woodwork tool kits

[tool-me-up]

Hi all Im putting together various kits for various jobs for example a plumbing kit would include spanners, pipe wrenches, water pump wrenches, blow torch solder pipe cutter, pipe cleaner and a couple of adjustable's etc

I'm just after some advice on the wood work kits im starting to make lists and getting ready to sort out the accounting and prices etc once I know what will be in the kit.

so any thoughts and opinions on them? Is there even a market for these "kits" or collection of tools - its definitely not something thats offered a lot but that doesnt mean theres no interest.

Id just like some opinions of what I propose to include in each kit - too much - too little not needed etc.
Ill post each one separate to keep things simpler.

Fist one is introduction to woodworking kit its aim is to give the end user most of the tools needed for general woodwork projects without having to go and "find" each tool.
I know requirements vary from project to project so ive tried to generalize this a bit.

Round Point Bradawl
Carbon steel round blade with tapered end to reduce timber splitting. Beechwood handle and brass ferrule. For hard and soft woods.

Wood Chisels Set 5pce
Forged, 1-piece, bevel-edged chisels. Hardened and tempered, sharpened and honed, ready to use. Comfortable polypropylene handles. Sizes 6, 13, 19, 25 and 32mm. Supplied with blade guards.

Tri-Cut Tenon Saw
Triple-ground teeth for fast cutting through hard, soft, and man-made wood. Cuts on forward and reverse strokes. Comfortable soft-grip handle and low-friction blade coating.

Mitre Box
Hi-Vis polypropylene mitre box for accurate cutting of mitres and butt joints.

Tri-Cut Saw
Triple-ground teeth for fast cutting through hard, soft and man-made wood. Cuts on forward and reverse strokes. Comfortable soft-grip handle and low-friction blade coating.

Euro F-Clamp
Cast-iron jaws with soft plastic covers to prevent surface damage. 300 x 120mm

Wooden Mallet
Durable hardwood mallet. 115mm face.

Adjustable Bevel
Polished hardwood stock with solid brass end cap and adjusting wing nut. Blued steel blade. 190mm

Carpenters Square
Hardwood stocks and blued steel blades. Heavy gauge brass faces for accuracy, and 3 rivet fixings for strength. 150mm

Nail Punch Set 3pce
Precision milled and fully hardened carbon steel. Includes sizes 1/32", 2/32" and 3/32". Square, colour-coded polypropylene coverings provides extra grip.

Hand Plane No. 4
Rosewood handle secured with 2 brass screws. Milled sides, brass adjusting screw and heavy duty 2mm blade. Simple, rapid adjustment mechanism with easy blade removal for sharpening and honing. Fluted base reduces friction on resinous timbers. Blade width 50mm.

Portable Workbench
Lightweight, strong, portable workbench ideal for site work. Folds easily for storage and transportation. Includes 2 x worktops. Worktop size 560 x 110mm. Max load 100kg. Requires assembly.

Hi-Vis Contour Tape
Comfortable contoured shape. Secure triple-riveted wraparound tips. Clear metric and imperial graduations with joist centre marks every 16". Includes belt clip and hand strap.

Carpenters Pencils & Sharpener Set 13pce
Soft-lead oval-section carpenters pencils for marking timber, brick, stone and other building materials. Draws thick or thin lines on both rough and smooth surfaces. Oval-shaped length means pencils do not roll away when placed on inclined surfaces. Includes 12 pencils and sharpener.

Lip & Spur Drill Bit Set 5pce
Precision-ground, high carbon steel bits. Sizes: 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10mm. Pre-cutting blades for a cleaner cut.

Cork Sanding Block
For use with abrasive paper for sanding by hand.

 

[tool-me-up]

General woodwork kit 2 - heavy duty products - allows more precise / complex operations ( than achievable at diy level with hand tools i.e tenon saw swapped for a compound mitre saw - vice and work bench are heavy duty , larger squares for more accuracy etc)

Twist Gimlet, Bradawl & Awl Set 5pce
Includes 3, 4 and 5mm twist gimlet, 3mm bradawl and 3mm carpenters awl. Twist gimlets have T-handles.

Expert Wood Chisel Set 4pce
Hardened tempered steel, bevel-edged blades with soft-grip 2-piece handles. Steel caps can be struck with a small hammer or mallet. Includes 6, 13, 19 and 25mm chisels. Supplied with blade guards.

Compound Mitre Saw
Deep-cutting saw with 400mm solid cast table, 9 pre-set mitres and work clamp. Maximum cut height at 90°: 190mm; at 45°: 120mm. Max cut width 110mm. 14tpi.

Tri-Cut Saw
Triple-ground teeth for fast cutting through hard, soft and man-made wood. Cuts on forward and reverse strokes. Comfortable soft-grip handle and low-friction blade coating.

Euro F-Clamp
Cast-iron jaws with soft plastic covers to prevent surface damage. 300 x 120mm

Woodworkers Vice 9.5kg
Tough casting. Accurately designed steel slides with 2-start acme thread. Vice can be mounted flush on to bench top. 180mm

Wooden Mallet
Durable hardwood mallet. 115mm face.

Expert Adjustable Bevel
Superior quality, adjustable bevel with thick, blued steel blade. Matt finish, hardwood stock with extra-thick brass end caps and wing nut. 230mm

Expert Combination Gauge
Made from rosewood, inlaid with two brassware faces on the stock. Mortice marking gauge with knurled brass thumb screw.

Carpenters Square
Hardwood stocks and blued steel blades. Heavy gauge brass faces for accuracy, and 3 rivet fixings for strength. 230mm

Carpenters Pencils & Sharpener Set 13pce
Soft-lead oval-section carpenters pencils for marking timber, brick, stone and other building materials. Draws thick or thin lines on both rough and smooth surfaces. Oval-shaped length means pencils do not roll away when placed on inclined surfaces. Includes 12 pencils and sharpener.

Hand Plane No. 4
Rosewood handle secured with 2 brass screws. Milled sides, brass adjusting screw and heavy duty 2mm blade. Simple, rapid adjustment mechanism with easy blade removal for sharpening and honing. Fluted base reduces friction on resinous timbers. Blade width 50mm.

Nail Punch Set 5pce
Hardened and tempered steel with knurled grip and blackened finish. Sizes: 1.5, 2.5, 3, 4 and 5mm.

Auto-Lock Tape
Hardened steel blade with clear metric graduations. Tough ABS plastic casing with rubber coating for durability. Blade automatically locks when extended. Includes wrist strap and belt clip. 5m x 19mm

Heavy Duty Flip-Top Workbench
Heavy duty workbench with rigid, square section steel frame. Large work surface made from two 605 x 120mm sections. Adjustable table sections can be angled at 0°, 45° or 90°. Max load 150kg. Requires assembly.

Lip & Spur Drill Bit Set 5pce
Precision-ground, high carbon steel bits. Sizes: 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10mm. Pre-cutting blades for a cleaner cut.

Forstner Bit Set 7pce
Guided by the circular rim, bores any arc of a circle, any direction. Radial cutting edges, titanium-coated for extended life. Bores a true flat-bottomed hole. Rapid removal of waste. Sizes 12, 16, 20, 22, 26, 30, 35mm.

Sanding Block
Ergonomic foam block adapts to curved work surfaces for a smooth finish. For use with 150mm dia hook and loop sanding discs. Includes 3 discs 40, 120 and 240 grit.

 

[tool-me-up]

Carpentry kit designed for more intricate work, furniture, cabinets, includes more jigs and less general tools


Plug Cutter Set 4pce
Makes perfect plugs for counter-bored holes. Achieves excellent finish when using same timber. Titanium-coated for extended working life. Sizes: 6, 8, 13 and 16mm.

Dowel Centre Point Set 8pce
Chrome plated. For accurate alignment of drill holes when dowel-pinning joinery. Pack of 8 (2 x 6mm, 2 x 8mm, 2 x 10mm and 2 x 12mm).

Dowelling Jig
For producing E, L and T joints with either 6, 8 or 10mm dowels, in stock up to 30mm thick. Includes instructions.

Dowel Pins 200pk ea
Air dried Birchwood fluted dowels.
6 x 30mm
8 x 40mm
10 x 40mm

Pocket-Hole Jig (not a kreg)
Produces consistently accurate screw joints. Includes 6, 8 and 10mm guides, allowing joint to be filled with a dowel.

Woodworkers Glue Bottle Kit
250ml capacity. For use with PVA and aliphatic resins. Includes dowel, thin biscuit joint blade and wide roller applicators.

Hinge Drill Bit Set 3pce
For positioning door hinges. Using hinges as template, drill directly through the hinge holes. Chamfered hinge drill bits with spring loaded sleeve to match counter-sunk holes in hinges. HSS drill bits. Sizes: 2, 2.8 and 3.6mm.

Corner Chisel
Tungsten steel chisel held in a spring-loaded, steel-bodied jig. For knocking out rounded corners from a routed hinge recess. Hit once with a hammer or mallet and pare out waste.


Mortice Gauge
Hardwood body with knurled brass adjusting screw. Inlaid brassware faces and brass slide. 2 hardened marking spurs.


Dovetail Gauge
Steel blade with solid brass reference face. Hardwood stock with 3 brass rivets ensures secure fixing and long life. 9° pitch for softwood. Blade length 75mm.


Marking Knife
Rosewood handle knife bevelled on one side for accurate marking. Blade length 50mm.


Butt Markers
Steel with hardened and ground steel cutting edges. Marks and cuts sharp, clean profiles in doors and jambs for hinge installation. For hanging doors.
80 + 106mm

Quick-Flip Driver Set Large 10pce
Drill pilot, clearance and countersink in one operation. Flip drill over for screwdriver function. Set includes 1 quick-flip body and 4 drivers for 6, 8, 10 and 12 gauge screws.


Block Plane No. 2
Manufactured from grey iron casting with all-brass fittings. For end grain work and fine finishing. Screw depth control, lateral control and cam-action locking lever cap. Adjustable mouth for coarse or fine work. 41mm blade width.

Jointer Plane No. 7
Cast-iron body with rosewood handles secured by 2 brass screws. Milled sides, brass adjusting screw and heavy duty 3mm blade. Blade width 60mm.

 

[undergroundhunter]

I don't think selling kits of tools for woodwork would work tbh. I know when I was starting out there were some tools I had and some I didn't, this being the case I would not have bough a kit which duplicated the tools I already had. Also price will be a big thing, if your selling a full set of tools I'm thinking even if they are budget tools (I'm not talking cheap rubbish but they aint gonna be Veritas or Lie Nielson) it will be super expensive, therefore they will only appeal to a limited market. I have bought all my tools over quite a period of time which for most is probably the only way.
Just my opinion

Matt

 

[tool-me-up]

I don't think selling kits of tools for woodwork would work tbh. I know when I was starting out there were some tools I had and some I didn't, this being the case I would not have bough a kit which duplicated the tools I already had. Also price will be a big thing, if your selling a full set of tools I'm thinking even if they are budget tools (I'm not talking cheap rubbish but they aint gonna be Veritas or Lie Nielson) it will be super expensive, therefore they will only appeal to a limited market. I have bought all my tools over quite a period of time which for most is probably the only way.
Just my opinion

Matt

I get your point, really I do but its really quite common with things like mechanics. You'll get a few spanners, possibly axle stands, a small socket set etc. Now they are even appearing in blown moulded case with a mixture of the most common sized socketry and spanners.

I thought a similar line of thinking could apply to woodwork?

Maybe I just to splits it down a lot further to the actual application, for example dovetailing , could include a very fine plane for end grain, a dovetail guide, a half decent square and a tenon saw. Or a version with the jig, cutters and a router?

As I said its just an idea that I would like to run past you all.

Seems to work with other things, soldering stuff kitted with multi-meters and wire strippers etc

 

[Woodchips2]

My father bought me a Spear & Jackson set of woodworking tools in a wooden toolbox when I was 12 years old and it developed my lifetime interest in woodwork. They were good quality tools and I still have most of them today. They included panel and tenon saw, pincers, pliers, tack lifter,screwdriver,Archimedes drill,carpenter's square and rule. Basically all the tools to make something useful to which you add as needed as you develop your skill. It certainly was the best present I ever received as a child.
Regards Keith


..

 

[tool-me-up]

My father bought me a Spear & Jackson set of woodworking tools in a wooden toolbox when I was 12 years old and it developed my lifetime interest in woodwork. They were good quality tools and I still have most of them today. They included panel and tenon saw, pincers, pliers, tack lifter,screwdriver,Archimedes drill,carpenter's square and rule. Basically all the tools to make something useful to which you add as needed as you develop your skill. It certainly was the best present I ever received as a child.
Regards Keith


..

Brilliant input there The Eriba Turner.

Think I need to think up smaller kits, rather than trying to include everything under the sun...
I think this will be tricky to get a good balance of comprehensive and actually useful....

 

[undergroundhunter]

My father bought me a Spear & Jackson set of woodworking tools in a wooden toolbox when I was 12 years old and it developed my lifetime interest in woodwork. They were good quality tools and I still have most of them today. They included panel and tenon saw, pincers, pliers, tack lifter,screwdriver,Archimedes drill,carpenter's square and rule. Basically all the tools to make something useful to which you add as needed as you develop your skill. It certainly was the best present I ever received as a child.
Regards Keith


..

This would probably the only time I would by a set of woodwork tools.

I see your point with mechanics tools (I should know I was one) but I think sets only appeal to the odd jobber (and with modern cars they are getting few and far between). As with my woodworking tools I bout what I needed as I needed it, I now have a 10 grand Snap on tool box full of Snap on tools sat idle, this reminds me I need to start ebaying them.

I think the key will be price, quality and included tools.


Matt

 

[owen]

I buy what I need when I need it, or if its something I've been wanting and its on offer. I buy the best quality i can afford at the time. I certainly wouldn't buy a kit unless it was a fair bit cheaper than buying the individual bits.

 

[MMUK]

I think the smaller, project specific kits will have more appeal than the large all-in-one sets you've listed above.

All you really need is, say, a specialist saw for the particular job (like DT's you mentioned) along with a marking gauge, 6" square, small pot of PVA and maybe a pencil/sharpener pack.

That sort of thing

 

[tool-me-up]

Ok I ve had a few hours to mess about so let me know what you think of these?

Complete starting up kit - for people who have no woodwork tools other than the obligatory hand saw and a hammer

Round Point Bradawl
Carbon steel round blade with tapered end to reduce timber splitting. Beechwood handle and brass ferrule. For hard and soft woods.

Wood Chisels Set 5pce
Forged, 1-piece, bevel-edged chisels. Hardened and tempered, sharpened and honed, ready to use. Comfortable polypropylene handles. Sizes 6, 13, 19, 25 and 32mm. Supplied with blade guards.

Tri-Cut Tenon Saw
Triple-ground teeth for fast cutting through hard, soft, and man-made wood. Cuts on forward and reverse strokes. Comfortable soft-grip handle and low-friction blade coating.

Mitre Box
Hi-Vis polypropylene mitre box for accurate cutting of mitres and butt joints.

Wooden Mallet
Durable hardwood mallet. 115mm face.

Carpenters Square
Hardwood stocks and blued steel blades. Heavy gauge brass faces for accuracy, and 3 rivet fixings for strength. 150mm

Hand Plane No. 4
Rosewood handle secured with 2 brass screws. Milled sides, brass adjusting screw and heavy duty 2mm blade. Simple, rapid adjustment mechanism with easy blade removal for sharpening and honing. Fluted base reduces friction on resinous timbers. Blade width 50mm.

Heavy Duty Flip-Top Workbench
Heavy duty workbench with rigid, square section steel frame. Large work surface made from two 605 x 120mm sections. Adjustable table sections can be angled at 0°, 45° or 90°. Max load 150kg. Requires assembly.

Carpenters Pencils & Sharpener Set 13pce
Soft-lead oval-section carpenters pencils for marking timber, brick, stone and other building materials. Draws thick or thin lines on both rough and smooth surfaces. Oval-shaped length means pencils do not roll away when placed on inclined surfaces. Includes 12 pencils and sharpener.

Lip & Spur Drill Bit Set 5pce
Precision-ground, high carbon steel bits. Sizes: 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10mm. Pre-cutting blades for a cleaner cut.

Carpenters Pincers
Carbon steel pincers with ground head and black painted handles.

Would be round about £55

 

[tool-me-up]

Mortice and tenon kit

Expert Wood Chisel Set 4pce cb19
Hardened tempered steel, bevel-edged blades with soft-grip 2-piece handles. Steel caps can be struck with a small hammer or mallet. Includes 6, 13, 19 and 25mm chisels. Supplied with blade guards.

Woodworkers Vice 9.5kg
Tough casting. Accurately designed steel slides with 2-start acme thread. Vice can be mounted flush on to bench top. 180mm

Wooden Mallet
Durable hardwood mallet. 115mm face.

Expert Combination Gauge
Made from rosewood, inlaid with two brassware faces on the stock. Mortice marking gauge with knurled brass thumb screw.

Carpenters Square
Hardwood stocks and blued steel blades. Heavy gauge brass faces for accuracy, and 3 rivet fixings for strength. 230mm

Marking Knife
Rosewood handle knife bevelled on one side for accurate marking. Blade length 50mm.

Tri-Cut Tenon Saw
Triple-ground teeth for fast cutting through hard, soft, and man-made wood. Cuts on forward and reverse strokes. Comfortable soft-grip handle and low-friction blade coating.

Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Glue MAX® 118ml x2
Designed for furniture repairs and general household projects. Works best on soft and hard woods, particle board and porous materials. Light colour for natural and light stained woods. Indoor use only. Sets in 30 minutes.

Would be around £65

 

[tool-me-up]

a glue up kit with biscuit jointer

Carpenter's Wood Glue MAX® x 2
Powerful wood glue containing real wood fibres for superior staining, painting and sanding. Waterproof. For interior and exterior use. Sets in 30 minutes.

900W Biscuit Joiner
High quality, accurately adjusting joiner, for cutting various sized pockets. Strong aluminium fence angle range 0º-135º. Includes dust bag. Compatible with biscuits size 0, 10 and 20.

Biscuits 200pk no 10
Forms accurate, high strength joints in soft or hard woods, plywood, composition boards and other timber. Much faster and more precise than dowelling. The biscuits are made of compressed laminated hardwood which expands upon contact with a woodworking adhesive.

Aluminium Sash Clamp 1500mm x 3
Made from U section, extruded aluminium with cast head and foot. Spring-loaded rapid adjustment mechanism sets foot to correct position on bar. Deep-cut Acme thread enables final tightening and application of clamping pressure.

Would be around £85-90

 

[tool-me-up]

Thanks for the input so far, I will wait for more opinions before I go any further with these

 

[undergroundhunter]

After sleeping on it I do think the principal will appeal to some but the kits overlap in some areas. Would it not be better to make a stater kit and then add on kits for different things like M&T and then dovetails ect..., that way people who are progressing with woodwork are not duplicating tools. Alternately do 3 levels of kit, so standard, standard plus and platinum this way people can choose what they want. If I was to buy all 3 kits (as I'm progressing through) I would be spending £210 (if we go with the lower costs), I would also have 2 sets of chisels, 2 mallets, 2 tenon saws and 2 bottles of glue. The glue and the saw are not a problem as they are classed as consumables, but I still think this would put someone off buying the kit.

Are you targeting this at the home owner or the new woodworker? If its the home owner I think the plane is not required, one of the guys from work (not a woodworker) needed some new doors fitted in his house so he went a bought a power plane????? I did offer to lend him one of my planes to do the job, he said his grandad was a joiner and he had all his old tools in the shed but did not know how to sharpen/set the plane and had no inkling to learn. If your targeting the new woodworker ignore the last paragraph.

I hope this is helping and you don't think I'm being negative.

Matt

 

[shed9]

You have to bare in mind that your target audience are not the people responding to the thread (not at this stage in their hobby / career anyway). Based on tool selection, quality and price point these kits will appeal to people new to the craft. We see plenty of people asking "what tools do I need to start......." on here and these are your target.

Personally, I think you have got it bang on with the descriptions, you have to remember that most people looking at your kits with a potential to buy like to be wooed into the purchase - people easily justify buying shiny new tools especially when they are "accurately adjusting" and "triple ground teeth".

You may also want to target the gift aspect of the market. Plenty of people who would want to buy a 'starter' pack for a new hobby for their other half as they know its of interest but simply haven't got a clue where to start. The prices above are perfect for this territory and it makes it look like they put a lot more thought into the gift than they had. Perhaps look around at these generic gift sites and see if they will stock your product kits, bit of a profit hit but they will buy in bulk.

You are never going to please everyone here, everyone is going to have their own view on what should be included or left out but that's generally based on working habits and work flow specific to our own interests. When starting out, most people can't identify that at that stage.

 

[AndyT]

I cannot see the point of this. To keep the prices down you are selecting inferior tools which would frustrate a beginner or disappoint a more experienced user.

Presumably you would be pricing the kits at less than the total cost of the components, so why not just give an increasing discount based on the size of the order placed? That way you could let people choose what they prefer.

 

[tool-me-up]

After sleeping on it I do think the principal will appeal to some but the kits overlap in some areas. Would it not be better to make a stater kit and then add on kits for different things like M&T and then dovetails ect..., that way people who are progressing with woodwork are not duplicating tools. Alternately do 3 levels of kit, so standard, standard plus and platinum this way people can choose what they want. If I was to buy all 3 kits (as I'm progressing through) I would be spending £210 (if we go with the lower costs), I would also have 2 sets of chisels, 2 mallets, 2 tenon saws and 2 bottles of glue. The glue and the saw are not a problem as they are classed as consumables, but I still think this would put someone off buying the kit.

Are you targeting this at the home owner or the new woodworker? If its the home owner I think the plane is not required, one of the guys from work (not a woodworker) needed some new doors fitted in his house so he went a bought a power plane????? I did offer to lend him one of my planes to do the job, he said his grandad was a joiner and he had all his old tools in the shed but did not know how to sharpen/set the plane and had no inkling to learn. If your targeting the new woodworker ignore the last paragraph.

I hope this is helping and you don't think I'm being negative.

Matt

NO that is brilliant advice and much appreciated I will give the kits a bit more of a juggle around I think.
I will try and get the kits in stages as you say.

 

[tool-me-up]

You have to bare in mind that your target audience are not the people responding to the thread (not at this stage in their hobby / career anyway). Based on tool selection, quality and price point these kits will appeal to people new to the craft. We see plenty of people asking "what tools do I need to start......." on here and these are your target.

Personally, I think you have got it bang on with the descriptions, you have to remember that most people looking at your kits with a potential to buy like to be wooed into the purchase - people easily justify buying shiny new tools especially when they are "accurately adjusting" and "triple ground teeth".

You may also want to target the gift aspect of the market. Plenty of people who would want to buy a 'starter' pack for a new hobby for their other half as they know its of interest but simply haven't got a clue where to start. The prices above are perfect for this territory and it makes it look like they put a lot more thought into the gift than they had. Perhaps look around at these generic gift sites and see if they will stock your product kits, bit of a profit hit but they will buy in bulk.

You are never going to please everyone here, everyone is going to have their own view on what should be included or left out but that's generally based on working habits and work flow specific to our own interests. When starting out, most people can't identify that at that stage.

I realize this but the people on this thread I trust to come up with a generalized opinion of whats really needed to start making stuff and whats not.
Really appreciate the comments guys, thanks all round!

 

[Tony Spear]

One obvious question - how is the purchaser supposed to sharpen his shiny new chisels?

And if you include a sharpening system which of the many that are available would you incorporate?