Question: Do you prefer the old tools (pre electric) or new?

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kreed

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Right, if you were going to answer new give me all your old ones......

My collection is expanding; I've started over the last few months. I'm amazed at what I've bought, been given, found in a bin, in this time. & the pleasure I'm getting from cleaning, using, caressing (oooeerrr) is immeasurable. All compounded by the fact it's cost the best part of pipper all!

PM me what you've got to give away :-" :wink:
 
kreed":sl5yk9p7 said:
Right, if you were going to answer new give me all your old ones......

My collection is expanding; I've started over the last few months. I'm amazed at what I've bought, been given, found in a bin, in this time. & the pleasure I'm getting from cleaning, using, caressing (oooeerrr) is immeasurable. All compounded by the fact it's cost the best part of pipper all!

PM me what you've got to give away :-" :wink:


I think it depends on individual circumstances.

I work wood for a hobby. I have a Makita cordless drill which cost me about £100, and a couple of rather elderly 'eggbeaters', which cost a lot less. The batteries of the Makita are now duff - I've owned it about 15 years. The eggbeaters will still be going when I'm six feet under. I prefer the eggbeaters.

However, if I was earning my living drilling holes and stuffing screws into them, my preference might be different....
 
I prefer the old tools! In fact, other than an electric drill (which I rarely use - I prefer my hand-drill, more time to react when I'm making a mistake!), I don't have any tools that plug in. I spend so much of my time round computers and things I find it's nice to have an 'unplugged' hobby where I can take things slowly and do things the old fashioned way.

I've also got a bit of an addiction for doing things using traditional methods (circa 1850s), I keep finding myself looking for old wooden plough planes and things in an effort to replace my current metal contraptions. Maybe it's a result of spending five years studying history immersing myself in the past, or, as a fellow woodworker once told me, maybe I'm just 'a bit weird (like him)'.
 
We're off to David Stanley in the morning to look at a whole mountain of pre - electrical madness. (hammer)
 
One of the many nice things about woodworking is that if you feel like it (and I do) it's perfectly practical to go back to the 1850s. Wood is still wood, old tools still work. And lots of the things you can make (chairs, tables) can be just what they used to be too.
 
If possible I would like all my tools to be at least 200 years old. Kind of hard to reach that goal, so I'm also happy when they are pre 1900.
 
Mix and match for me, some times the old is simply way better - other times your mad not to use an electric one (what ever it is).

I will eventually (long way off yet) have a full set of hand powered tools to do what ever I need - will be quite useful for when the lights go out for the last time..... 8-[
 
I use mainly electric tools, but I do have a number of plains, saws and chisels, that belonged to my late uncle, who was a very skilled cabinet maker.
The best I can do is to keep them cleaned and polished, as I do not have the necessary skills to use them properly. :(

Take care.

Chris R.
 
I was a carpenter for over 20 years. I can remember a time when there was no alternative other than to use a yankee screw driver and a hand set and sharpened panel saw to do the job. Over the years I have seen the modern tools come in, and there have been some good ideas.

I now only do woodwork as a hobby, and I sell the odd thing. But I have found that most projects will use a combination of old and new to complete the task successfully.

I do like the old tools, they always feel like you have quality in your hands. The blade steel is always good quality and they can be sharpened to a razor edge. But I couldnt imagine comencing a project now without a power saw and a cordless drill/driver.

As far as overall preference I would have to go with old. They have more of a feel to them, and some high end old tools are a work of art.
For instance I have an old footprint sliding bevel. This was the first tool I bought for myself back in '65. The collets and screw are brass and the handle a lovely shade of rose wood. It has had a pounding over the years, and still looks and feels fantastic. Same with my ols 12" square.

Hope this answers your question
 
Nobody enjoys ripping through 2 by's (or any other wood) so I actually use my circular saw quite a lot. Other than that maybe the only power tools I really use are my drill and jigsaw (for curves that cannot be reached by coping saws).
Now since you've posted this in the hand tool section then I doubt you'll get many replies favoring new tools...
 
I like tools that basically do what they re supposed to do.
Unlike the previous poster, I actually DO quite enjoy ripping timber, but then I have a very old correctly designed diston ripsaw, freshly sharp, it rips very efficiently and is a pleasure to use.
Todday I was working my refurbed bench, planing the top. I am nearly there, after removing the rubbish/tar/plaster/paints etc with the scrubs, I used my big wooden jointer, razor sharp, set with an unusually HEAVY cut, immense power and accuracy, not a single chatter mark, awesome experience. In fact I think I can complete the task by reducung to a much finer finishing cut.
I got a pair of makita drill/drivers, 14V awesome tools, superb performance from day 1, which has never diminished after 4 years of use, including mixing plaster and tile adhesives. Those trigger switches are so precise and accurate for fine control of the speed. (They are about the only powere tools I still use, and even then, I am considering just using the old slotted steel screws with the yankee, or brace screwdriving bit)
Personally I find tools from the 60's onwards depressing, dumbing down, incessant use of gaudy plastics etc. It seems like every tool at Ridgeons or Jewsons is black and yellow plastic....I remember how excited my Dad was when he got his 1st hard point saw C1969, never realising they would become an expensive disposable....I prefer beech, boxwood etc, I dont like noise, dust, hassle with masks and ear plugs.... Not all old steel is good, I have sharpened a lot of saws, some old steel makes silverline kit look decent...
 
I've become addicted to The Woodwright's Shop over recent years ;-)

There are two things about old tools:

They're quiet. They don't interrupt good radio plays, and conversation. I imagine a traditional workshop was full of banter and probably a lot of teasing. It's not that today's tradesmen are surly, morose or mute, but that a conversation would have been a lot easier 100 years ago, and I think that matters.

The other thing is that they represent centuries of thought in their designs. Small changes that worked were kept, and bright ideas that didn't were dropped. It's true that many tools do one job well and are useless for other things - specialist moulding planes are probably the most obvious example - but as Roy Underhill demonstrates, they're often really quick to use. I think it's good to value things that past generations valued too.

Modern power tools sometimes do have good innovations, and make use of materials that just weren't available. On thing that immediately springs to mind is my rail (plunge) saw. It works so well because of the 'sticky' rubber strip on the rail, so it usually doesn't need clamping. Great use of modern materials. Similarly, the batteries in my cordless make it practical for all-day use.

A huge improvement in performance, too, has been making screwdrivers, drills and other cutters with industrial diamonds embedded in the biting surfaces. I probably get the most from the screwdriver bits, but I have some core drills and wouldn't be without them. Similarly the use of carbide - more recent than you might think, and we'd be spending far more time sharpening (and just making holes, etc.) without it.

There are one or two human-powered tool designs, too that work excellently. I love my wheel marking gauges. They'd be better with tighter screw threads, but that's manufacture - the actual design is great. Similarly, I have a Boggs-pattern spokeshave, which I really like. I've tried the spoon-handled ones and don't get on with them (although the early wooden ones I do, strangely).

But the marketing process of modern manufacturing has to be worked through carefully, otherwise the outcomes are poor. I've a new design Stanley shoulder plane that's spoiled by some really stupid decisions at the design stage - any real user (I don't think any unbiased ones were involved in the design process) would have spotted the problems and one hopes they'd have been sorted out.

And poor quality control also plays its part. I only have one modern premium plane (Veritas), which I was given, and it's brilliant. I'd buy more if I could afford them, as they all (Veritas, Clifton, LN, etc.) put a lot of effort into manufacturing QC, and the results speak for themselves.

Given all the above, I find I can't answer your question really!

E.
 
I love tools of all sorts...old planes and chisels from the turn of the century (the 19th that is!)...up to modern mills and lathes.

What I seem to be short of is workshops, shelves and cupboards. I think I need to add to that collection! :wink:

I thought about this very question whilst building the new observatory in the garden....a mixture of constructional timber and finer carpentry.

Looking at the floor around which I was working I spied a power chop saw...my little Burgess bandsaw...a fastcut cheap Stanley handsaw...a 150 year old spirit level...some ancient chisels...a power screwdriver and a Stanley knife.

I planed some whitewood with a very ancient Spiers infill smoother and then made a rebate with one of these:

2013-09-27%2014.58.44.jpg


If I don't use a tool in a couple of years...and it sits on a shelf gathering dust I usually sell it on...my tools work for a living however old and however powered!

Jimi
 
For my part, I agree with ChrisR. I use power tools a lot not just because they save me time but mainly because I just don't have the skills to use hand tools to their full potential. I have a planer thicknesser, but I wouldn't have a clue how to plane a panel accurately. Similarly my table and mitre saws give me accuracy whereas hand sawing is a bit hit and miss at the moment (I'm working on it) but far less hit and miss than my planing.

However I do often pick up hand tools especially planes and chisels, and use them not to make something but just to get practice, and so improve my technique and skills (hopefully). I enjoy using them. I wouldn't dream of picking up a power planer / circular saw / jig saw unless I was actually making something. They just don't do anything for me - apart from cut wood.

K
 
I actually DO quite enjoy ripping timber, but then I have a very old correctly designed diston ripsaw, freshly sharp, it rips very efficiently and is a pleasure to use.

I also have an excellent well-sharpened ripsaw, but I still hate ripping, and find it anything but pleasurable. I enjoy it about as much as I enjoy cross-country running, ie only slightly less than being hit repeatedly with a stick. At least in hardwood at anything over 3/4". My bandsaw is the only machine that, if I couldn't have it, would make me want to consider giving up woodworking altogether....

RE old and new new tools, mine are a total mix. I have quite a few old woodies, but also some stuff by Veritas and Clifton. Some old tools are better, some new tools are better, and sometimes when I've been buying I haven't had the budget to choose anyway. I don't really get the tool porn thing — I don't get much of thrill from how the thing looks (though I draw the line at plastic handles on chisels and planes) but I care a lot about how it is going to help me to make the thing I am making look good....
 

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