Traditional Woodworking Handtools by Graham Blackburn --To order a hardbound copy signed by the author, click here. This will take you to Blackburn Books where your order will be taken. --To order a paperback copy, click here. This will take you to Amazon.com where your order will be taken.

Traditional Woodworking Handtools describes all the major handtools that were used by cabinetmakers, furnituremakers, carpenters and numerous other woodworking trades in the centuries before the introduction of powertools and machinery. These are the tools that built the masterpieces we now know as Chippendale, Sheraton, Hepplewhite, Federal, and many other styles.

This brand new book by well-known woodworking author and illustrator Graham Blackburn, covers every aspect of choosing, rehabilitating, and getting the most out of traditional handtools for woodworking. In this age of machines, handtools remain the best way, and are often the only way, of creating beautiful details, perfect fit, and final finish. Handtools liberate the furnituremaker, builder, and general woodworker from the limited artistic vocabulary of machinery. With handtools, there are no technical limits.

Traditional Woodworking Handtools explains how to set up and use each tool, and puts the tool in the context of the complete woodworking process. Blackburn includes interesting historical information as well as telling anecdotes drawn from his forty-year career at the bench. Readers will come away with not only the knowledge they need to improve their own woodworking, but also a deeper appreciation of their craft and its role in the construction of civilization.

This copiously illustrated new book is thus both a guide for collectors and antique-tool enthusiasts as well as an essential manual for all woodworkers who would increase their vocabulary of woodworking techniques.

Chapters Include:
The Classic Workbench • Clamps, Cramps, & Pin Vises • Miter Trimming •
Measuring & Marking Tools • The Square • Bevels • Gauges • Handsaws • Sawfitting & Sawing • Framed Saws • Backed Saws • A Plane from the Past • Bench Planes • Successful Plane Racing • Scrub, Jack, & Jointer • The Smooth Plane • The Jack Plane • Block, Miter, Bullnose, & Chariot • The Rabbet Plane • The Dado Plane • The Plough • Sash Fillisters • Match Planes • Badgers • Panel Raisers • Moulding Planes • Hollows & Rounds • Beading Planes • Adzes, Axes, & Hatchets • The Scraper • Old Chisels • The Mortise Chisel • Carving Tools • Spokeshaves, Shaves, & Drawknives • Pre-electric Routers • Chamfering Devices • Boring Tools • Bits & Pieces • Threading Tools • Striking Tools • Bench-top Accessories
Select Bibliography • Tool Associations • Tool Dealers • Tool Auctions •
Index