The Mask Slips
It was going to happen at some point. People that have romanced and near fetishised hand tool woodworking are beginning, with regular frequency, to flash their mechanical ankles.
While it is very worthwhile to pick simple projects and work by hand to build foundational skills, for most people there will be a limit to how far their journey can go at that level. I've seen presenters with regularity work with timber that's clearly been planed by machines, stood next to imposing bandsaws that cost near £2000.00, very nice pillar drills, drill drivers and now recommendations of random orbital sanders.
Do I have no problem with their approach? No I welcome it. I just wish their was a bit more clarity. If you use sanders and the like, please show them. Endless images of tools with fluffy shavings are simply that, meaningless fluff. If we're not clear about how to we choose to work, we conjoure up unrealistic goals for new woodworkers that could lead to frustration. That inevitably leads to people turning their back on the craft, we don't need that.
There are a couple of people that I've seen working with just hand tools. I look at them with awe, but I don't want to replicate that way of working. I would just prefer a more upfront presentation of the approaches used. I would be severely disappointed to pay for tuition, especially online, and be expected to keep pace with projects where only the hand tools are expoused.
I do read people's comments and I can see them getting bogged down. Often it's people trying to plane wood PSE (planed square edged) like a machine does. This is a key sign your chosen guru is at best not being clear with you, or worse, hiding the hardwork machines and power tools have put in. If you build by hand you don't need to prepare wood like a machine does or even pick projects that require such an approach. Look at earlier furniture and you learn where it's important to have clean and accurate faces and where it's not. Yes, some “pure” Arts & Crafts pieces were all hand made but those pieces were made for the wealthy and took considerable time to make.
I once watched a celebrated and clearly skilled woodworker of many years provide a presentation on how to make boards flat straight and smooth. The demo piece of oak chosen, a 1” x 7” oak took 45 minutes to plane! This is an instance where you see woodworkers, myself included, who can use hand tools effectively but have never done certain tasks in any great volume. I would respect these sales pitches (this is what they are) if they were a bit more honest. For instance, within the aforementioned presentation it would of been reassuring to hear something like, “I primarily use machines to prepare my timber so this area is not my strength, but it’s something we all do from time to time and this is my approach”. The demonstration showed that a working man could be expected to plane 10 or so boards in a day. A joke!
This is one of my primary motivators at the moment. I’m really inspired to put together a guide to a first step into woodworking at home. Simple but useful pieces, an easy workbench, limited tools. It’ll be a free download with an option to buy as a book. I won’t be one of those people who gives away a “free” e-book to enter you in a mailing list. I just want people to have access to good information on the basics for free. There are so many paywalls put up or badly curated information wrapped up in curious ideologies that I’m literally repulsed.
Whatever your approach ends up being, it's fine with me. If you get to the point you want to add machines, do so guilt free. My only advice is learn how to use them safely from a trusted and reputable source. They have their own risks, just like handtools do. Don’t put yourself in danger for the sake of woodworking.