Carpentry

As with hand planes, the key to using chisels successfully is keeping them sharp. If they are not kept sharp, your work will suffer. If you are wary of taking your good chisels to the stone, consider buying a cheaper set to practice on. Store your chisels boxed, in a tool roll, or in a wall rack. Avoid magnetic tool racks; when chisels are magnetized small metal filings will cling to their edges, making honing more difficult and dulling a keen edge much faster.

Using a hand plane on the ends of boards can be tricky. One way to keep from splitting a board at the edges is to push the hand plane so the blade goes only to the middle of the board. Then repeat the process from the other direction. To avoid dipping, try to put slightly more pressure on the front of the plane at the beginning of each stroke, and keep slightly more pressure on the back of the plane at the end of the stroke.

If you’re just starting out, three power tools for general woodworking that are worth spending more money on include a good tablesaw, router and drill press. With these three, plus some hand tools, you will be able to build many of the projects in how-to magazines. Which tool you buy first can depend on the projects you are planning, but a good saw usually gets priority.