In over my head. All new machines.

[Dave Macy]

This is my first post. I'm a hs senior that's been into woodworking since I took it in 6th grade. My dad just gave me some early bday and Christmas gifts that he found on craigslist; Grizzly G0555 bandsaw, Delta drillpress, Hitachi P12RA planer/jointer, and a Grizzly G1182zx jointer (before we knew the planer we'd end up with had a jointer too).

In in way over my head. My dad's good friend is our neighbor who helps me learn a bit.

I think I need to tune everything up. The drillpress is all set to go. The bandsaw has the original blade. The P12RA is ok for now but both the planer and joiner will need new knives but can I sharpen these myself? The G1182zx is in good shape, but since the P12RA also has a small jointer, I might sell the G1182zx and use the $ to buy more wood or upgrades to the bs.

I'm sure I will ask many stupid questions so I'm sorry about that. Let me start with my first..... where are you guys finding your rough wood? The only lumber yard near me is .5 miles away but it's super expensive and only sells what they call 4s but it's more like 2s. Do you just hit up craigslist?

So far for my room I made a trophy case out of cherry, a dresser (sounds nice but looks bad because it was my first thing). Next up is a little night stand for my alarm clock and stuff. Oh, and none of the projects match, they all used different wood haha because it's all we could get.

[Van Huskey]

Ill circle back to this when I have more time but for the wood include where you are, you can add it to your profile, this will help people direct you to wood.

[Frederick Skelly]

Welcome Dave! This is a great place to learn. Glad you've joined us.

I get rough wood at the lumber yard, but since yours is expensive, why not just see if you can live with Big Box store S4S? Or compare your local yard's price with one of the reputable online yards? You can search the archives here and get several good names.

Post a couple pics of your work sometime so we can see it.

Fred

[Andy Giddings]

There are no silly questions, Dave - so ask away. We all started somewhere. Van has given you good advice on the local lumber suppliers. Even if you don't live near a yard, there are decent on-line suppliers with quality materials that don't cost an arm and a leg. Good luck with your new tools

[Dan Hulbert]

Free to low price wood takes some effort to get, but it can be had. I've made all sorts of things from pallet and crate wood. Recently, I was able to acquire a pallet load of white oak cutoffs from a local custom cabinet shop for a song (< $1.00/ Bd Ft). The shop also leaves their rip cutoffs in a pile by the road. A little picking got me a nice stack of strips 1-2" wide and 10-12' long. The strips are cherry, white oak, ash, and hickory. Not bad for free.

[Prashun Patel]

Dave,
Welcome to the Creek.

Ask lots of questions. None are 'stupid'. It will take you some time to determine who's advice you can trust, but you'll certainly find some well-qualified mentors here that you click with, if you invest in reading a good deal here.

I suggest you first invest time in understanding the safety of each of your machines. Each of those machines can behave in non-intuitive ways. Understanding the beast is the first step in taming it.

Also, bring us along for the ride when you embark on your next project. Post drawings or sketchups of the design. Take pictures of your progress, and ask a million questions. It's not a rule here, but my advice is to start a "night table build" thread, and then post all your questions to that single thread. You'll garner a following who can help you and guide you thru aesthetic and technical challenges. It is also fun for the audience to follow the progress (vs. just answering specific questions in disjointed threads).

Good luck and welcome!

[John Lankers]

Welcome to SMC, Dave.
You've been given good advice, first of all I would like to repeat what Prashun says reg. safety.
It might be a good idea to tackle one machine at a time to learn their ins and outs. IMO the bandsaw can be more complex to fine tune than the j/p, a good start would be to watch the 'Alex Snodgrass' bandsaw clinic' video on YouTube. Btw., replace the blade on the bandsaw with one of decent quality to avoid frustration from the get go.

[Sean Troy]

You have so many good years of wood working ahead for yourself. Ask lot's of questions. I have learned so much from SMC and still do every week. This is the finest group of woodworkers you will find.

[Matt Day]

I'm just glad to see punctuation from a high school senior!

As said, post your location and we can hopefully help with lumber. Also try using google maps and searching for lumber, hardwood, lumberyard, etc.

For the tune ups, do some researching - the search function works very good here to find what you want.

Welcome! And remember, most people here are seniors, but unlike you they aren't in school anymore. ;-)

[Rick Potter]

Welcome to the creek, and props to your dad for being so supportive. As mentioned, there are a LOT of youtube videos for ideas. Most are helpful, but watch out for the few that completely ignore even common sense safety procedures.

Do you see your woodworking as a hobby or as a possible career choice?

[Van Huskey]

Looks like he updated his location to nnj which I assume means Northern New Jersey and while I don't have a clue about that area's lumber situation Pennsylvania is one of the great places for domestic hardwoods so there should be something good close.

One thing to keep in mind quality hardwoods even domestics are not "cheap".

[Matt Day]

I grew up in Newton so I know the area pretty well, but I never did any woodworking while I lived there. My Mom and Dad still live there and my Dad still does some woodworking. He's found some local sawmills and some guys who air dry and sell over the years. I can ask him for some names/numbers/addresses if you'd like. I'm not sure how below the radar they are, if at all, and if they want to be promoted online, so I'd prefer to PM about it.

I've never been there, but google maps "sawmill" and you'll find a few places that might pan out.

[Prashun Patel]

Regarding your question about lumber...

It so happens that I have a bunch of beech that you can practice milling. You are welcome to have it for free. But I warn you that your yield will be moderate to low. I think we are quite close to each other. PM me. You are welcome to have as much as you can haul away.

Going forward, check out BoardsNBeams (Fairfield, NJ). It should be very close to you. They have a reasonable selection of woods and I have found their service and quality and price to be pretty good. I am talking specifically about dimensional lumber.

[Brad Barnhart]

howdy Mr. Dave, & welcome to the forum. You'll find this to be one of the friendliest, most helpful bunch of woodworkers there is. imo. And remember, the only stupid question is the one you don't ask.😉

I, like you, started out "over my head", that was over 20 years ago. I was in the trucking business all my life. My bride & my dr decided I needed to slow down. So, my bride decided I needed a hobby, & woodworking is the one she chose. Seriously. We started buying equipment & putting it in storage. I was on the road at the time. When we bought "new" equipment, I went to the library & checked out books on the tools, took them on the road & read every page. I agree with several here that have said to get to know your equipment. That's the secret to that part of it.

As far as the lumber, start out talking to a cabinet shop. First off, they get better quality lumber, & as already stated, lots of times, their cut offs are throw aways. Next, do a search for lumber yards in your area that sell rough cut lumber. I would be cautious about pallet lumber. It is pretty hard on your equipment, & depending on where you get it, could be loaded with chemicals.

Enjoy your venture! Ask questions, & don't be afraid of making mistakes! We all do! Enjoy the day, my friend

[Van Huskey]

BTW I have had some luck using this site: http://www.woodfinder.com/

[Dave Cav]

Welcome. It sounds like you don't have a table saw; if so you'll be using your bandsaw for your crosscutting and ripping. You'll need a couple of different blades for that. I'd recommend a 1/4" or so, 4 to 6 tooth per inch, for general work including cutting curves, and a 1/2" or 5/8" resaw blade for ripping. I don't think your saw will adequately tension anything wider. You'll get pretty good at changing blades; it's not that difficult with a 555. Spectrum Supply seems to have pretty good blade prices.

Unless you're doing some pretty tight curves, a 1/2" blade will probably do 99% of what you need, at least starting out.

[Dave Macy]

Thanks everyone, and yes, some high school students do know punctuation. We just sometimes choose not to use it :)

Someone asked, yes, I have a table saw. It's an older unisaw that my neighbor has been teaching me on. I don't have any dust collection setup because I wheel everything outside since there's no room in the garage to actually work. It's a lot of work just to get things in there.

I'm considering this as a possible career I think. My grades aren't that great even though I try. I'm an injured athlete so I think I'm taking a gap year and am going to try woodworking as a business during that time. I have a few unique things I want to try but most of them would lead to mass manufacturing not fine woodworking. Other than some furniture for me, I don't want to get into anything too big because I don't have the room. So I'm thinking little tables and other small things. My dad says I may be fooling myself that there's only so much market, but I do want to try and he tells me to try.

Yes, NNJ = north new jersey. Also, thanks for the lead on wood. I'll shoot you an IM. Not looking for handouts but appreciate all guidance. I called Iturra and ordered some new bs blades today. Thx

[Matt Day]

There are a number of threads about turning the hobby into a business. Search around and read through them. Summary: it's a lot of work and it's hard to make a living.

[Gary Cunningham]

Practice safe ww'ing. Always use eye/ear protection, and use a respirator as needed.

[Wes Ramsey]

If you're taking a skip year it may be a good idea to find a local cabinet maker and see if they will maybe give you an apprenticeship or hire you part time. You can learn most anything about woodworking from the www, but you may learn faster with some personal instruction.

If you have to move all your tools to use them then a good first project might be to build mobile bases for them. Just setting up your shop or work area with proper storage and maybe a bench will help you get familiar with your new tools and give you experience that will come in handy when you want to build something a bit nicer.

[Chris Merriam]

Wood unfortunately is expensive. The cheapest route is to find a local sawmill. In my area, I can get rough wood between $2.50 and $4.00 a board foot. For an average 8ft long by 6in wide board, I tend to pay around $12 a board. Full retail would be more like $16 or so. A sheet of cabinet grade 3/4 plywood can be $70-90.

[Andy Pedler]

You might consider taking on an apprenticeship somewhere. Honestly, I have no idea if local shops would take on an apprentice these days, but if so, it would be a great opportunity to learn from pros. You'd have a chance to not only learn the technical skills required but learn about the business side too without it being your own business.

Good luck to you, and be safe.