Dustin Keys
10-22-2010, 4:17 PM
I’ve been reading through the forums here for a week or so now. I joined just the other night to be able to view some of the pictures. I was completely blown away by Dan O’Sullivan’s walnut desk/bookcase in the project forum. That’s what led me to post this.
I have very little woodworking experience. Basically all I’ve done are some projects growing up around the house with my dad such as rebuilding the deck and similar repair and building work. Through that, I’ve learned to use most of the basic power tools (table saw, band saw, router table, drill press), but not very well unfortunately as these projects didn’t require much precision. I’m also a guitarist that has been doing his own setup, repair, and modification work for several years now. Through that, I’ve learned a bit about finishing, making my own tools for special tasks (mainly because I couldn’t afford the pre-modified specialty tools), and patience when working with these sorts of things. That’s all the experience I have. I began woodcarving a few weeks ago (relief carving), as I enjoy it and I hope to eventually use those skills for other things. My wife and I purchased our first house early this year, so I now have a garage to use for shop space (previously lived in an apartment, so I couldn’t do any big projects). In the process of furnishing the house, I’ve discovered that I love great wood furniture. I’m particularly fond of large, ornate, antique pieces, and I now want to begin down the path towards building pieces like that. As an ultimate goal, I would like to build things like Dan’s walnut bookcase/desk.
I realize that being able to build furniture like Dan’s is probably years away for me, but I need some good advice on where to start. While I know many people today start with a lot of machines and power tools, I don’t have the funds to completely rig a shop with quality machines and power tools right away (nor do I want to purchase cheap tools that won’t effectively do the job). As I understand it from the research I’ve been doing over the last few weeks, one of the things necessary to create the kind of furniture that I love is a firm grasp of hand tools and how to use them. It seems to me that hand tools may be a good place to start given my lack of experience and funds.
There are no woodworking classes close-by for me to take, so my learning will be largely through books and the internet for now. Most of the beginner advice I’ve found is left very open-ended with statements like “it depends on the kind of projects you want to build.” While I know that’s true, I really need some advice tailored to my goal: Ultimately, I want to build great wood furniture. Here are the tools I currently have:
Circular Saw
Jigsaw
Palm Sander with dust collection bag
Dremel tool (3000 series)
Screwdrivers, wrenches, hammers, etc.
Straightedge
Abrasives
Clamps
Bench Vise
Finishing supplies (dyes, stains, lacquer, shellac, respirator, etc)
Obviously, that list is shallow and missing a lot of important tools. I have little to no experience with joinery, using planes, using chisels, handsaws, etc.
So where do I start if I want to be successful? If you were me with the tools that I currently have, what tools would you initially purchase/build/rehabilitate? As my budget is limited, I can’t go out and buy all the tools I want right now, and I’m uncertain as to which ones to start with.
What about initial skill-building, where do I start? What kinds of things should I be practicing first, and how do I best practice them?
This is what I would like to do for my first real project, but I feel like I need to work a lot on fundamentals before I tackle something like this:
http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/7670/free-plan-humidor (http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/7670/free-plan-humidor)
Thanks for any advice you can give me!
Dustin
I have very little woodworking experience. Basically all I’ve done are some projects growing up around the house with my dad such as rebuilding the deck and similar repair and building work. Through that, I’ve learned to use most of the basic power tools (table saw, band saw, router table, drill press), but not very well unfortunately as these projects didn’t require much precision. I’m also a guitarist that has been doing his own setup, repair, and modification work for several years now. Through that, I’ve learned a bit about finishing, making my own tools for special tasks (mainly because I couldn’t afford the pre-modified specialty tools), and patience when working with these sorts of things. That’s all the experience I have. I began woodcarving a few weeks ago (relief carving), as I enjoy it and I hope to eventually use those skills for other things. My wife and I purchased our first house early this year, so I now have a garage to use for shop space (previously lived in an apartment, so I couldn’t do any big projects). In the process of furnishing the house, I’ve discovered that I love great wood furniture. I’m particularly fond of large, ornate, antique pieces, and I now want to begin down the path towards building pieces like that. As an ultimate goal, I would like to build things like Dan’s walnut bookcase/desk.
I realize that being able to build furniture like Dan’s is probably years away for me, but I need some good advice on where to start. While I know many people today start with a lot of machines and power tools, I don’t have the funds to completely rig a shop with quality machines and power tools right away (nor do I want to purchase cheap tools that won’t effectively do the job). As I understand it from the research I’ve been doing over the last few weeks, one of the things necessary to create the kind of furniture that I love is a firm grasp of hand tools and how to use them. It seems to me that hand tools may be a good place to start given my lack of experience and funds.
There are no woodworking classes close-by for me to take, so my learning will be largely through books and the internet for now. Most of the beginner advice I’ve found is left very open-ended with statements like “it depends on the kind of projects you want to build.” While I know that’s true, I really need some advice tailored to my goal: Ultimately, I want to build great wood furniture. Here are the tools I currently have:
Circular Saw
Jigsaw
Palm Sander with dust collection bag
Dremel tool (3000 series)
Screwdrivers, wrenches, hammers, etc.
Straightedge
Abrasives
Clamps
Bench Vise
Finishing supplies (dyes, stains, lacquer, shellac, respirator, etc)
Obviously, that list is shallow and missing a lot of important tools. I have little to no experience with joinery, using planes, using chisels, handsaws, etc.
So where do I start if I want to be successful? If you were me with the tools that I currently have, what tools would you initially purchase/build/rehabilitate? As my budget is limited, I can’t go out and buy all the tools I want right now, and I’m uncertain as to which ones to start with.
What about initial skill-building, where do I start? What kinds of things should I be practicing first, and how do I best practice them?
This is what I would like to do for my first real project, but I feel like I need to work a lot on fundamentals before I tackle something like this:
http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/7670/free-plan-humidor (http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/7670/free-plan-humidor)
Thanks for any advice you can give me!
Dustin