Here's a thread I can contribute to.

Norm did make me interested in woodworking.  Watching his show made me want
to make things out of wood.  But watching his show slowed down my start in
woodworking.  Seeing his shop, with all the power tools, I thought it would
cost a fortune to get started in woodworking.  Just to have the minimum
tools of what Norm had, and the space to set them up, was beyond my reach.

Then this spring, browsing the library, I found the book "Hand Tools: Their
Ways and Workings" and the book "Furniture Making: Plane and Simple" (I
think, this is from memory, which may be faulty).  With those books I
realized I don't need that much space and expensive hand tools.  So I
jumped.  I did some more research, some web surfing (finding this list
along the way), and started finding tools and got to work.  So far I've
gotten about 85% of the way through the first project (my first
workbench*).  SWMBO has even already made a Honey Do list.

One thing I've learned is that hand tools give much more satisfaction in
getting the work done than power tools.  I have a few power tools, which I
don't use any more.  When SWMBO had me mount some lights on the wall, I
grabbed the brace instead of the cordless drill.

My big problem is now tool lust.  I want at least 40 planes.  I want lots
of different saws.  I want chisels, and rules, and squares, and hammers,
and . . .  I think this will eventually cost more than Norm's workshop, but
I can get started for much less.

*The workbench would be a lot easier to make if I had a workbench. :)

Eric Damien Berna
eric@t...