Joel Moskowitz from Tools for Working Wood gave an excellent presentation on basic hand tool techniques at our September meeting.
He had some interesting new and upcoming products to talk about. There is a saw vise that is nearly ready for production. He brought along a sample of an aluminum bar clamp that he recently started selling on his website. This clamp has the advantage of being strong and light, so that you can position it easily with one hand, which is a huge advantage when you are working by yourself.
Finally, there is a book that will be coming out this fall called “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker”, which follows Thomas, a young teenager in rural England who becomes a woodworking apprentice. Through Thomas’ story, the book describes the construction of various woodworking projects, starting with a packing box, a dovetailed schoolbox and a veneered mahogany chest of drawers, all with hand tools. From Joel’s description of this book, the details of the making of these projects will be of use to any woodworker, even if you aren’t a hand tool aficionado.
The meat of Joel’s presentation was on the use of marking gauges, rasps, and saws in your work, which we’ll report on later.