Thread: Uni Student Setting up a small Wood-Working shop

Hi Amanda
Have you thought about just using a router sled to make a concave dent in your seat. Simple and effective and repeatable. I am also in Melb and am setting up a small workshop next year, at the moment I'm working on a Harvey table saw in my lounge room. I have some gorgeous old machinery in storage esp a jointer and a thicknesser and can't wait to get my hands on them. Youd be welcome to, look, use, talk, whatever, in fact, being from Sydney I'd love to meet up with another woodworker. I was initially self taught, then did the only thing available in 1984, the Dip in Applied Design (wood design) in Tas. Since then been designing and making. Yep. It's an addiction. All the best. Louise

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Originally Posted by woodPixel

Ive been thinking about this a bit since I wrote last. The bad thing about advice is we can give it all retrospectively based on our experience, but it really comes down to what you want to build .

Good point but bear in mind that most things can be made with hand tool, or power tools, or machines, or various combo of all 3.

This sort of follows up on what Dibber's mentioned in one of his posts

In some ways it's more about "how" rather than "what" you want to build. Are you more interested in "product" or "process". If it's "process" you are after then you may get more satisfaction from hand tools, whereas if it's product then power tools and machinery will get you to a product faster. It might be rubbish but you will get there faster.

As already listed by others "How" encompasses things like power and space, as well as processing of raw, and use of recycled materials, - yes this can be done with hand tools but even dedicated process oriented woodworkers find this to be gruelling work and so machinery is often employed by process oriented people for this aspect.

Serious "process" oriented folks may go back even further to making their own tools. In medieval times a woodworker travelled with a set of blades and arrived on site and they first thing they did was make the tools.

Taking this to an extreme may then take you to blacksmithing and even ore processing and mining - just kidding

Most of this is chicken and egg stuff and you won't know if you get enough satisfaction from these processes until you try them - so my tip is if they interest you try embedding some of these processes into small projects and just buy the gear you need to enable these.

The sort of questions to ask onto forum that will be useful is less,
"What do we think of machine or tool X ?"
An more
"I want to start with this material and achieve this outcome, what are the possible ways of doing this?"
You will be surprised at the wide range of answers because they will be coloured by the respondents preferences for processes V product.

Note: I did not even mention that fine powdery stuff generated when wood working.

Originally Posted by AmateurAmanda

Hi all,

.....

My questions are:
1. What is you're basic tool/machine set up equipment? I currently have a couple of bench planes (#7, #4 and a block plane by Luban) and my power tools are a drill, jigsaw, random orbital sander and a trim router. These i got because of the demands of my build that I was making for my furniture elective accompanied by the workshop use at uni.
2. Planer or Jointer first? or maybe a Combination? I've looked into the ones that are available at Carbatec (Jet and Carbatec home brand) as I cant seem to find many online. Otherwise i was looking at a potential makita 2012NB or Dewalt 734/735. Im not too sure.
3. Table saws.... any suggestions? I've been looking at potentially a Dewalt7491 or even the DE745, I would love the idea of a SawStop but its just a bit out of reach at the moment
4. Are there any other tool/machine shops im not aware of other then Carbatec, Timbecon, Bunnings, Just tools, Sydney Tools etc?

I am happy to splurge where I can however being a University student does restrict this quite a bit. Really looking forward to hearing your responses!

Cheers,
Amanda

Hi Amanda

I assume you have chisels? ! A priority.

A couple of handsaws: dovetail saw and tenon saw. Look at the Lee Valley (Veritas) range. Get these new as they are inexpensive and will work out of the box. The alternative are Japanese saws. Then look at the Z-saw range.

I cannot see you resawing or ripping boards for long, so a priority is a small (14") bandsaw. You could even use one to thickness (with the aid of your handplanes). A decent 1/2" bimetal blade from Henry Bros, and you can do it all.

Less of a priority than the above, but highly desirable, is a combination thicknesser/jointer. Get a 10" as a value-for-money machine. 12" would be better. Knives will work, but spiral is better (quieter as well).

And now you need a dust extractor. 2hp is minimum and OK is you keep hose distance down and use 6" hoses.

All machines are better when second-hand, to keep costs down.

A table saw can wait. Use a circular saw and straight edge for now.

Best of luck. As questions.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by BobL

In some ways it's more about "how" rather than "what" you want to build. Are you more interested in "product" or "process". If it's "process" you are after then you may get more satisfaction from hand tools, whereas if it's product then power tools and machinery will get you to a product faster. It might be rubbish but you will get there faster.

As already listed by others "How" encompasses things like power and space, as well as processing of raw, and use of recycled materials, - yes this can be done with hand tools but even dedicated process oriented woodworkers find this to be gruelling work and so machinery is often employed by process oriented people for this aspect.

Serious "process" oriented folks may go back even further to making their own tools. In medieval times a woodworker travelled with a set of blades and arrived on site and they first thing they did was make the tools.

Taking this to an extreme may then take you to blacksmithing and even ore processing and mining - just kidding

You might well be "just kidding" Bob, but when I got back onto woodworking about 30 years ago, after a break of several years, I started out with powertools and machinery and I have worked my way back to blacksmithing. I really do not think I will go back as far as ore processing and mining though. But then again until recently I had been determined NOT to delve into blacksmithing. Taking that step, though has opened up a whole new world of toolmaking that I was unable to do before. moulding plane irons, hollows and rounds, spokeshaves and travishers - heaps of things that are difficult and expensive to get any other way these days.

Sweet looking anvil - weight and origin/source?

I don't think this has been mentioned yet and can often be overlooked: Invest in good layout tools. Get yourself a good square, 150mm, 300mm and 1m rulers, marking gauge, centre punch and sliding bevel.

I've got a few woodworking books that cover some basic skills if you'd like to borrow them.

Originally Posted by BobL

Sweet looking anvil - weight and origin/source?

Mont De Lancey Blacksmithing Group, For Sale

It's the 85kg one on the link above Bob.

Hi Amanda, welcome to the forum and woodworking world.

As BobL mentioned, it's a bit of a what and how question.
I find myself using a combination of power and hand tools and enjoy it all.
I haven't yet, but make sure you read 'Anarchists toolchest' as I'm sure it'll really open your eyes. It's available through Carbatec (published by Lost Art Press).

Good luck with it all and take your time to accumulate your tools as you need them.
And head along to a woodworking group, I'm sure there's plenty of people willing to help.

Hi Amanda.
The best advice I was given when starting the journey was to buy only the very best gear you could. Veritas planes might be one example. They will last a lifetime and make your life much more enjoyable.
Have a look at Paul Sellers sites. He does everything by hand, and demonstrates that unless you are doing multiple items, hand tools are just as efficient. He has a free setvice, and you can also sign up for online classes.
Take your time and do your homework as you go.
Remember, buy quality.
Greg

Hi Amanda,

Agree with other posters with know what you want to build and buy tools accordingly.

I'm going to have to disagree with Greg's advice to a degree. Yes buying the best you can is definitely sound advice but its also a good way to ruin good tools, eg I don't see the point in spending hundred on chisels when you don't know how to sharpen them yet. Similarly with hand planes, there are plenty good stanley planes floating around in the used market that are excellent to learn essential skills such as sharpening and adjusting. Plus they take the abuse you will potentially subject them to. Once you've got the hang of things and have space to properly store your equipment then start investing in quality stuff.

Having said that there are certain things that are impossible to destroy and worth buying the best you can eg dust extractor.

Also when using "cheaper" quality tools you learn a valuable skill that you won't get from starting with the best and that is how to spot a good tool from a bad one.

Finally if your pockets are very deep ignore everything i just said and go buy the best of everything.

Hi Amanda, went to the local news agent to get my magazine and found Australian Wood Review number 96.
What drew my eye was a heading "THE MINIMALIST WORKSHOP" and thought straight away of your request.
There is also an article on "Routing with Templates" in there, which you also asked about.
Plus a lot of good reading and dreamy tools.
Kryn

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to quickly apologies for my lack of presence in the forum recently as the last few weeks of uni tend to be incredibly chaotic for me. That being said, I just mentioned this in a previous post I made but just wanted to reiterate this in this forum and say thank you to everyone for their responses and efforts in trying to help me out. Now that uni is done, I'm going to be doing a more in dept search on equipment and some essentials to start building on this woodworking workshop.

Overall just quickly processing some of your responses i'm interested in picking up some Woodworking books like the anarchist toolchest which Woodpixel touched on which i agree could be really beneficial for me. On top of that as I touched upon earlier I am interested in this hybrid woodworking approach and would really like to get my first real machine tool this Christmas in hopes i can get a good deal too. I am still a little bit conflicted with what to get first, but i think its leaning towards a table saw or a bandsaw (which Derek mentioned). What are your thoughts on this? A table saw or bandsaw first? and what brands would you recommend as i get extremely confused when watching these American videos however prices seem to differ so much being here in Australia and some brands don't seem to be available here either, either that or i'm not looking in the right place.

With regards to table saws i was initially looking into the DeWalt but am very much open to other choices. On the other hand with regards to bandsaws i've done slightly less research on but have heard some decent feedback on the laguna and minimax but i'm not sure if theres a cheaper option out there either and thought i'd see if i could get the forums thoughts on it as well since you guys have been so incredibly helpful.


Thanks again!

Amanda

Once again it is back to what do you want to be able to do.

Bandsaw:
Is more useful at for ripping large pieces (lengthwise) down to smaller sizes i.e. recycling timber, at Cutting curves, and quick relatively safe cuts of smaller pieces.
Is limited by the throat size for lengths able to be cross cut. More difficult to cut short pieces from a longer piece.
Standard higher TPI blade can cut Al and plastic.

Tablesaw:
Is more useful for, moderate size sheet sheet goods - i.e. not limited by throat size, making accurate cross cutting even from longer pieces, cutting slots rebates in long pieces.
Trickier to cut short pieces.
Is limited in the depth that can be ripped - yes I know you can double cut but that is nowhere near as safe and convenient as the BS.
Specialized blade preferred to cut Al and plastics

To make an informed choice you should ideally sort those needs/wants out first.

I bought a TS first (mainly because I had access to a BS at work) but when I got my own BS I was amazed at what I used it for.

Also to expand on BobL's comments.

Due to the natural characteristics of a band vs a saw blade both have significantly different cutting characteristics and therefore both have tradeoffs. In determining what tradeoff's you can live with will dictate what machinery you'll need to acquire hence have a think about what you want to build.

Eg a bandsaw will not cut straight enough for you to successfully to glue panels together whilst on the other hand if you're planning on making curved objects a table saw will be of very limited use.

In my case I also purchased a TS first because I was working with dressed material, and only needed straight cuts. Eventually i did acquire a bandsaw, but that was due to me being given a lathe as a present and thus needed something to resaw. Have found heaps of uses for it since then but will have to say the TS is probably the most used tool in the shed. Which also means it should probably have the most thought put into.