Site review : handtoolmakers.com.
Disclosure Statement - Hand Tool Makers is one of my sites. Which is to say, whatever I say in this review is completely biased, self-serving and should be taken with no more than one grain of salt. Or in my case, no salt at all. High blood pressure, ya' know.
What began as Luddites R Us has morphed into Hand Tool Makers, a website devoted to the makers or hand tools. If you are still with me on this, please read on.
In brief, Hand Tool Makers is an online directory of people who make hand tools for a living, for some commercial gain, for their own use, for gifts or who have made them in the long-ago past for us collectors to pay big bucks for and place on our display shelves. Hand Tool Makers is not limited to woodworking tools, although it may seem to be at this point in time. Any craft or trade can be represented. I'll be adding a Book Arts section shortly, which may not surprise anyone who reads this blog.
The site is divided into three sections:
Commercial
For people or companies who make hand tools for a living or for some financial gain.
User Made
For people who make hand tools for their own use, for show or as gifts.
Historical
A compendium of hand tool categories and types through the ages. Examples, hopefully, will be: Hand Planes, Chisels, Saws, Marking Gauges, etc. This won't be a listing of companies. Rather, it will be an ongoing gallery of tools by type. For example, under Hand Planes you would find: Hollow & Round; Rabbets in all their glory; Plow, etc. The intent is to provide a review of the multitude of shapes and forms hand tools have come in over the ages. Images will be contributed primarily by the folks out there. When I am ready to work on a section, I'll request image contributions from various email lists and forums.
Listings are by request or referral. Someone or something may find their selves or it-selves listed without ever having requested said listing. Images may appear in the listings that have clearly been 'borrowed' from the property owner's website. Same for data such as email contacts and addresses. All such material will be posted under the geas of Fair Use. If anyone doesn't want to be listed, takes offense for some reason or would like images or other data to be removed, I will happily do so without remorse.
For now, I'm adding material as people recommend sites or request a listing. I have no doubt that I will thank someone for their recommendation or request and then forget to complete the listing. Don't be afraid to bug me. I'm working first on the Commercial section, to be followed by the User Made section.
Till next, Gary
