Having a Good Wood Shop

I have always been interested in having my own wood shop to do wood projects.

There are a number of shops that have a lot of tool and equipment in them and some times wonder if you really need all that equipment?

I have done a good shear of wood working over the years.

I don’t have all the fancy tool’s and equipment that some have (not that I wouldn’t mind having them) and I seem to do pretty good with the small amount of tool’s I do have.

Basically I have a circular saw, table saw, drill’s and a small set of wood chisels oh and a router my dad gave me 25 years ago. I have made some small projects like coat rakes, book shelves, end tables and I did rather well.

So the question is are all the fancy tools necessary? Planes, wood lathe, drill press, belt sanders etc.

Well I guess the real answer to that depends on what you are doing.

Someone that does little thing around the house and in their garage probably don’t need as much as say someone who is building custom cabinets, furniture etc.

I would say the benefit of having some of those tool’s would be saving time.

Sander:

Take a belt sander or orbiter sander for instance would save a lot of hand sanding and fatigue on your body.

Planer:

With a planer you would almost have to have one if you are doing a lot of projects that have flat surfaces like tables, shelfs and counter tops. Trying to get a good flat surface without a wood plainer would be almost impossible.

On the other hand a hand held wood planer is not that expensive.

They run about $30.00 to $70.00 but a good table wood planer can go an ware from $200.00 to as high as $10,000.00. To say the least you can spend a lot of cash on tools and equipment for a wood shop.

Wood Lathe:

With a wood lathe the average wood worker could probably do with out. Unless your work is making furniture then a wood Lathe would be a tool you most likely would have to have.

Another thing is some of them can cost quit a bit of money a wood Lathe can run any ware from $300.00 to as high as $20,000.00.

Hand Tools:

One thing you need to be careful of is the quality of the tool’s you are buying. Some of the cheaper ones can be as cheap as the price and when you are working with wood you want to make sure you have some good quality tool’s.

Especially when it come to your hand tool’s like chisels, files and knives you don’t want to get tool’s that are made out of to soft of a material that will cause the edge to get dull quick or roll on you. You don’t want to hard of a metal that will chip or brake. For more details on tool steal watch this video .

Wood Working Clamp’s

Another type of tool you will need is wood clamps and wood vice’s. These tools are used to temporarily hold your projects together or in place while you work on them.

Now the wood clamps come in a multitude of styles, shape’s and sizes. They are used to hold your projects together while the wood glue dries and so you can get the peaces lined up and fastens together.

There’s are several different type and variations of wood working clamps.

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Vise:

The vise is usually mounted on a bench or table so you can secure the peace you are working on in place. This will allow you to have both hands free to work on the peace. In woodworking it is easier to have both hands free to work on the project. There is a few different types for vises to choose from.

You have the vise that bolts to the table or bench.

It is also safer for your digits to keep them away from the sharp tools.

Tables and Benches:

Woodworking can be tedious work at times. So you want to be as comfortable as possible.

Having a few tables and benches will make working on your projects a lot more comfortable by not having to bend over to work on your projects.

There are a number or ways to get a table or a bench set up for you to work on.

The first one is of cores. You can build one since after all you are a woodworker.

The second one is buying a table or bench.

Now there are some pro’s and con’s to each of these.

Building your table or bench:

pro:

• You can build it to work with your specific needs
• You can build it to fit in the space that you have
• Most likely cost less for the materials

con:

• The amount of time it will take to build it

Buying a table or bench:

pro:

• You will save time that can be used to work on your projects.

cons:

• Cost more than if you were to build it

Drill Press:

One of tools I do believe all wood shops should have is a Drill Press.

A Drill Press has a number of different types of bit’s you can use to make round holes of course. But you can also make square holes, put strait notches in wood and you can use it for sanding as well.