You want to start woodworking, but you’re a little intimidated by the number of the tools you’ll need and what it’ll do to your budget. For $300, FootPrint Tools offers a 17-piece woodworking tool kit that’s probably adequate to you get started right away.
The set includes:
- A block plane
- A bench plane
- A jack plane
- A 10-1/2″ carpenter’s bevel
- A 10-1/2″ square
- A marking gauge
- A 4-1/2″ Beechwood mallet
- Nine wood chisels (1/4″, 3/8″, 1/2″, 5/8″, 3/4″, 7/8″, 1″, 1-1/4″, 1-1/2″)
- An adjustable honing guide
The bevel, square, and marking gauge are made from rosewood and brass and the chisels have polypropylene handles.
Although they include a honing guide, Footprint Tools forgot to include some sharpening stones because you’re probably going to want to flatten and resharpen the cutting edges and the soles of the planes straight out of the box. Not to mention, given the low price, the steel they use in these tools probably won’t hold an edge for very long, so you’ll need to touch them up often to keep them in good working order. Think of it as an opportunity to hone your honing skills.
If you think $300 is a lot of money to spend, just remember you can drop this much money or more on just one power tool. As your skill improves you can replace the individual tools you use regularly in this set with quality tools.
*Footprint Tools [Website]
Woodworking Set [Eagle America]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
*While the Footprint Tool site doesn’t list the woodworking set, you can find descriptions of the included tools listed separately.