The Anarchist's Tool Chest - A Review

UKworkshop.co.uk

Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Andy Kev.

Established Member
UKW Supporter
Joined
20 Aug 2013
Messages
1,364
Reaction score
128
Location
Germany
THE ANARCHIST’S TOOLCHEST
By
Christopher Schwarz

This book is probably on its way to acquiring seminal status if only to judge by the frequency with which it is recommended on this forum. It has therefore probably earned a review.

The first thing to deal with is any apprehension which may be caused by the title. There is no need to be alarmed: it is not aimed at poor little rich kids who think that it is fun to deface war memorials in Whitehall. Nor is it intended to celebrate extravagantly moustached gentlemen in need of a bath who were given to gathering in Viennese coffee shops prior to the outbreak of WWI. It is fairly and squarely aimed at woodworkers who are interested in the use of hand tools. The “anarchist” bit of the title will most probably fit you if you have ever examined a tool in a DIY supermarket, shook your head in a depressed sort of way and muttered, “They just don’t make ‘em like they used to any more” or if you have ever despaired of the shoddy junk which so frequently appears in modern, mass market furniture shops. Mr. Schwarz’s anarchism is about making your own furniture that will last for generations and thereby sticking it to the junk producers.

The book is divided into three parts; a general discourse on the need for hand tools to be of a decent quality and how that and other influences led the author to his approach to tools, a comprehensive treatment of the various tools which the woodworker needs in order to carry out the vast majority of the tasks with which he will inevitably be faced (the largest part of the book) and a guide to building the tool chest of the title.

Towards the end of Chapter 2, which is essentially a list of the tools which belong in the tool chest, Mr. Schwarz writes, “I wish I had this list when I started woodworking.” Therein lies the central purpose of this book and an indication of whom would most benefit from it: the beginner. This reviewer was lucky enough to stumble upon The Anarchist’s Tool Chest three months into his woodworking career and as a result was instantly well placed to stop buying inadequate rubbish which was masquerading as tools and instead to acquire, in a sensible order, a decent tool kit.

In an ideal world the beginner would read this book before buying his first tool. That would in the long run save a lot of money and spare him much frustration. Fortunately for the reader the author has already spent the money and suffered the exasperation. He is good on the matter of avoiding unnecessary expenditure and pushes strongly the idea of buying quality, second hand tools wherever possible. His advice in this respect is particularly valuable in the chapter on hand planes. That said, the beginner could conceivably find buying second hand a little daunting. How does the inexperienced woodworker evaluate a second hand tool? The answer is probably to go shopping with somebody who knows their stuff.

The author also encourages the reader to make his own tools where possible. The candidates which he describes as “easily made and should be made by the woodworker” are: panel gauge, winding sticks, 36” straight edge, 12” try square, nailsets, dowel plate, strop, bench hook, saw benches, end grain, long grain and mitre shooting boards, cork-backed sanding block, workbench, dovetail marker, fishtail chisel and trammel points. The making of some of these is described. It would make sense to add to Mr. Schwarz’s comment the rider, “once he feels he has acquired the necessary skills” as the building of e.g. a workbench is for many a serious, if not daunting, project.

The section on the building of the tool chest contains clear and unambiguous instructions backed up by plenty of photographs and excellent line drawings. This is perhaps the part which will appeal most to the experienced woodworker.

As one would expect Mr. Schwarz writes in an American idiom and he deploys this with a light style, wit and good humour.

This book does not attempt to teach the beginner woodworking. It is rather a comprehensive description of the tools he needs and in that sense it is excellent and thoroughly recommended. What of the advanced woodworker? If you want a good summary of the essential tools on your shelf then you could do very much worse than this book. You will probably not learn anything new but you will probably not regret buying it either.

Finally, the book is published under the author’s own imprint: The Lost Art Press. His philosophy of bookbinding clearly matches his ideas on making furniture: high quality and built to last. It’s only when you get this book in your hands with its high quality paper and solid binding that you are reminded of how flimsily made many a modern hardback book is.
 
Enjoy!

FWIW, Bernard Jones' The Practical Woodworker has a complete set of measured drawings and accompanying how-to text for a traditional woodworker's tool chest, plus a whole lot more. There is no sizzle about metaphorically sticking it to 'the man,' just what you need to build a tool chest should you decide you want one.
 
There are several lists of essential tools around, and even more books about tools, but the Anarchist's Tool Chest is the only one I know that explains WHY those tools are the essential ones, and WHY certain features of the many examples of those tools are desirable (or not!) - that really sets it apart from 'the rest'. It isn't a cheap book, but as Andy rightly says, it is a beautifully produced volume, and it's worth its cost even if you don't intend to build the tool chest.
 
Wearing certainly conveys the whys and wherefores IMO. That said, a book is a book. It's not a Ferrari. Get anything that might be helpful.

Kind of weird, isn't it, an American advocating a book by a British author on a British forum with the Brits advocating a book by an American. I guess it shows our open-mindedness. :p

I'd be lost without my books by British authors (and tools by British firms). I'm totally self-taught (admittedly a low achiever though) from books by British woodworkers.
 
CStanford":2gqzt3hs said:
Wearing certainly conveys the whys and wherefores IMO. That said, a book is a book. It's not a Ferrari. Get anything that might be helpful.

Kind of weird, isn't it, an American advocating a book by a British author on a British forum with the Brits advocating a book by an American. I guess it shows our open-mindedness. :p

I'd be lost without my books by British authors (and tools by British firms). I'm totally self-taught (admittedly a low achiever though) from books by British woodworkers.
Curiously enough, I think that the perfect companion to the ATC is The Essential Woodworker by Robert Wearing. They complement each other well - while being utterly different in tone and characteristic of the nations they come from - and so with two books you end up knowing what tools you need and how to put them to use. Add to those a couple of DVDs by David Charlesworth and Christopher Schwarz and you're about as well equipped as you can be if you don't personally know an expert who can teach you things or if you can't get around to taking courses.
 
I do appreciate Chris Schwarz's efforts as a publisher in bringing back the old classics. Of his own writing, I haven't seen much if anything not already covered by British authors from about 1900 to present.

Wearing's Essential Woodworker and his book on hand tools and their use ought to get anybody but the most inept up to pretty good speed. Hayward, Jones, Joyce, Wells & Hooper, Ernest Scott, Jackson & Day more than round it out. I'm not quite sure how to arrange Schwarz's own stuff in this pecking order. It's hard for anything that comes after these fine authors to be much more than a cutesied-up rehash in my opinion.

I also appreciate VERY MUCH the fact that he buys his tools out of his own pocket, so when he's discussing them you know he's not talking about tools comp'd by a manufacturer.
 
I wouldn't buy or even read this book for several reasons.

First is the title.

Second is if I'm paying for a new book then I would like it to include metric measurements.

Third is, as mentioned, old books by Charles Hayward, Robert Wearing etc will have all the info you need. And in any case, Chris Schwarz probably had to look up stuff in old books and magazines and re-write what he found for his own writings.

As for Chris Schwarz buying his own tools, his blog clearly states the blog is sponsored by Lee Valley & Veritas.

Edit: 4th reason is I prefer to stick to UK woodworking terms.
 
As for Chris Schwarz buying his own tools, his blog clearly states the blog is sponsored by Lee Valley & Veritas.

John, I suspect that the banner refers to sponsoring the Pop Wood Magazine blog, and not to the blog of CS, per se. CS has frequently emphasised that he purchases his own tools.

I am not sure what that has to do with his tool chest (which, personally, is not something that really interests me - although I have his book. I prefer wall cabinets and wall holders).

Regards from Perth

Derek
 
It is a point worthy of clarification how the tool company sponsorship affects the blog. The fact that he does buy his own tools could be moot.

Wonder if it's time for Chris to publish his own blog out of his own pocket?
 
CStanford":3nioty8f said:
It is a point worthy of clarification how the tool company sponsorship affects the blog. The fact that he does buy his own tools could be moot.

Wonder if it's time for Chris to publish his own blog out of his own pocket?

Actually Charles, he does have his own blog at Lost Art Press: http://blog.lostartpress.com

As far as I know, the Pop Wood blog is a paid job (to post regularly there).

Regards from Perth

Derek
 
"Towards the end of Chapter 2, which is essentially a list of the tools which belong in the tool chest, Mr. Schwarz writes, “I wish I had this list when I started woodworking.”

I'm surprised Schwarz never ran across such a list, a common and persistent feature of the books from the British authors mentioned in this thread. Hayward seemingly has one in every one of his books usually divided between a "beginner's kit" and then kit to be added as one's projects become more complex. The list in Percy Wells' and John Hooper's Modern Cabinet Work is remarkably complete.

But, IIRC Schwarz (like most of us) started out with a mostly mechanized operation so a deep and broad list of hand tools was probably not something he was overtly looking for or even wondering much about at the time, despite assertions to the contrary, though I suppose he is owed the benefit of the doubt.
 
The longer I do this craft and the more I learn the more I realise any writer in the past 40 years is just reinventing wheels.
And that pretty much goes for hand tool manufacturers too.
 
I think this "reinventing wheels" has been the case for much more than 40 years. What each new publisher does is make it more easy/attractive to digest for the current generation. Not many want to wade through Moxon when there is a more enticing offering. Without subjects getting a new spin things can get a bit moribund. However, like others have alluded to I find Hayward's tool list to be very concise and easy to digest. If you are starting out all can be found here http://cornishworkshop.blogspot.co.uk/2 ... l-kit.html.
 
The author was at a disadvantage, culturally and age wise, which he had to overcome. I'm old enough to have spanned that time frame from when a commercial Skilsaw in'74 was a steep $135, now that model is less than$100 any day, so everyone has powertools. "There must be a router jig for that." And have seen degrade of consumerism into Walmartism. So I think the title does have merit.

But above all, he is good writer making a dry subject very entertaining . Even if you don't pick up anything, you will enjoy the book. The second half, the building the chest, is fill.
 
Haven't read the book and at that price I've no plans to either, more expensive than any of the bailey type planes I own.

However the chests are very marmite and this owner of two vintage examples doesn't rate them at all. One is in the hall and full of stuff I rarely use and the other is slightly more useful as its on wheels and fits under one of my benches and it doubles as an occasional seat but once again if doesn't contain anything I use very often.

Plus portable they aint, in future think I'd rather do a few trips than one back breaking attempt.

My most used tools live in drawers under then bench and in units on the bench. Keep saying I'll make a wall cabinet but the swiss cheese / breeze block garage walls put me off, maybe I'll try a chisel wall rack first.

A definite tool list doesn't exist and even if it did what's the fun in that ?

I never would have found my favourite 4" chariot if I'd followed a list.
 
I agree mr p.
They do make lovely coffee tables though
I have my feet up on a really nice example as I type
 
Back
Top