From: ronnie@cisco.com (Ronnie B. Kon)
Subject: Re: Want to get started in woodworking...
Organization: cisco Systems, Incorporated
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1992 01:04:52 GMT

In article <ku3p6kINN59i@saltillo.cs.utexas.edu>, colaluca@cs.utexas.edu (Mark Colaluca) writes:
|> I checked the FAQ, and this doesn't seem to be one, so I'll ask anyways.
|> If someone like myself wants to get started in woodworking, what would
|> be the best route to go?  I would imagine it would be very nice to have
|> an experienced woodworker on hand to "show you the ropes", however, I
|> do not have this luxury.  Also, it appears to me (by watching shows like
|> the New Yankee Workshop and others) that a significant monetary investment
|> in tools and equipment must be made to produce any appreciable woodworking
|> project (that is, produce it efficiently, rather than hand-sawing, etc.).
|> I guess I'd like some general feedback from experienced woodworkers out there
|> on their own start in the hobby, and any advice for a newcomer.

Well, I guess I qualify as a newcomer (having just about finished my very 
first successful project).

You will need reading material:

1)  A subscription to Woodsmith magazine
	Lots of good advice on techniques, many projects in the beginner to
	intermediate range.  Some advanced.

2)  A subscription to Fine Woodworking magazine
	Glossy and slick.  Good articles on tools and techniques.  Advanced
	to very advanced projects (by and large).  Get the Woodsmith 
	subscription if you are only going to get one.

3)  Tage Frid's woodworking books, volumes 1 and 2.  Don't get volume 
	3 (Furnituremaking).  It discusses how to go about designing 
	furniture.

4)  Sunset Books Introduction to Woodworking is a good overview.  The 
	projects they give you are all pretty dorky though.


You will need tools:

1)  A used table saw.
	I got a 8" Black and Decker 1.5hp table saw used for $60.

2)  A power drill
	Get a good assortment of bits, and some screwdriver attachments.

3)  A try-square
	This is a right angle thing.  Get the cheapest one you can find which
	is really square (remember that you are going to be being accurate to
	1/16 of an inch, maybe to 1/32.  An out-of-square square will drive
	you mad.


You will need a project:

I highly recommend the Adirondack Chairs that Woodsmith did (it's the one
I've just about finished).  It is about as simple as you could want--all
joinery is done with screws.  You will need a jig-saw to build them (unless
you really like sanding so much you can do it for days happily).  And (best
of all) you build them out of Grade 2 Pine.  This means that you can screw
up as much as you want and not go broke.


You will need wood:

I bought mine at a high-priced lumber store which sells essentially
finished wood.  Normally you have to plane the wood down to where it is
flat and so forth.  Not having a thickness planer (a $500 tool), I find that
it is worth the extra money.  Someday, I will have to learn to work a plane.
So far I have only succeeded in taking wood which is bowed and making it
cupped.  Not too useful.


You also need an understanding wife, because there is no way in Hell you are
really only going to buy two or three cheap tools.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ronnie B. Kon           |  "If you vote Republican, does that make you
ronnie@cisco.com        |   an accomplice to their crimes?"
(415) 688-4592          |                  -- Bongo, Life in Hell
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