
If you want to work in a traditional woodworking way without the use of power tools, you will need some most essential hand tools that every woodworker uses. Here is the list of best traditional woodworking hand tools below:
- Wooden Workbench
- Jack Plane
- Block Plane
- Miter Saw and Miter Box
- Mortise Chisel
- Marking Gauge
- Panel Saws: Rip and Cross Cut
- 1-3 Back Saws
- Try Square
- Combination Square
- Pair of Dividers
- Rabbet Plane
- Screwdriver
- Woodworking Clamps
There are also some wood carving tools like a mallet, chisel, and knife.
Table of Contents
Popular Hand Tools for Woodworking
Hand tools are basically unlimited, known and unknown. But we have tried to write on the most commonly used tools that are necessary for every project regarding woodworking.
1. Wooden Workbench
If you are a woodworker, you will definitely hear about workbench. It is undoubtedly one of the essential woodworking hand tools. A solid wooden workbench is the signature tool for woodworking activities where manual woodwork is done effectively.
As the workbench should be durable and long-lasting, so it is made with poplar, oak, sometimes ash, beach or maple wood.
You can make a solid workbench. Moreover, you can also buy a wooden workbench that will satisfy your requirements. Even if you are a beginner, you will be able to prepare a fantastic, durable solid workbench.
Firstly, the workbench should be substantial and sturdy. Additionally, it will contain bench cookie kit, and bench dogs for making your work easier. If your workbench has at least 3 to 3.5 inches thickness, it will provide better performance.
2. Jack Plane
Among many well-known tools for woodworking, a jack plane has unique uses. A jack plane is a middle-sized bench plane which is very important for the solid workbench. Moreover, a jack plane will provide following works:
- Smoothing the boards
- Rough stock removal
A jack plane will serve you the service of a jointer plane. Moreover, a sharp and low angled plane will be one of the best woodworking tools for beginners who haven’t gathered any experience.
3. Block Plane
You know, block planes are the traditional woodworking hand tools that are being used for years. You may see, woodworkers always put those components in shirts or pants. It can use to trim joints effectively.
You should make sure the blade of the block plane is sharp. You can use a little bit of oil on the sharpening stone and hold the bevel flat against the stone.
Experts suggest rolling the pressure from the back of the plane to the front as you complete the cut so that you don’t end up with arching.
4. Miter Saw and Miter Box
A professional miter saw and miter box will help you cut the wood at accurate lengths and angles. Moreover, you can utilize it to try to level the board ends. You will find that the longer miter saw moves smoothly to and fro through an inflexible saw frame.
5. Mortise Chisel
Without this tool, woodworking hand tools list will not be completed. The mortise chisels are also known as mortice chisels, used for making rectangular holes or chopping mortises into your board’s side that accept insertion of tenons.
As a beginner, you can start with a ¼ inch mortise chisel or 3/8 inch, or any size that is closer to them. A whole mortise chisel set is not required to start.
You may know that ‘mortise and tenon’ is very stronger and very common type of joint. Pig sticker is an ideal mortise chisel as that is very strong and convenient to use.
6. Marking Gauge
You will need a marking gauge to build furniture successfully. It works like dividers, can be used for gaining exact measurement and repeat that continuously. A locking mechanism is used here to prevent gauge from slipping and maintaining the right measurement.
I truly like this hand tools for woodworking that is convenient and make your project triumphant. Make sure to buy the good-quality marking gauges that charge you a little bit more. The cheaply-made cheap gauges may not be ideal one for your important projects.
7. Marking Knife
A marking knife is required for marking where you want to cut with your saws and chisels.
You have to use the right marking knife for getting into tight spots and making very accurate lines. But remember that they will be very expensive. An ideal marking knife is 7 inches long and contains a double-beveled blade for right or left-hand use.
8. Panel Saw
Panel saw is also known as a hand saw. There would always be a place for a hand saw in every woodworker shop. Panel saws are long thin saw with a comfortable wooden handle. And they are used for quick or detailed work. You can use it when more accurate cuts are required.
Moreover, it is lightweight and can be quite affordable. Panel saw comes with two tooth configuration – rip cut saw and crosscut saw.
They cut wood using different methods. The rip cut saw is much faster than crosscut saw. But crosscut saw can cut in any direction. Therefore, you might need both of them.
9. Coping Saw
A coping saw is sort of bow saw, which is used to cut complex external form and interior cut-outs in woodworking. It is commonly used to cut molding to make coped rather than miter joints. Coping saw is also used often for cutting rough shapes as well.
Moreover, coping saw is one of the vital woodworking tools that should be available in each woodworker’s supply. It is great for cutting any definite shape that can’t be cut with other hand saw or power saw.
Nowadays, the panel saw is replaced by many power saws like the table saw or jigsaw. But coping saws are difficult to replace.
10. Bench Chisel Set
Chisels are mostly used tools in the wood workshop. A finely sharpened chisel is ideal for cleaning out excess from joints. So, buying a cheap quality chisel will not be a great planning.
You will find two types of chisels available in the market:
- Plastic chisel: it is also called bench chisel.
- Wooden chisel: the handle is made of wood.
Plastic chisels are quite affordable, but wooden chisels are recommended by experts. In the beginning, you can start with a bench chisel, and then eventually add some more special chisels.
11. Try Square
You can keep a try square for marking and measuring the accuracy of the right angle (90 degree angle) to check the straightness of wood pieces corresponding to an adjoining surface. From ancient times, try squares are one of the best companions in woodwork projects.
Many kinds of try squares are accessible in the market. But metal and combination try squares are the most popular among them. You should buy a metal try square of a perfect 90 degree angle.
12. Combination Square
A combination square is required for serving many purposes in a woodworking task. Moreover, you can scribe dovetail joints and measure the squareness as well as accuracy of wood pieces.
Use a combination square for ensuring the integrity of a 90-degree angle, measuring a 45-degree angle, measuring the center of a circular object, and simple distance measurements.
13. A Pair of Dividers
Dividers are excellent and very ancient tools. They are used to measure a particular dimension, and you can transfer it as many times you like. Traditional woodworkers like to use divider rather than tape measurement. They rarely use a tape measure; moreover, they prefer divider for precise measurement.
By using the divider, you can get an accurate measurement. Moreover, you have to get a collection of two to four dividers for doing all types of woodworking projects.
14. Mallet
Beginner woodworkers may be confused about mallet and hammer. Both works as striking tools, but what are the differences? Well, their works are the same, but they have completely different applications. Mallets have wooden or rubber heads and removable handles to hold various head sizes.
Wooden mallet is used for striking chisels when you need to cut joints like dovetails. Mallets strike softly than hammer and absorb the shocks rather than distribute it. Thus, they leave a minimal surface impression. You should not strike a hammer on chisels because it can break the wooden handle of the chisels.
If you buy or build a mallet that is constructed of comparatively hardwood (maple, beech, oak wood), it will give you perfect balance and enough consistent pressure to slice through woods smoothly.
15. Rabbet Plane
When you have to cut rabbets, a dedicated rabbet plane is superior to a combination plane, especially if it has a skewed (angled) iron for cross-grain cutting.
This plane allows the cutting edge to create a square corner in joineries such as grooves, rabbets, or tenons. Moreover, the different widths of the double rabbet plane make it ideal for cleaning out dadoes and grooves.
16. Screwdriver
Screwdrivers are the most demandable woodworking hand tools starter kits which are found in all the woodworking activities.
Moreover, for working on cabinets or tight places in woodworking, you will need a screwdriver with a thin shank so that you can reach screws that are inside of deep holes. This is accomplished with a cabinet screwdriver.
17. Woodworking Clamps
This is our last selection of woodworking tools for beginners. Clamps are required to make wood pieces stable. They become convenient when they stick two or three pieces together. During jointing, chiseling, or sanding, clamps are needed in every part of your projects.
Before buying clamps, you have to gather experience. If you do some projects sincerely, then you will be able to guess the amount of clamps required for any definite woodworking project. You can build your collection with time and necessity.
Wrap Up
We have discussed most used hand tools for woodworking in this guide, though these tools are also very important for professional woodworkers.
Now you have the basics, and you should think about how you can practice these common hand tools. This article is for beginners who want to start woodworking and who want to know about woodworking hand tools and their uses.
You can find many other tools but these are the most common tools available and used. From traditional to modern, these are certainly necessary.
However, if you are a beginner and planning for starting woodworking, you should check the woodworking tools list described above and then you will be able to make a better decision on what you need for your upcoming project.