Links for Artisans
These are personal favorites
The Best Things
Broad selection of woodworking tools, especially for carving (Ashley Iles, Auriou, Sorby, Crown, Henry Taylor). They also have Blue Spruce bench chisels, among others. Excellent prices - best you'll find on A. Iles and Auriou.
Classic Hand Tools
One of the widest selections from the most manufacturers that
you'll find anywhere. If you can't find it here, you might have to
make it yourself.
Tools
for Working Wood / Museum
of Woodworking Tools
Huge variety, and a great selection of the lines he carries. Lots of Japanese tools as well as A. Iles, Sorby and Two Cherries. Lots of stuff you didn't know you needed yet. Several how-to pages. Also has the museum linked above with info on antique and obscure woodworking tools.
The
Japan Woodworker Catalog
Nomi, dozuki, the whole shebang, from inexpensive to painful. They carry some nice Western-style tools, too.
Old
Tools and Collectibles
Old and antique tools at surprisingly reasonable prices. Fun to browse around in - if you can't find it on eBay, check here.
Lie-Nielsen
Toolworks
Pricey, but beautiful. Many of their tools are modern re-makes of
classic Stanley designs. L-N tools are widely admired.
Dieter Schmidt Fine Tools
Even with postage from Germany Dieter has great prices on Two
Cherries. Lots of great Japanese tools too.
Dan's Whetstone Company
Good service and excellent prices on Arkansas stones and other
sharpening gear.
Houston Hardwoods
I can't vouch for their mail order, but Houston Hardwoods has an
excellent selection and seem to be very well organized and run.
They have dimensioned and rough lumber in common and exotic species,
plywood in exotic hardwoods, MDF, melamine, Bartley stain gels, and
Bruce hardwood floors.
Clark's Lumber
The photo on the homepage makes Clark's Lumber look like it operates out of a tiny quonset hut, but in fact they have 5 separate warehouses, carefully organized, well-selected, and well laid-out. Their focus is more on contractors and users of large pieces - they don't have much of a selection of small pieces and remnants. Still, if you can't find it elsewhere, look here. They also have a small selection of common glues and finishing products, Japanese woodworking tools, and harder-to-find products from brands like Hot Stuff, Resorcinol, Famowood, Good Stuff, & others.
Recommended Products
Waterlox
There are several oil and resin wipe-on varnishes on the market,
but I've only worked extensively with Waterlox. It can be applied
by almost any method, and can give wood anything from an open-pore,
natural, hand-rubbed finish to a thick, lacquered, glossy look.
It's very protective and water-resistant - even for things like
floors and wood countertops. Good stuff.
Auriou
Auriou carving tools are about as close as you can get to the old
hand-drawn, hand-forged tools. They have a wonderful feel to them
and take a fine edge. Their hand-stitched rifflers are considered
the best anywhere, and they make drawknives, adzes, and holdfasts as
well. They don't have the variety of gouges that they did before
their reorganization a few years back, but the carving sets they
produce with input from Chris Pye are said to be excellent.
Ashley Iles
Also using older craftsman-intensive methods of production, A.
Iles produces the largest line of carving tools I know of - the full
London Pattern catalogue, along with all sorts of specialty tools,
like Chris Pye's 2 1/2 gouges, the Ray Gonzales tool, the Zoe
Gertner tools, etc., and woodworking and woodturning tools of
excellent quality. A.I. carving tools tend to be a little beefier,
in the English tradition. My A. I. butt chisels (with bubinga
handles!) are a joy to use.
Wayne Barton
Chip carving isn't a big part of what I do, but the techniques come in handy from time to time (see the "CP" carving on the crest on this site's homepage). Wayne Barton seems to be the chip carving guru. The chip carving knives that Mr. Barton designed fit the hand well and hold an edge, and his books are the best I've seen on the subject.
Woodworking & Woodcarving
Chris Pye
I own several of Chris Pye's books and refer to them frequently.
His site contains several e-books, galleries, how-to pages, tool
recommendations, and a newsletter you can subscribe to.
Bob's Bench Pages
I found Bob Key's site years ago, looking for ideas for a
workbench, and made "Bob and Dave's Good, Fast, and Cheap Bench"
from their plans. (Mine is here.)
The above link is to an archived copy of his site (be patient -
images are slow to load). Bob offers lots of information on
handtools, workshops, and workbenches in a chatty, informal tone.
I'd wager that a thousand woodworkers have gotten a start here.
Workbench Design
Great links to sites with detailed plans for workbenches and other shop themes, along with the author's own design and advice. Some of these benches are really fine furniture.
General Merchants
Highland Hardware
Rockler
Hartville Tool
Traditional Woodworker
Woodcraft
Craftsman Studio