OK. So I can be ok with not being Norm??

[Mike W.]

I have been 'watching' Norm build unbelievable stuff for the last 3 years or so. And, as mentioned in one of my previous posts, I always seem to wait on the good woodworking projects until I get 'just that one more power tool' so I can be like Norm. Heck... I can build anything once I get 'that'.

Finally... tonight I realized the error of my ways. And I should know better. I do a lot of amateur astronomy... so I know the average backyard joe isn't gonna look through his $700 telescope and see an image like you see from Hubble in the magazines (Cost in the Billions)... but I fell victim to seeing Norm pull out a $800 tool for this or that and felt I had to have one, otherwise what was the point in trying to build it.

After enough web research... I'm amazed to see that folks have built quality woodworks since looooong before power tools came around... whowouldathunkit?

This weekend, I'm going to buy myself a good dovetail saw and a decent mortising chisel or two. And Im gonna learn to do good woodworks the hard way/right way/old way/insert your way here.

So, since I'm going 'primitive' in the interest of 'going' at all, anyone want to share anything else thats a must have?

FYI - I have a cheapo table saw, circular saw, jig saw, router with homemade router table ( no fence except for a straight board and two clamps), roto tool, drill, and a 10" compound miter saw.

Thanks, Mike W

[Anonymous]

May the Force be with you....

Layne

[Traves W. Coppock]

On Fri, 03 Oct 2003 01:32:07 GMT, "Mike W." Crawled out of the shop and said. . .:

snip

its a slippery slope them tail-less tools. . .

T

[John Manders]

Sounds like my workshop. Tool priority really depends upon what you want to build. Norm is a self confessed power tool junkie. I know the feeling as I am like that but more on the metalwork side. If you choose your project well you should have a good result. Additions I would suggest considering: Power screwdriver. Decent plane, possibly power plane for rough wood. Belt sander for rough wood. Finishing sander. Finally, as Norm says, "you can never have too many clamps"

Good luck John

[Lee Gordon]

Believe it or not, there were some pretty decent books written before there were word processors, even before there were typewriters. On the other hand, there have also been some darn good works cranked out on those newfangled contraptions. As always, the craftsman is more important than the tool.

Lee

[Rob Bowman]

[Traves W. Coppock]

On Fri, 03 Oct 2003 09:23:15 +0100, Rob Bowman Crawled out of the shop and said. . .:

hell,,,why not three...i mean, you gotta have med grit

*G* T

[Rob Bowman]

I just love it when Norm says: "Gee, my widebelt sander sure does a great job of finishing these big glue-up panels". No s*1t, Norm!

[Brian]

You need a bench with a good vise. You probably need at least a block plane. You probably need some clamps for glueing. Have fun, and don't be too critical of first efforts. I favor a little completion, rather than an endless project...

Brian

[Scott Cramer]

On 02 Oct 2003, Mike W. spake unto rec.woodworking:

I've got a 30+ year old Sears table saw, the same router table as you, and a motley collection of hand tools, and with patience and study, I've managed to make some decent furniture. Get a 1/4" or 5/16" mortising chisel and a mallet, for starters. You'll need regular chisels, too, I'd suggest the Marples blue handle jobs for starters. Plan on spending a day learning how to sharpen them - Scary Sharp(tm) is fast and easy.

Turn off the TV and go to the LEEbrary(tmPO) and read up on how to make joints the old-fashioned way - forget most everything you've seen Norm do, and learn how to do it by hand. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Scott

[Bob Bowles]

[Tim Douglass]

I think others may be able to give you better advice on what hand tools are necessary, but I would like to throw in my personal thought that, unless you have truly abundant free time, a planer and jointer are exceptionally useful power tools. While it is certainly possible to do thicknessing and smoothing of rough lumber by hand it takes a lot of time and considerable practice. I've been forced to limit what I do because I just don't have the time to true up rough lumber by hand and don't have the power tools to do it faster. I either work with s4s or have a friend who runs stuff through his planer and jointer. Otherwise, I think a lot of joinery is more easily done by hand than by machine, especially if you don't have the right jig and only need to make a few joints.

Tim Douglass

[Jay Windley]

As an engineer by profession I can't stress the need to use the right tools for the right job and not try to "make do" with substandard or inappropriate equipment.

[Pause for laughter]

Now I leave my work at the office, so when I go home it means I have the same hobbyist's shop setup as lots of people -- always missing one crucial tool, never spending enough to get the quality that matches my appetite, using contraptions made of spoons and rubber bands instead of the appropriate clamp on sale at Home Despot.

Like most people who do this for fun and not for a living, I've got a few tools crowded into a corner of the basement, and that's where I try to duplicate the really cool stuff I see at art shows and furniture showrooms. I usually fail. When I need inspiration I tour The Mill at Warner Brothers or some other such place.

I've come to the conclusion that I'll never be able to build things as nicely as Norm Abrams, cook as well as Emeril, paint as well as Bob Ross, nor mix mulled cider in my toilet bowl like Martha Stewart. But other than these grave shortcomings, I feel good about what I do. Imagination, the will to experiment, and attention to quality and detail will get you so much farther than a $12,000 combination table saw, band saw, and espresso machine. Yes, having quality tools and materials is important. But not having them is not the detriment that it's made out as by the tool companies.

[Mike W.]

Hmmm... a bench was one of the things I keep waiting on building until I got some more good tools. I guess my 2 sawhorses and 3'x6' piece of MDF won't work anymore huh?

:)

Mike

[B a r r y B u r k e J r .]

I finally broke down and BOUGHT a decent woodworking bench. Woodcraft made me a sweet deal on a mid-line floor model Sjoberg. I built some MDF (for weight!) boxes for underneath and loaded them with the heaviest stuff in the shop.

Is my "ultimate" bench? No, but I wish I bought it a long time ago. The thing has already proven to be worth it's weight in gold. Simply having some sort of shoulder vise and dogs has really been helpful. I've bought some user-condition planes off of eBay and stepped onto the top of the slippery slope.

Someday, I'll build that 10 foot long Shaker bench, with dovetailed drawers, etc... For now, this thing is already improving my work.

Barry

[tim collins]

There is no try, only DO or NOT DO.

Seriously, buy the dovetail saw (or better, a dozuki with rip and crosscut sides, which lets you do tenons as well), and a couple of chisles. Then get some wood and have at it.

I started practicing dovetails on left over 2x4 from the construction next dose (single tails in the end). Not pretty, but helped me understand the angles and fit.

Nice looking chests can be made from pine selected from the HD or Lowes (if you choose right) with hand cut dovetails. Then buy some nice wood.

I went to seminar at a wood working show by jeff jewit on hand applied finishes, which gets you nice looking finishes with a rag, oil and shellac. Haven't sprayed on a finish yet.

Sure, my first few "projects" looked like crap. I have fun making them, didn't like how they looked afterward, and learned what mistakes I had made (mostly here on the list).

I'm still a hobby WW, with "stuff in the garage" but its fun.

tim

[Mike W.]

I dug the 'Yoda' reference!

Mike

[Silvan]

Don't even get me started about that one. I really hate that guy sometimes. "Let's do a tree." BLAM! "And another little tree." BLAM! "These are such happy, happy little trees." BLAM, BLAM, BLAM!

Thirteen second later, he has a freaking masterpiece, and just throws it on the pile with the other dozen he painted in the last 30 minutes.

Me, I've decided I'm really good at painting cloudless skies. I have a lot of canvases around here full of cloudless skies and some brown stuff at the bottom that was maybe going to be dirt.

That's just it, man. I don't even watch those shows anymore. I grew up watching that stuff when I was in about high school (late '80s), but it just doesn't pay to compare myself to people who are really good at what I do.

I play flute and guitar , but I don't have the patience and dedication to practice several hours a day, *every* day, in order to get really good at either one of them. I have a "meadow garden" because after the first couple of weeks of pulling up the same damn weeds I pulled up five times already every spring, I get fed up and decide to call the weeds wildflowers one more year.

Beyond these two, where the only real excuse is a lack of dedication, there's also the very real question of money. Mastery is expensive. You have to run through a lot of consumables to build the skills to be really good at just about anything you might want to try. Wood, metal, clay, paint, canvas, model locomotive bodies...

Mastery in most of my hobbies is extremely expensive, even once you've gotten past the cost of the basic equipment. Maybe a new floowhutzit can help you make quicker spleedles, but if you don't use the floowhutzit correctly, it won't make any difference, and practice eats material.

I can't afford a floowhutzit, and don't have room for it anyway, so I guess I won't make spleedles, or I'll figure out how to make them with what I've got.

[Silvan]

Bah, humbug. I still haven't gotten those stupid things sharpened yet, and I spent all *day* yesterday sliding stuff against sandpaper.

It's going to be worth it though. I don't have it right yet, but I can see the beginnings of the fabled mirror shine.

In all seriousness, it's going to work. I just had to suck it up and buy all the in-between grits I was missing. I've concluded that you can either use a lot of grits, or use up a lot of paper in a few grits without ever getting it quite there.

[Larry Kraus]

If there is something you want to build, "must haves" are the tools you need to build it. Start with what you have, and add those tools that are necessary, keeping in mind that there are usually several possible methods to cut wood to the desired shape.

Buying a tool because someone else thinks it essential is a good way to fill your shop and empty your pocket but it will not get anything built. It's better to work with your existing resources and spend the money on wood.

Since I know you will follow this advice to the extent you paid for it, your upcoming venture onto the slippery slope of Neanderdom is certain to lead to a collection of hand planes, and for that you MUST HAVE a sturdy bench. : )