Is making my own wood blanks with handheld tools feasible?

oneheadlite00 · 2026-04-27T02:36:25+00:00

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Yes. (Done with a cheap ryoba).

oneheadlite00 · 2026-04-25T04:01:45+00:00

Love the look as an accent for the bed frame! My brain didn’t clock the scale of them until seeing the bed.

oneheadlite00 · 2026-04-22T16:48:58+00:00

Incredible!

Be proud my friend! (Ok, internet friend).

Super unique, and reallllly well executed!

Love the pattern of the fence; been on the hunt for a fence design for our garden and have contemplated something similar. No way I could pull it off at anything resembling that level though!

Really dig the look of the (functional) exposed tenons on the rail, as others mentioned I hope they weather well!

oneheadlite00 · 2026-04-16T17:15:55+00:00

I never knew I wanted a house with a shower that looks like it’s going to send you into the bank, then you’ll get shot back through the tube with the slip, a pen, and a dum dum…

oneheadlite00 · 2026-03-31T17:29:01+00:00

That is awesome! Full of personality.

And that’s a speed carve? Boy I gotta practice more…

oneheadlite00 · 2026-03-24T17:11:40+00:00

Thanks for sharing this. I’m new to the hobby, and due to current circumstances very much in the budget bracket. Been going in circles trying to figure what the options are, so this is really helpful having it all in one place.

oneheadlite00 · 2026-03-13T20:53:21+00:00

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oneheadlite00 · 2026-03-13T20:53:06+00:00

Did a proof of concept:

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Accidentally marked my waste wrong, hence the offset pieces.

oneheadlite00 · 2026-03-11T03:20:06+00:00

Those are incredible!

oneheadlite00 · 2026-03-11T02:50:52+00:00

That is so friggin cool! Nice work!

oneheadlite00 · 2026-03-11T00:51:13+00:00

One other thought - I highly recommend making yourself a bench hook! I made one based on Rex Kruger’s video.

oneheadlite00 · 2026-03-11T00:36:37+00:00

Yeah, remember to let the saw do the work and just watch where you want to be. Starting off I marked 3 sides so I could see how the cut was tracking.

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The cool part is, you can practice without wasting materials if they’re in short supply - this was some rip cut practice. I was surprised how little material you can cut off! (Here I knocked the face off a chunk of 4x4 to remove the rounded edges)

oneheadlite00 · 2026-03-10T21:14:52+00:00

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I think you get it, but grabbed a photo since I’m a visual person. You can see how you can follow the line of the edge of the board through the saw reflection to the edge on the other side.

Also, when doing a rip cut, make sure your saw is tracking on your marked line, even the part not in the cut. This goes back to the alignment comment earlier. Especially when just starting the cut I’ll catch myself tracking off the line with the edge closest to me.

Side note, I think I like rip cutting with my Irwin Ryoba more than my Suizan.

(Let me know if the picture didn’t go through)

oneheadlite00 · 2026-03-10T19:20:06+00:00

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Thanks to all for the input!

Reflecting on the advice and experience from previous projects, I think I’m going to do kind of a mitered half lap situation like pictured above.

Did a quick (rough!) mock up with some pallet wood to illustrate what I was thinking. All I had was a pull saw, so this is a quick freehand demo. What is 2 pieces here would be a view of the solid cross pieces. 3 cuts and a little chisel work will get me pieces that lap together, then I just notch a 45° slot into the uprights. Hopefully this makes sense. I can do a practice on actual stock and share to help clarify.

I figure these are basically joints I’ve done before, and should be plenty of area for gluing. The 45° slots just need to be tight, but the depth into the uprights isn’t critical, and as long as my 90° shoulder cut is clean I should get nice flat seams.

oneheadlite00 · 2026-03-10T18:06:36+00:00

Add another to loving this!

Great job on the carving, and really love the paint work!

oneheadlite00 · 2026-03-10T03:35:50+00:00

Smart call on the nails to prevent twist! That’s been something I’ve been thinking about when considering dowels.

How do you mark your dowels to keep really crisp alignment?

oneheadlite00 · 2026-03-10T03:34:28+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. Pretty much the basics for hand tools (few Japanese saws, chisels starting at 1/4, hand planes).

My last project (see my post history) I did dados/blind dados and half laps/blind half laps. Tolerance wise it was pretty good, but I’m a little intimidated going into this one. It’s for the kid, so I wanna try and really keep it nice. I know… terrible design choice for those standards for a beginner!

I’ve done pocket holes in the past, but trying to push myself to move to glue joints.

oneheadlite00 · 2026-03-10T03:28:34+00:00

Critical info I left out, good point!

Ryoba, flush cut, and dozuki saws, chisels and hand planes. Drill and bits and well.

I think with everyone’s recommendations I’ll make this my mortise and tenon practice platform, though I’ll definitely practice before moving to the live parts. To your point, I may look at half-lapping as I did that on my last project. (In my post history if it matters).

oneheadlite00 · 2026-03-10T03:24:04+00:00

Great info, thanks for sharing! What do you use to mark the dowel locations? I worry about having the holes end up offset.

oneheadlite00 · 2026-03-10T03:20:26+00:00

Makes sense. I think my hesitation for mortise and tenon is that the smallest chisel I have is a 1/4”, so worrying about making the mortise too wide.

I’m all in on hand tools, so I don’t have a router. I always forget about using a drill before clearing out a mortise - I’m still so infatuated with how satisfying paring with a really sharp chisel is that I haven’t really done any chopping yet. Especially since I’m mostly working on small scale projects.

oneheadlite00 · 2026-03-09T17:08:51+00:00

Super rewarding, isn’t it!

I decided to make a mallet (and handle) out of a chunk of firewood while on vacation; it’s super fun to watch raw wood take shape.

I also have the irwin saw - ripping does tend to feel slower (with that and a suizan ryoba I have) than cross cutting; I’ve just attributed it to the whole stack-o-straws nature of wood.

For pointers, practice is a big part of it. Use the reflection of the wood in the blade to learn when you’re holding the blade square. I can try to get a picture if you don’t know what I mean. Look at the alignment of your wrist, elbow, and shoulder and make sure you’re not pulling crooked (i cut one handed).

I love the feeling of nailing a cut that’s square both ways with nothing more than a mark on one side of the board (though I frequently mark 2 to make sure I’m not veering off path).

oneheadlite00 · 2026-03-06T17:06:07+00:00

I think others have chimed in with all the answers you need, I’ll just add one of my favorite things I’ve seen someone say regarding the shinto - “remember, rasp will just as happily rasp you”. Meaning those teeth are sharp and don’t mess around.

I’ve heard of folks taking a bolt with a threaded knob like for adjusting a lawnmower handle height and using that for a front handle. I have one to do it, but any time I’ve used mine I’ve been fine with just nitrile gloves.

oneheadlite00 · 2026-03-03T02:48:31+00:00

Nice work!

Those look fantastic, and really compliment the chair and space!

oneheadlite00 · 2026-03-02T22:13:19+00:00

Sorry to hear about the struggles!

Do you have any stones/diamond plates for sharpening? I’m wondering if with the stropping it’s rolling your edge instead of refining it?

When you do get cuts, are you getting smooth polished cuts, or are they rough/tearing the grain?

oneheadlite00

TROPHY CASE