The tool list

For shaping sticks and more. The primary tool for green woodworking.

1. Lonon Tools — drawknife, bevel-up or bevel-down from $238Forged in North Carolina by Jason Lonon and co. I prefer bevel-down for chairmakin’.
2. Tools for Working Wood — Ray Iles drawknives $118–$159O1 steel, English beech or yew handles. Ray Iles tends to provide great value across all their tools.
3. Barr Tools — Chair Builder Draw Knife $198Made in the USA. Processes have recently changed at Barr — expect current runs to need tuning out of the box.

Controlled shaping and finishing tool: a small drawknife with a sole. A spokeshave is to a drawknife what a handplane is to a chisel.

1. Lee Valley — Veritas flat spokeshave (and round-bottom) $165 (flat or round)Flat-bottom is the one every student needs; round-bottom is necessary for some concave surfaces, but if you have to pick one, get the flat-bottom. I find the Veritas friendlier to adjust than the Lie-Nielsen — and it has “speed holes” at the corners of the mouth for shavings to escape, a sore spot on most spokeshaves. Flat and round are $165 each; both were out of stock at last check (notify-me works, and the round shows a September restock).
2. Lie-Nielsen — Boggs spokeshaves $165 flat / $195 curvedBronze-bodied, Brian Boggs pattern. The most common model among modern chairmakers.
3. eBay — vintage Stanley No. 151 typically $30–$65The pattern the new ones are based on. Replacement blades are available from a few makers, like Hock.

A drawknife that has been bent to hollow out surfaces. The typical seat-saddling tool.

1. Lonon Tools — chair maker’s inshave from $355All of Jason’s tools are great.
2. Lucian Avery — inshave (via Sawyer Made) about $300 incl. US shippingFlatter profile, small-batch production. A nice tool for a shallow saddle; not as hefty as the others. Sold exclusively through Sawyer Made in batches every three months — join the waitlist; about $300 including US shipping.
3. Tools for Working Wood — Ray Iles scorp $139About a 4″ sweep; comes ground, wants a final hone before first use.
4. Barr Tools — Mike Dunbar-style scorp $198Good steel, but the current runs have some geometry issues. Expect to regrind.

A scorp with a sole. Can be used as a refining or finish tool for seats, or even for rough seat carving, depending on the design.

1. The Windsor Workshop (James Mursell, UK) — wood or Delrin travisher £198–£234 inc VATWhat I would buy for a classroom. Ships to the US; the Delrin-soled Deluxe is forgiving enough that some people skip the scorp entirely.
2. Elia Bizzarri — travisher (Seth Elliott, to Peter Galbert’s design) $300 finished / $150 in the rawUS-made and available. O1 blade; the $150 “in the raw” ships unshaped and unsharpened for you to finish.
3. Peter Galbert — travisher $490 + shippingCostly, not expensive: a luxury tool, but a good investment.
4. Crown Plane — travisher $126Old-school pattern — affordable and effective. I primarily use mine for rough work, as a scorp alternative. Sold through Highland; the maker’s own Etsy shop (CrownPlane) is currently on hiatus.

A flexed steel card that follows the curve of a saddled seat or an arm and shears off the last tool marks and tearout — the cheapest edge tool in the kit.

1. Lost Art Press — Crucible card scraper $25Curved so you don’t have to bow it with your thumbs — copied from the scraper Welsh chairmaker Chris Williams brought to his first US class.
2. Highland Woodworking — Bahco 474 scraper $11–$12.50The original Sandvik steel. The thin .023″ flexes more; the .032″ is the stiff general-purpose card.
3. Blue Spruce Toolworks — card scrapers from $24.99A few shapes and thicknesses. Tool steel instead of spring steel — offers very thick scrapers.

Swung one-handed on upright wood, or two-handed on vertical stock. Roughs out a seat blank for deep saddles.

1. Lonon Tools — chairmaking adze $380Batch stock — sold out at last check.
2. Barr Tools — hewing adze $250–$255Sold out at last check, both direct and through Highland.

Two lengths earn their keep — a short one for control, a long one for hogging. Jason Lonon forges the short seat adzes; Barr makes the long ones.

Shapes arm ends, hands and seat edges faster than any edge tool where grain swirls.

1. Lee Valley — Auriou chair maker’s rasp $126Hand-stitched French teeth. Good for shaping compound curves.
2. Tools for Working Wood — Gramercy hand-cut rasps $89.95–$199.95Hand-stitched in the same tradition, often in stock when Auriou isn’t.
3. Lee Valley / Highland — machine-cut rasps from $28.50A budget rasp still shapes an arm; it just leaves more scraping behind.

Cuts a straight round tenon on the end of a leg, stick or stretcher.

1. Lee Valley — Veritas power tenon cutters $115–$125 (5/8–1″)5/8, 3/4 and 1″ are the most common. I reach for 7/8 and 1-1/4 here and there. The little 3/8–1/2 minis are a nice luxury item. Sizes drift in and out of stock; the set of three is $329 when it’s in.
2. The budget route — “Chairmaking on the Cheap(er): Leg Tenons” (Lost Art Press) freeChris Schwarz’s rundown of tenon-cutter substitutes — layout, plane, saw and rasp methods that cost next to nothing.

Turns a straight bored hole into a tapered socket, so a matching tapered tenon wedges tighter the harder the chair is sat in.

1. Tim Manney — 6° tapered reamer $305The one I’d buy. Batches roughly monthly; his newsletter gets a day’s head start on each drop.
2. Elia Bizzarri — 6° chairmaking reamer $170 finished / $85 rawRiven hickory body, set-screw depth adjustment. Also sold in a set with three tenon cutters and a dowel plate ($560–$600).

6° tools (Manney, Bizzarri) go together; wide-angle tools (Veritas, 12.8°) go together. Mixing systems is how tenons end up loose. Tapered joinery is core if Windsors are your road — a stick chair can live on straight cylindrical tenons.

Cuts the tapered tenon that matches a 6° reamed socket.

1. Elia Bizzarri — 6° tapered tenon cutters from $140Leg (11/16), arm-stump and spindle sizes; custom angles to order. Pairs with the 6° reamers above.

The Veritas 12.8° system — a power-tool-friendly reamer at a friendlier price.

1. Lee Valley — Veritas standard taper reamers $34.50–$46.50Wide-angle, power-tool reamer.

Cuts the tapered tenon that matches the Veritas wide-angle reamer.

1. Lee Valley — Veritas tapered tenon cutters $65.90 each / set of 3 $165Matches the Lee Valley reamer.

WoodOwl’s chair-boring augers. Two patterns for one job — pick by what’s driving them.

1. Lee Valley — WoodOwl tri-cut bits (for a brace) $26–$55.50 per bitLee Valley just titles these “Wood Owl Bits.” The lead screw self-feeds — perfect in a brace, wrong for a drill press. 7/16″ hex shank, which runs fine in many two-jaw braces; Lee Valley’s own three-jaw is the guaranteed fit. Sets: 3 bits $79, 6 bits $149.
2. Lee Valley — WoodOwl OverDrive bits (for a power drill) $14.50–$28.50 per bitLee Valley’s own copy opens “Favored by chairmakers.” A short lead point instead of a lead screw, so they don’t self-feed — which is exactly why they behave in a cordless drill.

The hand-powered drill chairmakers still prefer for big augers — slow, controllable, and it never strips a mortise.

1. eBay — vintage Stanley, Yankee or Millers Falls $20–$50 typicalThe old Stanley and Yankee braces are great; I like the Millers Falls if you can find them. 8″ and 10″ sweeps are everywhere — I prefer a 10″, and bigger is better if you run 1″+ bits. A usable Stanley or Millers Falls asks $20–$50 these days; a Yankee 2101 runs $75–$120. Check the photos for a working ratchet and undamaged chuck jaws.
2. Lee Valley — three-jaw chuck brace $106.50 (three-jaw) / $98.50 (two-jaw)About the only new braces on the market — French-made, composite handles, 10″ sweep. Lee Valley specs the three-jaw for hex shanks and the two-jaw ($98.50) for square tapers and small rounds — though plenty of two-jaw braces grip hex just fine in practice. Also available from McMaster-Carr.

Puts 18 inches between chuck and bit so you can sight a long drilling angle — and bore through a seat into an arm post.

1. Make your own — Pete Galbert’s parts list (free) freeFree instructions with the exact McMaster-Carr part numbers — and he now sells a ready-made extension on the same page if you’d rather not build. The 1/2″ coupler route limits you to 1/2″-shank bits.

Sizes riven pegs and small tenons exactly — drive an oversize blank through the plate and it comes out round.

1. DFM Tool Works — dowel plate $57.15Has all the sizes — the English plate runs 17 holes, 1/8″ to 5/8″ in 1/32″ steps, hardened A2. Sold out at the maker at last check; the link is Amazon, where it’s in stock.

Holds a drilling angle so you can sight your bit against it — the chairmaker’s angle-carrying tool. I pack two.

1. Hillview Tool — bevel gauge from $205Made to order in periodic batches — a $75 deposit reserves a batch spot, and the shop was between drops at last check, so join his newsletter and watch. I said I wouldn’t recommend expensive, limited-availability tools, but Tony’s is so far beyond any other bevel gauge I’ve ever used that I can’t help myself.
2. Any big-box store under $20Inexpensive ones from the big-box stores will work fine.
3. Lost Art Press — Crucible sliding bevel $350The premium option if you can’t wait for Tony.

Sets a sliding bevel to fractions of a degree — the difference between “about 12” and 12.4 when a plan calls for it.

1. Lost Art Press — Crucible brass Bevel Monkey $99Costly, but good for life.
2. Highland Woodworking — bevel setting gauge $25Less costly, less durable.
3. Elia Bizzarri — Bevel Buddy (free plan) freeDIY for free.

A modern alternative to a T-bevel for drilling angles. Best results using two at once — a tripod for one, the other sits on the bench.

1. Amazon — green-beam cross-line lasers $30–$120Green beams read better in shop light. Decent self-leveling units run $30–$70 and name brands $90–$160 — nothing about chair work needs the $200+ multi-plane units. Double-check the listing is actually green-beam; the search mixes in red ones.

Splits a billet into chair blanks along the grain. A simple tool, but the geometry really matters — many modern ones are made by folks who don’t use them, and I find the angle too obtuse.

1. Sharky (SharkyFST on Etsy) — hand-forged froe $137.78 (on sale $103.33)I generally think Sharky tools are overpriced crap, but their froe angle is lovely. The eyelet is a bit small and I find myself replacing the handles regularly — to me, that’s worth it for a froe that works. 52100 steel, 10″ edge, ships from Ukraine.
2. Lonon Tools — froe $200Jason’s froe is listed, but the first batch is earmarked for the Handworks show — expect them to reach the store after that. I haven’t used one yet, but I bet it’s great.

Splits logs with a sledgehammer.

1. Home Depot / Lowe’s — plain steel splitting wedges under $20 eachPlain flat wedges — skip the ones with wings; they won’t perform.

The thicker the log, the harder it is to start the split. One or two thin starting wedges can save the day.

1. Lonon Tools — starting wedges from $38
2. Lucian Avery — starting wedges $68

Wooden wedges (gluts) run a long split after steel starts it; the maul drives everything. You make these, you don’t buy them.

Holds a billet at working height while the froe levers a split down its length. Built, not bought.

1. Pete Galbert’s design (free) freeThere are a few designs out there. I like Pete Galbert’s.

The foot-clamped vise you sit at to drawknife sticks and legs — the green chairmaker’s workbench. There are a number of different styles, and different makers sell plans, kits, or ready-to-ride horses.

1. Jeff Lefkowitz — shave horse plans & manual $35 suggested (pay what you can)Full-size plans and a step-by-step build manual for his own ratchet design; breaks down for travel. Built with hand tools and a drill.
2. Alexander Brothers — Lefkowitz horse, kit or ready-made $575 kit / $1,400 finishedShea CNC-cuts the maple kit with a rough-carved seat; the finished horse is ready to ride.
3. Tim Manney — shavehorse plans $35 plansA hybrid of Curtis Buchanan’s easy-to-build base and Carl Swennsson’s clamping head — the horse from Fine Woodworking #262. US orders ship printed half-scale plans.
4. Sawyer Made (George Sawyer) — Gastler shavehorse plans $32 plans incl. shippingThe Gastler horse — built by David Sawyer’s cousin in the 1970s; the original is still the daily workhorse at Sawyer Made fifty years on. Sold through George’s newsletter storefront, easy to miss from his main site.
5. Shawn Murphy — ready-made shavehorse $1,450 ready-madeTraditional dumbhead in hard maple with a pine seat; knocks down for transport, and includes the Plate 11 aluminum adjuster. Order by phone or email.
6. Plate 11 — Pin-Head shavehorse (plans, kits, or built) plans $129 / kits from $159An open-sided pivoting-pin head that self-aligns to the part, with a one-handed Galbert-style height adjuster. Kits were backordered at last check; ready-made horses are made to order — ask.

Hews a riven billet down close to shape before the drawknife touches it, and knocks corners off log sections at the chopping block.

1. Lonon Tools — carving axe $265I like Jason’s. The chairmaking one is the Carving Axe — sold out at last check, with several of his other axe patterns in stock.

Vintage and antique hatchets can be a good deal and work well. There are lots of options out there — I won’t rank them, because I’m not a heavy hatchet user.

Flattens seat blanks, trues arms, tapers legs — the general-purpose plane of the kit. Mine travels with a smoother beside it.

1. Lie-Nielsen — No. 5 jack plane $385The gold standard. I prefer the steel; the bronze is a premium option for people who want a heavier plane. Lie-Nielsen stocks in batches — sold out at last check, notify-me works.
2. Lee Valley — Veritas Custom No. 5 $389I prefer Lie-Nielsen; some others prefer Lee Valley. LV tends to lean into innovation — LN has a way of perfecting the old ways.
3. eBay — vintage Stanley No. 5 Budget option. Plan to spend some time getting it up to snuff. Replacement blades are widely available (Hock, Zen-Wu, and more).

Small handplane for anything from rough-shaping sticks to chamfering edges and finish work. Different models excel at different tasks.

1. Lie-Nielsen — 60-1/2 adjustable-mouth block plane $200Compact size and high quality. The adjustable mouth makes this my favorite all-purpose block plane.
2. Zen-Wu Toolworks — block plane $579An expensive specialty tool. The open, non-adjustable mouth and light weight make it my first choice for stick chair work — I’d take the LN if I could only have one, but if you already own a fine-mouth block plane, this thing is awesome.

Cuts on the push stroke. Beginners tend to find them more challenging than pull saws. There are many styles.

1. Lie-Nielsen — dovetail saw $175Filed for rip cutting, but crosscuts OK in a pinch. If I could only have one push saw, I’d pick this one.
2. Lie-Nielsen — carcass saw $175Slightly larger, filed for crosscutting. If I could have TWO push saws…
3. Lee Valley — Veritas dovetail saw $105Less expensive; works quite well.

Pull saws cut easily, but they tend to deflect in the cut if not used properly. Very affordable, and replacement blades are inexpensive and easy to install.

1. Lee Valley — traditional ryoba (rip + crosscut) $47.50Great value.
2. Lee Valley — standard dozuki (crosscut backsaw) $48.50Has a backplate to reduce deflection, but it’s one-sided with a crosscut file.

One good saw is core — and if I had exactly ONE saw, it’d be a ryoba: rip and crosscut in the same tool.

Trims through-tenons and wedges flush with the seat without scarring it — the last saw a chair sees.

1. Lee Valley — Veritas detail flush-cutting saw (26 tpi) $35.50My favorite flush-cut saw for trimming tenons and other flush work.
2. Highland Woodworking — Temple Tools flush-cut $15Budget option that works.

It’s a chisel.

1. Blue Spruce Toolworks — bench chisels from $99.99Premium chisel; very sharp out of the box. Made in the USA. Batch stock — sold out at last check.
2. Lie-Nielsen — bevel-edge chisels $95 eachSlightly more affordable; works great. A bit more traditional.
3. Lee Valley — Narex Richter chisels from $36.50Budget option that works quite well. Outstanding value.

Assembly, froe striking, and self defense.

1. Lost Art Press — Crucible lump hammer $137The 2-1/2 lb assembly hammer; heavier is better for chairmaking.
2. Hammer Source — Garland rawhide split-head hammer $67.99–$189 by sizeRawhide faces strike a froe or a chair joint without bruising either. I like the 4-pounder (2″ face).
3. Highland Woodworking — dead-blow mallet $28A dead-blow is cheap and great for assembly.

For hitting things. A leather mallet is great for assembly without marring your work; wood is good for everything else.

1. Blue Spruce Toolworks — leather assembly mallet $169.99
2. Blue Spruce Toolworks — resin-infused round mallet $124.99Resin infusion adds weight and durability you can’t achieve at home.

Mallets can be turned, rived, or built at home — the Blue Spruce round mallet earns its mention because the resin-infused wood isn’t something you can make.

One blow locks a seat blank to the bench through a dog hole; one blow releases it. Drill your bench holes to match your holdfast diameter.

1. Lost Art Press — Crucible iron holdfast $156Fancy and ultra functional. 1″.
2. Lonon Tools — holdfasts $65Jason recently redesigned his holdfasts — the “improved Roman” pattern, $65 introductory. I haven’t seen the new pattern yet, but I bet they’re great. Sold out at last check.
3. Tools for Working Wood — Gramercy holdfasts $24.95 each / $39.95 pairPopular and affordable, but I haven’t had much success with them.

This is the vise. It’s the only one you need, and I can’t recommend it enough. Great for green woodwork, irreplaceable for kiln-dried work.

1. Acme Tools — Grizzly patternmaker’s vise (T34003) under $175A lot of vendors sell this same vise in different colors — Grizzly’s own list is $175 and Acme usually beats it, with sales on top from time to time.

Everyone needs them, and they all have advantages and disadvantages. I like quick-clamps: the Irwins are a reasonable price point, and the higher-end DeWalts can really crank down. For F-clamps, pipe clamps, and parallel clamps, I use Bessey.

1. Bessey — F, pipe, and parallel clamps $9.89–$23.59 by length
2. DeWalt — trigger clamps see listingThe big ones really crank down. Amazon’s buy box comes and goes on the large sizes — they’re also on every Home Depot shelf.
3. Irwin — Quick-Grip clamps $34.99 (4-pack)

Step off spindle spacing and transfer dimensions without numbers.

1. Lost Art Press — Crucible dividers $210These are the dividers. I wouldn’t bother with any others these days. Sold out at last check — they come back.

Square, depth gauge, rule and marking fence in one.

1. eBay — vintage Millers Falls or Starrett $25–$75 typicalThe best bang for your buck — a usable Millers Falls head-and-rule asks $25–$40, a Starrett $35–$75. Most modern ones are expensive or crappy, but they’ll all probably work. Watch out: half the cheap listings are heads or blades ONLY — make sure yours includes both.

A center-finding rule earns its keep in chair work — half of layout is finding middles.

1. Blick — center-finding ruler, 24″ $7.55

The bench-stone half of sharpening — for plane irons, chisels, and anything with a flat bevel.

1. Shapton — Kuromaku ceramic stones (via Lee Valley) $47.50–$86 per stone1000 + 5000 is the core pair (about $122); add a 320 for dings, because green-wood tools take them. Lee Valley runs cheaper than the sharpening specialists on every grit that matters.

Good for touching up rounded tools and drawknives — and just as good on hatchets and garden tools.

1. Highland Woodworking — EZE-Lap diamond paddles $8.50–$16

The constant edge maintenance — I touch up my drawknife more or less continuously.

1. KME Sharpeners — kangaroo leather strop $18.95–$22.95
2. Lee Valley — Veritas honing compound $18.50The green bar itself.

A nice alternative to paddles for taking the sharpener to the tool.

1. Dan’s Whetstone — carving-tool stones $19–$23

Titebond III is my go-to — vinegar will break it down in a pinch if you need to repair. Hide and fish glues trade strength for reversibility and open time.

1. Titebond III $7–$16 by sizeMy go-to.
2. Lost Art Press — fish glue $18Long open time — a gift on a twenty-joint assembly.
3. Hide glue pearls $23.95/lbThe traditional route: soak overnight, heat, and go.

Milk paint is the traditional chair paint — it wears instead of chipping.

1. The Old Fashioned Milk Paint Co. pint ~$20The original powder formula — a “pint” is powder that mixes into a pint. Highland carries the full color range too, a touch cheaper.
2. Real Milk Paint (RMP Finishes) $19.99–$64.99 by sizeThe other main milk paint company — I consider the two interchangeable. Recently rebranded from Real Milk Paint Co. to RMP Finishes.
3. Make your own — “Make Fresh Milk Paint” (Lost Art Press) $19 bookNick Kroll’s pocket book: quark, hydrated lime and pigment — about $6 a quart and ten minutes’ work.

Linseed oil paint is having a moment in the woodworking world too — Earth & Flax carries the Viking line if you want to try it.

Pure linseed oil is the plain-wood answer — slow, honest, and it never films.

1. Earth & Flax — Viking purified raw linseed oil $34 (32 oz)My preferred vendor — food-grade North Dakota flax, purified the traditional Scandinavian way, no driers.
2. Sutherland Welles — Botanical polymerized tung oil, high lustre from $19 sample; quart/gallon on the pageThe other good one — Vermont-made polymerized tung. Buy the high lustre and dilute with mineral spirits or Di-Citrusol for a lower sheen.
3. RMP Finishes — Half & Half (tung oil + citrus solvent) $29.99–$119.99Half pure tung oil, half citrus solvent, pre-thinned and food-contact safe. New to me — a woodworker neighbor I trust swears by it.

Fast, repairable, and the classic base under wax or over milk paint.

1. ShellacFinishes — dewaxed shellac flakes $24.95–$45.95

Write-up coming — ask me if you need one sooner.

The wipe-on topcoat chairs actually get touched through.

1. Earth & Flax — Viking purified linseed oil wax $19.50 (16 oz) / $38.50 (32 oz)The one I like: purified raw linseed oil and beeswax, food-safe, velvety matte.
2. Lost Art Press — Soft Wax 2.0 $25 jar / $29 kitMy second choice.