The plug is pulled

My dream is to one day have a shop that is “powered” by hand tools. Why hand tools? Well, for starters, I always seem to do things the hard way. Aside from that, there just seems to be a superior level of craftsmanship that those who work with fine tools seem to be able to attain. Some would argue that hand tool craftsmen have to reach a high level of ability just to be able to produce anything. Perhaps that is true. I intend to find out.

Personally, I am not particularly interested in reproducing “period” furniture although I find the methods and designs interesting. No, my dream is more that of mixing and matching old and modern techniques, designs, and even tools to produce things that are unique and useful and made by hand without the aid of power tools. Understand, I don’t have anything against buying wood that is already surfaced. Really, I don’t have anythings against using power tools. I just want to build unique things without them. I don’t plan on selling my power tools. I just don’t plan on using them for fine woodworking.

This blog is my journey. I am starting at ground zero. I have a good deal of experience working with power tools as a teenager, but essentially none with hand tools. I don’t really know how to sharpen anything properly. I guess I have never even used a quality hand tool.

For me, this is a hobby. I have no intentions of ever trying to make a living working with hand tools. I am one of those modern guys that likes to do manly things, but ends up stuck behind a computer or buried in books for entirely too many hours every day. This is my therapy.

I hope this blog will prove useful to you if you have dreamed of embarking on a similar journey.

In the meantime, here are some user forums that I have found to be helpful:

www.sawmillcreek.org
www.woodworkingtalk.com
www.familywoodworking.org

Luke Townsley
www.unpluggedshop.com
The following license applies to this article:

Creative Commons License

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