A Joiner’s Tool Kit
Peter Follansbee gives a glimpse into his tool kit to show us what's there and why it's important
Synopsis: The first, most vital step in Peter Follansbee’s all-hand-tools approach to furniture making is to start with straight, riven stock. If you do that, you need just a modest-sized set of tools to do the rest of the work, such as a hatchet, a variety of handplanes, a handsaw, measuring and marking gauges, chisels, various carving tools, and more. Follansbee gives a glimpse into his tool kit to show us what’s there and why it’s important.
For the last 35 years, as a professional furniture maker, I’ve made a lot of boxes, chests, chests with drawers, chairs, stools, beds, settles, tables—fairly common forms. Less common, though, is that I typically work using 17th-century conventions, trying to adhere to the practices of the joiners—furniture makers—of the time. This means using all hand tools all the time and stock often split green from a log. My use of…
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Comments
I admire the tenacity and skill of someone like Peter. I won't follow his example, as I like my power tools AND my hand tools, but I do admire it.
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