Hand Tools vs Power Tools - Essential Skills
The great woodworking divide, hand tools versus power tools.
Rather than thinking in terms of only one or the other I prefer to think of tools as a spectrum, not two camps. There are tasks power tools excel at completing, saving the worker time, but there are also times when a hand tool will be faster and far less dangerous.
Both power and hand tools require skill to use. This article will break down areas I have found are suited to machine power, and those where person power prevails.
Power Tools
Power tools cut fast and can improve your precision. Precision is making multiple items all the same. Using a hand plane to thickness a board takes time and isn’t all that accurate, but a planer spits out identical thickness boards over and over again.
But power tools aren’t all that accurate. Just because you can cut 4 boards exactly the same size doesn’t mean that was the size they needed to be. Often, woodworking uses referential measurements, meaning we take a board, mark how long it needs to be in place, cut that mark and it fits, that’s accuracy. You can make that cut with a power tool or a hand tool, but the concept is hand forward and can be overlooked in the power community.
We have established power tools are fast and precise. Where they excel is in batches. Making many boards the same. Cutting curves and following up with a router and a template is the best way to make identical parts. Hand tooling can do it too, but at a much slower pace.
I prefer power tools for things like:
Cutting curves with a band saw makes quick work.
Ripping at the table saws are fast and repeatable.
Resawing, or splitting a board in half to make two thin boards, is much easier by machine. The band saw and table saw are great options for this task.
Milling, both the flattening with a jointer and thicknessing with a planer.
Chopping boards to length. My go to is a miter saw.
Boring holes with a power drill is a fantastic time saver.
That’s a lot of the woodworking activities in the shop. Honestly, I am a power tool heavy woodworker because I need the speed in my limited shop time. But all those power tools do have cons.
Disadvantages to power tools:
Loud - Ear muffs are essential in the shop. You’ll also need tolerant neighbors, especially if you are out in the garage.
Dangerous - There’s no escaping it. A 10 inch blade spinning at 200 miles per hour can do damage quickly.
Dusty - Often overlooked, dust is the most dangerous thing in your shop. Long term health effects on your respiratory system aren’t worth looking cool and not wearing a mask. Power tools make more of it and cast it into the air where it’s the most dangerous to us humans.
Expensive - Power tools are expensive. They require maintenance. You have to purchase extra equipment such as dust collectors and a shop vac to use them safely. All that money is a big barrier to entry.
Hand Tools
Everything you can do with a power tool can be done by hand. How long will it take is the question.
Some people are hand tool only woodworkers, and I commend them. Whether they are producing period pieces with tools and techniques used in the era of the furniture or just simply prefer the connectedness to the tool and wood. I like using hand tools because I feel more in touch with the work, concentrating on the woodwork, not the machine.
Working with power tools is like managing a bunch of inanimate interns all responsible for one specific task, but they require extreme supervision to do it.
Where hand tools excel is the fine tasks. They can get in places and make cuts that would be impossible, impractical, or dangerous with power tools.
Here are a few cases I choose hand power of machine.
Trimming, whether that be with a shooting board to trim a board to fit or a dowel that needs to be cut flush, trimming is best by hand. This is especially true when attempting to use a power tool would be dangerous, such as trimming the already installed legs of a piece with a table saw. Sure, you could try, but hefting a 100 pound bookshelf onto the table saw poses too many risks for you and the piece of furniture.
Cleaning up grooves with a rabbet or router plane, squaring corners with a chisel, and pairing shoulders and cheeks of tenons require hand tools for that perfect fit.
Shaping and finessing final curves is a pleasure with spoke shaves and hand planes.
Fitment is another area where hand tools excel. Taking off a 1/100th of an inch is hard with power tools, but by hand it’s as simple as a single hand plane swipe.
Hand Tool Cons
Now there are two big cons to hand tools. One, they are slow. Now this could be a good thing depending on your intentions in woodworking. If you woodwork for the escape, the release, the joy and fulfillment of the process, then slowing down may be a pro. But if you need to produce product, then supplementing power tools to speed the process is for you.
Secondly, hand tools require skill. You have to be dedicated to learning the craft and diligent in practicing your skills. Cutting a straight line with a hand saw seems easy until you try. Luckily, I have a guide describing the single most important hand tool woodworking tip to improve your consistency.
Oh, and like power tools, hand tools are also expensive. But you can get started on a budget with used tools which are much easier to come by and often at an affordable price point, but you’ll have to put in the work to clean and tune them up.
A Hybrid Approach
I recommend a hybrid approach. If you prefer power, use them, but don’t completely cast aside the hand tools. Keep a few essentials around the shop for very specific tasks. At the bare minimum I suggest chisels, 3/4 inch, 1/2 inch, and 1/4 inch, a block plane, a decent hand saw, a flush trim saw, and a card scraper. With a combination of power tools and those basic hand tools you can accomplish most any task in the shop.