Hand tool brands

[DWJenkins]

Hey,

Newbie hand tool question.

Apart from Lie Nielsen, Veritas and Stanley, what other hand tool brands are there and which ones should I avoid?

Thank you

Dave

 

[TobyC]

If you're talking about new stuff,... I avoid those three.

 

[tobytools]

Hey,

Newbie hand tool question.

Apart from Lie Nielsen, Veritas and Stanley, what other hand tool brands are there and which ones should I avoid?

Thank you

Dave

Old record are great for planes, veritas do very good shoulder planes, lie nielsen fantastic spoke shaves.

There are 100 of lesser known company's that I wouldn't touch but it's been proven that even cheap 99p tools do work. What path are you going to go down? Old tools, new tools? And what type of work and wood have you got in minde and I'll give you or try to be as helpful as possible.
With most things it's whatever works best..... For you

TT

 

[marcros]

Hand tools is a very wide subject. Is it specifically planes, chisels etc etc ?

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Welcome to the forum!

Simple question - complicated answer!

Of the existing new tool makers, if you rootle around the websites of true woodworking tool specialists such as Workshop Heaven, Classic Hand Tools, Peter Sefton's tool store, Toolnut and several woodturner's suppliers, you can rest assured that they won't stock it unless it's good. They may have 'premium' and 'budget' lines, but they'll all be fit for purpose. They also stock tools by small firms and one-man bands who's sole intention is to work to very high standards - so the products won't be cheap, but they will be good.

Of the established old names such as Record, Stanley, Marples etc, the situation is a bit more confused because standards have dropped more than somewhat following takeovers of the old firms and 'redesign' of products. Vintage tools (pre 1970) from all those makers are almost always of excellent quality, and if in good condition will be sound investments (for use - not necessarily for your pension fund!). Those post 1970 can be good (in the case of the new Stanley Sweetheart planes, reportedly very good), but some are not.

I'd advise asking specific questions and reading about a bit before buying too many vintage tools. There are some real gems about for very little money if you know what to look for, but there's also quite a bit of tat about which can fool the unwary. Using the best quality vintage tools can be sublime, and in some cases they genuinely are better than anything available today, but old rubbish is no better than new rubbish.

If you fancy some reading, buy a copy of 'The Anarchist's Tool Chest' by Christopher Schwarz from either Classic Hand Tools or Axminster Power Tool Centre. He discusses in some detail the tools you REALLY need to make furniture (so if your woodworking ambitions lie in other directions maybe not all the choices will be entirely applicable) and what to look for in a good example of each tool. You also get a bit of workshop philosophy, and comprehensive instructions on how to build a traditional toolchest to store your accumulating kit. Get some sawdust made on simpler projects first, though.

 

[Vann]

Apart from Lie Nielsen, Veritas and Stanley, what other hand tool brands are there...

Seeing you're in the UK don't forget Clifton.

...and which ones should I avoid?

Hi Dave. Welcome to the forum. If you're looking at new planes you should avoid everything not listed above (and avoid Stanley too). If you're looking at older planes, Stanley, Record & Marples were very good, but the older the better (CC says pre-1970s, but I'd say pre-1960s). The problem is that quality control slowly disappeared over the years. So pre-1960 Records, pre 1950 Stanleys are nearly all good (if they havent been abused to death since leaving the factory). But the newer they are the more likely you are to pick-up a cr*p one - to the point where a modern plane from those manufactures may be okay, but it's just as likely you might pick up a bad one one, and all would need some work to get them performing well.

There are exceptions. E.g. Stanley now make a "Sweethart" range of slightly better than average planes (and other tools). Some people have had very good results from these - but a few have or had design/production faults.

HTH.

Cheers, Vann.

 

[Peter Sefton]

Hi Dave welcome to the forum
Depending on your budget and what kind of work you are doing some ideas of good kit, in no particular order

For planes
Quangsheng, Clifton , Veritas and LN

Chisels
Ashley Iles, Narex, Veritas

Saws
Veritas, Pax

I am sure more guys will be along to advise you, but Quangsheng and Narex are not the top quality but do offer good kit for the price

Give me call if you need more specific help.
Cheers Peter

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Some thoughts on 'budget' new tools.

It may be worth your while having a read back through some of the older threads on this site. We've had several discussions recently about cheaper new tools, their quality (variable!) and how you can make a good usable tool out of them. That will help to stretch the budget - it's unfortunately the case that a reasonably comprehensive kit of premium quality new tools will cost a lot.

It's also worth bearing in mind that every kit should should have some tools for rough work, when abuse or damage to the tool doesn't really matter too much. Having a couple of hardpoint saws and some cheap chisels handy means you can keep your best tools for fine work. An example I've mentioned a few times is a ragged-out old screwdriver I keep solely for levering lids off paint tins, poking crud out of odd corners and throwing at unwanted workshop visitors. It saves my good screwdrivers for turning screws and nothing else. With the exception of the tea-mug, it's probably the most used tool in the workshop!

 

[MMUK]

Hey,

Newbie hand tool question.

Apart from Lie Nielsen, Veritas and Stanley, what other hand tool brands are there and which ones should I avoid?

Thank you

Dave

Dave, if you can answer the following questions we can advise much better to what you should be looking for.

1. What tools do you want to buy? If you don't know, what projects do you want to undertake?
2. What is your budget?
3. Do you want to buy new or second hand?

Your original question has literally hundreds of answers so if you can be a little more specific we can help provide an answer before the thread gets into hundreds of replies and before you get bored with us

 

[MMUK]

With the exception of the tea-mug, it's probably the most used tool in the workshop!

Seconded :mrgreen:

As for the most abused tool in the workshop, that's probably me :lol:

 

[tool-me-up]

Depends greatly on how often and how hard you want to use the tool.

I supply a LOT of budget tools - and some high-end tools and power tools ( not all woodwork related)
And quite often I find myself having to explain that yes in principle the budget tool and the professional tool are the same one is a lot more expensive because it made better, and made to last.

It can be a bit confusing for people who dont really know what they want or what to look for.

A lot of people dismiss certain brands straight away, but they do this without ever using anything from that brand because a mate said or similar

For example if I stock a socket set with 22 peices for £39 - with a lifetime guarantee
and halfords stock a 22 piece professional set (same pieces just different brand ) for £99 - also with a lifetime
Then as all pieces have a lifetime guarantee - why pay the extra, you get the same amount of after sales backup, and both do the same job - unless of course a mate told you not to.....

I get these questions all the time ( mainly about power tools admittedly) and I always give the same advice -

If its getting used once a week for a few hours budget range tools will be fine and should last a decent length of time given PROPER CARE i.e not leaving it out in rain, getting it caked in dust and slinging it in the bottom of the cupboard

If your going to use it everyday until the cows come home - buy the best your budget can,
If its a one-off use thing, get a budget tool, why pay loads to use it once and let it sit un-used the money will be better spent elsewhere
Also weirdly finding more and more tradesman buying real cheap budget tools then either throwing away or just getting another after another.
Circulars and angle grinders mainly, they usually get a decent cordless, to cake in dust, paint, plaster and cement then wonder why the gearbox goes all whiney and the batteries run flat pretty quick.....