I'm quite new to woodworking and was wondering what is the best place to purchase woodworking hand tools? Is places like Lowes & Home Depot best?
There are actually quite a few places you can go to. If you check out the top of this page there is a link that says Shopping. If you just hover over it a nice little pop up will give you some other choices as well.
I have shopped at Toolbarn.com and find it to be pretty competitve as far as pricing goes. Sometimes you pay more than at Lowes or Home Depot but many times I find higher quality tools at competive pricing.
I've looked at Rockler and Woodcraft quite and bit and they both have some things that are very nice, especially for a beginner. I am going to look for a beginner's set and start from there. You can't go wrong with a good basic set.
I wonder if you could find any gems on Craigslist? As I mentioned in another thread, last year I saw some great old tools for sale at a house contents auction. Maybe there would be some at garage sales, too.
Yes, sometimes you can run into a treasure trove of goodies at an old estate sale or a yard sale. A lot of people don't use the older tools and are eager to get rid of them for various reasons. I got a great hand saw with wonderful hand carved detail on the handle at a yard sale for a great price.
A lot depends on how familiar you are with woodworking tools. If you are new to the tools as well as the craft, I would suggest buying your starter kit new.
I started out with inexpensive tools from HD and Lowes and if I could start all over again, would go ahead and spend the extra $$ on higher-quality stuff from a Woodcraft, Rockler, etc... I would have saved money in the long run. The only thing I do not buy new are hand planes. I get all of them through Craigslist and antique stores.
This is what i have found from my expirence. I would start out with a small arsenal of tools from HD or lowes to get started and get the feel for how things work and also on how to sharpen then cause that in it self is an art. Once i feel more comfortable i would step up to Rockler and woodcraft. After a massive amount of expirence with the tools and most of the hard woods i would leap into the high end brands of lee vally or lie nielson. One of the reasons that you want to start off with a cheap set of tools is because if you are learning on your own and nobody is telling you what to watch out for then you can ruin some expensive sets of tools. I made that mistake a while back ago cause nobody told me that teak soaks up the silica sand from the soil so it dulled all my tools and my blades very quik.
You can get OK stuff from Lowes AS LONG AS IT ISN"T A TOOL THAT CUTS. Any sharp edge type tools (chisels, planes, saws, etc) will be much more useful if you spend the extra $$ and buy quality. Another site that has great hand tools (and a price to show it) is Lee Valley. Take care of those tools and your grandchildren will be able to use them.
Best is subjective at best. Do you want the best price, the best quality or the best value for the money? Are you willing to wait for a good deal? Are you willing to work at restoring some great old tools? Do you want to learn how to make your own tools? I started out buying junk at the big box stores of my time which were Sears, K-mart (Kresske then) and the local hardware store. Most of them gave poor results and wore out quickly. Then I started buying better tools at yard sales, antique stores, estate sales and auctions (e-bay of yesteryear). Some were in good shape and ready to use, but that has changed over the years as the tools got further away from the original user and passed through several abusive or neglectful hands. By then I had learned how to maintain my tools and refurbish the ones I found in the wild. I would love to be able to buy new Lie-Nielson or Lee Valley tools, but I have a wife and four kids to feed and clothe. I still get the most bang for my buck at antique stores, yard sales and flea markets. I like to handle the tool, talk to the seller (not that you can believe anything they say, but just to see how much they know) and bargain for the best price. If I were in a hurry to accumulate a set of tools I would go to Highland Hardware, Lee Valley, e-bay, some of the old tool on-line sellers that have a good reputation and the Midwest Tool Collectors Association swap meets every year. http://www.mwtca.org/tool-meets.html
Woodworking Handtools If its carving tools there are few options: 1. Woodcraft - New tools $$$ 2. Ebay - $$$ 3. Flea markets - $ - May need to knock some of the rust off. 4. Auctions - $ - Use the website called "Auctionzip" - it will list all the auctions hear your zipcode and have all the pictures posted. Good luck. Chris
