Useful things a beginner can make or buy cheaply

[Reggie]

Hi All, I'm just starting out with woodwork, so like a lot of people, I'm dazzled by all of the shiny shiny things there are around to perform the various tasks, that having been said, I'm resisting the urge to spend money until I know more about what I'm doing.

As I've been reading through various books, articles, websites and forums it seems there are 2 schools of thought with various amounts of crossover, there's the hand tools advocates and the power tools advocates. Clearly, humans have been gouging bits of wood for thousands of years, so hand tools firmly have their place alongside power tools.

As a beginner, everything looks good but how much of it is really useful? I know it's a broad question, so I'll try and slim it down a bit, what kind of simple but effective tools and tool helpers do you find indispensable and why?

What kind of things would you recommend a beginner to look at either making for themselves or purchasing cheaply?

This week I made myself a simple holder for an oilstone block so that I can sharpen my chisel, 1cm sq. lengths of scrap, glued and nail gunned to a bit of plywood, the base is a few cm longer than the oilstone so it can be clamped to a bench, I'm also thinking about chopping up and adding one of those anti-slip mats to the bottom that you can buy from the pound stores instead of clamping.

I also made myself a bench hook, while I wait for the wood for my bench, I've got a bit of ply across a workmate and a unit that holds my mitre saw, trying to use the workmate was very wobbly but with a bench hook all my stability issues went away, I didn't need a foot and a knee to brace the workmate any more so I can now stand correctly, it can be clamped if necessary but doing simple cuts hand held is now a breeze.

Lastly, using a knife for marking out and starting hand saw cuts, I'm using a craft knife at the moment.

 

[RogerP]

Here's a couple of ideas.

Shooting board.
http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/Setting Up and Using a Shooting Board4.html

Mitre shooting board.
http://www.theunpluggedwoodshop.com/mitre-shooting-board.html

Just examples, there's plenty more on the net.

Marking knife from a hacksaw blade. Even better if you can get a thick power-hacksaw blade.
http://americanwoodworker.com/blogs/tips/archive/2009/10/20/freebie-marking-knife.aspx

 

[Cheshirechappie]

The best bet is to make or buy things as the work you're intending to do requires them. It's very easy to be tempted into buying lots of shiny gear (with or without cables and plugs attached) and then find that you never use them.

That said, there's not much woodworking you can do without a couple of good (accurate) try squares. A 6" is probably the most used, but a 12" is constantly handy, too. A tiny 3" engineer's square is something I find almost indispensible, too. As you need them, add a mitre square and a sliding bevel. You're quite right about a marking knife; a never-ending supply of pencils and a means to sharpen them is also a must.

On the 'things to make' front, clamps are a good bet. You need a few, and good ones cost money. Invest in a secondhand copy of Robert Wearing's 'The Resourceful Woodworker' for details of all sorts of sizes and types of clamp that can be made up relatively easily (and many other cash-saving dodges - even planes, if your fancy takes!).

 

[barkwindjammer]

+1 for all of the above-a good straight edge is invaluable also (can be made or bought)

The 4 'core' implements

The square, a bench hook, a straight edge and a shooting board

The bench hook and shooting board can be combined into one piece-space saving in a workshop is an art in itself

Welcome to the 'slope'

Edited to add: purchase #1 - a good first aid box and tweezers (DAMHIKT)

 

[Roughcut]

All of the above plus a good tenon saw and a rip saw.
Also consider building or buying a good tool storage system.
Whether it be a tool chest, a wall hung storage unit or even a tool box.
Keep everything in it's place.........and you will always know where to find the tool you need.
Instead of wasting time searching....and head scratching......and searching.... :lol:

 

[Reggie]

Looks like I'm getting there then, a shooting board will only be necessary once I own a plane

I have a couple of squares and I splashed out on a set of incra rules months back (it's that that's spurred me to not splash out since) as my measuring and marking was never up to much cop, they have definitely improved it.

I have some kitchen cupboards on the wall but I can see me needing much more space than that. A first aid kit is on my list, plasters and savlon spray is all I have atm, clearly I'll need bandages, an eye rinse of some kind and better to be safe than sorry, a tourniquet of some description.

For a straight edge, I'm using a length of 2x1, although I am going to spend money on a guide clamp in the future, this will do for right now.

As for saws, I feel this needs a bit more investigation, I got a tenon saw, I've got a compound sliding mitre saw and a cordless circular saw, the tenon I bought was bought because I needed a saw and know very little, so my next one will be something I'll spend more than £8 on

The next things I intend to make will be a drill press vice (for my dremel) and then a drill press for a cordless or power drill, push sticks for a router, grip-pads for the same sort of thing, again I'll use either non-slip mat or possibly head down to the pound shop and get some silicon rubber based product like a trivet to put on the bottom of the pads.

 

[Jelly]

A first aid kit is on my list, plasters and savlon spray is all I have atm, clearly I'll need bandages, an eye rinse of some kind and better to be safe than sorry, a tourniquet of some description.

:shock:
What are you anticipating?
Also, in the unlikely and unfortunate event of a traumatic amputation of a major limb or major arterial bleed where the bleeding is uncontrollable and life threatening then a tourniquet would be useful... otherwise it's very much likely to do more harm than good; whilst accidents do happen, with the tools you describe it would take an extreme lapse of judgement to cause injuries that warrant that kind of treatment.

 

[Reggie]

I'm not really anticipating anything as such, I know the tourniquet is probably overkill but clearly accidents do happen, I wouldn't hope to ever use it but I live on my own, no one is ever coming to help should I need it Are the eye rinse and bandages ok? ;-)

 

[barkwindjammer]

As a 'lone worker' most likely-a fully charged mobile phone, and some cow bells attached round your neck might be worth considering also

 

[Phil Pascoe]

A mirror. Try getting dirt out of your eye without a mirror- the closer you are to a mirror, the greater the chance of getting something out of your eye before starting to blink.

 

[Peter Sefton]

Cow bells not such a bad idea, one of my students was telling me of a lone worker who cut both of his hands off with a guillotine, his mobile phone was no use to him and the outcome was not good :!:

 

[Reggie]

The mirror is definitely a good idea, obviously a mobile phone is useful

 

[petermillard]

If you spend a couple of quid on a cheap pair of safety specs, you can probably forget about needing a mirror. A box of latex gloves and a cheap pair of rubber 'grippy' gloves go a long way, too, as would a decent face mask. Prevention's better than cure and all that...

 

[AndyT]

Making basic tools and jigs is the perfect introduction to woodworking and can use up offcuts and scraps to great advantage.

For the best sort of advice on how to do this, go back to the time of WW2 when tools and materials were often unobtainable to the home user, even if he had the money. There's an excellent book by Charles Hayward which describes not only the expected normal things like a bench, a bench hook and a shooting board but also several varieties of planes, scratchstock, panel gauge, router, T-squares, mallet... and thanks to the generosity of people like Gary Roberts you can read it for free - go to this page, where it is the first item listed:

http://toolemera.com/Books & Booklets/booksplans.html

 

[Reggie]

Thanks Andy, Funny you should mention making a mallet, how did you know that I've been using a 6" lump of 4x3 as a chisel beater?

 

[custard]

Used bench planes are often good value. Some hard work and a replacement blade can see your pre-war Stanley or Record perform every bit as well as a thoroughbred infill plane (I've got both so I'm talking from experience). Plus you don't actually need many bench planes, a 5 1/2 or a 6 will do for the great majority of your needs.

In time you'll also need a shoulder plane, and you'll probably find a block plane useful. In my opinion the second hand vintage options for these tools aren't quite as good, so I'd save up for a used Lie Nielsen or Veritas version.

Used chisels are tricky, if you want a flat back (and personally I do) then be aware that an awful lot of used chisels will require a huge amount of work. The good news is that you don't actually need many chisels. For example the recommended tool kit for the Barnsley Workshop only has four chisels, a 1/16" (which is really just for their signature inlay work), a 1/4", a 3/4", and a 1". Personally I'd get a new Narex 1/4" and 3/4" and then make any further purchases based on project need.

Used saws are the trickiest. This will outrage many purists but I'd say look at the £10 disposables in your local B&Q. The problem with used vintage saws is that you'll almost certainly have to learn how to sharpen them. It's not a hugely difficult skill, but neither will you get it right immediately, however without a sharp saw you can't really make any progress as a beginning woodworker. Therefore saws are the one area where I'd say don't buy a tool for life, just buy a tool that will get you started and then revisit this area in a year's time.

 

[bugbear]

For the best sort of advice on how to do this, go back to the time of WW2 when tools and materials were often unobtainable to the home user, even if he had the money. There's an excellent book by Charles Hayward...

Of which I have an original copy

BugBear

 

[Reggie]

Thanks Custard, I bought a saw just to get going already, I watched the first hour of a 2+ hour video on how to sharpen saw teeth last night, with lots of emphasis on the technique, it looks relatively straight forward enough.

Thanks for the chisel advice, funnily enough the only chisel I own isn't flat, it's got a 6mm bow from tip to handle, looks like it's been used to open and possibly stir paint at one point or another (not by me), almost anything would be an improvement.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

On chisels, I'd agree with Custard that you don't really need that many. However, from experience, I'd suggest assembling two distinct 'sets' - one kept in tip-top condition for really fine work, and one for rough chopping and household DIY chores. The 'fine' set (I'm a big fan of the Ashley Iles bevel-edged chisels) may cost good money, though you can be lucky with Ebay finds, but you only need a few. Chris Schwarz recommends 1/8", 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", 3/4" and 1 1/4"; I'd add the 1/16" as well. You don't necessarily need all of them to start with, though, so Custards suggestion of 1/4", 3/4" and a biggy would be a good start, and add what experience suggests you need to later, which will spread the cost. The 'rough' could be anything you can find cheap - shed on bypass, junk shop, whatever - and though I dislike plastic handles intensely, they do stand up to abuse better than wooden ones. Work on the basis of small, couple of mediums and a large. So that's a sum total of about ten chisels, six fine and four rough, say.

Specialist chisels do crop up from time to time, perhaps the most used being mortice chisels. Those, paring chisels, gouges and carving tools, fall in the category of 'buy when needed'. You can do an awful lot of woodwork without them.

 

[rafezetter]

Thanks Andy, Funny you should mention making a mallet, how did you know that I've been using a 6" lump of 4x3 as a chisel beater?

lol just round / whittle off one half of that lump so it's a bit more hand friendly and voila one mallet