The Starter Woodworking Tool Kit is a beginner woodworking tool kit with the hand tools to lay out, cut, chop, plane and scrape joinery and furniture parts: six MHG bench chisels, a Gyokucho ryoba saw, a Melbourne low angle block plane, two Bahco card scrapers, a Wood Is Good mallet and the layout tools to go with them, packed in a Bucket Boss Gatemouth tote. It is the first of our three woodworking kits.
You save over $95 with this kit as opposed to buying the tools individually.
Six MHG Firmer Bench Chisels (6, 10, 12, 16, 20 and 25 mm) do the chopping and paring. They are German bench chisels, ground but deliberately left unpolished so the backs stay flat, with handles slightly flattened so they do not roll off the bench. The 6 mm is 245 mm overall, and length grows with width. The Wood Is Good Mallet (20 oz) drives them. Its thick molded urethane head on a hardwood handle absorbs shock, will not split a chisel handle and does not crack in freezing weather, and the 20 oz is the size for cabinet work.
The Gyokucho Ryoba Saw (210 mm) has rip teeth (8 TPI) on one edge and crosscut teeth (17 TPI) on the other of an 8-1/4 in blade, 0.45 mm thick. It cuts on the pull stroke, so the thin blade stays in tension and leaves a narrow kerf, and the 210 is a finish carpentry and furniture size. The Melbourne Tool Company Low Angle Block Plane trims end grain, chamfers and fits parts. It is bevel up on a 12 degree bed, with a 35 mm M2 high speed steel blade, a fully adjustable mouth, a solid brass cap iron and a 1-3/4 x 6-1/2 in sole. Two Bahco Cabinet Scrapers (0.6 mm and 0.8 mm) smooth wood and level between finish coats; the thinner one flexes more and the thicker one is stiffer.
The Swanson Combination Square (6 in) checks square and 45 degrees, measures depth and works as a marking gauge, with a CNC-machined zinc head, a stainless steel blade etched in inches and millimeters, and a brass scriber. The Ikeuchi Double Bevel Japanese Marking Knife marks crisp lines for left- or right-handed users, with a 2-1/4 in laminated steel blade. A Shelter Tools Lutz Tape Measure (25 ft, 7/8 in blade) and three red Shelter Institute carpenter pencils finish the layout tools. Everything carries in a Bucket Boss Gatemouth Hard Tote: rigid foam walls keep tools upright and in view, with 8 pockets, 12 interior tool loops and a steel handle with a padded grip.
For more tools, step up to the Complete Woodworking Tool Kit or the Pro Woodworking Tool Kit.
MHG Messerschmidt is a family-owned chisel maker in Schmalkalden, Germany, a town known for toolmaking and cutlery since the Middle Ages.
