Newbie Question - What Tools for chest

[Richard A.]

I'm would like to start into woodworking but I only have a few of the basic tools such as a drill, circular saw, and jig saw. I would like to build a chest for like keepsakes or whatever and maybe later an electric guitar (for starters)

I figured I would need a table saw and a router but my dad suggested I would also need a joiner as well and a planer. Now, I don't care to do things "the old fashioned way" but that first chest is looking mighty expensive.

What tools would you consider the minimum needed for such a project as the chest? I was going through some of the old messages here with Google Groups and many recommended a good table saw, contractor quaility. I would like to hear any recommendations on one of these as well, preferably one that is dirt cheap with exceptionally high quality. :) (I'm willing to bend on both sides of that a little)

Richard

[Lowell Holmes]

A TS, router and drill press will suffice. You can buy wood S2S1E which gives you a board that is the thickness you want and it has a joined edge (straight). With a good blade, you can make glue joints on the table saw.

You may find you need chisels (Stanley 60's are pretty good), oil stone and leather strop (with sharpening compound), hammer, a decent old hand plane, rasp, . . . . .

OBTW, you can't buy the S2S1E at a borg, you need a real hardwood lumber company.

[Swingman]

Conventional wisdom condensed into a three step program:

Step one; buy wood for your first project ... probably a bench on which to work. You will notice immediately if there is another tool you need to get to step two. Buy whatever tool it takes to get to the next step, but only when you need it, and buy the best tool you can possibly afford, even if it hurts. Repeat the process.

If there is a tool out there, regardless of make or model, you can bet someone here owns it, has owned it, or knows someone who did and will be willing to advise you.

You will be expected to do your own research. Suggest you start out by doing a Google search in the forum archives on the words "contractor's saw".

Good luck ... it's a slippery slope.

[Morris Dovey]

Richard...

You have some good basics; but the choices really depend on where you want to go with your woodworking. I'd like to offer one more approach to answering your question.

Check local adult education offerings for woodworking courses. A fair number of high schools make their well-equipped shops available for adult ed; and enrolling in such a course would provide you with the opportunity to build that chest with good tools and experienced guidance. This would enable you to answer your own question in terms of your particular woodworking interests. That way when you buy your tools you'll know that the choices are exactly right for /you/.

[Mike G]

Buy what you need when you need it and don't break the bank doing it because there will be any number of unforeseen other things coming up that you will have to get. Like wood, finishes, GOOD measuring tools, sharpening equipment, dust collection, shop vac,etc..

You may not want to do things the "old fashion way" but unless "your daddy's rich and your mama's good looking" (summer time and the living is easy?) you are going to have to, like, put up with it and also put with some tools that many would consider undesirable. I.E. a bench top table saw.

If you are in the same boat most are in if you start a project and then have to wait every step of the way until you have the best tool you can get to do the next step you'll be having grandkids by the time that project is finished. Only the wealthy don't have to make compromises on tools,

You are also going to have to do a fair amount of study. You figure you need a table saw and a router, you dad says maybe a jointer and planer. I expect you know what a table saw's primary function is but do you know the difference between bench top, various levels of contractors saws, cabinet saw, hybrids? Do you know what the primary functions are of a jointer Vs a planer? Do you know what tools are available as viable options for those tools?

People can give you what they consider "must have tools" all day long but unless you have the knowledge to evaluate those suggestions in light of your own circumstances you will end up a confused and unhappy camper.

[Pop Rivet]

Mike's advice, IMO, is excellent and "sort of" the way I got started myself. The only "big" mistake I've ever made was the purchase of a wood lathe many years ago: I wanted it so bad I could taste it, was a new homeowner, and had all sorts of ideas for projects. Long story short, yesterday, approximately 26 years hence, I finally dis-assembled it and put it into storage. The ONLY usable thing I ever made on it was a set of coasters for drink glasses. Oh, and some of my foster kids have enjoyed just making round "things" out of square scraps they glued up, but that's it. So, I guess what I mean is, yeah, don't wait until you absolutely must have something to buy it, but give fair consideration to what you'll buy next BEFOREd it's become a necessity. In my case, having the basic tools as you pretty much do now, I learned as I went along what my next tool should be as I became disenchanted with making, say, blink dadoes for shelves on the table saw. Finally bought a cheap router, & wow! Much faster, better. Now I have a good one - bought the same way - the cheap one just wasn't capable of the tools etc. that I needed and after a few work-arounds, well, ... . Now, I wouldn't ignore lists of tools, etc. from people either, because they might point out things you hadn't thought of or didn't realize were available. Just remember, it's YOU that needs to be satisfied; all anyone else can do is suggest and give opinions. As for a planer and jointer and the like I'd say that unless you have a nearby teacher/advisor and LOTS of known needs (not just wants) for either, you should wait until you have the knowledge and experience under your belt so that you won't need to ask "which is better" and so on - you're lots more apt to get a tool that fits your needs and your budget. I always dreamed of having them too, but the actual, verifiable, tangible requirement for them has neve arisen; partially because I have a small shop, which means no room for them, but, ... not the budget either. Now, if you've got lots of money and a cow barn you can make a shop in, have at it!

Pop

[John McCoy]

"Richard A." wrote in news:ypQfc.2528$ec1.1446 @okepread01:

It depends an awful lot on how fancy you want to make the chest. Mike Dunbar wrote an article for Fine Woodworking a couple of years back on building a classic blanket chest with handtools - you might see if you can get that (library?) to see what one approach would be (as I recall, he used a jack plane, a rabbet plane, a bowsaw, a block plane, a drill and a screwdriver. And a hammer)(*)

The other extreme, of course, would be to make the chest out of some rare wood that can only be bought rough-sawn, with ornate mouldings & decoration. For that you'd need a ton of tools. So I guess what I'm saying is pick the project, and then get the tools it needs (which is pretty much what Swingman said). Thus, for instance, you wouldn't need to get a bandsaw until you actually get ready to start the guitar.

John

(* I built one of these, just for fun, using "whitewood" from the borg. Came out looking pretty decent, better than I expected).

[Swingman]

The operative word is/was "afford" ...

[Reyd]

for the handplane and chisels, start looking at garage sales and trade places and flea markets, estate sales, etc. I got some very decent japanese chisels(5 for 2.50$) much better quality then the ones at home hardware or whatever for 19.95$. same strategy for plane, also try used tool shops; pawn shops specializing in tools usually. We ended up getting a very decent old general table saw(no frills like a fence that tells you the cut width, or guards or splitters) but it was

200$, and is good solid cast iron certainly better quality then anything we could have got new for the 200$. try looking in buy and sell magazines(I don't know what they may be called where you live) but they often have tools in them. for sharpening try an old appliance store, get a motor from them, and then get a grey wheel, usually about 10$ attach it on and you have a grinder, almost exactly the same as the free one I have for sharpening turning tools.

[Andy Dingley]

You can build an ocean-crossing ship with an adze and an axe.

If you want a chest, why not go for the archaic medievalist route and do it all (or nearly all) with hand tools ? Six-board chests are easy, clamp-fronted chests are attractively medieval. You can do either with almost no investment in tools.

Cheap table saws are a good route to dissatisfaction. Save money from everything else and put it into a decent table saw.

You don't need planers and jointers. Not having them just puts up the timber costs, because you buy it at a more "finished" level. You can manage without.

[patriarch]

John McCoy wrote in news:Xns94CD7E4BF8030igopogoemailmotcom@10.0.101.90:

If you want a somewhat fancier heirloom chest with your hand tools, get a copy of the most recent Fine Woodworking, and see what Chris Gochnour did with hand tools.

It's a step up from the Mike Dunbar project, for when you're ready.

By the way, you mentioned your dad telling you that some pretty good sized power tools were needed. Any chance he has any of these, and you could do some of the first projects together?

My dad was/is an enthusiastic golfer. I was 30 before I got interested enough to have my own set of clubs, and 40, before I bought my own, new. The minimum standard for gear, woodworking or golf, varies greatly by talent, available time, available cash flow, space, projects and your physical condition.

Another recommendation: See if you can thumb through a copy of Lon Schleining's book "Treasure Chests". Hundreds of great ideas.

Patriarch

[Richard A.]

You guys can't see the tear in my eye, but trust me it's there. I've been to newsgroups for years and I would have to say this is the one of the best group of answers I've ever received.

I can't wait to check out some of the book recommendations, especially the one about Treasure Chest building. A trip to the library will be my next step. I also loved hearing that you can avoid some of the need of a planer/joiner by buying wood from a quality woodshop. (My daddy's not rich, and neither am I, so this is a great tip)

I'm already looking into woodworking classes for this summer.

Thanks again for all the great responses. I'm off to Google now for some more research.

Richard

[Andy Dingley]

What do people reckon to this book ? I really liked it when I first read it, but I've started to wish that some of the modern work was better done. Are these really the best examples that could be found ? I'm thinking in particular of the one on the cover, or the "Grand Voyager" chet that looks like the worst of the "plywood & poly" school.

[patriarch]

Andy Dingley wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I look at this book as a compendium of 'places people put their worldly treasures', often when they were traveling, or in less than settled circumstances. They are also very often intergenerational gifts, either intended so from their creation, or by tradition.

Very few were created by graduates of North Bennett Street, or College of the Redwoods, but mostly by folks who did other things to keep body and soul together. They are more works of the heart, than works of art.

My tuppence, is all. That's why it appeals to me.

Patriarch

[John McCoy]

Andy Dingley wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Ignoring St Brendan's coracle for a moment, I'm inclined to think you'd also need some means of making holes - an auger - in order to fasten it all together.

Not that that takes anything away from the point you were making.

John