Building a storage shed

commonquestions:
Usingtraditional hand tools?

Resourcesfor collecting old hand planes:
1. Antique and Collectible Stanley Tools–Guide toIdentity and Value by John Walter. Available fromthe author, who can be contacted via e-mail at toolmerchant@sprynet.comor by telephone at 1-740-373-9973
2. Guide to the Makers of American Wooden Planesby Emil & Martyl Pollak (4th Ed.), Astragal Press. Availablefrom AstragalPres.
The above John Walter book is the bible on Stanley planes.Similarly, AWP is the bible on American wooden planes.
There are no similar guides to Sargent metal planes,however, bookmark StanFaullin’s site which is now under construction.Stan is the authority on Sargent planes.
It would be very useful for you to join the MidwestTool Collectors’ Association (M-WTCA). It is not limitedto the Midwest, but is national in scope. Very goodnewsletters and hosts tools shows and meets. Great peopleand very helpful when you have questions. Contact athttp://mwtca.org/mwmeet.htm
- Wiley Horne

Reallygood western saws….The golden age of western sawswas about 1880-1928. Cast steel blades. Fabulous handles.Tapered blades on the panel saws. Some good brands areDisston, Atkins, Jennings, Simonds, Richardson in America,and Spear & Jackson, Groves, plus a host of other goodSheffield makers in England. There’s a ready marketin these on Ebay, and two well-known saw men, Bob Brodein California and Pete Taran on the east coast, sellreal good saws when they can come by them. Tom Law mayalso sell, but I don’t know for sure. The Lie-Nielsencompany in Maine is making excellent western saws. Prices:real nice backsaws or panel saws on Ebay (makers mark,cast steel, straight, no broken horns on handle, andreadable etch in the case of panel saws)…$80 and up.From the vendors….$100 and up (but they come sharpened).From Lie Nielsen……$125-137.
Really good Japanese saws (that I know about)….Themachine made Gyokucho’s are excellent. Impulse hardenedteeth to RC68, and have replaceable blades. Blades aretoo hard to sharpen and it’s cheaper to buy a new oneanyway.
For dovetails, I like a rip-filed dozuki. Dozukisare like backsaws–they have a steel spine. Folks differon whether to use a rip or crosscut dozuki (or backsaw)for dovetails. It’s clearly a rip cut–right into endgrain.But many prefer a crosscut saw to get a lot of teethin the cut and have the finest finish. When you seea ‘dovetail saw’ advertised with 25 tpi, it’s crosscut.I prefer a rip dozuki for dovetails because the riptooth is more aggressive going into the end grain andholds the line better. The Gyokucho rip dozuki I likeis 19 tpi, it’s No. 303, from Japan Woodworker. $34.
For tenons, I like a crosscut dozuki for theshoulders, and a rip dozuki for the cheek cuts–or ripside of ryoba when the tenon gets larger than 2″ andthe dozuki isn’t deep enough. Real nice crosscut dozukiwould be Gyokucho #370 or 371, 26 tpi from Hida Toolor Japan Woodworker @ $45. When the tenon gets too largefor the Gyokucho No. 303 rip dozuki, I go to the ripside of a ryoba, which has no back to limit the depthof cut. Hardwood ryoba = Gyokucho 650 or 651, Hida Tool,Japan Woodworker, or Misugi Designs. $26-29. To makethe tenon shoulder cuts really true and straight, takea square and stout marking knife and make a deep markjust inside the final shoulder line. This knife cutwill fence the dozuki blade just right. I always leaveroom for a coupla passes with the shoulder plane toget to the final line. Making the cheek cuts is justpractice, practice, ……
Handmade Vs Machine-Made. In my experience, thehand made doesn’t outperform the machine made unlessyou send the hand made for special sharpening and tuning(called “metate”), or else buy a very expensive handmade saw which has had the metate already performed.I am basing this on Nakaya brand (from Hida Tool), orIgarashi (from Misugi) vs. Gyokucho. The hand made onesare just incredible once they’ve had the metate done,but right out of the box you have to buy a hell of anexpensive saw to beat Gyokucho. A Chuyemon brand ryobafrom Hida will beat machine made, but at $165 it should,and even it is improved greatly by metate. That said,there is no saw experience I am aware of to comparewith a hand made saw that has had the metate done. Igot two saws back from Mark Grable recently, and itwas a revelation what he accomplished. The saws wereconsiderably sharper and truer than when brand new.This is sawing that compares in satisfaction to planing.If anyone’s interested, the price of admission to thisis a little over $100 for the handmade saw (dozuki orryoba) from Hida Tool or Misugi Designs, plus $20 andshipping to Mark Grable. But you can find out whetheryou like Japanese saws for $35-45 buying the Gyokucho’smentioned above.
Japanese Vs. Western saws. J. saws cut on thepull stroke and use a thinner blade and make a smallerkerf–bottom line, you’re not working as hard. The J.saws are extremely sharp and fast cutting compared towestern saws. One negative, especially for dovetails,is that the pull stroke is pulling sawdust out of thecut toward you and obscuring your marked line, whereasthe western saw is pushing the sawdust out the otherside of the cut, and you can more easily track yourmark. For me, what I love about western saws is howthey look–particularly the vintage Disston and Spear& Jackson with the great old carved handles. But onbalance, I go with the Japanese saw because of the sharpness.Feels like a surgical procedure compared to a westernsaw.
- Wiley Horne

Amongthe hand tool crowd I know of, there are probably morefolks preferring western saws to Japanese. It reallyit a matter of personal preference, because no one canargue with the results that have been achieved withboth. It’s a little staggering to look at 18th centurybreakfronts and the like, and realize that 110/220 hadnot been invented yet.
This is probably a good place to list some websitesfor the names mentioned in my first post:
WESTERN SAWS
1. For vintage saws, look up PeteTaran. Fabulous website, and this is the man thatrecreated the old-time English backsaw, calling it theInternational Tool saw, later selling out to Lie NielsenCo., which is now making the saw.
2. Saw sharpener par excellence is Tom Law 62 West WaterStreet, Smithsburg, MD 21783 PH (301)824-5223. He mayalso sell vintage saws, but I can attest that my vintageDisston and C.E. Jennings backsaws came back in wonderfultune and sharpness, with quick turnaround too. Has asaw sharpening video.
3. For a high-quality new saw, the Lie-NielsenCo., best known for their handplanes. See the toollist. They currently make a group of backsaws whichincludes a dovetail saw, and small tenon saws in bothrip and crosscut filings. They are entering productionon a larger tenon saw, and have a magnificent panelsaw on the drawing board.
JAPANESE SAWS
5. Japan Woodworkersells both Gyokucho machine made and handmade saws.I’ve not bought their handmades, so perhaps someoneelse can help on this.
6. Hida Tool sellsthe Gyokucho line, as well as the Nakaya line of handmadeswhich start around $110, plus a special purchase ofChuyemon ryobas at $165, made by a living treasure typemaker, but unsigned at his death. That’s why they’reaffordable at all. I can recommend both of these fromexperience.
7. Misugi Designssells a few Gyokuchos, plus Igarashi (same guy thatmakes Nakaya brand for Hida), and probably the top sawsmade now Miyano Dai Endo. I mention these just for completenessbecause they’re $550 apiece. The woman who owns thisbusiness, Kayoko Kuroiwa, is an extraordinary person,and very helpful with any Japanese tool question.
- Wiley Horne

Thefirst choice you will have to make is how much you wantto do with hand tools. I like the Japanese-madehand tools. But, most would tell you to get a fewsteel body planes and a set of chisels. There was avery good review in FineWoodworking on rating chisels…andhow to set up a wooden plane. It will cost you a bitof money to get good tools. Spend the money for thegood ones. You will have them for the rest of your life.
- Lou

Onebook I recommend is “Classic Hand Tools” by Garret Hack.It has in-depth coverage of most all hand tools, aswell as their history and evolution. A great read.
- Bob

Youwill probably find you will do more hand work than youever imagined. They are just more fun. A real good bookto start with is “Traditional Woodworking Hand tools”by Graham Blackburn. Subtitled, “A manual for thewoodworker, A guide for the enthusiast”. This bookwill give you a good overview of most classes of tools.What they look like, what they do, and how they work.There are many good hand tool books out there. “Restoringand Using Antique Tools” by Mike Dunbar is also verygood.
- Tom Corey

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