Before the machine age, all wood working was done with hand tools, and an amazing variety of tools evolved for a wide range of tasks. Even today, with machinery available for most woodworking operations, some tasks are more easily and effectively accomplished by hand. Many of these tools are as elegant as they are ingenious, and Classic Hand Tools celebrates their rich heritage in word and picture.

Both beautiful and practical, Classic Hand Tools reveals the rich variety and history of hand tools through vivid color photos while providing in-depth information on how to integrate their use into modern woodworking. In this book, anyone who works with wood will discover how to use these tools, how to choose the right ones for the job, and how to tune them up properly. Along the way, the reader will discover the benefits of using hand tools -- less dust and dirt, more quiet, and, surprisingly, more efficiency.

"Everyone's enamored with power tools, but we have to remember that hand tools put the finishing beautiful touches on our work at the end of the day. Classic Hand Tools is a journey well worth taking...highly recommended."

-- Scott Phillips, of The American Woodshop as seen on public television

"Fans of Garrett Hack's previous book on the handplane will free-fall into Classic Hand Tools. If the photographs don't pull you down into the rabbet hole of Wonderland, the writing will rescue you tool galoots from boring old Reality with a bracing dose of history, trivia, and esoterica about old hand tools. You will never, ever want to lend this book to anyone. If you don't think you can resist the temptation, buy a loaner copy."

-- Jeff Taylor, author of Tools of the Trade

Hand tools are invaluable to me. Over the years of collecting, tuning, sharpening, and working with them, my hand tools have become natural extensions of me, linked with what I make and how I make it.

As for machines, I have everything you'd expect in a modest and efficient shop set up to produce the high-quality furniture that has been my living for more than 20 years. Although it's nothing that I ever consciously set out to do, every year I use those machines less and hand tools more. While the brute force of a machine is useful (if you don't mind the dust, noise, and danger), it is nothing like the intimacy and pleasure of working by hand. As I work, hand tools allow me the flexibility that I rarely feel with machines. And it's the subtle marks they leave behind that I find most beautiful.

Not long ago, all woodworking was done with hand tools alone. It took two men to saw lumber from a log, and then a square, hatchet, planes, and handsaws to work each board to width, length, and thickness. With an even greater variety of hand tools, different trades turned the boards into chairs, chests of drawers, coffins, and coaches. Over hundreds and in some cases thousands of years, the craftsmen who depended on these tools constantly refined them to be more efficient and accurate.

It is from these craftsmen that we have inherited an incredible wealth of hand tools. Which of these tools do you need, and how do you tell a good tool from a poor one? How do you tune and sharpen them? How do you use each tool, and what is it capable of? These are some of the questions this book will answer.

I started this book by making a list of all the hand tools I use, as well as some peculiar and interesting ones worth knowing about. The tools are organized according to their basic tasks, such as boring, sawing, and planing. I explain the most important tools in the greatest detail, including some of the stories about how they evolved or about the trades that adopted them. My favorites, planes, deserve a book in themselves (which is why I wrote The Handplane Book; The Taunton Press, 1997). You'll also find information about making your own tools, buying used ones and restoring them, and vignettes about contemporary tool makers and the best tool auction in the world.

I have two biases when it comes to tools. One is that I favor Western tools, because this is the tradition I learned within (I have also included some Eastern hand tools, however). My other bias is for older tools, beautiful shopmade or classic woodworking hand tools manufactured up until about World War II. Some are still available, although far fewer than the seemingly endless variety that once appeared on the pages of Stanley, Sargent, Miller's Falls, and other tool catalogs. Old tools have stories; I feel connected with their history through the handles polished over years of use, the patina of wear, and an owner's or maker's name stamped onto the tool.

Learning to use hand tools takes time and patience, but the rewards are enduring. With this book as your guide, I hope that you too will relish the pleasures of working by hand, at a friendly pace, in harmony with your tools and the material beneath them.