- Never oil hand tools! Lubricate if needed by running a candle along the blade.
- Remember - measure twice, cut once
- Blunt tools are dangerous - you risk more damage to the tool, your projects and yourself!
- Planer blades and the Narex chisels are to be sharpened to a 25° primary bevel and 30° secondary bevel. A tool page outlining this process is to be created. Please ask an experienced member to oversee your first sharpening of these tools using this process.
This page contains more information than is covered in the Basic Wood Shop (L1) induction. While all of the information written here is useful, this part of the basic induction will consist of:
- The location and use of marking tools (knife, marking gauge)
- The location and use of rulers and squares
- Verbal introduction to the types of saws we have and their use - western vs. Japanese (push vs pull stroke), as well as the set of saw teeth the relation to cross and rip cuts.
- Practical example of the use of the Japanese saw (as these are much easier to break), along with use of the square and marking knife. Inductor to watch for inductees pinching the blade, and offer instruction on how to cut a straight line on a piece of scrap.
- Verbal introduction to the use of the chisels - where they are, proper use. Difference between hammers and mallets. The importance of sharpness, and the description of the sharpening technique used at SLMS for the Narex chisels.
- Practical example of chiseling out a small rebate from a piece of scrap using a marking gauge and square. Inductor to watch for safe usage of the chisel, inductees not slamming the chisels with the mallet.
- Verbal introduction tho the use of the hand plane, demonstration of removing and setting the blade, and demonstration of planing. Reiterating the space rule on sharpening.
- Practical example of taking a few passes with the hand plane.
Stanley Knife
- Can have a fixed blade - when not in use this should be embedded in a piece of cork for safety
- Can have a retractable blade which slides back into the body
- If you change the blade, dispose of the old blade in the stanley disposal unit next to the single door to the front room. New blades are in the top half of the unit.
- Dispose of any other sharp blades by wrapping them in tape and then putting in general waste.
- If you use a stanley knife to firmly mark the line of a saw cut, then this will keep the edge of the cut much neater and less frayed.
Set square
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These are used to help you mark a perfect right-angle
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They are very precious - handle carefully and do not drop or damage.
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Note - the space has two entirely metal set squares. These are extremely precious and are only used for checking the other set squares. You shouldn’t need to use them - stick to the wooden-handled ones!
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How to use:
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Mark a point on the edge where you need to cut
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Press the thicker handle firmly against the flat edge, and line the metal arm up with the mark.
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You can now use a pencil or blade to mark your right angle for cutting!
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If you think it isn’t quite square you can check two ways
A. Use the metal ones to check against
B. Use on an edge that you know is straight and draw a line at a right angle from both directions. It should be the same, if not, it’s not square! (see here for a video explaining this)
Saws
Section moved to Hand Saws (wood)
Hammers and Mallets
Section moved to Wood Chisels, Mallets, and Hammers
Chisels and Gouges
Section moved to Wood Chisels, Mallets, and Hammers
Plane
section moved to its own page: Hand Planes
Brace and Bit - hand powered drill
- Ideal for drilling very precise holes, or for drilling very large holes.
- The space brace and bit only accepts bits with a square shank - ie. there are four claws in the chuck of the tool which securely clamp the four faces of the drill bit shank. Note that most modern bits and those for electric drills will be hexagonal (6-sided) - which are securely clamped by the three claws in the chuck of those tools.
- See the power tools section for more information on different types of drill bit
- How to use:
- Mark the centre of where your hole should be
- Find the appropriate bit for your needs!
- Insert the bit and tighten the tighten the chuck by turning until the claws have securely clamped the shank of the bit
- Carefully place the tip of the bit on your mark, and make sure the brace is perfectly upright.
- Press down firmly on the brace, but not too hard - your hand should be directly over the bit
- With your other hand, turn the handle in clockwise circles
- This will make surprisingly quick progres into your material.
- You can turn anti-clockwise to wind the bit back out of the material
