Bill in Detroit wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:
*snip*
I've had professors that would prefer to teach computers with only one computer in the room. They get nervous when they're talking about something and someone's busy looking up Regular Expressions for his Programming Languages course rather than the Java the prof is droneing on about. *innocent look*
Of course, computers aren't very much like routers. One computer is basically the same as the other, while routers have different shapes and sizes and purposes. I'd expect to see a half dozen routers in a just "here's what's available" demonstration.
I heard they work best if primed with a piece of quarter sawn sapient pearwood. But my stash is too low to take a chance, just in case it reassembles all of the boards into a tree. Joe
Feirer was one of the first woodworking books I got as well, though not for a class. I like it as a reference, and it is very thorough. However, it is more about the manufacturing side of woodworking than the craft side, so while the principles and resource info is valid, much of it is not applicable to the hobbyist. I'd suggest Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking from FWW as a better text for learning woodworking as most hobbyists do it.
*Ahem* Gotta disagree with you there. My two plunge and two fixed-based routers do pretty much the same thing, spin a router bit. My five active PCs differ more in purpose, capability and use than my routers. Throw in my programmable PDA and three programmable calculators and the gap is even wider. Here's a photo of my "3 HP trim router" laptop and my "table mounted, hydraulic lift, laser aligned, water cooled, power fed, 4 HP router" desktop. ;-)
I require the same of every student in my classes. No student can use any power machine until he/she can draw the tool from memory, label the parts, and list the safety rules from the book. NO EXCEPTIONS!
I was called in by this new,young and inexperienced guidance counselor. (I am in my 33rd year of teaching) She thought it was unfair that I required this of the special ed kids in my classes. I told her I would think about it. I returned to her office with a letter that I drafted stating that since she knew more than I did on the subject that her signature was proof that the student knew enough to use the tool safely, and if there was an accident that she would assume all legal and financial liability and that I would be held harmless (BTW, I knew that this letter was meaningless in any legal way. As she read the letter and I asked for her signature I saw her eyes get wide. I made my point, and she got off my case.
Read the books first to see if they are worth buying and highlighting. Most books repeat the same things. There are only so many ways to make mortises and tenons or rip boards or crosscut boards. After reading 3-4 books you will likely get tired of reading anymore. But press on anyway.
I don't even want to suggest a budget. There is sort of a Catch 22 involved. The more skill you have, the fewer tools, the cheaper tools you need. Your skill compensates. Less skill, the more tools you need to insure your lines are cut straight. And the more you use the tools, the more skill you acquire so you don't really need as many tools.
I think a table saw is very important. It will allow you to complete projects easier and faster than figuring out ways to do the job without a table saw. And completing projects is important when starting out because it gives you a sense of accomplishment. Table saws range from $100 to thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars. Hard to say which is right for you.
Read the various books that are aimed at the person starting in woodworking for a hobby. They suggest tools. Usually OK but affordable tools. You can look them up online to see what the budget suggested by the books is.
If you use common sense when working with tools, and proper safety gear, you usually have to work at injuring yourself. Not saying you can't easily cut your fingers off. But if you think about what you are doing, and use safety devices where appropriate, the chances are less. The books cover the basics of using tools correctly to minimize accidents.
Now THERE is a name I have not seen in a while. I do miss his posts. His sawhorse plans are still up. He shared a lot of good info with the group. I have the pieces cut out for a pair of his sawhorses in my shop in Tennessee, but ran out of screws and time to assemble them before I had to come back to Houston.
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