Woodworkers

[Aquaman]

Still taking classes thought

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[zener]

Aquaman, most people cannot buy everything at once.
1. So start with the table saw first. Don't waste your time in buying some junk from Sears, Ryobi etc ... Get either The Delta Unisaw or the Powermatic type. You need to have a good fence. Very important. These two above usally come with decent one. You can later mount a router upside down on your table saw extension to act as a shaper. You will appreciate how important is to have an accurate fence.

2. Miter/sliding saw. Do not just buy a miter saw, get a good miter/sliding saw. For fine furniture and accurate work, I prefer the old 8" Hitachi because it is easy to be carried around on the job site and still can cut 12" length-wise.

3. Routers. You probably need at least 2. One for heavy duty job and the other medium to light job. Now what is expensive is the router bits. Get a good brand.

4. Sander. A random orbiter sander is a must. I prefer the Porter-Cable.

5. Other stuffs

By the way, try to learn the 32mm technique at school if they do teach it.

 

[Aquaman]

Originally posted by: zener
Aquaman, most people cannot buy everything at once.
1. So start with the table saw first. Don't waste your time in buying some junk from Sears, Ryobi etc ... Get either The Delta Unisaw or the Powermatic type. You need to have a good fence. Very important. These two above usally come with decent one. You can later mount a router upside down on your table saw extension to act as a shaper. You will appreciate how important is to have an accurate fence.

2. Miter/sliding saw. Do not just buy a miter saw, get a good miter/sliding saw. For fine furniture and accurate work, I prefer the old 8" Hitachi because it is easy to be carried around on the job site and still can cut 12" length-wise.

3. Routers. You probably need at least 2. One for heavy duty job and the other medium to light job. Now what is expensive is the router bits. Get a good brand.

4. Sander. A random orbiter sander is a must. I prefer the Porter-Cable.

5. Other stuffs

By the way, try to learn the 32mm technique at school if they do teach it.

Thanks for the advice I'll keep it in mind.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[ScottMac]

Regardless of the type of saw you end up with (table saw, skill saw, miter saw ....) put a Forrest blade on it. I use the thin-kerf Woodworker II on my table and skill saw ... crossuts are amazingly smooth, there's no tear-out on plywoods (1/4 --> 3/4"), and it stays sharp. I've used the same blade for three years now; I work with a lot of hardwoods / exotic hardwoods, ply .... it's just now starting to cause a little tear-out on thin ply.

There was a Woodworker's show last weekend, I bought another Forrest so I can send the old one back to Forrest for sharpening and keep it as a spare.

I use a Forrest on my worm drive saw as well, for cutting 4X8 plywood on horses. Same thing - no tear-out, clean cuts.

WoodWorker II's are ~US$100.00 but, IMHO, are worth every cent.

I tried Freud, CMT, and others ... Forrest is *The Best*

They have a good stacked dado set too (but I usually use a router).

FWIW

Scott

 

[Aquaman]

Anyone use any books from this series? What do you think?

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[LtPage1]

a lightsaber.

 

[OrganizedChaos]

don't forget an aircompressor, shopvac, and benchtop grinder

 

[Dubb]

clamps...lots of clamps. they don't have to be the $50 a pop squeze type, try garage sales that list tools in the description...hit a couple and $20-30 will have you set for life on clamps

I'd also highly advise buying a small brad nailer early on. I completely fubared my first attempt at a steam bent edge on my desk because 1) didn't have enough big clamps available and 2) trying to keep it in place long enough to nail it.

learned alot about bending wood though!

 

[Ornery]

I'd like to get into woodworking...

What draws you to this? Next time you get a chance, head over to the next crafts show, and check out how much money people are getting for their hours of effort and skills. It's very sad.

Why not learn something practical, like carpentry? You can save a LOT of money, and even earn some with those skills. Buy the tools for that, which will pay for themselves quickly, and you'll find many can also be used for "woodworking" if you still want to pursue it.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Ornery
I'd like to get into woodworking...

What draws you to this? Next time you get a chance, head over to the next crafts show, and check out how much money people are getting for their hours of effort and skills. It's very sad.

Why not learn something practical, like carpentry? You can save a LOT of money, and even earn some with those skills. Buy the tools for that, which will pay for themselves quickly, and you'll find many can also be used for "woodworking" if you still want to pursue it.

What's the difference?

 

[BadNewsBears]

Originally posted by: notfred
tablesaw, miter saw, belt sander, orbital sander, electric plane, router, lots of various sizes of clamps, power drill, etc...

I am partial to makita wood tools as my dad and his dad, and his dad have been using the same 5 circular saws since my great grandpa bought them in like 1930. Of course the triggers have been replaced from use. And the shoe got bent on one so it was replaced. Makita's dual slide compund miter saw is so lovely. Id say makita everything honestly. Good quality procuct at a good price.
Miter saw
circ saw
planer
belt sander
stick n sand DA
invest in some nice drill bits and a drill doctor
nice drill
router (makita again....or craftsman...good products there)

 

[Ornery]

Originally posted by: Howard

What's the difference?

Sheesh. Woodworking is for building shelves, rocking horses and furniture. Carpentry is for building walls, room additions and houses. Finish carpentry borders on woodworking, and cabinetmaking is as close as you can get. IMO, it ain't worth making cabinets or furniture, but it's well worth knowing how to do basic carpentry, and owning those tools.

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: Ornery
I'd like to get into woodworking...

What draws you to this? Next time you get a chance, head over to the next crafts show, and check out how much money people are getting for their hours of effort and skills. It's very sad.

Why not learn something practical, like carpentry? You can save a LOT of money, and even earn some with those skills. Buy the tools for that, which will pay for themselves quickly, and you'll find many can also be used for "woodworking" if you still want to pursue it.

Depends whether your goal is to make money. Mine isn't. I do nice work, but I'm slow at it ... I could never make money at it. But I end up with much nicer furniture then average and have fun doing it.

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: Ornery
I'd like to get into woodworking...

What draws you to this? Next time you get a chance, head over to the next crafts show, and check out how much money people are getting for their hours of effort and skills. It's very sad.

Why not learn something practical, like carpentry? You can save a LOT of money, and even earn some with those skills. Buy the tools for that, which will pay for themselves quickly, and you'll find many can also be used for "woodworking" if you still want to pursue it.

What's the difference?

Woodworking is more furniture, cabinetry, etc. while carpentry is along the lines of framing & finishing buildings etc. Some overlap. FWIW, I do both.

 

[Aquaman]

For me ....... woodworking is good enough. After seeing the price of some furniture ($10000 for a bed) I think I can take the time to learn how to make furniture. It's not about making money........ it's more about saving money

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Ornery

Originally posted by: Howard

What's the difference?

Sheesh. Woodworking is for building shelves, rocking horses and furniture. Carpentry is for building walls, room additions and houses. Finish carpentry borders on woodworking, and cabinetmaking is as close as you can get. IMO, it ain't worth making cabinets or furniture, but it's well worth knowing how to do basic carpentry, and owning those tools.

Informative post, though it could do without the "sheesh". As if curing my ignorance was too great of a task.

 

[Ornery]

Sorry Howard, but that blew me away. When I was 4 years old, my dad was building his second house, which was to be our new home. To keep me out of trouble, he had me walk around the site and pick up used and dropped nails. After I collected all I could find, he had me sit down with a hammer and straighten the bent ones. Carpentry has been part of my life forever and not knowing what it entails, is like not knowing what a milkman does, though I suppose many around here have never even heard of one, let alone met one!

Woodworking has always been a hobby/crafty type thing, like sewing or basket weaving. It's maybe nice to know how to sew clothes, or weave a rug, but not particularly profitable. Even quilts, which sell for hundreds of dollars, take more time than they're really worth. In other words, I'd gladly cough up the $300 for a nice quilt, than bother to try and make one. Same with furniture. Takes a helluva lot of time, equipment and know-how to make something presentable, which could be purchased at a craft show for 10% more than the material cost!

My dad is in the process of building furniture and what-not. He just bought a Dust collection system, so he wouldn't be breathing all the crap. Honestly, he doesn't have the patience for that hobby. It requires a lot more time in the finish process, than he's willing to put into it. Sanding, filling, sanding, more sanding, conditioning, staining, poly coating, steel wooling, wiping and coating again... and when it's all done, he has a mediocre looking hutch, table or shelf. Sorry to say, but it's true.