Chat

Oh man, I have many many written down. I quickly found out that there are many schools of thought for approaching woodworking, so it’s helpful to think about what you want to make and what you like or dislike as you try different things. I decided I wanted to go the sharpening route, as opposed to continually buying electro-hardened blades, and I wanted to use as simple as tools as I can learn how. This ends up being axes, chisels, saws, and I did get a hand-crank grinder from 1910 for those heavy grinding situations.

I almost always have the Mortise and Tenon podcast on as I’m doing things. Joshua and Mike’s discussions really resonate with me and the philosophical elements really prompt some introspection. Joshua has two books that I’ll probably get soon. Otherwise, I bought Sharpen This and the Anarchists’ Toolkit; anything from Lost Art Press is probably worth the money.

As far as channels, Matt Estlea has many great videos for the essentials of sharpening and good form for chiseling and sawing. He also has other videos that I would consider “optional” but I did end up making his sharpening block stop, because it makes sharpening quicker. I may try to do free hand honing though, since the heavy cambre is difficult with a honing guide.

Paul Sellers has so many great videos. I especially loved him making a bench without having a bench. So many people show you how to make things already having many other tools and setups.

James Wright (Wood by Wright) has some really good videos and offers honest opinions. Beavercraft has some nice simple ones for getting started with carving. I haven’t explored one for tool restoration yet; if you have any that you suggest, I’d be happy to hear them. I eventually want to just make my own wooden planes.