For speed and production, but not necessarily quality, power tools are
the norm in many amateur workshops. However, thanks to the maker
movement, there is renewed interest among crafters and woodworkers in
using traditional handtools. The personal satisfaction, the pleasure of
hands-on work, and the more leisurely, contemplative approach to
woodworking is replacing the need for the speed and noise of power
tools. In Traditional Woodworking Handtools, the second volume in his
Illustrated Workshop Series, Graham Blackburn has assembled a virtual
encyclopedia of traditional woodworking handtools, including holding
tools, saws, planes, edge tools, setting-out tools, boring tools, and
striking tools. Each tool is listed and includes a full description of
what it does and how it's used. His engaging writing, which includes
anecdotes from his four decades as a master woodworker, entertains as
well as instructs. And the hundreds of line drawings of handtools are
illuminating. While also a reference for anyone collecting or simply
fascinated by handtools, Traditional Woodworking Handtools is a user's
guide for the woodworker and crafter, designed to help reintroduce many
of these tried-and-true tools into today's workshops.