What counts as a hand-tool build here
A build is listed only if its own page can be followed with hand tools from start to finish. Some are hand-tool work by nature — carving, kumiko, dovetails cut by hand. Others give a choice, and only their hand-tool route is listed: the dovetailed box's bottom groove can be cut with a router plane or a plough plane, the kumiko strips can be planed to thickness rather than ripped, and the hexagon frame's mitres can be cut in a mitre box. Plans that rely on a table saw, a router table or a dado stack for their joints are not on the list.
The builds
| Build | Hand tools its page names | Level it states | What it teaches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heart token and songbird | A carving knife and a saw; basswood | Beginner | Knife grips and carving with the grain |
| Star ornament | Compass, protractor, coping saw, drill, files | Beginner | Laying out geometry and sawing to a line |
| Hexagon frame | Mitre box, band clamp | Beginner | Accurate mitres and a six-part glue-up |
| Chip-carved rosette and relief leaf | Knife and compass; V-tool, gouges and a flat chisel | Intermediate | Chip carving, then lowering a background |
| Kumiko panel | Fine saw, narrow chisel, marking gauge, knife, square, plane, clamps | Intermediate | Half laps on small, thin parts |
| Dovetailed box and marker | Marking gauge, square, knife, fine saw, chisels, mallet, plane, clamps; a router or plough plane for the groove | Intermediate | Through dovetails, cut by hand |
Tools and levels as each page gives them. The pages have the dimensions, stock and steps.
Start with a beginner row. The intermediate builds assume you can saw to a line and pare to a knife mark; the dovetailed box asks you to build its marker first, and cutting dovetails by hand is the method it follows.
The kit these builds share
- Layout: a square, a marking knife or sharp pencil, a marking gauge and a rule.
- Cutting: a fine saw for joinery and a coping saw for curves; chisels and a mallet; a block or bench plane.
- Holding: clamps or a vise, and a bench hook for small parts — OSHA's tool booklet asks for the work secured so both hands are free.
- Sharpening: edge tools stay usable only if they are kept sharp, and OSHA notes dull tools can be more hazardous than sharp ones.
- Carving: a knife, and for the carved builds a glove on the holding hand.
How these tools fit together is in the hand tools guide; how to use each the first time in how to use woodworking tools; sets of them in the tool kit guide. Projects for other tools are mapped in woodworking projects by tool.
Safety— Edges and holding
Clamp the work, keep both hands behind a chisel's edge, and cut away from your body. Woodcarving Illustrated advises a carving glove on the holding hand, out of the knife's path, and notes gloves stop slicing cuts but not punctures. See woodworking safety rules.
Before a hand-tool build
- A beginner row chosen first
- The plan's hand-tool route read, not the machine one
- Layout tools, a fine saw, chisels and a plane ready
- Edges sharpened
- The work held by a clamp, vise or bench hook
- A carving glove for the carved builds
Sources
Each build, its tools and its level are as its own published page gives them; this page adds no plan and no new method. Where a plan offers a machine and a hand-tool route, only the hand-tool route its page names is listed. No build time is given.
- 1.
Hand and Power Tools (OSHA 3080). Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 2002.
Used for: Securing work with clamps or a vise so both hands are free for the tool, and keeping edge tools sharp, because dull tools can be more hazardous than sharp ones.
- 2.
Staff of Woodcarving Illustrated. Comparing Carving Gloves. Woodcarving Illustrated, 2026.
Used for: A carving glove on the hand holding the work, out of the knife's path; gloves stop slicing cuts but not punctures.
About this guide
Written by BenchRoot Editorial. How BenchRoot sources, checks and corrects its pages is set out in the Editorial Policy. If something here is wrong or unclear, the contact page explains how to tell us.