The Minimalist Woodworker. Vic Tesolin

SOLUTIONS

      The ideal flooring for any workshop is a wooden floor. They are much more

       comfortable to stand on than most alternatives, but wooden floors simply aren’t

       possible in every situation. My shop has a peel-and-stick type of floor that

       makes sweeping up a breeze. I’m still working on concrete but after an hour or

       so of planing, I’m ankle-deep in wood shavings that I stand on. An anti-fatigue

       mat is a great option behind the bench, where you do a lot of standing.

      Wood floors for a shop don’t

       need to be fancy, Simple

       plywood or underlayment

       can be purchased in sheet

       form and set into place.

      Rubber flooring mats or tiles add a little bounce

       and comfort to concrete floors and are much

       more forgiving on the edges of dropped tools.

      TOOLS IN THE

       SMALL SHOP

      O

      nce you settle on a space for your shop, it’s time to start filling

       it with tools—just the ones you really need. The most important

      tool for a minimalist woodworker is a workbench. When working with

       machines, you take the wood to the machine. Conversely with hand tools,

       you bring the tool to the wood. So what you need is a solid, flat surface

       that will hold your work. You also need a few work holding devices to

       secure the wood on the bench so it can be more easily worked.

      Building the bench you see at left is covered in chapter 8. This design

       is easy to build and works well in any shop. In the absence of a bench,

       you can get by using a portable workbench like a Workmate. In fact, the

       first few projects in this book are made on a bench of this type. They’re

       inexpensive and available at any home center. Once you have a few

       projects under your belt, you’ll be ready to tackle the workbench.

      Whether you’re just starting to woodwork or are approacing the craft

       with a renewed interest in handwork, it’s important to start with the

       tools you need and become comfortable with how they work. In a small

       space, only a few tools are truly required.

      In this chapter I outline a set of hand tools that would accomodate

       almost any project you might want to tackle. Some of these tools are

       key to any shop. Others make nice additions for certain types of work.

       The key is to start small. Become comfortable with a small set of tools

       and techniques. You may then want or need others. Or realize, as I do

       time and time again, that less really is more.

      Hand Tools

      The backbone of minimalist

       woodworking is hand tools. Over

       the next few pages I take you

       through the essential tools that you

       should start with. By no means do

       these tools need to be all brand-

       new. There are many options for

       the fledgling woodworker from

       vintage tools to freshly minted

       tools from a modern tool maker. I

       use a combination of old and new

       tools. When well-tuned, both work

       just fine. For each of the following

       sections I lay out what is essential

       but also include tools that are nice

       to have. Let’s take a look at what

       goes into a basic minimalist tool kit.

      PLANES

      Planes are the work horses in

       the minimalist shop. They are

       responsible for important tasks like

       flattening, smoothing, and cutting

       joinery. The basic planes can be

       broken up into a couple of different

       categories: bench planes and

       joinery planes.

      Bench Planes

      Bench planes are mainly used for

       flattening and dimensioning stock,

       and preparing surfaces for finish.

      Jack Plane

      The most useful size of bench

       plane is known as the #5 or jack

       plane. As the name suggests, this

       Jack-of-all-trades is suited for many

       tasks. If you’re just starting out, this

       is the plane to start with. A jack

       plane is long enough to flatten

       most stock yet not too long to use

       as a smoother. It is also the perfect

       size for using on its side with a

       shooting board to trim the

       end-grain of boards.

      FLATTENING & SMOOTHING—

       WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

      At first blush flattening and smoothing may appear

       to be the same thing. The difference really has to

       do with the quality of the surface. Flattening means

       that you are getting a surface flat and aren’t overly

       concerned about the quality of the surface itself.

       Once you have one flat face, you can move on to

       thicknessing or squaring an edge. However, just

       because a surface is flat doesn’t mean that it is

       ready for finish. This is where smoothing comes in.

       Smoothing is what you do to get surfaces ready for

       finishing. In power tool terms, smoothing is what

       you would do with a random orbital sander, just

       without the dust, noise, and a numb hand.

      Jack Plane

      More Key Bench Planes

      You can get an awful lot of work

       done with a jack but there are

       three other sizes of bench planes

       that I use.

      Jointer

      The jointer