The New Starter Tool Set

The “New Starter” Set

At around half the price of the “Starter” this tool set is designed for those who want to try out furniture making but are not sure if they will continue with it. It includes tools which are very cheap but will get you through a Creepie Stool or a Corner Unit and with a few extras would be enough to get you going on the Bread Box kit or the LM Stool.
The “Starter” Set is still the best value for money in the long term as it forms the basis of a professional woodworking set, however, I have tried out all the “New Starter” tools and although chosen for their cost effectiveness I feel that they are a good compromise.

I tested quite a  few  low cost  imports and  found  that if  they had

moving parts, especially planes, they were bad beyond belief. A blockplane I looked at was of pressed metal and like the spokeshave unadjustable and not worth sharpening. A smoothing plane had been made to replicate the Baileys No4 but the chip breaker didn’t fit, the adjustment was limited and in reverse of what we are used to, the blade was thin. Why anyone would bother to make something like this I don’t know; all the components were there, but badly fitting and poorly made.

Chisels and saws are different – the thing about chisels is that as long as you are prepared to keep sharpening them the quality of steel is not very important, in fact if you know how to temper the steel you could transform cheap chisels.

Even cheap saws come with hardened steel so will last reasonably well but cannot be sharpened. To my mind a saw like this is as good (or bad) as the next one whatever the initial cost is; it’s still wasteful to throw it away so get the cheap one.

Included in this set is the Faithfull Smoothing plane with Clifton Chipbreaker – this is a good combination and although a Jointer or Triplane is better for “shooting” straight edges before jointing, if used with a shooting board as described in the Creepie Manual, after a bit of practice it should give results on these short boards especially if they have been premachined. This plane should give years of use and is the same as in the “Starter” Set.

The tenon saw will double as a Gents’ saw for cutting the edges of dados and the coping saw comes with a variety of blades. One of these is 14 teeth per inch and will cut the shaped pieces in the legs; it’s just easier with a bowsaw. The Faithfull spokeshave will clean up the edges.

There’s a sharpening stone which has to be lubricated with oil (3-in-1, or similar) and a dowelling jig - practice with it first.
The clamps are heavy duty and should last for years and although sash clamps are shown being used in the Creepie manual, these will still bring the wood together – turn them so that the surface of the wood is bearing on the bar of the clamp, this will help you to keep the components flat when gluing.

The only things not included are an electric drill. I’m assuming everyone has these, or can easily get one – there’s even a small container of glue somewhere in the box. See us at http://www.wood-shop.co.uk