Hands-on involvement separates the craftsman from the collector. Whether you are an armchair craftsman or a shop dust veteran. you are invited to participate in the process of tool making described in the pages of this book. These tools harken to the classic period of woodworking, 1700 to 1900, when a student made his tools as part of his education in moving from apprentice to journeyman. In the late 1800s a series of changes in how wood tools were made took place. The blades became integrated into more complicated adjustment mechanisms, and the tool body was made from a casting rather than a block of wood. Wood tools became the province of the metal shop. What you see in this volume recaptures both the look and the feel of classical wood tools, as well as reclaims the making of them by woodworkers themselves. You will find tools that can be made for woodworking, by woodworkers, in the wood shop. They are insightful of how tools are made, inviting to be put to use, and worthy of collecting. Explore this world in Making Wooden Tools. With the resources at hand in the wood shop, you can do it.
