
Beginning Woodworking - Tomte
http://woodgears.ca/beginner/
======
exDM69
An alternative path would be going with hand tools. Mathias Wandel is a very
good wood worker but he tends to use a lot of power tools, not all of which
are affordable and they require a ton of space. If you're interested in hand
tool work, check out Tom Fidgen's (the Unplugged Woodshop) and Paul Sellers'
YouTube channels.

For a budget of about $1000, you can get a very nice, full featured suite of
hand tools that you can build pretty nice projects with. And this price is for
getting premium quality tools brand new. If you've got more time than money,
you can get second hand vintage tools from online auctions and real estate
sales and refurbish them to work as good as new ones (I wouldn't recommend
going this path if you have no prior experience).

By contrast, you'll blow your entire $1000 budget on a table saw and a planer,
and you can't even get very good ones for that price.

Word of warning: do _not_ buy new hand tools from the big box hardware store.
Either buy vintage ones or premium tools from woodworking speciality stores.
Modern, mass produced hand tools (e.g. saws with hardened teeth) aren't very
good, they're harder to tune and are not designed to last a lifetime.

Working with hand tools isn't all that much slower than using power tools,
unless you'd do something very repetitive where you do the same cuts on a ton
of pieces.

I do woodworking using hand tools almost exclusively (I visit a shop once a
week, where I have power tools). I find it really enjoyable and relaxing
compared to working with power tools with all the noise, the dust and the
danger (the power tools at the shop aren't great quality).

I'd recommend the following tools to get started:

    
    
        * A rip saw and a cross cut saw (or a Japanese Ryoba which has both)
        * 4 chisels: 1/4", 1/2", 3/4", 1"
        * A #4 smoothing plane (if you have a good workbench or intend to build one)
        * OR a low angle block plane (if you don't have a bench)
        * Sharpening equipment because tools don't come sharp out of the box
        * A saw file if you got a re-sharpenable saw
        * Optional: a coping saw or a fret saw, depending on what kind of joinery you're into
    

The above will cost around $200-300 and is enough to do quite complex
projects.

~~~
vram22
>or a Japanese Ryoba

I remember reading about Japanese saws in the Whole Earth Catalog years ago -
and it mentioned how they were different in design and features from
traditional Western saws, with some advantages. (Used to do amateur carpentry
as a hobby when a teenager.) Do you know about the Japanese saws and their
benefits? I remember some had very different appearances from Western ones. I
looked in Wikipedia, but interested to know your opinion anyway, if you know
about them.

~~~
luckydude
I can answer this, I've used both in my shop (pictured below).

I much prefer the Japanese style saws (and I have some very nice old as well
as modern, aka expensive, western saws).

I like them better because they cut on the pull stroke (I find it easier to
cut accurately that way) and they have a very thin kerf (easier to cut less
wood, also possible to do more delicate cuts).

Japan Woodworker (now gone) used to have Korean copies of a dozuki for about
$30. The closest I've been able to find is the Lee Valley version:

[http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=32936&cat=1,428...](http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=32936&cat=1,42884,42898)

Unfortunately, that saw is now $42. Here's a good getting started article that
references the same saw back in 2007, it was $19 then. If someone finds a
source for saws like that that is cheaper than Lee Valley, please post it.

I'd start there, those are fine saws. Don't get sucked into spending a
boatload of money on hand crafted yadda yadda saws, these saws are delicate in
comparison to western saws, you don't resharpen, you buy another one when it
is time.

Everyone likes shop pictures, here are some from mine:

[http://mcvoy.com/lm/luckydude-shop](http://mcvoy.com/lm/luckydude-shop)

~~~
vram22
Thanks for the info.

Good shop pictures.

------
TamDenholm
Matthias Wandel makes facinating youtube videos, look through his youtube
channel. He's made loads of his own woodworking machines, marble machines,
mouse traps, lots of tests on woodworking methods like joints and dust in the
air, etc etc. He's an ex-RIM engineer with a family history of woodworking,
his high intelligence and skill for making things make amazing videos, been
following him for years.

[https://www.youtube.com/user/Matthiaswandel](https://www.youtube.com/user/Matthiaswandel)

~~~
k_sze
He's also the author of the gear template generator program, which is, in
itself, quite cool:
[http://woodgears.ca/gear/index.html](http://woodgears.ca/gear/index.html)

I discovered it when I watched the video about the making of the Wintergatan
marble machine.

~~~
zokier
In addition to being cool tool in itself, the evaluation copy wobbly mode made
a fun little reverse engineering challenge :)

Of course I advise you to buy it if you use it for more than RE exercise.

------
toomanybeersies
There's something so satisfying about woodworking, that I've never felt with
other, similar skills, such as metalworking (except maybe blacksmithing).

The most satisfying and long lasting thing I have from high school is probably
my cabinet set I built. They actually look really nice (probably because you
can't see my amateur attempts at dovetails), and they're built to last.

I guess it's because cabinetmaking is so permanent. You build a flatpack
cabinet in an afternoon and you don't feel bad throwing it out 6 months later,
because there's a million like it. But when you make your own cabinet from
scratch, there's just so much care and effort that goes into it. My cabinets
were built to last. They didn't have any veneer on them, and all the joints
were dovetail joints, they do contain some plywood for the side paneling
though, but I don't really see that as cheating myself.

It's something that software lacks, I've nuked entire directories of a project
that I may have spent a week or two working on. If I spend 2 weeks working on
a woodworking project, I'm not going to throw it out and start again.

It's unfortunate that I haven't been able to do much woodworking since I left
home, since I no longer have any tools, and I've been moving too often to
build up a supply.

Luckily there's a "Menz Shed" nearby where I'm living now, which has
woodworking facilities (and also acts as a social and support group for men).

~~~
exDM69
One aspect I enjoy about woodworking is that there's no "undo". Or "repeat".

When you've spent 10 hours doing joinery on a work piece, you tend to be
_really_ careful before sticking your knife, saw or chisel into it. And when
you realize that you've done a knife mark on the show side, you know you've
fucked up (just did this last week on a piece with 30 hours in it).

It's a very good balance to software engineering. It's (arguably) an
engineering discipline but a very different kind.

------
contingencies
I did a reasonable amount of woodworking and some metalworking in the 1990s,
but have recently been looking in to more industrial, bulk processes for
[http://8-food.com/](http://8-food.com/)

Others interested in physibles with an emphasis on bringing prototypes to
manufacturing ready status through an enhanced understanding of materials and
transformation processes available to industry and their limitations, one book
I can thoroughly recommend is _Fundamentals of Modern Manufacturing -
Materials, Processes, and Systems_ (4th Edition). While not uniformly
detailed, it has a rigid, logical structure that most programmers will
probably find appealing.

~~~
internaut
> but have recently been looking in to more industrial, bulk processes for
> [http://8-food.com/](http://8-food.com/)

What IS that?

~~~
contingencies
Mainland China-based automated food preparation and retail technology startup.
Think "large (wholly-owned) network of vending machines you can order custom,
hot, freshly prepared meals from via smartphone".

------
eth0up
I was surprised to not see any comments here referencing ol' Dick Proenneke,
whose creative, improvisational woodwork will, in my opinion, remain legendary
for the duration of humanity. For most, his work won't be practical or
directly applicable, but only for the most indifferent will it fail to be
inspirational.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Proenneke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Proenneke)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYJKd0rkKss](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYJKd0rkKss)
Alone In The Wilderness, Part I

------
leoc
The need for stationary jointing and planing hardware seems to be the major
obstacle to doing decent woodworking on a low budget. The cheaper machines
have low maximum widths and low lifespans, produce fairly low-quality results
and aren't even all that cheap. For a _really_ solid and versatile
planer/thicknesser (alias jointer/planer) it seems you'll have to spend a low-
five-figure sum if you buy new from a respected manufacturer. And trying to
plane well by hand instead is quite a serious adventure:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ojeul33vXL4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ojeul33vXL4)

~~~
cpwright
I've had very decent results with a DW735 and Ridgid JP601, which all in you
would have for $1,200 today. I was fortunate in that I got them both on
clearance for about $200 each. It is frustrating being limited to 6" boards,
but a sled would be an alternative for that. You don't need $10,000 to get
good results.

~~~
luckydude
+1. And you can look on craigslist, I've gotten some good stuff there pretty
cheap (Stanley #8 for $10, fantastic instance of this tool, I wouldn't sell it
for $500. Delta 8 inch jointer, the parallelogram one, for $900).

For table saws, the old craftsmen that look like this:

[http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/tls/5874228064.html](http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/tls/5874228064.html)

are actually pretty nice. I had one of those and it was really good about not
spraying dust at you.

------
Dowwie
I'm eager to make my workbench. Creating a workbench is a right of passage for
the craftsman. There's even sub-reddit forum dedicated to it. Going from
sawhorses to a solid, sturdy workbench must feel great.

~~~
edvinbesic
Please include a link, I was just thinking about doing this over thanksgiving
weekend.

~~~
arstin
Perhaps if you already have tools, a work area, and decent skills you could do
this. But speaking as a beginner who had a similar idea not long ago, I
realized a workbench required a level of skill I would be unable to achieve
without more practice and, well, a workbench. In fairness I do strictly hand
tools, so it's it a bit harder and the bench must be much nicer.

If anyone is interested, I ended up just getting this apartment friendly bench
for hand tool use. You do have to hold your foot on the leg when planing but
it works great for the size/money.

[http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=66736&cat=1,416...](http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=66736&cat=1,41637)

~~~
dfc
You should grab three or four bags of playground sand to add weight to the
base. For less than $20 you would not have to worry so much about movement
while planing. For a little bit more you could get some dumbbells and not have
to lose all the flat space under the bench.

------
tzs
I've got a question sort of related to woodworking, indirectly. Supposed I
wanted to build a stool. Just a simple design, with some flat kind of wood for
the seat (plywood, maybe?) covered with some padding, and three simple legs
consisting of rectangular prism shaped wood.

Even with my limited skills I could manage to find a way to attach the legs to
the seat. What I have no idea how to do is figure out, given a particular
choice of materials, how much to use. If I know my weight, and know that I'd
use the stool for sitting and occasional for standing on when trying to reach
something, how thick do I need to make the plywood seat if it is a given
length and width, and what cross section do the legs need to bear that load?

I did the obvious thing, and looked for "Structural Engineering for Dummies"
or something similar, but did not find anything. From the people I've talked
to who build their own things from wood, they either build from published
plans, or they use their intuition developed from seeing a lot of successful
designs and make theirs similar.

~~~
mmmBacon
I'd say start with pocket screw joints. You can buy a jig from Kreg for ~$100
for making the holes. You could build the entire stool in a few hours if you
have all the right tools.

I like the pocket screws for beginners because it allows beginners to have
some success and build confidence to do more. It also helps to finish a
project if you don't have lots of time.

I wouldn't use plywood but something like poplar. It's still cheapish, it's
easy to work with and it's reasonably easy to finish or paint.

Something nobody has mentioned is finishing. You can construct something
beautifully with dovetails but if you don't finish it correctly you will ruin
it. Conversely simple construction that's well finished looks great. Finishing
in my opinion is the hardest part of any woodworking project.

~~~
luckydude
I like poplar, the drawers of this tool chest are poplar:

[http://www.mcvoy.com/lm/photos/ancient/9.html](http://www.mcvoy.com/lm/photos/ancient/9.html)
[http://www.mcvoy.com/lm/photos/ancient/10.html](http://www.mcvoy.com/lm/photos/ancient/10.html)

The problem with poplar (much like pine) is finishing. It tends to be blotchy
like I think you can see in the pictures.

If you don't care about how it looks (I didn't for a shop toolchest) then it
is a joy to work with. Planes really really well. Hard enough and strong
enough (that chest is 20 years old and the drawer slides, poplar on maple,
work great. Silky smooth feel to them).

------
quickben
Safety tip. Especially if you are starting with routers or jigsaws, get decent
goggles+ facemask since stuff are flying everywhere.

I'm surprised most of these sites don't mention this.

~~~
Animats
Also, for table saws, there's SawStop. This is expensive, about $1500 for
their table saws (made in USA), but protects you from lost fingers. Table saws
cut off about 4,000 fingers a years in the US. SawStop has a system which
detects a touch to the blade by anything conductive (such as a finger) and
fires an explosive charge which jams a stop into the blade, stopping it in
half a tooth of rotation. This costs you about $150. TechShop has these, and
they get about two emergency stops a year.

~~~
internaut
The hot dog video may be the most convincing sales pitch in history.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FquL0GG9RGI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FquL0GG9RGI)

~~~
ChristianGeek
The finger video is even more convincing (skip to 3:40):

[https://youtu.be/eiYoBbEZwlk](https://youtu.be/eiYoBbEZwlk)

------
sanswork
I grew up in a family full of woodworkers where I was the odd one out
preferring building in code instead of wood. I like to think my ability to
hold large software designs in my head comes from my moms ability to visualise
and build large intricate pieces of furniture without written plans. I picked
up all the basic skills around using tools living in a house with a large wood
shop but I never developed my skills in it. Stuff like this definitely makes
me think it'll be something I pick up again in the future as a hobby.

------
Yaggo
I like the design of the site. It loads fast, scrolls smoothly, works in
mobile as well, does not break links / history.

~~~
pjc50
You'd expect a woodworker to be able to make scroll work.

(/joke)

------
Dowwie
I highly recommend checking out estate sales for dirt-cheap, high quality
woodworking tools and equipment. A lot of this stuff is built to last. Once
you get past the old looking appearances, you will appreciate having spent 10
cents on the dollar for things you use once in a while to do great things in
the shop.

~~~
luckydude
+1. I used to feel creepy about going through some dead guy's stuff. I was
having a beer with my old tool dealer (Dave Paling, long since passed on,
unfortunately) and mentioned that to him. He fixed me by saying:

    
    
      Dave: "Larry, who do you want to have your tools when you die?"
      Me (instantly): "Someone like me, someone who will use them and take care of them."
      Dave: "And that's why you don't need to feel creepy, he'd be happy you got them."

------
patrickdavey
Thanks for posting this link. I've been doing a little bit of woodwork while
staying at my parents. It has been so fun playing with lathe, bandsaws,
circular saws, routers etc. Woodwork is definitely something I'd like to do
more of, and this resource looks like a decent place to start.

------
fmjrey
Can't help but mention this great video where an enthusiast woodworking
engineer makes a parallel between tools in the real world and tools in
computing:

[https://youtu.be/ShEez0JkOFw](https://youtu.be/ShEez0JkOFw)

------
siavosh
Some relevant self promotion. When I picked up hand tool woodworking I went
and made blog aggregator in the image of HN:
[http://www.woodspotting.com](http://www.woodspotting.com)

------
luckydude
For Bay Area people, there is techshop. Or, if you want to drive out to the
Santa Cruz mountains you can check out my shop. We can always throw some
firewood in the lathe and make some shavings.

[http://mcvoy.com/lm/luckydude-shop](http://mcvoy.com/lm/luckydude-shop)

I need to take some more pics and show the equipment in there better but you
get the idea. Full on woodworking setup and some metal working (Logan quick
change lathe, MIG welder, grinders, bandsaw, etc).

~~~
exDM69
I'm going to be visiting SF/SV for 10 days in a few weeks' time and I'm an
avid woodworker. Got any tips where to visit? Any stores where I could pick up
some vintage tools or nice materials (like Japanese Shoji paper or Old Brown
Glue)? Any museum or historic site with something curious for a woodworker?

I doubt I'll have enough time to actually work on a project but who knows.
Perhaps there's an opportunity to cut a few dovetails and have a chat and a
drink :)

~~~
luckydude
I'm Larry McVoy, email is my initials at my last name.com. Send me an email
and I'll start thinking about where to send you.

Cheers,

\--lm

~~~
exDM69
Email sent! Thanks!

------
davepm
Get to know your local saw doctor, most of us are happy to give
recommendations, tips and the like. We often have good quality secondhand
tools for sale.

------
JamesAdir
Great article. I think that the advice on cordless tools is a bit off, maybe
the article is a bit old. Most of the tools sold today are cordless. Drills
especially can be used for many things, and you can use them more than once in
six months.

~~~
Frenchgeek
I think the point is when it come to furniture, you won't need a drill that
often to start with and you may forget to treat it properly, which would
damage the batteries.

------
KiDD
Mathias is the man!

------
keeganjw
Of course it's a .ca

