newbie help (books & tools)

hello,

looking to get into some woodworking to save some money around the house. here are some of the projects i'd like to work on:

built-in bookshelves for a room where we want to turn into a full library, so all walls will have floor to ceiling bookshelves and a large window seat for the window facing the back.

closet organizer. in the fashion of california closet organizers.

pergola, trellises, etc for our garden.

screened in room for underneath our deck.

in terms of books. here's what's on my list so far:

Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking 1&2 Measure Twice Cut Once by Jim Tolpin Building Traditional Kitchen Cabinets by Jim Tolpin, James Toplin Mastering Woodworking Machines (Fine Woodworking Book) by Mark Duginske, Andrew Schultz (Editor)

would appreciate a good book on cabinet making and building structures.

in terms of machines?

am looking at the grizzly contractor saw

beyond on that, what type of machines should i be looking into? i'd imagine a router or shaper? bandsaw, drill press? does cabinetry work req a planer and/or jointer?

thanks.

Reply to
matt
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Hello Matt

It is gratifying to find a newbie who understands the worth of reference material.

Some further suggestions would be Cabinetmaking Procedures for the small shop by Kevin Fristad and John Ward.

Woodworking Wisdom by Nick Engler

The Woodworking Hand Book by Tom Begnal

The Woodworkers Visual Handbook by Jon Arno

And finally, sort of a basic course in building things

The Complete Guide to Woodworking by Chris Simpson

As for tools.

Is a planer and/or jointer required. Yes and no. Yes. tools that perform those functions are necessary and a powered 6" jointer and bench top planer make it a painless process but there are jigs and alternate tools that do the job. Hand plane comes immediately to mind.

Router, shaper, drill press, band saw? Probably, almost certainly, eventually, but, not necessarily immediately.

So many things depend on variables such as what you are building right now, where you end up going in woodworking, present budget, and your source for stock, that probably the best advice is to get it when you need it. Hell, you've not even touched on a hundred and one other things a woodshop needs. Good measuring tools, sharpening equipment, hand held power tools. hand powered hand tools, etc.

For instance, and looking at the planer/jointer question. You would use those tools heavily if you were to by rough cut stock and accurately mill it to your own specifications. The stock is cheaper and you usually do a better job then what you can buy. However, on the flip side, it takes a fair amount of board feet milled to get a pay back from purchasing those tools and you can have the work done for you at many wood suppliers and or buy it off the shelf at Lowes or Home Depot. Not only that but, in addition, the process of milling rough stock to finished quality is time consuming and boring and fine tuning the stock can be done with easily hand tools and or a few appropriate jigs.

Another example would be the question of a bandsaw. A good tool and very versatile but, unless you are resawing stock, there isn't much it does that can't be done with a saber saw, coping saw, appropriate jigs, etc. Even resawing, to some extent, can be accomplished on a table saw.

Read, start building small projects and buy you tools when you need them. Before you do buy make sure you know what the alternatives are, buy quality commensurate with how much you think you will be using the shop in the future, and be absolutely sure you know just what the tool does, why you need it, and understand fully how to use it as far as reading up on it will take you.

Good luck

Reply to
Mike G

Possible ideas:

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in terms of books. here's what's on my list so far:

Be sure to check your public library too. I have Duginske's "The Art of the Band Saw" and Mehler's "The Table Saw Book" checked out.

Love my G1022, but it's been discontinued.

Everything you can afford and have space for. Watch for sales on clamps, and I'm satisfied with the Pittsburg brand bar clamps from Harbor Freight.

A Kreg pocket hole jig is good.

I have both a DeWalt and a PC router. I wish it were two of the same model. Suppose I wanted to cut a number of dovetail or t-slots. If both routers were the same I could but the 1/4" bit in one and the dovetail / t-slot in the other, set the jig fence, cut the 1/4" slot, switch routers, and cut the dovetail / t-slot. As it is now I have to monkey with the jig or switch bits in the same router.

I know it's a religious argument, but I like my plunge router in my router table. ;-)

Maybe santa will bring me two more DeWalt 621 routers if I'm really good this year.

-- Mark

Reply to
Mark Jerde

great site. any others? i particularly like the phase shots. so many little questions to ask. are there general dimensions for things like depth of bookcase, width per shelf, etc.

per his site:

How do you assemble some of the small intricate moldings on your projects? It doesn't look like you use any nails.

I never use nails on a project. I have done an entire staircase without any nails showing. I glue everything. Most moldings are attached simply by glueing into place. It is not necessary to even clamp the item. I find that by applying some glue and pressing the piece into place, it will hold. Plus you get rid of the risk of denting the wood with a clamp. If you need some pressure, use some masking tape to add some pull.

no nails? is this possible? even for stairs and such that will endure great loads?

Reply to
matt

Glue some scrap together, let it dry, and convince yourself that the wood (or hardboard or whatever) breaks before the glue joint does.

Keep some unbroken samples around the shop. When a visiting friend or relative asks the same question, cut them a slice and ask them to break the glue joint, not the wood (or whatever). Very effective.

-- Mark

Reply to
Mark Jerde

Outstanding idea. That's how I started. You will save some money on individual projects. Then your next goal will be to break even on your initial investment. Of course you will always be running across other tools that you "need" for any particular project. And then you will start buying tools just because they look cool. You might even get a "jones" for a particular tool like jack planes (hi, Paddy), and not be able to walk past them without pulling out your wallet.

After that you will start buying extra lumber just because you got a "good deal" on it, or you know you'll need it for a "future project", or it was so pretty that you couldn't pass it up. Then you'll need to move into a bigger house to hold all your completed projects, and you'll need a bigger garage, because you have outgrown the space in your current one.

So you definitely should get into woodworking to save money. Heaven knows I've saved tens or even hundreds of dollars since I got into it.

Taunton/Fine Woodworking has a set called _The Complete Illustrated Guides to Woodworking_, but it's a bit pricey at $120 for three volumes. (But hey, remember all the money you're saving on furniture.) You might want to just check out the volume _Furniture & Cabinet Construction_ by Andy Rae. It's not really my cup of tea (I do some furniture projects, but more smaller stuff), but I got a chance to read through it, and it's a very nice book. Detailed, clear and well-illustrated. Check out their website for more info on it:

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Sorry I can't help you with those. I can't afford any since I saved all that money buying handplanes.

Chuck Vance Just say (tmPL) Anyone want to hear how I'm saving money on groceries since I took up fly-fishing?

Reply to
Conan the Librarian

LOL. point taken. however the 2 independent 30K+ price tag i was quoted on building the library alone had me calculating how many tools and supplies i could be buying before i hit 30K.

picked that up for $80 on amazon recently on another recommendation. maybe you're just shopping at the wrong places for your supplies

thanks for laughs

Reply to
matt

Yep, you've got 30K quotes, so that is the amount you are now permitted to spend on tools and you'll BREAK EVEN!!

You've already got the hang of it. :-)

Heh. Don't worry, Amazon sees its share of my business.

It's a fine book, no?

You're welcome. Glad you took it as it was intended.

Chuck Vance

Reply to
Conan the Librarian

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