Woodworking

Dandain · Nov 20, 2020

Friend of mine down the street got heavy into woodworking in the last 5 years, and he could afford any tool. He made a rule. If he couldn't use it well, and didn't have an absolutely obvious use for it in his current skill level of learning he'd wait to buy. I thought that was a really good benchmark to scale up tool count. His shop has evolved into kind of a competency workflow layout; that as a non-woodworker I could appreciate. Love seeing custom shit; wood is such a versatile medium.

First, just a test box I was given from batches learning tools/skills.

This project below is one that might put an interesting target out there for some of you.

k^M · Nov 20, 2020

Damn I was expecting that to involve some level of glueing filler in the final product, thats impressive. Doubt I'll ever have that level of skill for joinery but love working with my lathe. There is nothing more fun than turning something and then feeling how smooth it gets sanding to 3-4k grits.

Captain Suave · Nov 20, 2020

If you like pornographically perfect joinery, check out this guy's channel:

whoo · Nov 20, 2020

For anyone interested in woodworking as a hobby, I highly encourage you to look into hand tool or hybrid woodworking. For me, it is way way more satisfying working with hand tools.

There is nothing you can do with machines that you can't do with hand tools except batch out large quantities of identical parts. If you're doing that, you're not doing it for enjoyment.

Also being comfortable using chisels, gouges, hand planes, card/cabinet scrapers, hand saws, etc will up your machine game big time.

For anyone looking for hand tool instruction from the ground up, I enthusiastically recommend Paul Sellers. Paulsellers.com and Paul Sellers on youtube. Paul is one of the last classically apprenticed English hand tool woodwokers/joiners alive, and has been busting his butt for the last 6-7 years making videos to keep hand tool skills alive.

Start with his workbench build and you'll really get sucked in. All you need is a hand saw and a #4 smoothing plane

Kovaks · Nov 20, 2020

whoo said:
For anyone interested in woodworking as a hobby, I highly encourage you to look into hand tool or hybrid woodworking. For me, it is way way more satisfying working with hand tools.

There is nothing you can do with machines that you can't do with hand tools except batch out large quantities of identical parts. If you're doing that, you're not doing it for enjoyment.

Also being comfortable using chisels, gouges, hand planes, card/cabinet scrapers, hand saws, etc will up your machine game big time.

For anyone looking for hand tool instruction from the ground up, I enthusiastically recommend Paul Sellers. Paulsellers.com and Paul Sellers on youtube. Paul is one of the last classically apprenticed English hand tool woodwokers/joiners alive, and has been busting his butt for the last 6-7 years making videos to keep hand tool skills alive.

Start with his workbench build and you'll really get sucked in. All you need is a hand saw and a #4 smoothing plane

I agree, I enjoy using my power tools, especially for cutting, but using my planes, card scraper and Chisels is very therapeutic and enjoyable, I get such a sense of satisfaction pulling a long thin spiral from my plane.

BrutulTM · Nov 21, 2020

If you've never done any woodworking I don't think I'd start with thousands of dollars worth of tools and custom kitchen cabinets. You will spend more money than just buying cabinets and if you haven't developed your skills they will look like shit when you're done. Start small both with tools and projects and find out if you actually enjoy it and develop some skills and then decide if filling your garage with expensive tools actually makes sense.

Unless you're a pro or swimming in cash you don't need anything made by festool. If you are you probably still don't need it.

Noble Savage · Nov 21, 2020

BrutulTM said:
If you've never done any woodworking I don't think I'd start with thousands of dollars worth of tools and custom kitchen cabinets. You will spend more money than just buying cabinets and if you haven't developed your skills they will look like shit when you're done. Start small both with tools and projects and find out if you actually enjoy it and develop some skills and then decide if filling your garage with expensive tools actually makes sense.

Unless you're a pro or swimming in cash you don't need anything made by festool. If you are you probably still don't need it.

Yeah I never said I was going to start with the cabinets lol. I said that was my eventual goal. I also said I had some basic carpentry work of installing door jams, door casing and baseboards so I'm not a total novice. I certainly plan on starting out with some smaller projects to develop my skillset. But I do have to start somewhere and I don't think a miter saw, jigsaw and a table saw are an extravagant set of tools to have. My personal opinion when it comes to tool purchases is that I don't mind spending alittle extra if there is a noticeable improvement compared to less expensive options. But people have different opinions on that and to each their own I suppose.

mkopec · Nov 21, 2020

Cabinets can be easily made with the pocket screw method. I looked into all that a few years ago before deciding not to do it. Maybe a bathroom sink? But I would never try to tackle a whole kitchen full of cabinets, lol. For one, its hard to find the proper plywood for cabinets. Unless you paint them which then I guess it does not matter as much. But if you go to finish them you need some grade A shit they just dont sell at the local Home Cheapo. You probably have to go to some mom and pop cabinet place and have them order you some. I looked and called a bunch of places but either they only do wholesale or just dont sell to dudes like you or I. I guess you can buy on internet and just pay up the ass for shipping?

But the cabine boxes themselves are not a big deal if you get a system going and have a way or system to cut 4x8 sheets. Most of the sides of the base cabinets are the same, also for the wall cabinets. Even the face frames can be done by pocket screws but this takes more skill to be precise in measuring and cutting to make sure its all square.

The big job becomes in making the doors. where you definitely need to be precise and some special tools like a router table and special bit sets for the door styles and rails plus the door panels if you go the route of raised panel doors and such. Special care needs to be taken in making doors more so than the other crap on the cabinets because they are the most visible. And even if you are off by a few mm in dimension or a a degree off from square it will be noticeable from door to door. Honestly I was going to build the cabinets myself and just buy the damn doors since I wanted off white painted. I think it all comes down to setting up a proper system in doing stuff, like for example cutting all the rails/styles at the same time using stopper blocks to make sure each rail and style is exactly the same length so if your cabinet has matching doors they are exactly the same. Easily talked about but harder to actually do.

Then there is the problem with room. Room to work on the shit, which I guess I could make in my garage, but then where do you fucking store the cabinets you made? basement?

Hatorade · Nov 21, 2020

To add to the discussion about tools I have slowly built things then looked up what tools would make it easier. Literally started with just a hand saw and built two small shelves. The one I overlooked was a T square and a speed square, the speed square is easily my most used tool next to the circular saw. Imagine cutting 40 2x4s to proper length using just a measuring tape and a sharpie to mark two spots then connecting that line using a scrap piece of wood... yeah not smart. Halfpipe Came out good enough but definitely would be better with that 4 dollar tool.

Hatorade · Nov 21, 2020

Clamps seem to be the next thing to get, getting by without a table saw and that is a space thing so until I really need one, more clamps!
What really sucks is lumber has nearly tripled in price over this year

Lanx · Nov 21, 2020

Hatorade said:
To add to the discussion about tools I have slowly built things then looked up what tools would make it easier. Literally started with just a hand saw and built two small shelves. The one I overlooked was a T square and a speed square, the speed square is easily my most used tool next to the circular saw. Imagine cutting 40 2x4s to proper length using just a measuring tape and a sharpie to mark two spots then connecting that line using a scrap piece of wood... yeah not smart. Halfpipe Came out good enough but definitely would be better with that 4 dollar tool.

i felt like a big boy when i got my 4ft level, i used it to just drill 2 screws to hang rear speakers, i don't care if it's oversized!

BrutulTM · Nov 21, 2020

You can never have too many clamps. I'm more of a metal guy than wood and it's the same there, clamps, clamps, clamps. My favorite are the ones that go on black pipe like the orange ones below. You can't possibly have too many of them. Harbor freight has them at a reasonable price.

At times it's really great to have a couple of the ones with the trigger on them that you can put on with one hand though.

Kovaks · Nov 21, 2020

BrutulTM said:
You can never have too many clamps. I'm more of a metal guy than wood and it's the same there, clamps, clamps, clamps. My favorite are the ones that go on black pipe like the orange ones below. You can't possibly have too many of them. Harbor freight has them at a reasonable price.

At times it's really great to have a couple of the ones with the trigger on them that you can put on with one hand though.

I have those same harbor freight pipe clamps, they are awesome cause I can make them any size just by getting new pipe

What i really need is about $1000 more of these

Kovaks · Nov 21, 2020

Woodcraft has 20% off whiteside bits this weekend only if anyone needs some

Intrinsic · Nov 21, 2020

Kovaks said:
I have those same harbor freight pipe clamps, they are awesome cause I can make them any size just by getting new pipe

What i really need is about $1000 more of these

I really wanted two big parallel clamps for this glue up but just made my cauls with good scrap and packing tape. It’ll probably be next on the clamp list. A couple weeks ago bought some 6’ black pipe and clamp ends. Thought I was getting 4x 1/2” but wasn’t paying attention and someone through in a 3/4”. Oh well looks like I have an excuse for another clamp!

Heriotze · Nov 21, 2020

Captain Suave said:
If you like pornographically perfect joinery, check out this guy's channel:

Think that I ran through that guys entire channel over a few days of work and throw it on at night when I'm just reading now for the white noise effect of the sawing.

Had a rudimentary knowledge of woodworking using power tools going into this year and all of the COVID stuff but ended up buying a set of saws and chisels to teach myself dovetails and other joinery starting in March and the hand tool aspect of it has really drawn me in. Found this guys channel accidentally looking as Ship of Theseus videos and ended up just watching the entire thing from the beginning, it's a really great example of the crazy amount of skills required to build an entire boat but he's heavy on joinery.

Sampson Boat Co

Kovaks · Nov 21, 2020

For hand tools I enjoy Rob Cosmans stuff, his how to videos are top notch but I avoid his reviews because no matter what he just picks lee neilson/valley or woodcraft, its like yeah of course they are the best but not everyone can afford them so what about some other options.

In the world of power tools I just used my new whiteside spiral downcut flush trim on the back of the kids Ukulele and holy fuck spiral bit is so much better than strait flute, was like sliding through butter

Hatorade · Nov 21, 2020

Been watching this guy. Essential Craftsman

Captain Suave · Nov 22, 2020

Cool tip that goes in the "Why didn't I think of that?" bucket. Making a shim exactly the width of your blade kerf is super useful for various kinds of cuts and jigs.

Kovaks · Nov 23, 2020

Made my drawers out of 3/4 baltic Berch cause that is what I had, turns out these fancy ass drawer slides are 5/8 max, back to the lumber yard.

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Woodworking

Dandain

Trakanon Raider

k^M

Blackwing Lair Raider

Captain Suave

Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.

whoo

Kovaks

Mr. Poopybutthole

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.

Noble Savage

Kang of Kangz

mkopec

Hatorade

A nice asshole.

Hatorade

A nice asshole.

Lanx

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.

Kovaks

Mr. Poopybutthole

Kovaks

Mr. Poopybutthole

Intrinsic

Person of Whiteness

Heriotze

Kovaks

Mr. Poopybutthole

Hatorade

A nice asshole.

Captain Suave

Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.

Kovaks

Mr. Poopybutthole