A good craftsman never blames his or her tools. To be completely fair though, if you buy cheap tools, the work you produce might suffer. Faulty tools can break or twist in your hand, creating a greater chance for mistakes. You get what you pay for, after all. Of course, getting the best professional tools won’t also improve your work to the master craftsman level, either.
Buying tools requires a fine balance between cost and value. When you buy hand tools, you don’t want to get the cheapest things on the shelf, but you also can’t afford to spend all your money on just a few select professional woodworker tools.
To help you make the best purchasing decisions, here’s a few professional woodworker tools that should require some extra thought and consideration when being purchased.
1. The Chisel.
Chisels aren’t just for carving. These professional woodworker tools are also used to saw cuts and clean out joints. You’re going to want a set of chisels varying in size to do these different jobs. Get ones that have a high-alloy carbon steel or chromium-vanadium alloyed steel head, and a wood grip that fits your hand. Grips with metal caps are particularly great, since they keep the end of the handle from becoming malformed after getting hammered.
2. The Claw Hammer.
Your hammer’s claw should be well counter balanced by the head. If poorly balanced, the hammer will wind up twisting in your hand, making it increasingly difficult to drive nails in correctly. The most popular claw hammer size is 20 ounces, which is heavy enough to easily drive in nails, but can successfully pull nails out.
3. Screwdrivers.
Screwdrivers are one of the singularly most important kinds of professional woodworker tools to have in your set. Quality is essential here, as the moment you put a little elbow grease behind softer metal screwdrivers, they’ll strip out and become completely useless.
These are just a few of the professional woodworker tools you’ll have to get for your collection. Be sure to choose them wisely, and opt for higher quality. If you have any questions about these professional woodworker tools, feel free to ask in the comments. Learn more.