Thread: Newbie from Melbourne. Seeking advice and tools for an Architect moving to Furniture

*NB if you want to skip my intro, please scroll to the bottom of the page and let me know if you have any advice regarding purchasing 2nd hand or new tools. Thanks

I am a graduate architect, originally Irish, but have been in Melbourne for 8 years. Basically my story is that I have become fed up with the profession, spending endless hours in front of a computer screen, for a very low salary with almost zero job security , so I have decided to revert to a more hands on approach to design; furniture.

I would class myself as an advance beginner...if that makes any sense. I completed a semester long timber furniture workshop at Melbourne uni under the guidance of Hamish Hill and my grandfather was also an architect who reverted to furniture, so I spent a lot of my childhood working wood.

By complete chance, through a friend of a friend, I was introduced to a guy a few weeks ago who specialises in concrete and textile design who was looking for someone to share a studio and collaborate on some pieces of furniture. We got along well and have signed the lease on a studio together (Ironside, in Kensington). The space is small to say the least, only 4mx4m, but it is cheap and we can use power tools to our hearts content without disturbing any neighbours. I suppose everyone has to start somewhere, and without a garage of my own...the studio seemed a good option.

I was hoping you could give me some advice on setting up with regards machinery and tools to enable me to prioritise my spending at the beginning. Bearing in mind that I will start working in the evenings and weekends, then wind down my work to a 4 day working week and the office and then judge how viable it is to go to full time furniture

Most of the pieces we have in mind are coffee tables, shelving and outdoor furniture.

Currently most of the tools I have are basic DIY : Corded drill, jigsaw, radial arm saw, decent router, router bits, circular saw etc....

I have drawn up a bit of a wishlist and would love your thoughts on the importance of each item, or where I can get away with one tool covering two jobs (ie can a jointer do the same as a thicknesser?). Most of the hand tools are essentials, it is more in terms of organising which machinery to purchase first.

Priority #1 - A good work bench....I have been following gumtree and ebay but am yet to find a second hand one in decent nick. Our price range is about $200-250. Please drop me a PM if anyone has one going or knows of anyone they think might be selling.

Hand Tools
Marking Knife
Marking Guage
Try Square
Back saw
Coping Saw
Solid timber workbench with twin vices
Hand screw clamps
G Clamps
Mitre Clamps
Chisels
Mallet
Hand Plane
Block Plane
Dowelling Jig
Dust Mask
Sharpening stone

Machinery
Bandsaw
Table Saw (i have seen a few of these combined with a jointer in one machine)
Drill press
Jointer
Thicknesser / Planer
Belt Sander

Elec Tools
Cordless drill
Orbital Sander
Wet/dry vacuum

If you can spot any obvious omissions or have any tips on how I should go about setting up I would love to hear your expert opinion.

Looking forward to entering the world of woodwork.

Cheer guys