Since someone recently (before the GREAT MIGRATION) posted a thread about favorite non-electrified tools, I thought I’d continue by adding my own vote: I’m a relative beginner and certainly amateur, but I have two tools that I’m getting to really like each in their own way. Both are tools I’ve begun using on some mountain walking sticks that I’ve recently begun carving.

One is a small convex Japanese plane (only about 3″ long) that has an excellent blade quality and geometry for the convex surface of my sticks; the other is a set of Clifton cabinet scrapers I picked up last year in the US. Actually, I’d never used the concave scraper in the set until today, but I pulled it out to try some finish work on the surface of a walking stick, and I was amazed at the quality of finish it produced for me. Lovely for removing the ridges produced by earlier plane work.

 I started out without even honing it, just to see what happened, and it worked like a champ! After using it like that for a while I burnished it and continued, but I’m amazed by the lovely finish it produces on these Japanese flowering cherry (sakura) sticks. Not perfect, given the presence of various grains and knots, but close enough that I’ll probably get away with very little sanding. I guess that makes me a convert. View Image View Image