Please Help A Novice

[Lucas Spraggs]

New guy here, I've got some questions. I've always enjoyed building things and I bought my first house in January. I would like to replace the cabinets in the kitchen in the next few years plus there are peices of furniture I would like to have in my house. I have price the cabinets as well as some of the funiture pieces I would want, YIKES on the prices. I would like to start acquring woddworking tools and learning the trade so maybe in a couple years I will have enought experience to tackle some of those furniture peices and cabinets. Which tools should I buy first, I'll have to buy them along the way, can't splurge all at once. Thanks in advance for any advice or tips on getting started.

[Matt Ranum]

As for me I work in a converted 2 car garage so its not got tons of room but first and foremost to me is a tablesaw. You don't need to spend big money on one just make sure its a decent one though. I've been using an 8" Delta/Rockwell from the mid 50's for about 15 years, I put a motor on it and thats all I've had to do with it. Just make sure it is a belt drive with the motor out the back. Mount it in a work table. I made mine 48" square with a 1/2" router built in the top opposite of the saw so it serves 2 different tool functions as well as a nice extra assembly table. Get yourself a cabinet cutter set for a 1/2" router and a kreg pocket hole system kit. You will have a decent start for not a ton of $$$ this way and it will work fine for what your doing.

[Prashun Patel]

I think it's best to acquire tools on an as-needed basis.

I think a good way to cut your teeth is to add/change molding in the rooms. To do this, you really just need a decent compound miter saw. A pneumatic nailer helps but is not absolutely necessary.

The CMS is a RELATIVELY safer tool as you're not feeding things into it like with other saws or a router.

[Jerome Hanby]

Start haunting Craigslist. Older (or newer for that matter) Unisaws are good workers. The more restoration you are wiling to do, the cheaper the price. Those mythical $300 Unisaws are out there, just takes patience. I see lunch box planers all the time, I have the Ridgid and it's great. My Dad has the Delta and it's a good machine. I've seen good comments about the Dewalts here on SMC. I've never had much luck finding Routers on CL. I do see them on EBay (in fact I bought my Hitachi dual base set and Porter Cable 3 HP body there). I see many six inch jointers. You'll get a lot of advise on buying 8 inch and larger models and those would be superior machines, but deals on those are pretty rare in the CL areas I haunt. You can build planer sleds and do some other tricks to get similar results to a big wide jointer, so it just depends on your budget. The Ridigid jointer usually gets good comments, don't think you can go wrong with Jet or Grizzly either. In fact, Jet has a new combo jointer/planer out for very low dollars. Reviews from people that look at them seem to be a little negative, reviews from actual users seem to be a little positive. But it's a cheap way to get into a ten inch jointer (personally, I don't think I would use them as planers, you can get a good price on a lunch box that has more capacity and never have to change the jet out of jointer mode. The jet tables are a little short, I haven't seen anyone post about building extensions yet, and the fence doesn't slide across the face of the table, so jointing thinner material (edge jointing planks) will always be going over the same section of the blade. You may be able to build an auxiliary fence to move the edge jointing to fresh sections of the blade, maybe an owner can comment on that.

Table saw, planer, router, and jointer along with some hand tools and some shop built fixtures (router table) should let you do almost anything. I'd add a band saw to that list as soon as you can manage. Delta 14" machines can be had at decent prices. I've seen posts that the Ridgid 14" machine can be put into pretty good shape, but that may just be on the older models, a new one I saw on the floor in Home Depot had a broken casting and looked pretty flimsy.

[Dave Novak]

Before I went nuts in the past couple years buying tools, I spent the majority of my adult life building very nice tables, cabinets, etc. with only a cheap Delta contractor's table saw, a miter saw (not compound), a router, a few drills, a sander, and the Kreg pocket hole jig. All the other stuff is great to have, but not necessarily essential. For example, instead of using a jointer and planer, I bought 4/4, 5/4 or 6/4 lumber and designed my project around the thickness I could buy. My lumber yard, and I assume most, would straighten one edge of the pile of lumber I bought on their table saw for free. Eventually a jointer, planer, band saw, etc. will become a necessity, but only after you've mastered the level of precision attainable with those basic tools and get frustrated that you can't do better. That took me quite a while.

[BOB OLINGER]

Lucas,
Welcome! My opinion - the table saw is the first. It doesn't need to be elaborate for starters. I'd search CL, garage sales, other for a good used one. In the Midwest, $2-300 should buy a very adequate starter. FYI, I purchased a very good 10" Delta Professional for $200 last Summer to upgrade from a 9" Delta I used for about 30 yrs. If you're going to do cabinet work, you'll likely need to break down 4' x 8' sheets of plywood, so a good circular saw is a must. I recommend the DeWalt one for about $100 or so. It's a great little saw at reasonable price. Then, pick up a jig/sabre saw, don't buy the cheapest, a good middle of the road. Pick up a block plane. I assume you have a pretty good cordless drill. Clamps of course. A jointer is nice, but I don't consider it mandatory to do a lot of home improvements like you stated. Same on planer and band saw.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hello Lucas, welcome to the Creek.

I would begin by asking if you want to do woodworking to simply save money, or do you want to continue it as a hobby?

The reason I ask is if it's for a specific project, and then you do not envision continuing in the hobby, buy some inexpensive tools.

If you want to stay in the hobby, buy good tools and machinery once, and save yourself the money spent on future upgrades.

A good table saw would be the beginning, with it you can pieces of sheet goods into rectangles, cut dadoes and rebates, and cut solid wood pieces.

Once you want to work in solid wood, you either have to pay a mill to surface your material, or better yet, you can surface it at home.

To surface material you will need a jointer and a planer.

Once you're into curved pieces, a bandsaw is usefull, as well as being able to make veneer and resaw larger pieces.

Don't forget good handtools such as planes, chisels, clamps, a drill and a sabre saw.

Dust collection is another must, research that for a while and don't skimp on it. Dust collection and safety devices such as guards protect your long term, and short term health and safety.

Regards, Rod.

[Lucas Spraggs]

Guys, I really appreciate the advice so far. I plan to turn this into a hobby because I enjoy seeing projects come toghether and I'm patient. I have a good dewalt skill saw and great cordless drills. I'm ignorant to some of the hand tools. So forgive me, I want to learn. What is a block plane? Please keep the advice coming. I'm getting advise on which direction to start and it is helping. Please add more.

[Lucas Spraggs]

Also I've been looking at the Kreg Master jointing system. Any thoughts?

[Prashun Patel]

That's a good jig.

[Jerome Hanby]

What is a block plane? Please keep the advice coming. I'm getting advise on which direction to start and it is helping. Please add more.

Here is a link (http://www.woodcraft.com/Family/2000563/STANLEY-Block-Planes.aspx) to block planes on the Woodcraft site. Basically it's a down and dirty little plane that you use for little things, a little trimming to make something fit better, knocking the corner of an edge so it won' be sharp, those kid of things. Lots of folks keep one in their tool belt, apron, or pocket so it will always be handy.

[Lucas Spraggs]

Here is a link (http://www.woodcraft.com/Family/2000563/STANLEY-Block-Planes.aspx) to block planes on the Woodcraft site. Basically it's a down and dirty little plane that you use for little things, a little trimming to make something fit better, knocking the corner of an edge so it won' be sharp, those kid of things. Lots of folks keep one in their tool belt, apron, or pocket so it will always be handy.
Oh heck I just had to see one...I know what that is. Heck I've got a couple...always just called them hand plane. Thought a block plane was a specific type. Thanks again guys...keep it coming.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I would definetly reccomend a table saw as your first "major" tool purchase. If you can swing it, 220V is the way to go. 110v you're lited to 1.5 hp. I know a lot of tool makers claim 5 hp on 110, but that is impossible. With the 220v you get lots of power, 3 hp is typical, but that also means you'll need to buy a cabinet saw. If you're good with tools, you can get a great used saw for not a lot of money, but you'll have to work on it. You could buy new too. A friend of mine just scored a vintage 3 hp Uni for FREE.... Needs fance/rails and a few misc parts. The deals are out there if you look and wait.

For cabinets, a good router and table is a must. If you want to make raised panel doors. You can make your own router table, or drop a router plate in your table saw wing.

Oh, sorry. Welcome! These are a bunch of really smart guys here, you'll get lots of advice.

[Lucas Spraggs]

I started a new thread about the very topic of 110v vs 220v saws and just looking noticed that the 110v limit you to a 1 1/2hp. So are the 2hp saws run on 220v really that much more of an advantge.

[Jim Rimmer]

Try this link.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=118882&highlight=%241000

[Matt Stiegler]

here's another thread you may find useful, although its a few years old: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=16370


I suspect most folks here would say 220 and 3HP is the way to go if you're serious about it and can afford it. I recently upgraded from an underpowered contractor saw on 110 to a 3HP cabinet saw on 220 and am very glad I did. But there are certainly lots of folks out there doing great work perfectly content with 110.

[Greg Cole]

+1 to the comment about spending a little time remodeling the home you just purchased (unless it's new). You will pick up some hands on & some tools and turn the house into your home. Diving right into making furniture is tough as it's expensive to tool up and outfit a shop and learning by doing tends to use excess time and material.
I too wince at prices of well built furniture, but don't fool yourself into thinking you can make a piece cheaper when you stop and factor in all associated costs (and time). Use the motivation that you are doing it yourself & you enjoy the journey into the craft and leave the "cost savings" to the bean-counters of the world. :D
Buy tools as you need them when you are starting out. I'd advise to not buy the cheapest there is nor the most expensive. Buy serviceable tools that are in your budget, when /if you outgrow them you can usually sell a decent model/well cared for tool for 40-60% of purchase price.
Lastly, dust collection and a real work bench (flat and able to secure your work to the bench via vices, hold downs etc) should be high on the list. My DC was one of the last "big" tools I bought and I built a real bench last winter after "getting by" with a plywood topped piece of junk.