Time for Travel

It looks like it's time for a little drive. Tomorrow my wife and I head to Tucson for a family event, which should be a good time for everyone. I'm looking forward to meeting this part of the family for the first time, but I also have another goal...

Here in my part of the Arizona desert, the closest woodworking store is about 3 hours away, which means I haven't been to one since I've started woodworking, other than a really quick trip with my brother and nephews when we visited in St. Louis a couple months ago. I had seen some of the chisels online and several had pretty good reviews, but I really hate buying new tools without having held them in my hands or using them in the ways that are comfortable to me. I hope to get a little bit more exposure to some of these tools (and hopefully some others!!) that I'm looking at purchasing at some point in the near future. I've been able to get a couple through used channels, but have had a little difficulty in finding chisels that felt good in my hand. New may be my best option for these tools...we'll see.

This goes hand-in-hand with my philosophy on woodworking tools. I've watched my low-budget tools serve me well for the last year and I'm now ready to replace them with some higher quality tools. I know now what I'm looking for in some of my tools. Chisels are one of those things I'm ready for. I had the opportunity at the Woodcraft in St. Louis to try out a few of the Stanley Sweetheart chisels, and I really liked the weight and feel of them--as well as the slim profile--which will be a nice change for me while paring between pins and tails.

Who knows, there could even be a new saw in my future. I have been keeping an eye out for a decent carcass saw or dovetail saw. Those Veritas saws felt really good in my hand last time....