There are four main types of chisel. The firmer chisel is used to remove fairly large pieces of waste and because the blade is thicker it can withstand rough treatment, but not hitting with a mallet. The paring chisel is used for taking off small quantities of wood in thin slices. The blade is thinner and will not stand knocking about. The mortise chisel is used for chopping mortises (rectangular holes) and is robust with a shock absorbing washer to enable it to be struck with a mallet. The gouge is used for cutting curved areas such as the inside of a wooden bowl. This is often struck with a mallet but it must have a shock washer.

Planes - There are three planes which look similar with the exception of the sole or bottom of the plane. The one shown is a smoothing plane it has a short sole which ends just after the handle. The sole of the jack plane is a little longer and the sole of the trying plane is very long. In general the longer the sole the straighter the plane will make surfaces but the harder it is to use. These planes are used for general purposes but there are a few others that perform special tasks.