Matt Estlea
Hand Tools (Old)
Hand Tools are the key to fine woodworking. A mastery of these tools will help you gain more control in your woodworking for those one off applications where a machine or power tool would be too cumbersome or challenging to setup. Not to mention the enjoyment and satisfaction gained from a sharp plane on a raw piece of wood. The learning curve is steep, but well worth the time investment.
What Tools Do You Need?
It’s very easy to feel overwhelmed when walking into a woodworking store for the first time. The seemingly endless variations of tools, the different price points, and brands eager to sell to you can be a minefield. Let’s change that.
What Tools Do You Need?
You will learn:
- What Planes do you need?
- What Saws do you need?
- What Chisels do you need?
- What Tools do I recommend?
Tool Maintenance and Techniques
Now you’ve got your carefully selected, high quality tools, we’re going to jump straight into it and get your hands dirty! Start here and let’s start replacing those bad habits with good ones!
Tool Maintenance and Techniques
You will learn:
- How to Sharpen Chisels
- How to Setup and Sharpen Planes
- Sawing and Chiselling Techniques
- Planing and Marking Techniques
How to Prepare Rough Wood
You have the right tools for the job, so it’s now time to get some material prepared! It is essential that your tools are sharp and well set up before starting this process. If not, you’re going to get extremely frustrated!
How to Prepare Rough Wood
You will learn:
- How to Plane Wood Flat
- How to Square Edges and Endgrain
- How to Thickness Timber
- How to Prevent Tearout
How to Cut Basic Joinery
In this section, you will learn how to layout, cut and refine joinery for maximum strength with zero gaps. These joints will be used in the upcoming projects so be sure to put in a lot of practice.
How to Cut Basic Joinery
You will learn:
- How to Cut a Lap Joint
- How to Cut a Cross Halving Joint
- How to Cut a Dovetail Joint
How to Cut Intermediate Joinery
These joints tend to have very specific applications such as chair making, carcass construction and drawer making. This makes them essential learning for any fine woodworker.
How to Cut Intermediate Joinery
You will learn:
- How to Cut a Bridle Joint
- How to Cut a Mortice and Tenon Joint
- How to Cut a Lapped Dovetail Joint
How to Cut Advanced Joinery
These joints can be very useful when constructing complex carcasses and also develop your layout and accuracy when marking out. Being able to produce these joints accurately is essential to the upcoming projects.
How to Cut Advanced Joinery
You will learn:
- How to Cut a Mitred Dovetail Joint
- How to Cut an Angled Dovetail Joint
Understanding Material
Before getting into any projects, it’s very important to have an understanding of the material you are actually using. An awareness of how the material grows, how it moves, and how it can be cut will drastically improve your making and designing skills.
Understanding Material
You will learn:
- To Recognise Wood Species
- How to Cut and Convert Timber
- How Wood Moves
- What Woods are Sustainable