These tools form a good starting point. Please call me for advice if you are unsure about a purchase or the suitablity of a second hand tool.
| Bench plane | no. 5 1/2 Jack plane |
| Blockplane | low angle with an adjustable mouth |
| Chisels | set of five or six bevel edged bench chisels |
| Dovetail saw | either western or Japanese |
| Tenon / carcass saw | rip cut, either western or Japanese |
| Piercing or Jewellers saw | adjustable and with a throat of at least 100mm |
| Mallet | small mallet suitable for cabinet work not carpentry or joinery, typically around 14oz |
| Straight edge | 1000mm long, steel not aluminium |
| Scalpel | Swann Morton no.3 handle with 10A blades |
| Engineers square | steel, either 75mm or 100mm |
| Dovetail square | 1:8 |
| 45 degree mitre square | steel, Japanese combined try and mitre squares perform well |
| Sliding bevel gauge | Japanese ‘shinwa’ perform well |
| Steel rules | ideally 150mm, 300mm, 600mm, and 1000mm |
| Marking / cutting gauges | ideally two, the wheel types perform well, alternatively choose two wooden cutting gauges |
| Calipers | Vernier style, either dial or digital |
| Combination waterstone | 1000 / 6000 grit or similar |
| Float glass | non toughened ideally 15mm thick and approximately 600mm x 300mm |