A Newage Neanderthal

To start this blog I was going to go straight into my first post, however I guess a little about me and why I am writing this blog will serve well.  To start with I use only handtools on my hobby woodworking.  For full disclosure I do own powertools, a good bit of them.  Pretty much all of them except a hollow chisel mortiser and a drumsander, and I use them.  However they are regulated to the world of DIY and utility.  For my enjoyment though, for the woodworking I love, the only power is my lights and ipod dock.  Even though I am a handtool junkie, I don’t care about them being old; which seems to be a theme amongst my handtool brethren.  Some old tools are nice, some aren’t.  I look for what I think is the best deal and the best tool. I use them not because it’s a connection to the past, but because they’re more challenging and much more peaceful to use.  I might enjoy the end project using powertools but I enjoy the process with handtools.

Now that I have jabbered on about me and what I like, onto the reason I am writing this blog.  I have been woodworking for a few years, and like a lot of us that are somewhat new to this I grew up in this hobby on the internet.  The WoodWhisperer was my first real intro to woodworking information.  From his podcast I moved on to other podcasts and blogs.  This had lead to a great amount of knowledge but also some problems as not seeing things in person, with hands-on instructions, can take you to some odd working habits.  One of those things that I found was transferring weight while handplaning.  That will be the topic of my first real post.