Build the Kit Around Four Tools

The temptation when you finally claim a corner of the shed, garage or spare room is to fill it. A quick search throws up two-hundred-piece kits and glossy starter bundles, and before long you have a bench cluttered with tools you cannot sharpen, cannot adjust and barely understand. A better route is to buy four things properly: a saw, a set of chisels, a square and a sharpening stone. Everything else can wait until a job demands it, and by then you will know exactly what you need.

There is a practical reason for starting small. Good hand tools need maintenance, and maintenance takes practice. Learning to sharpen two chisels well is a fortnight's work. Learning to sharpen fifteen badly is a wasted afternoon and a lot of good steel.

A Saw Worth Learning On

You will eventually want two saws, but start with one and choose it carefully. A 500–550mm panel saw with 10–12 teeth per inch will crosscut timber for shelves, skirting, framing and general sizing, and it is the saw most people reach for first. Look for a taper-ground blade, a comfortable handle and teeth that have been set rather than simply punched out.

If you intend to cut joints by hand, the second saw to buy is a tenon saw. A 250–300mm saw with 13–15 teeth per inch and a rigid brass or steel back is the one that teaches accuracy, because it cannot wander the way a panel saw can. It is the tool that will cut the shoulders of a lap joint, trim a housing and finish the end of a rail cleanly.

• Panel saw: 500–550mm, 10–12 tpi, for sheet goods, skirting and rough sizing.
• Tenon saw: 250–300mm, 13–15 tpi, for joints, shoulders and accurate trimming.
• Second-hand is a genuine option: an old saw with a sound blade and a comfortable handle can be re-sharpened and will often outlast a new one costing three times as much.

Chisels: Fewer Than You Think

Three chisels will do most of the work: 6mm, 12mm and 19mm, all bevel-edged so they can reach into the corner of a rebate or the waste between dovetails. If your budget stretches to a fourth, add a 25mm for paring and cleaning up wider housings.

Look for a blade whose back is genuinely flat over the first 25mm or so — that flatness is what makes the sharpening routine work — plus a tang that runs well into the handle and timber that will tolerate a gentle mallet tap. Avoid anything with pitted steel or a bevel that has been ground back by someone in a hurry.

Buying second-hand is sensible here too. Chisels made in the middle of the last century were often produced from excellent steel, and a set of three from a car boot sale or a house clearance, cleaned up and re-sharpened, will serve you for decades. Budget an evening with a flat stone and a honing guide; it is the best-value work you will ever do in the workshop.

The Square That Keeps You Honest

Nothing ruins work faster than an untrue square. A 150mm engineer's square is the most useful all-rounder: solid, simple, and it sits flat on a bench top or inside a drawer when you are checking carcase work. A combination square adds an adjustable rule for marking depth and 45° angles, which is handy when hanging doors or fitting hinges.

Whichever you choose, test it before you part with money. Press the stock against a known straight edge, draw a fine line along the blade, then flip the square over and draw a second line in the same place. The two lines should sit exactly on top of each other. If they do not, put it back on the shelf.

Pair it with a marking knife and a 0.5mm mechanical pencil. A knife line gives a saw or chisel a wall to sit against, and the difference it makes to the accuracy of hand-cut joints is far greater than most beginners expect.

Sharpening: The Tool That Makes the Others Work

Sharp tools are safer, quieter and more accurate than blunt ones, and woodwork stops being enjoyable the moment every cut becomes a struggle. A combination waterstone — 1000 grit on one face, 6000 on the other — with a honing guide and something flat to flatten the stone on will cost less than a mid-range power tool and outlast it comfortably. If you prefer oilstones, a combination India stone does the same job with less mess on the bench.

Learn one routine and repeat it. Sharpen chisels at 25° with a 30° micro-bevel, working through the coarse side until you feel a burr along the whole edge, then hone on the fine side until the burr drops off. Flatten the back of a new chisel first; it is tedious, but it is the foundation everything else rests on. Ten minutes of maintenance every few sessions keeps the whole kit working.

What to Add Next, and What to Ignore

Once those four tools are earning their keep, the next purchases suggest themselves. A bench hook, two or three F-clamps or sash clamps, a mallet, a marking gauge for repeated widths, a low-angle block plane and a decent task light will cover most jobs a small workshop sees. A basic bench vice bolted to a sturdy surface, even a kitchen worktop offcut on trestles, transforms what you can hold still.

Ignore, for now, the enormous multi-tool kits, the cheap power tools bought before you know whether you will use them, and anything sold on the promise of compensating for a blunt edge. Space is the real constraint in a small workshop: every tool needs a home within arm's reach, and clutter is what turns a pleasant hour at the bench into a frustrating one. Buy slowly, buy well, and let the work tell you what comes next.