Tool making is the traditional province of the blacksmith, and until now it has been shrouded in mystery. This useful volume brings tool-making within the reach of anyone who starts with modest hand skills. Readers will learn about suitable steels, and how to identify them and buy them at reasonable cost. Through sharp photos and drawings, readers will see how to set up a small, basic forge and anvil suitable for making their own tools. They will learn how to forge, heat-treat, and finish common woodworking tools through detailed, highly illustrated exercises. Larsen leads readers step-by-step through the creation of a heavy mortising chisel, a delicate skew chisel, and a curved carving gouge. Along the way, readers will learn dozens of little secrets and time-saving shortcuts that make small-scale tool-making both possible and fun.

For woodworkers, hand tools put the emphasis on the process of woodworking rather than the result. Yet hand tools also are essential to the highest level of craftsmanship, bringing a refinement to work that machines alone cannot produce. Whether using hand tools alone as a source of pleasure, quality, or efficiency, or in combination with machines, woodworker can trust the information in Woodworking with Hand Tools, a collection of 35 articles from the experts at Fine Woodworking magazine. In Woodworking with Hand Tools, expert craftsmen explain how they choose, sharpen, and use every kind of hand tool. There's advice on tool maintenance, techniques for getting the most from the tools, and projects made using hand tools. With clear photographs, drawings, and step-by-step instructions, Woodworking with Hand Tools will be a useful and necessary resource for anyone who works wood.

Includes how-to information.

Presents an introduction to woodworking, covering wood, joinery, woodworking machines, and hand tools, and including illustrated, step-by-step instructions for five projects.

Expert tips and techniques on creating handsome duck calls from 10 of the nation's top call makers and step-by-steps for making a duck call.