I've been woodworking since I was a kid but there are some things that took me
years to figure out on my own. Before the Internet if you wanted advice from other
woodworkers you needed to know another woodworker in real life and
besides my dad and my grandpa I never knew any! But those days are over now we
have Twitter and Facebook to tell us what to do and we can spend hours in
discussion with other woodworkers about why other people are using the wrong
kinds of screws and why the brands of tools they're using are a joke but if
you're new to this hobby and trying to sift through all the noise maybe you
just actually want to build stuff I thought I'd share some of my 40 years of
woodworking experience and observations to help you avoid some common rookie
misconceptions and give you some realistic advice on what you can expect
as a new woodworker. Keep in mind this is just one man's experience and opinion
I'm just some guy if you've been woodworking for a while leave a comment
with your helpful advice to new woodworkers. What do you know now that
you wish you'd known when you got started?
It's funny how many lay people think woodworking involves pounding a lot of
nails glue is where it's at and I buy it by the gallon. Once you've mastered how
to build a relatively square box you'll be able to make almost anything I have a
theory that about 75% of all woodworking projects are just variations on a box.
I'm pretty sure the other 25% are live edge resin River tables. For most
woodworkers a table saw is the most used tool and the core of their shop. Rabbets
and Dados are the quickest and easiest ways to join boards together without
using mechanical fasteners. Other joints are fun to try but mostly unnecessary
those can be personal challenges down the road. In addition to recurring
expenses such as glue screws drill bits sandpaper etc the biggest cost of a
project will be the wood. If you're on a real shoestring budget take the time to
look for free lumber on Craigslist or Facebook. I know I give away my excess
lumber at least once a year. Pallet wood is usually free and it is an
option but I don't recommend it for new woodworkers it's a lot of work to break
them down and to get usable boards so I think the best option is to buy pine
boards and plywood from an orange or blue big-box Home Center you'll need to
take the time to find quality boards but they are relatively inexpensive and I
think pine is beautiful it's a highly underrated species of wood. But as a
ballpark figure you could build a desk like this one for under $100 using pine
boards and plywood. If you enjoy making small projects, say, jewelry boxes or
perpetual calendars and other decorative things lumber costs can be quite minimal.
But generally speaking get into woodworking because you want a challenge
and you love to build and create your own pieces, not to save money. If you need
say, a dresser, IKEA will almost always be cheaper than building it yourself. Either
download quality plans or design your own. Sketchup is a free design program
and learning how to use it is pretty easy. Trust me on this one I used to
waste a lot of time and materials just winging it in the shop, making up the
project as I went along maybe making a few crew sketches with a pencil and
paper. That could get very frustrating. Drawing up 3D plans allows me to
consider proportions and discover design problems before I turned on a single
tool. Even for the simplest projects I save money on wasted lumber and I save
hours just fussing around in the shop by sketching up plans first.
Don't fear your power tools but respect them. I have a whole video on safety
basics please watch it. Building a big project isn't usually any more difficult
than building a smaller project. It'll draw upon the same set of skills but
just with a lot more steps. This one might be a little controversial. A lot of
people absolutely love tools. They collect them and even call them their
toys. These days you'll see a lot of maker flexing on social media people
unboxing and showing off their latest expensive tools. It could be intimidating
and deflating I mean don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong with collecting
tools if that's what you love to do but if your goal is to build things don't
spend so much time obsessing over them. Anyone, and I mean anyone, can build
amazing things with a very modest set of tools. My mere mortals method of
woodworking is the most affordable way to build while still using modern power
tools but again woodworking ain't free. Don't fall into the trap of buying tools
you think woodworkers are supposed to have only buy the tools that you need
and know that you're going to be using on a regular basis. And try not to fall
in love with brands people love to identify with tool tribes but in reality
most power tools for hobbyists and weekend woodworkers function about the
same. Hey, there's no woodworking rule that says all your tools have to be the
same color okay this is something almost every new woodworker is going to
experience the first time you see purple heart at a hardwood seller you're gonna
be blown away by its beauty and in a couple of years it's gonna be brown. It's
a nice brown, but it doesn't stay purple. Ignore anybody who tells you anything
you're doing isn't "real woodworking". I'm a big advocate of pocket whole joinery
for instance, they are traditional but they're effective and a huge help in
building projects. Hey if you like to build things with a CNC go for it. If
cutting things with a laser makes you happy, light up. If you're completing
projects made out of wood you're a woodworker. If you want to be a
woodworking purist well maybe chop down your own trees and fashion your own
tools out of stone. Along these same lines, try to avoid thinking that
whatever you do isn't fine woodworking. Fine woodworking is a loaded term meant
to kind of invalidate the efforts of others if you just made your first
project say a small end table you just did something that fewer than 1% of
people will ever do and that's pretty fine in my book. Every project I've ever
made has had problems and challenges and I've never made anything that was
perfect. Just remember you can always turn the crappy side against the wall. Oh
here's another one new woodworkers love to do. Pointing out their mistakes. Be
proud of what you made nobody will notice its flaws, just the fact that you
actually build something by hand is awesome. Hey you could have spent the
entire weekend playing video games or watching Netflix, but you created
something from nothing. Just let that sink in, you have my permission.
Use whatever space you have. If you have stationary tools put them on casters and
roll them out when you need them. You can have a fully functional shop in the
space it takes to store a lawn mower and a couple of bikes. Reclaim a part of your
garage. almost every mistake can be salvaged and
fixed rarely do you need to start all over again if you goof. Find creative
solutions to problems. See there's nothing that can't be fixed.
If you don't do a good job sanding imperfections are gonna show up when you
apply finish and you're gonna regret it. Oh, by the way there's rarely any benefit
to sanding beyond 220 grit 60, 100, and 220 are the only sand papers I use. Lastly,
experience is going to improve your woodworking more than anything else. It's
really about getting in the reps, the more time you could spend in the shop
making things the more confident you'll become and the better equipped you'll be
for handling problems. Plus you'll be able to make more informed tool
purchasing decisions based on what you discover that you actually need. So these
were just some of the things I brainstormed. I'll probably think of more
after I published this video but if you've never done any woodworking before
I hope this video will give you the nudge you need to get started.
And if you're looking for a thorough no-nonsense step-by-step method for
getting started I have an online training course called the weekend
woodworker that'll get you building and completing your first project this
weekend, even if you have no experience. Start by downloading my free guide to
setting up your own workshop for under a thousand bucks. head over to mytoollist.com
or click on the link down in the description. Thanks for watching,
everybody.