Hi! My name is Mike. I work in health care and I dabbled a little bit in woodworking years ago but I would love to learn more skills and eventually be able to build furniture… I’m seeking advice and how to best start learning. I’ve tried over the years learning from books but struggled a bit with that. However, I’m open to any recommendations for more experienced people here!
Basically, I’m seeking advice on the following topics:
1) Tools – I would like to learn both hand tools and power tools. I have a modest set of chisels, a hand plane, and a few DIY tools like a drill and impact driver. I’m wondering for someone starting out what the most cost effective and versatile items would be best suited from someone like me.
2) Space and work bench – One of my perceived barriers at the moment is that I have a small garage and I literally have no work bench. I could build a work bench as a project but in the meantime I would have to arrange a work space. Any recommendations for a small work space a work surface? Thanks!
3) Projects or skills to get started – I looked at the website here and it looks like there are some video workshops and such. I’m interested to get a few ideas and basically starting from the very beginning with some projects.
Thanks so much for any info you may have for me!
Replies
Search this site for the getting started series of videos.
Welcome Mike woodworking can be a very rewarding hobby and I hope you find it so.
Many of your questions are probably too involved for detailed explanations here, but FW is full of articles and advice on such things as setting up a small shop.
As for start up tools most woodworker's consider a tablesaw as the heart of the shop, but others will swear by a bandsaw. It really depends on what you see yourself building, casework lends itself to a tablesaw, whereas traditional furniture with curves and scroll work might favor a bandsaw. Either way I would urge you to consider buying the best possible tool you can afford, don't rule out the used market if you feel you are capable of judging a tools condition fairly well. One drawback to older used tools is safety, my 30+yr.old Unisaw doesn't even have a riving knife and is right tilt which many here will disparage but is rock solid in every other way. I personally always urge new woodworkers to purchase a Sawstop simply because no other saw on the market comes close in regards to safety features. While I mentioned the tablesaw is the heart of a workshop, it also can be the most dangerous of the tools you will use.
Regarding your hand tools, even rudimentary hand tools can produce acceptable results if they are properly tuned and sharpened, so learn these skill early on. Here again the FW archives are invaluable for information and will also illustrate one of the core principles of woodworking, just about everything can be done multiple ways. If you doubt that do a search for sharpening and you will see for yourself.
Also see if you have a woodworking retailer near you that offers classes. Woodcraft for one offers weekend classes which can be a good source of fundamental skill development as you work to complete small projects. Community Colleges often will offer classes as well, under normal circumstances.
I'll leave you with setting up a shop and build storage and other cabinets can be a great way to learn basic skills without needing to worry about the overall outcome quite as much and once you have a solid workbench and other shop aids it will be easier to achieve better results.
Good Luck
PS. Remember the old woodworking adage: you can never have enough clamps.
Good information is essential. It's all too easy to buy tools that aren't tools but tool-shaped-objects. Easy also to go down various rabbet (!) holes dug by all sorts of Internet "experts", "gurus" and outright fools & charlatans. Many of these fellows can do WW - but often badly or even dangerously. Many are hopeless at actually imparting or teaching stuff.
Mind, there are some very good ones too.
So where to obtain the good WW info of the guaranteed high quality?
Ah ha! Right here!
The Fine Woodworking website is, I would say, head and shoulders above all other integrated WW information stores out there. It was my teacher, via magazine, Knots forum and, lately, the wider gamut of media, particularly the long video series illustrating how to make a thing, with all the associated stuff about design, power tools, hand tools, finishing and much else.
Pay your $99 per year (after the free 14 day trial, if you like) and find an absolutely rock-solid platform on which to build your future woodworking knowledge and skills.
But be prepared to sponge up enormous amounts of information. There's no avoiding it. Pick a project or two and have at it, with the very good guidance provided in the FWW articles portraying the project. Make the mistakes you learn from (we all do).
Go slowly with the tool acquisition. One good rule is: only buy a tool that you'll need for your next project. You might have enough already, if you pick something straightforward to make.
I have some ladies coming for WW lessons in the shed. All have learnt by making a simple thing. In one case, a not-so-simple thing. One is currently making this:
https://www.finewoodworking.com/2020/02/24/elegant-side-table
She just finished the small box in the photo, including internal dividers topped with a removable dovetailed tray - the first thing of any kind she's ever made.
The basic secret is to begin and to keep going despite the unavoidable set-backs. Obsession, determination, persistence.
Lataxe
Thanks so much for all of the information! Yes, it seems like $99/year for all of the access to information is great deal.
Yes you are in a good place to learn.
FWW has lots of info for you and lots of good tools reviews.
I suggest you peruse some places like Woodcraft, Lee Valley to familiarize you’re self with the categories of tools, and they carry pretty good quality stuff. Take a look at Lie Nielsen for a sampling of premium quality hand tools.
Ww’ing is a very challenging hobby, both skill, and financially.
The leaning curve is steep. Early on I suggest you start out with some doable projects, avoid the temptation to over challenge yourself.
My main 2 suggestions: don’t buy cheap junky tools & don’t be too hard on yourself it’s only wood & there are no gap police to come after you!
I will echo the suggestion re used tools. Many of mine were acquired this way, one at a time. I got a nearly new Delta jointer for $135; a new-in-the-box air cleaner for $200; a Delta lathe for $200. There are 2 keys to this approach: first, have firmly in mind what you want/need, and second, lots of patience. Well, 3 keys, the 3rd being be ready to jump instantly. I watch Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace closely when I am in the market - just remember, others recognize a bargain, too.
Many of my hand tools are antiques, and they work just as well, given proper tuning and sharpening - again, patience. I enjy using some of my great grandfather's tools that date to the late 1800's.
On our neighborhood blog a couple of months ago a neighbor mentioned she had some antique tools her father had owned and wanted to give them to a good home. The photo showed some planes and saws in boxes on her front porch. I arrived there 10 minutes after she posted. Jackpot !! A near mint Disston 28" backsaw (model produced 1896-1910) that is razor sharp and almost no rust. It has the miter 'box' in excellent condition but with some rust. A Disston rip saw (1896-1910 vintage), also razor sharp, plus 2 saw sets. A #7 Stanley plane in outstanding condition, a #6 Bedrock in great condition and a pair #5's. All she asked was that I send her photos when I got them restored.
Sooo, good deals are where you find them. People who buy quality tools generally take good care of them; those who buy marginal quality usually treat them accordingly.
Having said the above, I will add a comment. The above advice is for 'user' hand tools. If you are looking for collector tools, beware, that's another story that I am not qualified to address. Ebay is a great place to find good used tools - for using. But there are many fraudulent 'collector' tools there and on some other sites; I think most of the people listing them have no idea what constitutes a 'collectible' tool. But there is no reason that a good quality plane (Stanley) or chisel with a little rust and in need of tuning and sharpening cannot be turned into a perfectly usable tool - at a price far below a new higher qulaity tool. Garage sales, yard sales, and especially estate sales are good places to check out. Tools in antique stores are usually grossly overpriced. Most of the time you will walk away with nothing but some wasted time, but then......
Yesterday our neighborhood blog had another offer of tools and 'other stuff' free for the picking up. I was there in minutes. Lots of the 'other stuff.' Only a couple of interesting items; one an entry-level Stanley plane in near new condition, which I passed up to allow someone else to grab it (I don't need any more planes). There were a couple of the parts bins with drawers that were nice - someone beginning would love them, and they were full of screws, etc. - but I have 2, full of screws so I left them for someone else. Empty handed. I guess my point is that occasionally you will hit the jackpot, but only if you go after them.
I used an old solid core door that was great to get started for a work bench, as for every thing else just read fine woodworking magazine it is the best resource for beginners or for really anybody welcome to the craft.
Start with the cheaper, soft woods like pine or poplar. And plywood. You can make all your best (learning) mistakes on wood you won't mind screwing up. Beat up on and swear at a cheap piece of fir before you get into hardwoods. They're pricey and unforgiving.
Mikaol
Hi Mike, if you're interested in hand tool work, I'd recommend The Minimalist Woodworker by Vic Tesolin followed by The Unplugged woodshop by Tom Fidgen, both excellent books. For your workbench you can download Chris Schwarz's Workbench book for free. I hope you enjoy the craft.
You ask 3 simple questions. The answers to which have had books written about them. Lots of good advice above, but I'll toss in my 2 cents.
First, learn to make things straight and square. Without those skills you are headed for a life of woodworking frustration.
Second, don't always focus on projects. It's OK to just practice skills. Sometimes I cut dovetails, cut them off and cut them again. Just to practice.
Third, use your shop time as "mini vacation" time. Enjoy the set-up and build not just the finished project.
Fourth, since you are starting out, start with good habits. Clean as you go, always use hearing & eye protection, no marathon sessions, etc.
Welcome to the hobby. I hope this helps you get off to a good start.
I will not repeat all the other good stuff, so will focus on the bench.
In order to use your plane and chisels effectively, you need some form of bench, and some way to hold work.
I'd start with a folding workmate or similar. Preferably two. You can do an awful lot with that setup, though dovetails need something a bit sturdier.
When you know what you want to build, you can design your shop setup accordingly.
The minimum next step is a bench with a vice to hold work. This can be as small as 600mm square and bolted to a wall. Mine is 600mm deep and 2.4m long, but almost all of the time the 'far' end is a pile of stuff awaiting sorting. It could be 1.2m long and just as good for everything I do. It is really solid though and has a second hand record vice. Cost me the equivalent of USD 130 to build, including the vice.
Just remember that no-one ever looked at a piece of furniture and then knew instinctively the kind of bench on which it was built.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClaEdLrmti779-tyovta8zw
I have recently added a 2m x 1.2 assembly table based on the woodwhisper design and love the super-flat surface and under-bench storage options. I am sure I will build something fancier one day, but enjoy not getting backache laying stuff out on the floor.
My style is 'a bit of everything' and certainly 'Jack of All trades, Master of none' so this suits me.
I’m newish myself and offer this advice:
- take your time and enjoy the ride. It’s a blast!
- spend some time upfront and learn the fundamentals. I frontloaded a lot of time on learning how to sharpen and shop safety. It’s time we’ll spent. I have good habits now that I’ll use forever. On sharpening, Lie Nielsen has a dvd on sharpening by Charlesworth that I found helpful. It’s brutally slow-paced but good.
- in terms of learning, the $99 unlimited membership here is a great deal. You can trust the content (articles/magazine/content) and the forum is a big added bonus. There are a lot of very experienced people who are willing to spend the time and coach newbies. It’s also one of the most civil places around. Conversation sticks to woodworking, and there’s only an occasional flare-up where egos clash.
I now have 7 or 8 books, but found this book to be helpful with projects starting out. The first half (roughly) is instruction, the second half is projects with plans. The projects illustrate/use the various techniques from the first half (eg one project will use mortise and tenons. Another will use dowels).
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0980068878?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
- buy tools as you need them. Don’t go cheap on hand tool quality, but be careful on power tools. You could easily buy more tool than you need or could use.
I would second the advice from the gentleman who suggested obtaining a solid-core door for a workbench top. They're flat, heavy and quite inexpensive. In my opinion, it is not a good use of time or money to purchase lumber to glue up a solid workbench top when such an excellent alternative is readily at hand. A local door shop or even a big box store might have one with a mis-drilled hole for a knob, or a chip out of one corner, for very little money. I got a 36x80 inch 1-3/4" thick slab for about $20 some years ago and it has served as my main bench top ever since.
I overlaid the door slab with a piece of 1/2 inch Baltic Birch plywood and screwed it in place from below, intending to replace it every now and then when it got worn and beat up. 15 or so years later the original piece of ply is still on there and still doing good service. The secret is to work on - not into - the benchtop.
Holding the top up is a series of plywood cabinet boxes that have adjustable shelves, and drawers, that hold frequently-used tools like planes, chisels, routers, drill motors and a biscuit joiner and a Domino. There is a big Record vise on the front of the bench and an end vise on the other end. All and all, this has proven to be a good way to pack a bunch of utility into a compact footprint. My bench is attached to a wall underneath a window, but it could also have been made freestanding as well.
As to education, again in my opinion, a moderate investment in the archive of FWW would be worthwhile. I use mine every week or so; the indexing and search features are so valuable when I'm looking up information on how to, for instance, get varnish to dry faster, cut angled dovetails or how to deal with difficult grain in wood. To have all that at my fingertips, instantly, is a powerful thing when I need to find something out in a hurry.
Lastly, the number of of online woodworking videos available these days is staggering. Just ask Google how to build something and you could spend days looking through all the answers that come back. Not every one is a gem, but if you've got time to do some comparison-evaluating you'll soon be able to identify which ones are worth heeding. Just seeing how different individuals approach various situations is interesting, and you can learn something from that aspect of a video alone.
Good luck with your new endeavor. Woodworking is a satisfying, sometimes-frustrating, perception-altering activity that can engage you mentally and physically until the day you can no longer hold a plane.
Zolton
What kind of things do you want to make? That influences what tools you need first. You can find a lot of good and cheap tools at garage and estate sales. Power tools get you most of the way there, but hand tools are what makes things look right. Woodcraft shops usually have classes.
Thanks so much for all of the responses and information. I really appreciate it!
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