Not quite there

[sed9888]

I love what im doing when in my little shop, im learning all the time, but i feel that my work is just not there,i think the pending table saw will help at the moment i am using my skill saw to cut the lengths i need, am i expecting to much of myself is my OCD taking control, but i want to get those straight lines, edges, joints etc, so what do you think will help me achieve that is it something at my tender age of 60 i can teach myself or am i to late in life to do it, i have some great ideas probably way to advanced for my skills
any advice with guys would be very helpful

 

[artie]

I love what im doing when in my little shop, im learning all the time, but i feel that my work is just not there,i think the pending table saw will help at the moment i am using my skill saw to cut the lengths i need, am i expecting to much of myself is my OCD taking control, but i want to get those straight lines, edges, joints etc, so what do you think will help me achieve that is it something at my tender age of 60 i can teach myself or am i to late in life to do it, i have some great ideas probably way to advanced for my skills
any advice with guys would be very helpful

I understand your pain.
I have found that buying more machinery doesn't always help.
It's ok, if the need is to do something faster, a table saw will help you run off a thousand pieces quicker, but straight lines and square corners can be managed with much less.

When I say straight, or square, I am aware the nothing is ever perfectly either.

 

[robgul]

If you already have a circular saw why not try making cuts using a rail of some sort to run the saw against? - quite a few YouTube videos on the subject, including some ideas for turning the normal circular saw into a track- saw.

Have to say that since I bought a track-saw (cheapie Screwfix £100) I've barely used my table saw - the track-saw the cuts are true, simpler to set up, quicker and cleaner.

 

[Ttrees]

I found hand planes took things to the next level,
and if I hadn't a plane I wouldn't have progressed.
I don't think there's another tool in the world that makes such a difference.

A nice old no 5 1/2, (some like a no.5 better) would be the first thing I would get if I didn't have one.
That and a straight edge that's long enough to make a pair of timber ones
the length of the bench/timber needing to be worked.

Tom

 

[Yojevol]

I think you need to determine what your priorities are. Is it that you want to master traditional skills or do you want to get satisfaction from a well finished article? If it's both then you might spend a long time before you're happy. For me it's the end product and I'll use any method available to me to get there. There are many skills to be learnt in getting the best out of your machines so challenge and problem solving is there in abundance; that's what keeps us young at heart. If your ideas are beyond your skill levels then find workarounds. Life is to short, we take our skills to the grave but it's nice to think that those skills will leave something behind for the future to enjoy.
Brian
PS I've just bought a CNC router, albeit an old one

 

[Fitzroy]

I don’t think it’s too late to learn but also it’ll not come overnight. I find machines help me to get close faster, I can then use hand tools to complete the joinery and finish.

It took me about five years of hobby woodworking to get to the stage of making something I’m proud of and see as complex. Eg the table I made earlier this year. Note this isn’t complex by others standards.

However I made a shoe rack 4 years before that which is still in use. It’s simpler and fitted my skills at the time. I dimensioned and flatten the ends with a hand plane. The rungs were bought PSE and round tenons put on the ends.

I think pick a project that suits your skills and machines with a little stretch. Complete it then decide what next. With each project stretch your skills and occasionally buy a tool that will make the next projects easier. That’s kind of how my woodwork journey has gone.

Fitz.

 

[billw]

Ok so you’re definitely not too late in life to learn!

I have OCD as well but I’ve learned that in woodworking you’re dealing with timber movement meaning what’s fine one day might not be the next. Cutting pieces that warp - argh! Also stuff really doesn’t need to be perfect, if you get joints that work that’s great, do them again and see what could be improved upon.

Power tools, well at first I wanted to be hand tools only. I soon learned that I’d take a year to make anything at all. I still want to have the skills but things like planing and thicknessing are thankless chores that can consume hours of valuable time. A bandsaw is a godsend and my track saw has reduced the task of making components easy.

As a hobbyist it seems odd to do everything by machine but at the same time it’s better to spend time designing and constructing something and choosing timbers. Once basic components are sized up then hand tools get used to create joints and details and mistakes, I mean design features.

Start simple. Can you get things square? Can you make a basic table or a shelving unit? Are you comfortable with measuring and marking out? Are your tools sharp?

maybe even just use off it’s to practice things like mitres or dovetails. Can you perhaps make a jig to make the process easier? The jigs themselves are good practice.

if you get stuck then simply ask here on the forum!

most of all, enjoy it

 

[Jameshow]

The good thing about being a rubbish woodworker us that you can improve!

And improve faster than the old timers in here rather like the couch to 5k runner makes much more progress than the seasoned club runner might...

I look at joints I've made even early in I the same project and cringe!!!

What I think helped me most was sharp tools and sharp lines...

Preciseness in every detail rewards you good joints! Not easy for a less the perfectionist chap like me but I'm trying to improve over lockdown and I think it's working!!!

Cheers James

 

[LBCarpentry]

Never too late in life to learn but I have to say that even the basic apprenticeship is 3 years full time work in a professional joinery workshop and your still pretty green after that....

To a professional, it’s plain as day to spot someone who isn’t “time served”. Now that doesn’t mean there are no good self taught woodworkers, but I’d expect it to take around 5 years of regular practice before you produce anything of genuinely decent quality.

It’s not just having a vision and going for it. It’s engineering, research, precision, planning, foreseeing & knowledge. And it all needs to come together as one final outcome. Many many small elements have to come together. And no amount of youtube can teach you that.

 

[thetyreman]

never too late imo, just have a plan and stick to it, make pieces that are increasingly challenging and growing your skills.

 

[Rorton]

I started in the same way, I can’t cut well with a handsaw, so used a circular saw, built a guide rail for it, but still wasn’t great.

I eventually caved in and bought a table saw, and it was a revelation for me. All of a sudden, I can cut straight, square and accurately every time, so the ideas I had for projects were now achievable.

Never too late to learn, and a wealth of information available from members on here too

what saw did you buy?

 

[Sandyn]

The first thing is to stop feeling as if what you are doing is not good enough, just enjoy whatever you are able to do and not be too focused on getting things perfect.
Make things which don't need such precision. Gradually you will learn to do things better. It takes skill to get really good results, but you can take shortcuts and get machinery to make things easier. If you do it for the love of woodwork and enjoy all the manual ways of making things, then you will have to keep trying and you will improve. If you do it for the love of making things, then get machinery to make things easier and faster. When you get your table saw, you will see a quantum jump in the quality of what you can do. Cuts will be straight with a much better quality finish.
I would struggle to cut straight with a hand saw, but it doesn't bother me.
Don't be too hard on yourself!! It's just a hobby and you have lots of time to learn......and you are NEVER too late to start!

 

[TRITON]

Perfection isnt always achievable, but that in hand made furniture adds to the human aspect of it. you can see the little odd bits of damage or offset or chips, scratches, not exactly right.

To put it in another perspective, someone here said it best. To you it isnt perfect, but to a customer/friend or so its bloody amazing.

Sometimes having all the kit doesnt make it 100% right, or spot on. I own loads of tools, 50 chisels, saws, and the machinery and if i feel theres something im missing I'll move heaven and earth and go without till i get it..... well maybe powered respirators aside.....
A friends father, of aged 85 a proper cabinet maker suggested the tools to buy, was a chisel and a sharpening stone, and didnt elaborate on super saws or A2 steel or anything, just a simple chisel and stone and work with what you have, and I've seen that in industry with the bloke Stevie who worked opposite me. I invested heavily, Stevie didnt buy anything, yet his work was bloody good, way better than mine with everything you need to make furniture. Maybe mine was more accurate, but his seemed to have a more human quality. Plus he really churned stuff out while I was still measuring this and setting up a jig for that.

 

[Stanleymonkey]

You're never too old.

Weigh up all the positive benefits that you get from what you are doing - workshop time with a cup of tea and the radio on is worth its weight in gold.

You can make things - which the vast majority of the population cannot do at all. Maybe have a change of focus for a little while. Make stuff that doesn't have to be precise and exact. Some trellis, a bin store, wooden planter for the garden, storage boxes for your workshop, shelves for the cupboard under the stairs. Get that sense of achievement back - make something useful that doesn't need to be examined with a steel rule.

Best wishes

 

[clogs]

Mr SED
when I worked in the States 40 odd years ago we cut up a lot of sheet products...all 8x4'....
all we had was a circ saw [a Sidewinder, wish I had one here, better balanced for sheet work] and a straight edge 8'x 14".....a roofing square and 2 quick clamps....
mark ur cut lines at the ends, use the square to get it straight, clamp and check then of u go.....
we would cut multiple sheets in one go, well as deep as the saw blade would allow...

Still use this method for 8' cuts today....

if ur cutting a 12" board in 1/2 this method wont work u need a table saw......

it's all a compromise tho, depending on what machines n tools u have, how much room ...addaption is the name of the game...

I try to work outside a lot, warm sun on yer back make my day but in the UK thats a bit diff...

most wood yards will cut the bigger / longer stuff up for u for a small charge, so use that facility untill u get fixed up.....

It's not a race, enjoy the moment......

 

[sed9888]

Hi

I started in the same way, I can’t cut well with a handsaw, so used a circular saw, built a guide rail for it, but still wasn’t great.

I eventually caved in and bought a table saw, and it was a revelation for me. All of a sudden, I can cut straight, square and accurately every time, so the ideas I had for projects were now achievable.

Never too late to learn, and a wealth of information available from members on here too

what saw did you buy?

Hi
I have ordered the DeWalt DWE7485 Table Saw, it has some great write ups
This is the first thing I ever made

 

[Jameshow]

Looks fine to me!

What is it?

Cheers James

 

[Benchwayze]

If I use a circular saw to reduce planks to rough length I always use something to guide the cut. At the moment it's a large speed square clamped to the board. Or a wooden version for the widest planks. Pro carpenters don't seem to bother not even cutting panels. They probably laugh at me. But one day..Kickback! Hope they don't lose s thumb, as did a friend of mine in the 70s.

 

[sed9888]

Looks fine to me!

What is it?

Cheers James

Hi
Lol, its a stand for my scroll saw

 

[fixit45]

I love what im doing when in my little shop, im learning all the time, but i feel that my work is just not there,i think the pending table saw will help at the moment i am using my skill saw to cut the lengths i need, am i expecting to much of myself is my OCD taking control, but i want to get those straight lines, edges, joints etc, so what do you think will help me achieve that is it something at my tender age of 60 i can teach myself or am i to late in life to do it, i have some great ideas probably way to advanced for my skills
any advice with guys would be very helpful

The most helpful advice I was given many, many years ago was, learn to use hand tools before you use power tools. That advice has served me well for 50 years!