What it's for
Joinery and mortise work
Mortise and tenon, dovetails, housings and rabbets: the joints that hold hand-built furniture together. The kit is about accuracy. A mortise gauge lays out both walls of a joint at once, a mortise chisel chops the hole, a back saw cuts the tenon, a router plane levels the bottom of a housing to a set depth, and a rabbet plane cuts the steps. Each one does a single job very well.
18 models we cover.
Starter kit
Where we’d start
Stanley · Specialty plane
No. 45Stanley No. 45 Combination Plane
1884–1962
$90–$260 typical ask
84 on eBay
Stanley · Specialty plane
No. 71Stanley No. 71 Router Plane
1885–1973
$100–$230 typical ask
101 on eBay
Stanley · Specialty plane
No. 78Stanley No. 78 Rabbet Plane
1885–1973
$40–$65 typical ask
116 on eBay
Stanley · Specialty plane
No. 92Stanley No. 92 Shoulder Plane
1902–1969
$130–$170 typical ask
10 on eBay
Stanley · Marking tool
No. 65Stanley No. 65 Marking Gauge
1918–1941
$30–$40 typical ask
11 on eBay
Stanley · Marking tool
No. 98Stanley No. 98 Mortise Gauge
1918–1941
$35–$45 typical ask
3 on eBay
Goodell-Pratt · Marking tool
No. 220Goodell-Pratt Roller Gauge
catalogs 1907–1930
$55–$170 typical ask
4 on eBay
Marples · Bench chisel
M444Marples Blue Chip Chisel Set
1968–2000s (Sheffield-made until about 2008)
$80–$150 typical ask
23 on eBay
Marples · Bench chisel
No. 377Marples Boxwood Bevel Chisel
1909–1998 as catalog No. 377
$35–$100 typical ask
6 on eBay
Sorby · Bench chisel
Bevel edgeSorby Bevel-Edge Chisel
1918–1941
$35–$50 typical ask
13 on eBay
Sorby · Paring chisel
ParingSorby Paring Chisel
1918–1941
$45–$60 typical ask
2 on eBay
Sorby · Mortise chisel
Registered mortise, 3/8 inchSorby Registered Mortise Chisel
1918–1941
$35–$65 typical ask
14 on eBay
Witherby · Bench chisel
Socket firmerWitherby Socket Firmer Chisel
1840s–1955
$25–$70 typical ask
33 on eBay
Witherby · Bench chisel
Socket framing, 1 inchWitherby 1-Inch Framing Chisel
1840s–1955
$55–$110 typical ask
6 on eBay
Buck Bros. · Bench chisel
FirmerBuck Brothers Firmer Chisel
1900–1917
$20–$35 typical ask
124 on eBay
Stanley · Bench chisel
750Stanley 750 Socket Chisel
1930–1969 (Sweetheart logo until about 1935)
$65–$170 typical ask
31 on eBay
Disston · Hand saw
No. 4 (14 in.)Disston No. 4 Tenon Back Saw
by 1876–1955
$50–$75 typical ask
13 on eBay
Disston · Hand saw
No. 68 / No. 70 / No. 71Disston No. 68 Dovetail Saw
No. 68 by 1906–1955; No. 70 and No. 71 to about 1945
$100–$180 typical ask
10 on eBay
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