Tools

This tool list is for chair makers who have been on one of our courses and want to make their own chairs in a similar way at home. It doesn’t include some of the bigger tools we use for processing stock like the Veritas Dowel Maker or wood machines. We have included some substitutions which we used for a long time before we started running courses.

Many of these tools are available used and if you live in the UK we recommend that you contact Steve at Tooltique. He restores used tools to good working condition and usually they come ready to use. Tools that are not readily available used have links to Classic Hand Tools. We have no financial interest in either of these companies. We’re just trying to make it easy for you to buy from a supplier we trust. Feel free to shop around.

You can do without some of these. For example if you buy a large Ryoba saw you can do all of the rough ripping and cross cutting and the finer bench work with it. It will just be a bit slow for the former and a bit cumbersome for the latter.

If you think we’ve missed something please let us know

Basic woodworking tools

  • Rip Saw – for cutting out rough chair parts along the grain
  • Cross cut saw – for cutting out parts across the grain
  • 240mm Ryoba saw or Western tenon saws: 1 cross cut and 1 rip cut
  • Bench plane Stanley or Record 4 or 5
  • Block plane
  • Spoke shave; our favourite is the Stanley or Record #151 flat but most students love our Veritas flat shave
  • Pencil gauge – we use single measurement gauges for 35mm stock that we make ourselves. Make your life easier and buy an adjustable gauge.
  • Small combination square
  • Marking knife
  • Pencil – we prefer standard HB pencils with sharpened with a long bevel
  • End vise – Veritas wonder dog
  • Irwin Quick Grip clamps – minimum 3; but we’ve often had up to 10 on a recalcitrant chair
  • Sash cramp/clamp – 600mm; you should only need one for squeezing each tenon one at a time
  • Folding rule with depth gauge
  • Sharpening stone. This is a very personal choice. If we were starting from scratch we’d go with a diamond stone system but we’re very happy with the oilstones we grew up on. Do some research on sharpening before buying. If you’re still undecided plump for a double sided diamond stone. You’ll never need to flatten or replace it.
  • Cordless drill or brace: we use small 18v drills from Makita and old Stanley braces but this is a personal choice. If you already have a cordless system use that.
  • Chisels: our favourites are old black handled Stanley ???? One 3/4″ or 19mm chisel will do most of the work we need
  • Veritas Wonder Dog
  • Bench brush. Fancier bench brushes are available but in this case a wallpaper will sweep the bench and be fine enough for dusting off tools.
  • Awl – no need for an expensive hole-poker but it is worth getting a square section awl rather than round.

Specialist chair making tools

  • Wallpaper Steamer (or two)
  • Class E pipe for steam tube
  • Rounding planes; 1″, 3/4″ and 5/8″ will suffice for most projects. You won’t need the 5/8″ if you buy the tenon maker
  • 5/8″ tenon maker
  • Irwin vise grip 8R sheet metal locking pliers. Line the jaws with leather. Essential for removing stuck tenons.
  • Famag forstner bits: 16mm, 20mm
  • Famag primo fortstner bit 35mm with 20mm guide pin (for staked furniture e.g. round stool)

Tools you make yourself:

  • Workbench – we are about to start building more workbenches for sale. That said our first chairs were built on a Black and Decker Workmate.
  • Joiners’ blocks
  • Bench dogs
  • Burnisher – make it or buy it from us!

Weaving

Jigs

We’re going to start publishing plans for all of our furniture with the jigs and dimensions.