This month Scott Jenkins selects his tools in preparation for the start of the course that will see him swap the office for the workshop.

I was looking forward to receiving the recommended tool list from my course tutor Michael Scott. Here was a great opportunity to immerse myself in the popular male pastime of ‘gadget research’ - investigating the best, the affordable and the value for money – and all a legitimate part of my new career! . Some of you may not like the way in which I refer to tools as gadgets, but at the end of the day that is what they are - they have a distinct purpose, can be altered to the users preferences and many have working parts. Best of all, no single tool is the same; different brands, different designs, different materials and different set-ups. This all lead to lots of choice - I was going to enjoy this!

So where does one start? Remember, I have no woodworking experience so it is very difficult to hold a conversation with a tool merchant since their seems to be a minimum level of trade vocabulary and understanding that I do not yet possess.

I started by reading the ‘Everything You Need To Know About Woodwork’ type books that are available from the high street bookstores. I suspect that I did not in fact learn everything I needed to know about woodwork from reading these but they did provide a picture of a tool with its name and a description of what and how it is used. Basic stuff but important!

Having identified the tools I looked again at my tool list, this time it started to make a bit more sense. I needed everything that would enable me to make furniture by hand; planes, saws, measuring and marking equipment, chisels, sharpening gear, clamps, drills and bits, router and safety equipment. It is a comprehensive list and while Michael has tools that I could use it is better to tune my own and I will need them when I finish the course anyway.

Thankfully Michael had provided some guidance on what to look for within each category along with his personal opinion on some common brands. The next step was to source some tools.

I found four main distribution channels: DIY superstores, local tool shops, mail order and second-hand/antiques emporiums.

My first stop was to the DIY superstores and after one visit to each in my area I realised they could not meet my requirements. The quality and range of hand tools just wasn’t good enough to support the creation of fine furniture. They do stock a range of well known power tools, but since I did not know exactly what I wanted by way of a router and electric drill I decided, on this occasion, not take the advice of the store assistant (late teens, selective hearing, can’t quite speak yet but can grunt well and obviously has not understood the link between customers and wages).

My second stop was to the local tool store, one of the few family run businesses left in the area. I liked the shop; it reminded me of my childhood and the days before superstores and shopping centres - the days when shopkeepers knew more about their products than its stock number. The shop was crammed full with tools hanging from every wall and machinery taking up every inch of available floor space.

Since the shop presented itself as a family run tool centre providing sharpening services I took one of my grandfathers old Stanley jack planes and asked for some guidance on how to recondition the plane. The advice I got was to use wet/dry paper to get the rust off or simply not bother and buy a new Stanley. There was no mention of sharpening, new irons, flattening the sole or that old planes can be made to perform better than many new ones. I checked the advice with Michael and he advised me to leave the reconditioning until I started the course.

I was disappointed with the advice I received since I really wanted to support the store. I left with the feeling that whilst this shop was a better bet than the DIY Superstores it was more accustomed to servicing carpenters than cabinetmakers.

Meanwhile I had sent off for some brochures from the mail order tool suppliers. My intention with the mail order catalogues was to investigate a range of brands and compare prices. I was not expecting any advice but in a funny way I was wrong. Whilst I did not have any verbal communication with the mail order companies the brochures were actually most useful since they included a massive range of brands and each tool was accompanied by a specification. This made it easy to compare and contrast different brands and prices all from the comfort of my own armchair. By cross-referencing a few mail order catalogues I could also compare the same products for price and double check the specifications.

So far so good, I could now select tools for my budget and get an understanding of their relative quality to each other based on the specification and price. But what about practical experience? This was something that I just did not have and even if I had been given access to use the tools, I still would not be able to know the subtle differences between brands – especially as so many tools require tuning before they can be effectively used. This is a problem that can only be overcome by talking to people that do use day-in day-out.

I selected my preferred brands, based on specification and my budget (originally £1000, but increased to a more realistic £1500) and sent the list to Michael for his comments. He recommended a few changes based on his own experiences and the general requirements of a cabinetmaker as opposed to a carpenter.

With these changes and comments I headed to the best all round mail order supplier to acquire my tools. With the exception of the jack plane, all of my tools on the list are new but even so, I do not expect to use the cutting tools until they are tuned to provide the best possible performance.

I had intended to acquire more second-hand tools but the problem was that my requirements were so immediate, specific and numerous that I really did not have the time to do the groundwork. There are good second-hand tool shops around but it is very much a lottery as to whether they have what you are looking for at that time. As I mentioned last month, I have my grandfathers old tools that I intend to recondition and I may use them in addition to my new tools. I will continue to keep a look out for old tools and buy them when I see them, but I felt that to put together a complete tool cabinet from second-hand tools within a month was just too difficult. I have also found that second-hand tools are not such bargains. There seems to be a very healthy collectors market which is putting the good ones out of reach for the commercial user.

So with my hand tools acquired I am ready to begin the course – in the meantime we are moving house and suffering from sleep deprivation once again with our second child Danny who was born in February. Next month I’ll give you an overview of my goals and the course structure that will help me achieve them.