Two Workshop Tools . . .
. . . no one should be without. And it was you who said it, not me!
But I somehow can’t help but agree. In ages past the things craftsmen did as a rule were written down but were passed down through the ages. We are still gaining from what was developed as an art form centuries ago and I too gained from men linked in the chain of humble makers. These mostly unwritten gems came throughout my early life as a full-time maker. These things, trade secrets and such, should be passed on to apprentices as they come along but who apprentices anybody these days? Anyway, it got writ’ as best I could and it’s you who said that there is no other book like it and that made me proud!
Everything that’s in Essential Woodworking Hand Tools came directly from my head to the page. I never read up on a tool or a method of working because ot was what I did to make work work. Really, it’s a step beyond having your own reference manual because, unlike a book, all of the details are stored in one place, categorised and internalised in my being as a crafting artisan. Where better to keep it, right? Well, I happen to think that the best place to keep such things safe is in the actual living lives of people who love their craft and do it because they are amateurs. They too then internalise the working knowledge and so it passed on to other individuals through the generations.
Amateurs#!@*&%? Why amateurs?
Because amateurs share their knowledge and abilities with anyone who asks them for advice. Not only do they share it freely and without hesitation they explode with it. And it is more likely that an amateur hand tool woodworker will have the most real woodworking knowledge too because they do read and watch and follow others to gain the knowledge that was indeed mostly hidden for almost a century with the dying of the trade and its yielding to machine work that was in danger of totally replacing skilled hand work. The amateurs I have come across own their craft and they do so because they love it and they love it so much that nothing will ever stop them from doing it. I own other information on many other tools too but I do not consider them as essential as the ones in my book. We amateurs have a habit of collecting things and we store them up for others as well as ourselves. I used to use moulding planes extensively in my work but then grew a strong dislike for the artificiality of the classicism it represented.
I have been a full-time income-producing amateur all of my working life. Things that I learned from elsewhere and in the ownership and working of hand tools I own and I’ve always passed it on. In times past I bought moulding planes and draw knives, axes, augre bits of different types along with other equipment. The best way to understand hand tools and the way to work them best is in the doing of woodworking there at the bench. That’s always what I have done. It was the 6,500 hand tool students who taught me about what puzzled them. I’m no skilled writer but I write; in my spare time, I am an amateur writer, an amateur illustrator and photographer. It’s who I am. What I am not is amateurish. I take my work very seriously.
Writing my Essential Woodworking Hand Tools book was time-consuming but it wasn’t difficult and it took no research because it came from 50-plus years of using the tools every day of my work life as a full-time woodworker and furniture maker. So few books are written that way but I just glanced through some images that took me back to 2015/16, the year when Joseph and I closed the last edit pages before the proofreader and the book designer took it before publishing. If I am ever discouraged for whatever reason I usually pick up the book, read a few lines, a paragraph or two, and ask myself, “How did we do this?” The meat of it reminded me that I never wrote it thinking I would make any money from it either. Since online media came into its own fewer and fewer people would be likely to read a tome like this. Well, according to you, they did.
We just took in a new delivery of books three weeks ago because we were within 100 books of selling out and we wanted stock for the Christmas demand. Considering that we have shunned other distributors and Amazon (who advertise the £35 book at £379 and cannot stock a new version), sales continue at a steady rate and we enjoy the interaction we get with everyone.
The second item, of course, is my Paul Sellers’ router plane made from the kit of metal parts we supply. I have ended up using no other router plane simply because it feels so good to have wood on wood and a hand router plane that has infinite adjustability within thousandths of an inch as needed. There is no rattle as there often can be mettle to mettle and for a small percentage of metal versions, you can own two or three. The book and the router plane kit cost £35 each and both are intended never to date and are for a lifetime of use. You can buy them directly from us here at Rokesmith Ltd.
Paul, do you have a U.S. distributor for your book and router kit? I just priced the book from your website, and it’s a prohibitive $62.00 to have it shipped here.
We don’t I’m afraid. We absorb some of the shipping fees by paying part of the international fees ourselves. I should say though that it’s a big expert guide book with 480 pages. The book itself is smith-sewn, hardback and cloth covered so a book of the highest quality that’s priced very competitively. As far as I can see there is no other book quite like it so if you do bite the bullet I hope that you will enjoy owning it for the rest of your life..
Hello Paul
I have had your book for about a month now in my new journey with hand tools. I am on the west coast of Canada and can testify that the knowledge contained within your tome is worth every penny it cost to get it here. I have been collecting old hand planes and chisels from thrift stores the past couple of years. They all needed work and I was not discriminating in my purchases. While I am content to learn many things through online videos, yours included, when it comes to the fine details needed to prepare and use hand tools at this level the ability to reference your lifetime of knowledge and experience gleaned from the masters of old has made all the difference in my confidence and results.
I totally agree with your views in this blog post. I am so grateful that you took the time to create Essential Woodworking Hand Tools.
Kurt
$16 is not much to pay for shipping from the UK!
Especially for such a great book and I haven’t even received mine yet!
Doug in NH
Agree with Paul, bite the bullet and order. I’m just sorry I waited too long and didn’t get an autographed copy!!!!
Chuck, I bought the books and it is wonderful. Recommend you buy it. Thicker pages than typical book & pictures are nice and glossy.
It read as how Paul speaks (Cadence).
Excellent supplement to videos and allows you to reference material faster than trying to find YouTube video on topic.
Chuck L,
I live in Australia and yes the shipping adds up, but at least the conversion rate from £ to US dollars is much better than £ to Aussies $’s. I paid a lot more and also purchased the router kit as well. I personally highly recommend the book and can’t complain about the quality of the kit. I haven’t ridden to put it together as yet for 2 main reasons. I’ve been ill since I caught Covid last Mid December, and I’m not an amateur woodworker. I’m just hopefully when I feel up to it, giving it a dam good try to make my own with the kit. I’ve paid much more for books over the years mainly paying in USA dollars and slugged with expensive postage through USPS or FedEx.
It’s a very well written, easily read, like Paul is there in the room, verandah, where ever you read just like an old friend. It’s not an education type technical book. It’s a friendly chat, let me explain, written book and is of high publication presentation, with a removable cover if you want. I actually had my wife cover the front and back with clear book covering to help protect the cover and not loose it from the book.
Like Peter, I also bought both the book and the plane direct, and sent over here to Oz..
And then bought Paul’s woodworking book as well..
While expensive if considered as just another book, the price landed here compares well with books from other respected publishers (such as Lost Arts Press and Tauntons..).
Also, if someone has some generous spouse, children or friends, these could help fill one’s birthday or Christmas wishlists for a year or two ?
Just to make sure the message is clear: Lots of people here agree that this book is worth at least the price of shipping it to the moon.
WOW, Amazon wants $210.98… I would love to have this book, but sorry, the price is prohibitive. Maybe Christmas?
Maybe you misread or actually didn’t read what I wrote. Amazon cannot sell any new copies because we don’t supply Amazon or any other book distributor. The book costs an amazingly low price for a hardback, smith-sewn, cloth-back book with a full colour dust cover for a mere £35. Wow!
With some of those high prices often seen on Amazon, they are actually only acting as a “sellers agent” for a third party vendor. In cases like this, often the actual seller is nothing more than some price ‘gouger’ looking for an easy mark.. You often also see this with tools as well, especially some of the harder to source knives, axes and such..
Buying from Paul direct is less than a fifth of that particular ‘tryhards” $300 plus ask ! 😉
Some resellers don’t even have the goods when they take the order; I know someone who bought an Art Deco mirror from Amazon for £80 (I think) and it was delivered by Argos. They returned it, got a refund, then bought one direct from Argos for about half the price.
On the topic of high prices, tools made in the USA cost considerably more in the UK because of the exchange rate, shipping, duty… so it does work both ways! BUT, unlike many tools, there really is no alternative to Paul’s book!
I made a slight mistake on my post half an hour ago…
I converted that $210 US on Amazon to (roughly) 300 Aussie pesos.
But forgot to also convert Chris L’s $62 at the same time.
So that Paul’s direct price is 30% of that reseller’s ask — still, around 70% or so is still a big saving ! 🤗
High thumbs up praise for PS’s router plane! Well balanced, comfortable, easily adjustable and smooth results…real smooooth.
Paul, first, thank you for the work of writing and producing the book. I bought a copy about 2 years ago and have found it very helpful, and produced as you say …
I wish you would write another book about “I own other information on many other tools too but I do not consider them as essential as the ones in my book”. After reading and studying your Essentials book, I would like to progress to the “other tools”. Just saying.
Chuck L,
I live in Australia and yes the shipping adds up, but at least the conversion rate from £ to US dollars is much better than £ to Aussies $’s. I paid a lot more and also purchased the router kit as well. I personally highly recommend the book and can’t complain about the quality of the kit. I haven’t ridden to put it together as yet for 2 main reasons. I’ve been ill since I caught Covid last Mid December, and I’m not an amateur woodworker. I’m just hopefully when I feel up to it, giving it a dam good try to make my own with the kit. I’ve paid much more for books over the years mainly paying in USA dollars and slugged with expensive postage through USPS or FedEx.
It’s a very well written, easily read, like Paul is there in the room, verandah, where ever you read just like an old friend. It’s not an education type technical book. It’s a friendly chat, let me explain, written book and is of high publication presentation, with a removable cover if you want. I actually had my wife cover the front and back with clear book covering to help protect the cover and not loose it from the book.
Looking at the second picture, it seems you have engraved graduations on the router iron.
Do you find them useful or was it just an idea to be tested?
I marked each full rotation of the wheel to create increments for depth of cut repeatability once established from zero. It’s not dead accurate but certainly helpful for incremental depths of cut. A rotation is slightly less than 1mm so half a turn is .5mm and you can guesstimate quite tight tolerances.
Thank you.
I did something for similar purpose on mine, although not with graduation marks on the iron. I used a paint marker to put a dot near the outer edge of the wheel, and I guesstimate that each turn of the wheel is 1/32″. It works perfectly as a guide for gradually increasing the depth of cut before getting to final depth.
Hi Paul!!!
first as an 5 years old amature i want to thank you for the knowledge you are sharing!!! i am know 46 and it is never late to make a deep dive to the woodworking world. Well because I don’t have woodworking school near me your remote teaching is for me the best source for knowledge i have bought your book, i built and using your router plane, you have taught how to sharpen , set and attend the geometry of saws….and more…you gave tools to build and expend my knowledge
This book is absolutely fantastic. I believe it is often overlooked a bit in the US due to lack of distribution. Still worth paying the shipping from the UK, my copy is well worn!
Have you considered distributing through Lost Arts Press or perhaps writing another book? I hear they are very good with their authors and I would love to see more of your writing, or maybe even an expanded edition of this book?
Thanks Paul,
I am the proud owner of both the router and your great book. Both are treasures that I (my son, and grandson) have enjoyed. They were a small investment that has paid many rewards.
As to the Amazon confusion in the US: Apparently there are Used copies for sale on Amazon US, for sale by individuals and fulfilled by Amazon. In such cases, the individual selling the book sets the price.
I got the book for Christmas 22, read it right away, and still reference it almost daily. Any chance Working Wood 1 & 2 will be coming out again anytime soon?
Paul, I was able to order my router kit last year. It is excellent. The machine work on the metal parts was exceptional. So glad I order the kit and made this lifetime tool.
David B.
York, PA USA
I have to confess that many years ago I bumped into a Paul Sellers video and, in my ignorance, thought, “Who is this guy? Some great ideas, but that bench isn’t a Nordic import and those tools are from a boot sale and he doesn’t wear a funny hat or an apron; he just doesn’t look the part. No forced joking around (of course, we all love your occasional humor), no eye-catching click bait. His shop isn’t decorated with antique tools and he isn’t touting the latest machinery. Obviously a rank amateur home woodworker — some good ideas, mind, but really . . . — and I went my merry way.
Of course, I couldn’t have been more wrong, except for the amateur part. No rank amateur or dilettante, but I have had the pleasure of reading Paul’s essays on the word and I agree with him completely. May we all remain true amateurs, and may we share Paul’s love and excitement with our work, whatever other title we may have. To work as a true amateur is one of life’s blessings.
I met a dude in Aldi’s, here in South Carolina, and he had an armload of those now-famous chisels, which were being clearanced. His children were going to be self-sufficient woodworkers if they were nothing else. He himself had taken up the Paul Sellers discipline and was preaching the gospel. As do many of us.
Your words and enthusiasm are inspiring, even here in the sticks.
Thank you for your thoughts once again Paul 🙂
One of the things I strive to live by in everything I do including woodworks is what the Japanese call SHO SHIN.
Very much what you’ve explained here as being an amateur (not amateurish).
Perhaps the ultimate tool no hand woodworker should ever be without is …internet access to your sites. Everything else follows 😉
Ngā mihi nui,
Paulo