This summer has been busy. I have recently completed a new book. The premise of the book is the dichotomy of hand tool woodworking in a modern world. I share my view of how hand tools should be a part of woodworking. Hand tools provide a quiet, dust-free shop environment conducive to better quality craftsmanship. The book not only emphasize this, but I discuss how to introduce efficiency with hand tools through bench appliances and jigs. My argument is with regular use, hand tools provide similar performance results to using machines. We naturally develop techniques to efficiently use hand tools through their use.
I discuss how we need to maintain a tradition of working with hand tools and more so in today's environment where technology permeates our lives. Hand to eye coordination and tactile feedback are two benefits from using hand tools in woodworking. I make a compelling argument for introducing hand tools into woodworking. There has been a resurgence and revival in recent years of using hand tools over machines and this is a positive sign. People are at least aware that machines are there simply for expediency and are ideally suited to production environments.
The book is an interesting read for both established woodworkers and for those starting at woodworking. Book is available as an eBook in the BOOKS tab of the www.woodskills.com site or as a Print book through Amazon.
