(Part 2) Best products from r/BeginnerWoodWorking

Here are the basics, I will edit if I think of any more essential tools, but you can go an awfully long way with these.

Hand Tools:

• Hand saw- I prefer Japanese style pull saws, meaning they cut on the pull stroke. My go to utility saw is a Vaughn bear saw, which is a robust package, with several types of interchangeable blades. There are countless types of saws, for different uses, but a fine toothed Japanese saw will get you by for most things.
  
  
• Combination square- A sliding ruler square, perfect for marking and layout. you will also want a speed square eventually, so you might as well get one.
  
  
• Tape measure- Start with a basic 25' tape, and get more as needed.
  
  
• Basic chisel set- Most of the entry grade chisels are pretty much the same, this Irwin set is a pretty good buy. to start with a set of 1/4", 1/2", and 1" are all you really need, but you can never have enough chisels.
  
  
• Block plane- A low angle block plane will get you a long ways breaking corners and trimming pieces. Stanley makes a great, affordable, option. As time goes by you will need a jack plane, but a block plane will do for now.
  
  
• Sharpening equipment- A fine diamond stone like this will get you a long way keeping your chisels and plane sharp. You should do research into sharpening methods as you use your tools more, and build a system that fits you.
  
  
• Hammer- A cheap smooth face hammer. Build a wooden mallet as a starter project.
  
  
• Clamps- You always need more clamps. Big clamps. Small clamps. Weird clamps. I like bar clamps. Harbour Freight has good deals on fair clamps, but don't expect too much out of them. To start with get a couple with ~8" throat, and a couple with ~18" throat.
  
  Power Tools:
  
  
• Cordless drill- If you're willing to spend the money for a good, reliable, tool I recommend Makita, but a Ryobi or Rigid will serve you well if you're just working on small projects. Everyone has their favourite cordless tool brand, and, for the most part, it really is just preference. I highly recommend adding an impact driver and circular saw to whichever system you choose.
  
  
• Circular Saw- If you want to work with plywood or larger sticks, you will want a circular saw, which is the most basic power saw. Most of the major tool companies make fine starter saws, Skil is the original, and is quite cheap, but there are plenty of others, browse a store and see what takes your fancy.
  
  
• Jig saw- A jig saw is used for cutting curves, and you will eventually need it if you build enough things. I prefer Bosch but there are cheaper options. See what feels right to you.
  
  
• Miter saw- You don't need this right away, but if you start doing more projects you will want one. I recommend going right to a sliding compound miter saw, like this Dewalt. You will never need more miter saw than that, and if you get a small one you will eventually end up buying a the real deal.
  
  
• Table saw- Again, you don't need this right away, but eventually you will feel you need the precision and ease that a table saw brings. The Rigid portable table saw is a great saw if you're working in tight quarters and need to pack up, but you'll appreciate the appreciate the stability of a cast iron topped cabinet saw if you have the cash and space for it.
  
  Misc:
  
  
• Drill bits- Get a cheap twist drill set that goes from 1/16" to 1/2" and a basic spade bit set. Later you will want a set of forstners and hole saws.
  
  
• Utility knife
  
  
• Driver bits
  

I would NOT buy that set if I were you. I am a professional woodworker (cabinet maker and custom design-build furniture)... You want tools that are well made and are going to last- Ryobi is well know as a throw-away maker.

You are going to have to spend more than a couple hundred bucks and you are going to get less tools... But less is more in this case, since you won't be buying all of these again WHEN they break.

Rather than the chopsaw you would do well to pick up a good Ryobi and Dozuki... https://www.amazon.com/Gyokucho-770-3600-Razor-Ryoba-Blade/dp/B000CEF5HM , https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001DSY7G6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480972626&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=dozuki&dpPl=1&dpID=31x%2BPWWVK4L&ref=plSrch

There are many options for both- bit basically, they are versatile, relatively inexpensive, and once you get the hang of it, they are easy and accurate as hell- you'll want a chopsaw, for sure, but can get by with these until you make some cash to reinvest... Plus you'll want a couple good handsaws anyway, no matter what... The rigid spine Dozuki is for dovetails and other joinery, while the floppy saw has rip teeth on one side and crosscut on the other for a wide variety of cuts. They have very thin kerfs, and pull stroke (eastern) saws are MUCH more ergonomic and easy to use (try pushing a string in a straight line and then try pulling it..)... And as a bonus, they are quiet and don't need electricity. :)

Do get yourself a nice drill/driver set... I would recommend deWalt, Makita, or Milwaukee for their ready availability and price/quality ratios. This set will probably cost as much as the whole set you were looking at... But it will be worth it because they will last you a very long time. Also, having a drill AND driver will save you a lot of time- you can pre-drill/countersink with the drill, and then drive fasteners with the drive and not was time looking for and changing tips constantly.

The only things in that kit that aren't covered are the reciprocating saw and the light. I'd recommend just picking up a decent head lamp, as trying to work by a hand held flashlight is pretty much impossible if you're already using your hands to work... As for the recip- I'd hit Craigslist or something and find a used one.. they are pretty simple machines and as long as the motor works and you've got a nice blade, it's all good...
You'll also really want a low angle block plane and a router... With only the tools mentioned above, along with a couple of shop made jigs and fixtures, there isn't really anything you can't build.... I'd recommend a router from porter-cable or nicer- Bosch is good... At 1 3/4 horsepower min... And for the block plane, it depends on what you're willing to spend, but Lie Nielson is my recommendation.... Wood River is also good. Stanley is okay, but you'll REALLY have to put in work on the cutter and the soul before you get any kind of good results... And the cutter steel is pretty cheap and thin.. anyway, good luck!

Most decent lumber yards should have a large selection of hardwoods and plywoods. Looking up Dallas Lumberyards I found Craddock Lumber that looks promising as well as Central Hardwoods.

Remember that lumber yards price by the board foot. You can find board foot calculators online, but in pricing lists you'll see something like 5/4 (pronounced five-quarter) lumber. That means that wood is 1.25" thick. Most lumber will need to be milled from the lumberyard (called roughsawn) so that 5/4 wood will probably wind up being around 4/4 (or 1" thick) after jointing and planing. If you don't have those tools some lumber yards will plane there for you.

I'd suggest checking out Hybrid Woodworking for an excellent crash course in merging hand tools with power tools to achieve excellent final results.

Others have recommended Steve Ramsey and he's a great resource. Matt Cremona is a pretty cool follow as well as Matt Estlea. April Wilkerson does some decent beginner projects that serve a utility around the home. And I highly recommend the Wood Whisperer (particularly his earlier projects) since he's very thorough and a great teacher.

Good luck!

Here's what I would buy if I were equipping my garage workshop on a budget from scratch today:

• Table Saw - Unless you go for hand tools, this is the absolute core of your shop. Do not buy a new saw for less money than this under any circumstances, because it's false economy and you'll soon outgrow it. You may wish to buy a cheaper used model, in which case you should shop for a Craftsman 113 (aim for a belt drive rather than direct drive) on Craigslist. Spend up to $150 and plan to build or buy a better fence in the first year, which will bring you up to roughly the same capability as the new saws.
  
• Drill and Driver - You need a drill anyway. Everyone does. This is nothing fancy, but it's a tolerable set that should last a hobbyist quite a while, and both batteries and extra tools are cheap. Grab a set of drill bits and a few impact-rated screwdriver bits, or a fancy combo set of both.
  
• Miter Saw - Indispensable for cutting long pieces. You may eventually wish to get a big 12" sliding monstrosity to make wider pieces easier to work with, but you can also do that with a table saw. I suggest an inexpensive variant of the most basic type of miter saw to start, so you've got a good foundation to work from but don't have a ton of sunk cost if you upgrade later.
  
• Circular Saw - You'll use this for breaking down sheets of plywood bigger than your table saw can handle. You can also use it as a stand-in for the table saw for the first few projects. I'm recommending a lightweight cordless model for convenience during these simple, short tasks, but if you work with thick materials you may eventually want a powerful corded one as well - I've got a cordless and then a monstrous 15-lb worm drive saw for heavy duty use. If you just want to split the difference right off the bat and have one tool that's okay for everything and not great at anything, get a basic corded one.
  
• Jigsaw - For cutting curves and small notches. Make sure you get one with orbital motion, but other than that you can go pretty cheap on this because you won't use it that often. However, buy top-of-the-line blades; I really like Bosch blades.
  
• Router - This is a very capable middle-of-the-road router. You'll eventually want to add a plunge base, and might add a lightweight trim router to make edge profiles more easily. You can get accessories to expand on this, or you can eventually dedicate it to a router table and buy new for those other things - the variable speed motor on this is ideal for table use.
  
• Sander - This is the most general-purpose sort of sander, although it's a little on the aggressive side for final sanding. Just hand-sand where you need more finesse until you know what other sanders you might want.
  
• Combination Square - Use this for laying out cuts and holes and stuff.
  
• Speed Square - That blue book will show you tons of neat tricks with this square. Mostly you're going to use it as a short guide for the circular saw, though.
  
• Tape Measure
  
  Edit: Looks like that's about $1,100.00 depending on your local tax rate and how much of it you can slip past untaxed. That's steeper than I expected, but it's also an entire barebones shop for less money than the table saw I really want.

I don't think you'd regret the Kobalt! It's not going to be to the level of the Ridgid or Dewalt (and certainly not a Bosch or SawStop) but as long as you're aware you're getting an excellent saw for ~$200, and not a contractor/professional grade saw, you'll be happy.

If it seemed nice to you in the store that's a good sign. Be aware that with cheaper saws, you sometimes have to do some work to get them to work smoothly: things like greasing slide points, or waxing the table to make sure wood glides on it.

The other thing is that a new, high quality blade makes an unbelievable amount of difference! If you can afford $35 for another blade (no worries if you can't, the one that comes with it will still cut!) a good 50 tooth or 60 tooth combination blade will make an average saw give you some pretty amazing results. I use this one for $35 and absolutely love it: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008WQ30

This seems to come up a lot - enough that the mods should have a sufficient amount of info to create a how to guide at this point. Here's my general default answer to this:

I've always liked The Homestead Heritage
series. It's old and they don't update, but their are some good videos.

Steve Ramsey has some good ones too. Near the end, he seemed like he decided to simply start pimping his bad website instead of really produce good stuff, but his beginner videos are really good.

The English Woodworker if you can get past his accent, he's got a bunch of good videos. His are a bit more advanced, but he goes through an entire project at a time which I find helpful.

William Ng. He's got a very dry sense of humor and his videos are pretty technical, but if you like that sort of thing (I do) then he's a really knowledgeable source, plus he answers youtube comments.

There's also a good simple book called 2x4 Furniture which I really like.

If he's going back to school, he won't have time or space to truly use tools, so don't buy those with the intent that he'll use them at school.

​

Get him a subscription to a woodworking magazine or two. My brother got me a subscription to Wood Magazine, and I called it "woodworking porn."

These will have projects he might actually do some day, projects he'll never do but will aspire to, projects he might adapt to something smaller.


They will ALSO (importantly) have info on tools he can dream about buying in the future, or decide he doesn't need. Info on helpful gadgets to buy, jigs to make.

​

I found them VERY inspiring. They were fun to read, they didn't take a long time (wouldn't distract him from the school stuff), the pictures were great, and I got itchy to do stuff.

I learned things far beyond what actually making anything would have taught me (I'm never going to buy a lathe or a bandsaw, but I loved reading about them--and I'm much smarter now).

Many of the same principles (how to care for the tool; how to get things square; others) are actually applicable when I use other tools.

They had plans and cut lists, which were educational to look through, even if I never make that workbench or children's playground. I got a sense of how to construct something sturdily. And what order to assemble (the MOST important part).

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Get them in print form!

a review of several of them, with recommendations:http://www.mechanicalcaveman.com/best-woodworking-magazine-reviews-beginners-wood-working/

Another review, with a longer list (some of the same names)

Some titles I would personally recommend (most are on those lists):

https://www.popularwoodworking.com/

Woodsmith

Fine Woodworking

Woodcraft Magazine

Family Handyman might be good if he's kind of a fix-it-up person; a slightly different way of looking at it (cabinet inserts more than midcentury modern tables)

maybe get him a bit of a variety--a cabinetmaking one, a straight woodworking one, a "turning" one--to give him exposure to different ways of working with wood.

I run a cnc in my garage all day so dust and noise suppression are a must. I use the RZ Mask and either a pair of LG Tones or more so lately these 3M bluetooth hearing protectors. Having good dust collection is a must as well so I use a shop vac for small tools like the spindle sander and hand sander but I also have the Harbor Freight 2hp dust collector as well for the cnc and larger tools. I intend to do some modding to it soon to change the crappy bag filter to a 1 micron cartridge filter. I've breathed my fair share of wood dust and it worries me but also knowing which woods are more toxic helps as well. Purple Heart dust for instance is very toxic to breath in as well as pretty much and plywood dust and of course MDF. Just be cautious but I wouldn't lose sleep over not having that $150 respirator or noise cancelling headphones. To add to that, you want to hear just a bit of sound because listening to your machines is important too. Good luck in this adventure, it can be a wild and rewarding ride!

A.) why are they dropping this on you?
B.) Safety! Safety! Safety! Before you do anything, you need to brush up on safety in both a shop setting and when it comes to tools. Both Hand and Power.
C.) Boxes. Learn how to make boxes. 95% of all woodworking is making a box. Picture Frame??? It's a box without a top or bottom. Dresser??? A box with smaller boxes in it. Well, maybe not 95% but learning to make a box is a pretty good step in being able to take different projects.
D.) Safety
E.) Do you know what kind of tools you will have access too, space to work, how much time these kids are going to have?


You may check out the following Youtube Channels:

• Stumpy Nub
  
• Woodworking for Mere Mortals
  
• Paul Sellers
  
  Some books that might be handy as well:
  
  
• Woodworking Basics - Mastering the Essentials of Craftsmanship - An Integrated Approach With Hand and Power tools
  
• The Complete Manual of Woodworking: A Detailed Guide to Design, Techniques, and Tools for the Beginner and Expert
  
• The Joint Book: The Complete Guide to Wood Joinery
  
• One-Board Woodworking Projects
  
• The Big Book of Weekend Woodworking Projects

Do you have pictures? You might be able to use a thin kerfed japanese pull saw like this: https://www.amazon.com/SUIZAN-Japanese-Dozuki-Dovetail-Woodworking/dp/B07314SWRF/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=pull+saw&qid=1563841644&s=gateway&sr=8-8

They also make a more versatile version with teeth on both sides, that would obviously also work, but the back on the one I linked encourages the cut to stay straight in at least one direction. The rest is up to you.

Practice as much as you need to till you feel comfortable. Watch a few videos on how to saw straight and you'd be surprised how easy it is.

Good luck!

Thanks! If you use a straight edge, get those lines drawn and then follow it with that straight edge and a nice sharp xacto blade yours will turn out great. Scissors are a little tougher. Good luck and let me know if I can help. This was the first time I’d used this stuff and it’s really the product more than the producer trust me haha. Here’s the link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MRBNDW4?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf