Thread: Newbie Question

Good Morning Cava

Welcome to the forum.

Wish I had really thought that question through some thirty years ago.... Looking back, the biggest mistake that I made was to buy crap tools (repeatedly); IMHO fewer, better quality tools are the way to go.

Probably the major issue that you face is that you you cannot get experience without the equipment to practice upon; but without experience and the depth of knowledge that it brings you cannot chose equipment informatively. A real chicken and egg situation.

And without that experience you probably do not yet realise which parts of woodworking that you will enjoy most. In my case I have used small electrical tools for thirty years but now find that I am increasingly using hand tools - I simply do not like the noise, vibration and dust of power tools.

May I suggest that first you buy good quality hand tools and defer expensive power tools until you get a bit more experience. If there is a men's shed near you then you might consider joining it. They are fun, usually have good equipment, and heaps of potential mentors and even more advisers.

Cheers

Graeme

Hi Cava and welcome.

You'll no doubt get a few different opinions on this one, so,to add to the confusion, I'll give you mine.

First of all you are definitely on the right track with your list.

I think a planer/jointer and a thicknesser are essential. Sure you can produce straight, flattened boards with hand tools but when starting out, you want to get on and make some stuff, and not spend hour upon hour preparing stock.

I have a 6" jointer which does me fine. If you have the space and the budget to go bigger all well and good.

For a thicknesser I have a Ryobi 300mm like you can get from the big green shed. Again this machine does me fine, a great little unit. This is almost a generic design these days with many brands on what appears to be the same machine.

Along with these two you need something to cut timber to size and a table saw or bandsaw are both ideal for this. I'd go the tablesaw, or both if you can afford.

I found it best to make something basic and buy what I needed for that project.

Good luck and enjoy

Thanks for the response Graeme.

I many regards our views are similar, in that I would prefer quality tools any day of the week. But having said that, I still need some basic equipment to start with, hence the possible short list. The days of using, or wanting to use, a handsaw are long gone Graeme.

I already have a small amount of wood that I have garnered over the years including redgum steps, merbau, sheoak that I had milled up back in 1994 etc that I am keen to start playing with to bolster my confidence and skill, even if it is only making chopping boards!

George

Originally Posted by 3 toed sloth

I think a planer/jointer and a thicknesser are essential. Sure you can produce straight, flattened boards with hand tools but when starting out, you want to get on and make some stuff, and not spend hour upon hour preparing stock.

I have a 6" jointer which does me fine. If you have the space and the budget to go bigger all well and good.

3 toed, 2 responses, and I feel welcomed already.

Is the model planer/jointer that I mentioned a good unit? Or should I go bigger, or another model etc? The budget that I have allocated for myself, over the major equipment setup stage, is circa $4000. This would probably be over a 12 month period.

George

For a basic DIY workshop, you're pretty much spot on.

Me, I'd swap the thicknesser out for a planer/jointer for that extra bit of versatility (at the cost of width), but that's just personal preference.

G'day George. Welcome to the forums. Great to have another MornPen person on here too.

Your list looks great to me and is pretty much what I started to accumulate over a period of 12 months (except I don't have the bandsaw yet).

I would start to list the things you would like to make and in what order. Then think about what tools you might need to build them. That might help you to work out the order and bang-4-buck.

Cheers,
Af.

Hi George,

Welcome to the forum. Like you, I am an early stage woodworker and have acquired more gear as the need arises.

I think I would have a router table fairly high up on the list, In the early stages, I made a lot of pieces with a table saw & good quality compound mitre saw without the need for a bandsaw. Personally I would plump for the 6" jointer before I jumped into a thicknesser. In any event, the benchtop models do a pretty good job on most stock.

Good luck. It's a great hobby.

Mick

Well guys, thanks for all the valuable information and opinions. It looks as if the jointer will have to be on the list. To be honest, apart from being used as a plane, is it really that necessary?

1. Is the Carba Tec CTJ-196 a good one to go for? Or should I consider the CTJ-150, or another brand?
2. The thicknesser that I would consider is the Carba Tec CT-317 budget special. Or should I consider other models/brands.

Sorry for all the seemingly basic questions, but I am somewhat confused, and would prefer to buy right once, rather than regret a purchase later on. I tend to aspire, if possible, to the 'quality is the only true economy' quote.

Afro, I'm in Tyabb. Where are you located?

Cava, I can certainly understand your confusion. We've all been there.

Take your time, do your homework, get to know this site, there is a wealth of info. here.

There are product reviews, a search facility, and the many sponsors of this site have their own sections.

To answer your question, the main advantage of a jointer is that it can flatten a warped or twisted board. It removes the high spots on the face of a board so it will sit down flat on a flat surface with no wobbles.

Keep researching, and good luck

Thanks 3toed. I will have to curb my enthusiasm to a slower and steadier pace.

hi there, these guys know what they're on about so take their advice well. my opinion on your set up is as follows..

table saw
thicknesser
planer jointer
bandsaw - the bigger the better, you'll get to the stage where you will want to cut your own veneers and such..
get yourself a smoother plane (#4) - good quality, crappy planes cause more bad than good..
a rip saw

i could go on and on.. a big tip i could give you is to keep a very close eye on the market place within this forum, there's always pleanty for sale and everyones very generous with their pricing.

hope this helped a little.

spence.

Thanks for the advice Spence. I have been watching the market place, and notice that the good stuff goes very quickly. Probably too quickly for me.

Originally Posted by cava

Well guys, thanks for all the valuable information and opinions. It looks as if the jointer will have to be on the list. To be honest, apart from being used as a plane, is it really that necessary?

I've only found I needed to do a little work on a jointer so far. If really need be, you can always get someone to joint the pieces for you if they are too warped or bowed to flatten by hand or skip plane in a thicknesser.

I'd be inclined to get a solid, decent tablesaw first, but take my advice with a grain of salt - I'm a rank amateur! In my own experience, once I had the TS and a cheap thicknesser I felt like I could do most of the things I wanted to at that stage.

Don't forget to keep some of your budget for some good quality hand tools. I'm always reaching for my chisels for example.

Afro, I'm in Tyabb. Where are you located?

Raised in the northern suburbs of Melbourne but now living in Mt Martha. Feel free to shoot me a PM if you want to drop by or anything.

Cheers,
Af (Carl)

Originally Posted by Afro Boy

I'veRaised in the northern suburbs of Melbourne but now living in Mt Martha. Feel free to shoot me a PM if you want to drop by or anything.

Cheers,
Af (Carl)

I may take you up on that offer. But first we all have to survive the Christmas bedlam.