Reply To: Necessary tools to do quality work
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That’s a good list really, nothing jumps out as poorly chosen or an unnecessary expense. I haven’t read all the comments so apologies if I’m going over old ground.
Combination square is v. useful but a used try square will do everything you want in a simple desk project probably for a fraction of the cost. Just make sure it’s square, doesn’t matter how good the brand is if it’s been dropped every day in a lifetime of use.
Ideally skip the workmate, but if you don’t have the space, money or time for a proper workbench yet at least accompany it with a couple of sturdy sawhorses, maybe one as a “sawbench” which is somewhere between a big sawhorse and a very small bench. Alternatively I will try to attach a design for a “portable bench” from The Practical Woodworker, Bernard E. Jones (a fantastic book, it’s well worth getting a copy). Caveat: I have not built this. For fine work a proper bench is essential though.
For sharpening, I would say a coarse oil stone will be best for occasional re-shaping, removing chips etc., but for everyday honing I’d go for diamond stones. They’ll give you less hassle. I’m not talking about dia-sharp £100 stones, google “Faithfull 4-sided diamond stone” to see what I mean, if you can find an equivalent wherever in the world you are I’d go for that.
Here’s a recipe for dirt-cheap clamps. 3×2(ish) timber, two blocks of wood screwed to said timber about 1″ further apart than what you want to clamp, folding wedges matched to the gap provide the clamping force. They don’t give you a huge amount of pressure but I have used them to great effect before, and they cost about a tenth of the cheapest clamps I’ve seen.
Smaller chisels as others have said – 1/4″, 3/8″ and a big one (1″-2″) probably if you go into the desk first, 3/4″, 1/2″ and a big one if you decide to build a workbench first. But a full set is indispensable so all five ideally.
Furniture tops are usually fixed to their frames with screws (indirectly), so some method of screwing and drilling (bought or borrowed) will be needed at some point. A cordless drill would be a good first power tool buy, you will see Paul using them in plenty of videos, but not an essential starting tool.
Here’s the rub, you need a mallet to make a mallet. If you can borrow one, great.
The rip panel saw is probably unnecessary. A rip tenon saw will do short cuts, and long rip cuts will be too much for a panel saw which will usually have similar teeth to a tenon saw. I use a 4tpi rip saw for boards right down to 3/4″ thick, I would recommend the same. If you can’t find one that’s suitable, either stick more or less to the dimensions of the wood you buy, or get someone else to dimension it, or get ready for a lot of huffing and puffing because ripping with the wrong saw is very hard and slow work.
Good luck, I hope you catch the bug!
Matt
- This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by chemical_cake.