Newbie needing general advice

[Bramis25]

Happy New Year everyone!!

I’m a newbie to woodworking but not to DIY and although new to the forum I have been reading a lot from the experts on here and trying to build my knowledge and assess what I need, so please be gentle!

Where to start?!

I have recently decided to sell half of my business and have a change, short term I am looking to try out the recycle/upcycle market and do some home renovations and projects and long term I would like to pursue finding my niche and making items that I could sell on.

I have been researching for over 6 months on YouTube to find suitable projects and more recently on forums to build up my basic knowledge and whilst doing this I have been building a workshop/garden room from scratch on my own. Having never built anything other than some fitted shelves with lighting it has been good fun.

I've built a 3.2m x 4.8m Garden Room which is built from 6x2 flooring and roof with 4x2 walls and has a flat EPDM roof with a set of double French doors, this is all levelled off on some bricks above a 6" minimum cement base. It's not quite finished yet, just needs insulation inside and the cladding finished off externally and then the power run in.

I'm looking to build a long mitre saw station along one wall and some storage but other than that I'm really open to any suggestions and ideas.

Once this is done I will be looking to add power tools that I may need to start me off and then add to them as I progress, I guess my basic question is what will I need to get me started and which are the best for me?

I'm happy to buy 3rd first as I believe it's a false economy the tiger way around but I don't want to get ahead of myself trying to use tools that are above my pay grade right now!

To give you an idea, some of the projects I would like to try are a new bed and side tables, coffee tables, tv/media units, cabinetry, fitted wardrobes, fitted/standing chest of drawers, storage units, toy chests etc... These would all be either rustic or modern living ideas.

I have a Paslode nailer, Dewalt Multi-tool and Jigsaw, Makita drill and impact driver of a very good level so I am looking to the experts to tell me what I ACTUALLY need to buy to get started, here is what I thought I may need but some may not be applicable for now.

Compound mitre saw (to replace Evolution Rage-s).

Circular/Track Saw

Palm/Oribital Sander

Dust extractor

Router/Router Table

Table Saw

Thicknesses/Planer?

Clamps

Anything else??

I have tried to give as much information as possible so that you guys can make an informed decision if I need to add anything please let me know and to anyone who actually takes the time to read and help me out with any suggestions I thank you very much as I realise time is precious but if I do t ask the experts all I get is a lord of YouTubers trying to promote their sponsors!!

Kind regards,

Bram

 

[kevinlightfoot]

A plentiful supply of timber should be high on your list,together with racking for storage this should be a priority in my opinion

 

[sunnybob]

Oh boy, be prepared for 57 different recommendations of everything!

If you have room, I would suggest a good sized table saw, and a large bandsaw, because they will save you hundreds of hours of learning how to make wood straight with hand tools..

Next?

 

[Bramis25]

Oh boy, be prepared for 57 different recommendations of everything!

If you have room, I would suggest a good sized table saw, and a large bandsaw, because they will save you hundreds of hours of learning how to make wood straight with hand tools..

Next?

Thanks buddy, I appreciate that there will be varying views on what's important, but the flip side is that I will have a wealth of information to determine what I personally believe is required.

Thanks again!

 

[Alexam]

Get yourself on a few training courses to understand how tools work and when to use them. Without basic knowledge you will only be playing around with a hobby, but on the courses you may have the opportunity to speak with others who do have the knowledge you seek.

Are you planning to sell what you make and have you found out where your market is?

 

[Jacob]

A combi machine; planer/thicknesser, circ saw, spindle, slot morticer all in one with long sliding table, then you also won't need (or could manage without) a track saw, mitre saw, router table.

 

[marcros]

Where to start?!

I have recently decided to sell half of my business and have a change, short term I am looking to try out the recycle/upcycle market and do some home renovations and projects and long term I would like to pursue finding my niche and making items that I could sell on.

have a look through the various threads entitled "what can I make to sell". "profitable items", "craft items to sell" etc. have a serious think before investing thousands of pounds into machinery to take on this market, particularly from a standing start. the upcycling market may look attractive when you see something on ebay "selling" for £100, and you look at what materials are in it, but it is not sustainable to make a living from, week after week. It is like bitcoin, that some people will make money in the short term, but there is no underlying value to the goods.

 

[Bramis25]

Get yourself on a few training courses to understand how tools work and when to use them. Without basic knowledge you will only be playing around with a hobby, but on the courses you may have the opportunity to speak with others who do have the knowledge you seek.

Are you planning to sell what you make and have you found out where your market is?

Thanks! I will have a look for some local courses, I realise there is only so much you can learn from YouTube. I haven't yet decided in which way to go in regards to making things to sell but I have time as I really wanted to do some home projects first and see how they come out whilst getting used to the tolls before I even attempt to dip my toe.

Where to start?!

I have recently decided to sell half of my business and have a change, short term I am looking to try out the recycle/upcycle market and do some home renovations and projects and long term I would like to pursue finding my niche and making items that I could sell on.

have a look through the various threads entitled "what can I make to sell". "profitable items", "craft items to sell" etc. have a serious think before investing thousands of pounds into machinery to take on this market, particularly from a standing start. the upcycling market may look attractive when you see something on ebay "selling" for £100, and you look at what materials are in it, but it is not sustainable to make a living from, week after week. It is like bitcoin, that some people will make money in the short term, but there is no underlying value to the goods.

Similar to above, I have researched it a little but for now I am looking to create some home projects first before looking at dipping my toe.

I will however look further into this over the next 3-6months.

Thanks!

 

[MikeG.]

Skills first, then space (a workshop) and some wood, then build up the fancy tools as you get better. There is a world of difference between woodwork and feeding timber into a machine, so leave the machines until you have no choice but have them.

 

[Stanleymonkey]

Welcome to the forum . Good luck with your new venture.

Can I ask where you are based? Don't get too many from Surrey on here!!

 

[Bramis25]

Welcome to the forum . Good luck with your new venture.

Can I ask where you are based? Don't get too many from Surrey on here!!

Ha! Thanks.

I’m not far from you mate, live in Ewell.

 

[thetyreman]

begin with the basics, you can't build anything without foundations or foundational knowledge, that means learning how to sharpen, learning how to set up a hand plane, sharpen the blade then learn how to create a face and edge mark on a piece of wood, it might sound boring, but it's very important.

 

[Stanleymonkey]

Welcome to the forum . Good luck with your new venture.

Can I ask where you are based? Don't get too many from Surrey on here!!

Ha! Thanks.

I’m not far from you mate, live in Ewell.

That's cool. Have you tried D&M tools over in Twickenham? Worth a couple of hours visit.

http://www.dm-tools.co.uk/

There's also a really nice second hand tool shop at the top of Wallington. I'll have a look for the website - only open on certain days though.

Martin

 

[Bramis25]

Thanks Martin, I’ll give those guys in Twockenham a call.

Appreciate you taking the time out to help.

 

[Geoff_S]

I started by buying the tools as I needed them for a specific project. My first was some 25 years ago, an old second hand Elu compound chop saw. That allowed me to perfectly cut 19mm oak T&G floorboards
rather than pay megamoney for someone else to do it. I also invested in a Portanailer at the same time. Lovely job and many pounds saved.

The next was a hand held router, then funnily enough a router table, and so on.

As my confidence/experience developed I started to buy bigger stuff. I justified this by project, for example I got a quote for two pairs of oak large garage doors for £6500.00 about 15 years
ago. No, that's not a typo, it was £6500.00!! So I spent something like £750.00 on a record bandsaw and about £500.00 on green oak sleepers and cut them down and made the doors
myself.

And years later the only tragic problem you will face is that there are no more tools to buy!

PS Oh yes, get a workshop first, as large as humanly possible.

 

[Geoff_S]

Welcome to the forum . Good luck with your new venture.

Can I ask where you are based? Don't get too many from Surrey on here!!

Ha! Thanks.

I’m not far from you mate, live in Ewell.

I'm just over in Worcester Park, small world!

 

[Stanleymonkey]

Used to work around there!

 

[ScottGoddard]

I started about a year ago, building a shed for the new house. At this point i had the normal 'hand' power tools, to speed things up i bought a chop saw (this needs updating). Then the wife wanted some playroom furniture, she saw an expensive range. I went about building that, for this i was bought a cheap table saw (this has been replaced by the Mk T200 - ideally would like something a bit bigger and more powerful). I replace the table saw so i could create some floating shelves and media unit. I could have done this with my C-saw, however, i struggle to use this and be accurate.

so my advice like others.....

Buy when you need.
Work out the basics of hand tools....I have gotten so far (i did some basics years ago), but now looking at the basics to correct accuracy issues I now can't live with (i could before)
Most useful tool i have bought (over the power hand tool) i bench piller drill.

 

[shed9]

Only advice I can offer;

Buy the best tools you can at the time. Ether buy premium new tools or solid second hand. There is nothing more depressing than trying to work with poorly made tools - it will never end well.

Find a good local stockist of woods and have a play with a variety.

Also, invest in comfortable eye and respiratory protection and use it every time.

Lastly, factor in storage, else you will be constantly moving the same crap around your workshop forever.....

 

[Adam9453]

The tools you will need will mainly depend on the materials you are going to use to make the furniture you described.
Given your workshop is quite small I'd recommend high quality power tools you can move to the material such as a track saw, router, jigsaw etc.
Assuming you plan to use veneered mdf for carcasses then a track saw is great for long straight cuts which is difficult to achieve even with a decent table saw (dimension saws are great for this but won't fit in your workshop).
I would advise buying the best tools you can afford as low quality tools make it nigh on impossible to achieve decent results.
Aim for perfection and learn from your mistakes, don't settle for mediocre.
To determine which tools you actually need, follow this process;
1. Design a piece you want to make, produce accurate dimensioned drawings and a cutting list.
2. Review your drawings and cutting list to work out what tools you need to produce each part, each joint, each shape or detail.
3. Buy the materials and tools you need to produce your cutting list plus a little extra for mistakes.
4. Make the piece to your design as accurately as you are able.
5. Review the problems you encountered during manufacture to identify better methods or areas you need further training or practice in.
6. Review the finished article and see how good the result is, address any problems (see point 5 above).

Repeat this process for every item you make and you'll soon build a skill set with appropriate tools to match.
I realise I've made it sound ultra formal scientific experiment type learning but if you enjoy woodworking you'll love it.
Have fun and start making