What tools should a beginning woodworker start with?
The real basics are a good set of chisels, a nice jackplane and a hand crosscut saw. But the second step is important. Five tools will open up that next level: • A fillister plane, which is like a rabbet plane that has a guide, a fence, that allows you to cut a shoulder on the edge of the wood. It’s a great tool to have. • An American-style hand ripsaw for dimensioning stock (cutting it to width). A lot of people have a crosscut saw to cut pieces to length, but a ripsaw opens up another world. • A double-tooth mortising gauge. This way you can lay out mortise-and-tenon joints. • A set of mortising chisels that have the thicker shanks and bevel for chopping mortises, for making mortise-and-tenon joints. • A jointer plane, which is a long hand plane to true edges.
