Woodworking Tips for a Beginner

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by bc-chris

sweet mother!!!


that is AWESOME!!!!

I was thinking the exact same thing, and trying to think of what I could build that would require this tool.

Wonder what it costs? $500

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

I was thinking the exact same thing, and trying to think of what I could build that would require this tool.

Wonder what it costs? $500

More like $3K CAD.

[mikephoen]

Originally Posted by photon

Do whatever projects means you need one of these:

I’m scared to watch this. My ability to resist buying a tool is almost nil.

[psicodude]

Purchase the lumber from Black Forest and consider renting some time at this place: https://www.fuse33.com/ I haven't actually rented any time there as I own most of the tools, but it looks awesome. If that's not an option, pay Black Forest a few bucks to prep the lumber to your liking. Just explain the project and what you need from them. They seem intimidating at first, but they are really helpful guys.

I've looked all over the city and Black Forest is the best by a mile. Most other places sell lumber that hasn't been properly dried yet which will bend and warp like crazy. Super frustrating.

To properly do a table top, you are going to need access to a planer. Period. Even the S4S stuff won't be perfect. Sanding it down sounds easy, but it's hours upon hours of work and never turns out perfectly flat. Plus, sawdust gets everywhere, including inside your lungs. A jointer is really nice, but similar results can be achieved with a table saw and a high-end blade.

Watch a bunch of videos on how to do a breadboard end. It's a pain, but our crazy weather swings will demolish a tabletop without it.

My last piece of advice is to embrace the "rustic" look. This look was invented by hobbyists who were tired of trying to make everything look perfect. Above all else, just go for it. Woodworking is great fun and I find it very relaxing (outside of the cursing at mistakes). Even a half-way decent table is going to last a few generations and will look 100 times cooler than the Ikea junk your buddies own.

Good luck!

PS - Someone should start a woodworking mega thread. I've hacked together several pieces of furniture and learned a bunch of lessons the hard way along the way.

[V]

I don’t know, that shaper seems like cheating. I’m not sure you can call something handcrafted when you use a tool like that.

[psicodude]

Originally Posted by V

I don’t know, that shaper seems like cheating. I’m not sure you can call something handcrafted when you use a tool like that.

Freehand routing is ranked in the top 10 most difficult things to do in the world. I goofy screen isn't going to help, IMO. There's a reason why Leigh jigs are $600.

[V]

Maybe I misunderstood the tool. Is it the same as free handed routing but with a grid to guide you? It almost looked like a hand held CNC machine.

[psicodude]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding. The videos make it look like there is a guide and it overlays where the bit currently is. Looks simple in a video, but running a router with an endmill is really hard.

[bc-chris]

Originally Posted by psicodude

Freehand routing is ranked in the top 10 most difficult things to do in the world. I goofy screen isn't going to help, IMO. There's a reason why Leigh jigs are $600.

did you watch the video? it's actually really cool.... you keep the thing centered as best you can and the router head moves to make it perfect. i checked out a few video demos and it looks pretty slick. i think what would get me about a tool like that is the cost of buying the 'tape' with the 'domino' designs - i think the one video i watched said it was $18 (likely USD) for a roll that is 150' long. if you're working on a 4'x8' sheets of material and need to put an 8' strip of the tape down every 6" you'll go thru the roll pretty quick!


here's another video on the machine....

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by V

Maybe I misunderstood the tool. Is it the same as free handed routing but with a grid to guide you? It almost looked like a hand held CNC machine.

Yep, it’s a handheld CNC machine.

[psicodude]

Yeah, I was wrong. I read a few reviews and it's a handheld CNC that you push around. Very cool.

Way better (for me anyway) video of it in action here:

[Knalus]

Originally Posted by psicodude

Purchase the lumber from Black Forest and consider renting some time at this place: https://www.fuse33.com/ I haven't actually rented any time there as I own most of the tools, but it looks awesome. If that's not an option, pay Black Forest a few bucks to prep the lumber to your liking. Just explain the project and what you need from them. They seem intimidating at first, but they are really helpful guys.

I've looked all over the city and Black Forest is the best by a mile. Most other places sell lumber that hasn't been properly dried yet which will bend and warp like crazy. Super frustrating.

To properly do a table top, you are going to need access to a planer. Period. Even the S4S stuff won't be perfect. Sanding it down sounds easy, but it's hours upon hours of work and never turns out perfectly flat. Plus, sawdust gets everywhere, including inside your lungs. A jointer is really nice, but similar results can be achieved with a table saw and a high-end blade.

Watch a bunch of videos on how to do a breadboard end. It's a pain, but our crazy weather swings will demolish a tabletop without it.

My last piece of advice is to embrace the "rustic" look. This look was invented by hobbyists who were tired of trying to make everything look perfect. Above all else, just go for it. Woodworking is great fun and I find it very relaxing (outside of the cursing at mistakes). Even a half-way decent table is going to last a few generations and will look 100 times cooler than the Ikea junk your buddies own.

Good luck!

PS - Someone should start a woodworking mega thread. I've hacked together several pieces of furniture and learned a bunch of lessons the hard way along the way.

My advice is to knock the corners off each edge of each board, to make an intentionally grooved surface - it is a lot easier than trying to make everything smooth and match up perfectly.

[Isikiz]

Thanks all for the advice and all of the discussion. Thought I'd just pop back in here and give an update on my project. I decided to scale back the scale of my project because it seemed like it'd probably be pretty dumb to go all out on the first real project.

After watching a ton of YouTube videos, I finally found one to base my project off of, though I wanted to change a couple of things. Instead of going for expensive hardwoods, I just went and grabbed some cheap pine from Home Depot. Glued two 1x12 and one 1x10 and together and lined some wood along the edges so that it had a slightly thicker look. I also braced the underside with some 1x4s for some more support. I then sanded and cut all of the edges and rounded the corners with an orbital sander.

After using a pre-stain, I covered the top and sides with a Minwax Oil Stain - Special Walnut. One coat seemed to do the trick. I then finished with about 7-8 coats of Minwax Oil Polyurethane diluted 1:1 with mineral spirits, sanding with 220 grit sandpaper in between.

I bought some 29" hairpin legs off of Amazon and screwed them in with the hardware that it came with.

I bought a couple of small tools and borrowed a bunch to make the table. I think it turned out pretty well! The final table dimensions ended up being 59" x 34".

Since it's pine, I know I should be expecting some nicking up of the surface over time, which is fine. I don't think I'll see any table sag, but I guess I'll have to see. I know it's obviously not a complicated or amazing project or anything, but it was immensely satisfying for me to see it come together. Hopefully it holds up! I think everything cost me about $250 in direct material costs to make, though it was a lot more expensive for me because I had to buy some of the other stuff (i.e. made an excuse to buy a new power drill and impact driver). This first foray was a ton of fun and now I want to build all of my furniture myself haha.

Final product:

Spoiler!

Thanks again for the advice!