Woodworker or Tool Collector?
Spoiler: I'm a little bit of both.
Looking through the list of posts I have planned for this Substack, many (okay, most) focus on the tools I use rather than actual woodworking. So far, my journey into hand tool woodworking has led me down the path of spending much of my time acquiring and learning how to use hand tools, and less time making things with them.
In a future post, I will go into more detail covering the challenges associated with apartment woodworking, but in short, it’s difficult to do twenty or thirty minutes here and there. The effort required to set and clean up necessitates devoting a good chunk of time in order to make it worthwhile. For me, that’s at least four hours.
As a result, I don’t get to woodwork as often as I would like. And as embarrassing as it is to admit out loud, I think I’ve spent more time sharpening my tools than dulling them. Side note: this has had its benefits, however, I have my sharpening methodology down to a tee, more on that in a later post.
It’s okay to be both
On occasion, I will post on r/handtools. In one particular post I shared a photo of my Lie-Nielsen tools and someone asked, “are you a woodworker or a tool collector?”. Without hesitation, I responded, “I’m a little bit of both”.
I, like many amateur woodworkers, find that buying, learning, and (hopefully) mastering the hand tools we use an enjoyable part of the hobby. The joy of owning and using well-made hand tools only enhances the experience of woodworking; there is nothing more satisfying than a tool that just works.
Of course, there are people at either extreme and the full spectrum in between. For the moment, I seem to find myself in the camp of tool collector. But I certainly use all my tools, some even have the battle scars to prove it. Side note: except for the one in the photo above - there is no useful need for a bronze No. 1 hand plane.
I expect, over time, that I will shift from being more of tool collector to more of woodworker. And I hope to capture that evolution on this Substack.
Having said all of that, in my next post I will be showing off a few of the things I have made so far and discuss why I am focusing on box making.