I hate hearing someone say: “I would get in to woodworking but I can’t afford the equipment.”
Woodworking does not have to be an expensive hobby. It can be, but it doesn’t have to be. A simple workbench can be built in a day with hand tools for about $100. Many tools can be picked up at garage sales and at tool meets. Online auctions or classified sections of woodworking lists such as WoodNet are another great source, as are Craigslist and e-bay.
Do you really need stationary equipment for your hobby? Machines can be expensive – moving them, getting your shop wired, dust collection and etc. will add up quick. Many times it is quicker to do something by hand than to set up a machine or design jigs for machines to do the job.
I find that machines pay off when making multiples. It is the skills that are hard to come by. Lack of skill is what really costs us time and money. The $5 handsaw is rusty and dull, so you need to know how to clean and sharpen it. Find someone to show you how or take a class; learn to do it properly and well. You may have $100 invested in that first saw when you are done, but you also will have a new skill. While your next rusty saw will be $5 plus your time to clean it up, you will also know if it is any good before you buy it.
Learn how to saw. Many of the tools we buy are created to replace a skill, to make a task so easy a child could do it. They very seldom live up to their hype. How many of you have purchased a tool to improve your dovetails or to enable you to saw better?
The chisel needs to be used and understood before you move on to the saw and plane. You probably don’t need a new chisel; you need to learn how to efficiently sharpen the one you have.
You need to know the properties of wood before you can work it properly, including how to read grain direction and plan for wood movement. Knowledge is the thrifty woodworker’s friend. Knowledge will ensure your materials are stored properly, tools and equipment are maintained, the shop is clean and organized and layouts are done efficiently for both time and materials.
Knowledge of power tools, if you choose to use them, can save you time, money and pain; know how to safely use them. Using a power jointer and planer can save a lot of preparation time if you don’t get your hand in there. Power tools are also efficient at spoiling material if you don’t really know what you are doing. “Knowing” that you need a tool to be more efficient at your work is better than “hoping” that a new shiny gee-gaw will make you a better woodworker. Don’t buy a tool that you can’t maintain unless you plan to pay to have someone else do the maintenance. You cannot buy your way in.
Say you buy a shop full of tools and equipment and a pile of wood, now what? Buy some plans? Hire somebody to come in and do the work?
—Mike Siemsen, Mike Siemsen School of Woodworking
Editor’s note: We are in the final stages of Mike’s new DVD “The Naked Woodworker.” It will be a two-DVD set. More details in the coming week.
I really can’t wait for this to come out. I think it’ll be a boon to a lot of beginner hand tool woodworkers just starting out, like myself.
Reblogged this on Paleotool's Weblog.
Reblogged this on mike of all things and commented:
A very good summary of how not to get lost in the weeds! Power tools are very efficient at spoiling material as Mike says, I can vouch for this!
he also said:
“-if you don’t really know what you are doing.”
and:
“I find that machines pay off when making multiples.”
Yes, they both have their place. I think he gets across “pause a bit” before you take on any project with hand or power tools.
Looking forward to your DVD Mike! I have purged a lot of my power tools and have really embraced hand tool work lately, mainly because I need to garage space.
I have to agree with Mike’s statement of “Many times it is quicker to do something by hand than to set up a machine or design jigs for machines to do the job.” I once made a sliding router table to cut mortise and tenon joints. It did a great job I’ll admit. Looking back, a tenon saw and a mortise chisel and I could have cut all of my mortise and tenon joints in 1/5 the time it took me to make the sliding table router jig. Doh! This blog and the books/dvd’s really provide the woodworkers the wisdom to go with the marketing the tools come with. I wish I had found out about it before I made that sliding table that sits on a shelf 🙂
As a raw beginner, I’d like to stand in defense of those intimidated by the cost of this hobby. Please understand that these are friendly disagreements: I tend to prefer books and the internet over dvd’s, but I’m interested in hearing more about this particular DVD once it is released.
I’m very much a beginner. Not quite a year ago, I talked to my upstairs neighbor about how we ought to set up a workbench and work area in our basement (I live in a suburb of Boston: it’s dense here, and I live in what’s called a “double-decker,” one family upstairs, another downstairs).
I’d been thinking about trying to get into woodworking for a couple years before this. I’d purchased one of Christopher Schwarz’s book on workbenches, and salivated over what was described.
Here’s the thing, though: I’m a beginner, and this is a hobby: it isn’t something I’m already very good at. If that were the case, I’d find another hobby: the joy of a hobby for me is in learning and improving a skill. I start out inept enough that this hobby should continue to entertain me for the remaining 30 or 40 years I have, without ever getting bored making simple boxes.
As a hobby I’m just beginning, I’m not prepared to spend a lot of money. This is supposed to bring me joy, not stress over how much I’m spending.
I don’t feel guilty spending in the neighborhood of $200 a month on this hobby. More than that, and I start to think I ought to be more responsible, maybe read more or take another stab at fly-tying.
The oft-mentioned $100 workbench is hard to come by. A solid core door and two sawhorses will come pretty close to eating all that up. For a more serious bench, $100 won’t buy enough of what my local home center calls “common board” to really put something together. My impression is that the most affordable option, starting from scratch, is a torsion-style bench.
We scoured craigslist, and found some school “workbenches” being sold for $75. They had metal legs, and a 1 1/2 inch thick, some sort of compressed wood fiber top. I flipped the top over to the side that had more gum than gouge marks, cleaned it up and topped it off with 3/4 inch MDF, and 3/4 inch oak plywood. I didn’t do that great of a job: my corners look square to the eye, but not to the square. It looks flat to the eye, but again closer inspection reveals that some parts are higher than others. The Oak veneer plywood will eventually get too torn up, at which point I can lay on about one more layer before it’s time to come up with another solution.
That said, it is heavy. I’ve installed a front vise, purchased two Gramercy holdfasts and drilled dog holes in it. It isn’t something that would impress anyone reading this, but I’m quite pleased with it for what it is: a bench to start working on. And I built it for something not too distant of $100 in materials.
My tools so far include:
–a #5 Stanley plane that we think belonged to my grandfather. It was rusted up pretty bad, but I’ve sanded and filed and wire-brushed away at it until it works pretty well.
–I just received last week an old small Stanley block plane. I don’t have a clue yet what year or number.
–a Buck Bros 1 inch chisel I already had from the home center.
–a 1/4 mortising chisel I bought at woodcraft a couple weeks ago.
–a pair of Veritas carcass saws, one rip and one crosscut.
–a cheap coping saw
–a Stanley “Fat Max” or whatever they’re called rip saw
–a 12 inch combination square
–a hammer
–a mallet
–a marking knife
–a wheel style marking tool
–two combination oil stones
–and assorted tools I already had for general around the house stuff, such as screwdrivers, a corded drill, a circular saw, some files, and a few other things I’m probably forgetting about. My neighbor also has a miter saw, and a router with some simple bits.
I’ve read numerous lists of “essential tools for getting started” and am slowly trying to acquire them.
But again, I start spending much more than $200 a month on this hobby, and I’m reminding of how badly I need to be putting more money aside for retirement.
Just the handful of what are considered essential planes to own will eat up my budget for 6 months to a year, and that’s if I don’t follow Chris’ advice and buy quality tools (if I decide I need to have a quality plow plane, well…).
If I eventually own every essential tool I think I need, the cost of wood alone will mean I will be spending a lot of time sharpening, reading, cleaning, and etc. rather than building something. But by then I’d hopefully be more seriously engaged in the hobby, and feel a little bit better about spending a little bit more.
I’ve bought into ideas about handwork. I’ve just about finished building a small side table, and the router would make finishing it up much easier. I hate the idea of turning the thing on, though. And I like the idea of finished it up entirely by hand. Rather than decorate the sides as much, last night I used my #5 as a scrub place and went to work on making the piece more interesting in profile by varying the thickness of the top, and I intend to do the same with the legs, which I’ll eventually cut softer curves in than I’d do if I got the router out.
I enjoy it all, so far. But speaking up for anyone else like me out there: everytime I read a sentence that says something like “it’s easy, you just need these twenty-odd tools or so, and you can do just about anything” I want to yell a bit.
Someone needs to write up and share with those like myself how to get started in handtool work for a much more modest budget, recognizing that we don’t enjoy sitting around waiting until we’ve bought each tool before we actually begin to do something.
The “I Can Do That” Pop Woodworking series is the closest for those that are alright using power tools.
Can a $200 / month budget in hand tool work be written, that allows a person to begin doing something after the first $200 is spent, and continue to do things until all of that essential kit is acquired?
Thanks for listening to my (again, friendly) rant!
Wes,
I feel your pain! In the video we purchase the tools and materials to build 2 sawhorses and a workbench. The tools are not new so we briefly go over fixing them up. We then build the sawhorses and workbench. The entire expenditure including a new grinder and after market tool rest came in under $600. There is about $100 in materials. Given your budget you could spread that out over 3 months. I won’t say you can build everything with that tool set but there is a lot you could do with it. You would need to fill in gaps as your skills develop and you see the need for tools. I would say after the bench is done to build the Dutch Tool Chest to keep your tools in. Each project builds on the skills of the prior one and uses common constructon materials.
The chief skill in woodworking is sharpening, it is much more fun working with properly sharpened tools. In the end there is no one “right” way to get into woodworking, hand tools, power tools, blended shops, find the way that works for you. Don’t let anyone spoil your fun! Work safe!
Thanks for the reply, Mike! I am looking forward to this DVD set. Time presents enough challenges to our hobbies already; adding significant costs makes taking on a new hobby especially challenging. In much I’ve seen written, there is an obvious attempt to reassure new folks that it isn’t that bad, but there is often still a bit of a disconnect between what seems like a reasonable expenditure to someone who has invested decades in the hobby, and someone who is just beginning.
I have been fly fishing for 30 years. Assuming I am talking to someone who has never fly fished before, and I tell them that they can get a very nice fly rod, line, and reel for not much north of $600, and probably spend no more than an additional $200 on other necessary equipment like a vest, waders, boots, fly box, flies & etc., they’ll probably hunt around for a different way to spend their time.
I hate advising them to purchase the $50 cheapo-fly rod and reel, then buy the cheapest waders and vest they can find, but that is the path they’ll take that will get them hooked, and in a few years be willing to lay out the money for the nicer equipment.
Likewise I’ve read enough to know that you get what you pay for when you buy cheap tools. If it wasn’t for the danged internet, I’d be a lot more ignorant, believe that plane for sale at the home center was a good deal, and happily, ignorantly, hum along as a budding woodworker.
There ought to be a pamphlet made up that sends a novice out to the store with $100 in the morning, and has him or her doing something to a board in the afternoon that they are happy about. Subsequent affordable trips to the store keep this person interested and happy, until they’re comfortable enough with the idea that they really enjoy doing this to go ahead and spend a little more (or, they’re happy enough building small whatevers with the simple tools they have).
A saw, a hammer, a chisel, some nails, and a board: surely someone can do something meaningful with just these things. Not much, but enough to enjoy the work.
Working with the old Stanley plane I’ve got, I really enjoy tuning it up. I agree with your ideas as I’ve heard them about buying old tools and fixing them. That has been as enjoyable for me so far as it has been to use them once they’re fixed.
The Dutch Tool Chest still intimidates me a bit. I could build something that people would recognize as an attempt at a Dutch Tool Chest, I think. Right now the shelves and pegboard I’ve got are holding my tools well enough, until I’m happier with my ability to saw in a straight line and fit wood together with joints that I can’t read through.
Meant to reply here, feel free to delete my other post.
I think you can work quite nicely with 200 a month. I picked up two old stanley type 11′s for just about 100. A number 5 and a number 8 and I bought 2 hock irons for the 8. It is completely doable. I think Chris’ handplane essentials was money well spent as was a lot of time on supertool.com with Particks Blood and Gore blog on used stanley planes.
Ebay is tricky, I have to agree with Chris’ recommendation on working with dealers. Jim Bode sends out a daily digest as do others. You can find good used workers from these guys for a fair price.
I think you can work quite nicely with 200 a month. I picked up two old stanley type 11’s for just about 100. A number 5 and a number 8 and I bought 2 hock irons for the 8. It is completely doable. I think Chris’ handplane essentials was money well spent as was a lot of time on supertool.com with Particks Blood and Gore blog on used stanley planes.
Ebay is tricky, I have to agree with Chris’ recommendation on working with dealers. Jim Bode sends out a daily digest as do others. You can find good used workers from these guys for a fair price.
Thanks. I am getting by much better now that I have a few tools to work with. I suspect that I’m at the point where this DVD will just about match where I’m at. I hope I haven’t sounded too negative on here. I really enjoy what I’m doing, and enjoy this blog, Popular Woodworking, and the books I’ve purchased by Chris so far (blue Workbench book, the Anarchist’s Toolchest, & Campaign Furniture).
From what I’ve seen so far, had I had this DVD a year ago, I might of tried to build the bench described rather than the one I have now. Hard to say: especially as a beginner, the notion of building a bench without a bench to work on while building it is daunting.
Perhaps this will be my second bench, after my current one either gets too torn up, or I just feel like it should be my next project.
I’d love to have a Roubo or the 21st Century Bench Robert Lang describes. I’m not quite at the point though where I want to spend the $600 or so on the wood when 1., there are many tools I still want to have, and 2., I know with my current skill set I will make errors that will make the price spent on the wood sting extra bad.
Actually, the price of wood has probably been the biggest shock for me. I had ideas about a bookcase that would fit this wall in our back room. After sketching it all out, figuring out that it would cost $200 for the cheapest available home-center wood was depressing. I would have no trouble spending that at all if I knew the finished bookcase would be one I would be proud to display in our front room. I was too frugal to spend that much on a first project.
That’s OK. I’ve found smaller things to work on. It was a wake-up call though, that this hobby would require careful planning, and a lot of decisions along the way, balancing the need for tools and the need for wood to use those tools on.
What I’ve realized writing these comments is that there is a niche that needs filled in the available information out there. Someone needs to give instructions on how a person can explore woodworking on a Saturday: with a minimal tool set build something they’re happy to have around. A long box that can be used as a planter, or a tool-tote, or (what I use my first project for) a place to keep the dog’s toys. Then additional instructions that carry about the same investment of money, till a person has worked with wood enough to know if it is something they crave more of.
I would recommend the Joiner and the Cabinet Maker as well. It has three projects starting with the simple packing box, the school box and a dresser. The cabinet maker had dovetails, sawing, tenons, nails, a little bit of everything. By Hand and Eye has a tool tote project but more from a design than a how to perspective.
Paul Sellers has some nice projects on his woodworking master classes as well. Good luck, I am just getting into hand tool work while I am between jobs and I can’t say I am up for spending 2500 on a plow plane anytime soon (no offense to Chris). It takes a bit of research to navigate the tools but I think it can be done and with your books by Chris a great start.