In reply to RX Reven' :
I can't see the image.
I would like to build Outdoor Patio Ottoman exactly as [canoe removed] suggests. Can you help me to define how difficult it is.
In reply to RX Reven' :
I can't see the image.
I would like to build Outdoor Patio Ottoman exactly as [canoe removed] suggests. Can you help me to define how difficult it is.
In reply to emilyquirq :
How hard was your canoe to build, on a scale of one to go away?
stuart in mn said:A decent table saw is a good investment; you can get 'contractor' saws with folding stands so they don't take up a ton of space when not in use. Fine Homebuilding magazine runs reviews of them every so often.
A good hand held circular saw and a straightedge will also do most of what you want to do, it just takes a little more care to set up.
For that matter, carpenters and cabinet makers used hand saws for hundreds of years before electricity came along. I have an assortment of rip, crosscut and back saws, and often I can make a cut and be done in less time than it would take to set up a power tool. They also won't wake up the neighbors if you're working late at night.
A small oscillating palm sander is also very useful:
I was a complete NOOB when I started building my Double timber frame house. I only built one thing from wood before, my grandfather clock. When I took wood shop in the 7th grade the teacher gave me an F and told me never to do any work with wood. The success I had with my Grandfather clock told me he was wrong.
Good ( not cheap ) tools really help you be safe and do good work. Here is where you really need to know what you are looking at. You can't go by brand or price. A company that builds really great bandsaws may make a terrible planner or visa Versa. Plus used may mean it needs a little adjustment and sharpening or it's complete trash don't bother. Sears for example made a bunch of really cheap crappy laths but they also made a couple of really good ones.
The Japanese make some of the finest stuff. They also make some of the worst stuff. Same goes for the Chinese. Well maybe not the finest but certainly decent quality. A lot of my home was built with Chinese built equipment that handled great big timbers. Hour upon hour. Repeat ad nausea.
Table saws do take up space but if you put them on wheels you simply shove them out of your way. Same with any piece of equipment. Working with panels or longer boards a table saw is a major time saver.
Safety? Not with a radial arm saw. Too easy to send wood flying. I'll use a compound miter saw, thank you. My Dewalt was one of the first pieces I bought and it's worked on 50,000 board feet of timber. I can still set it to 1/4 of a degree accuracy and make that exact cut countless times until the blade gets dull.
Although a zombie, on a similar vein, can anyone recommend any resources or the like that would be useful for someone looking to become a better woodworker?
In reply to daeman :
That question is like how do you get to Carnegie Hall?
answer; practice practice practice.
the real question is how do you get wood to do all this practice?
First start out using free wood. Pallets are one source for free wood. Drive around industrial areas check in back. You'll quickly figure out which places have plenty of used pallets around. GMA pallets must be made of hardwood. Most of it is oak, some might be ash, but I've seen them made from everything. Even , yes, Black Walnut. I've seen shipping pallets made from Mahogany, and other woods.
once you're tired of working mainly short pieces. Find your local medium sized sawmill. Not the big corporate one but the guy who makes railroad ties, pallet wood and the odd bunker of whatever is growing in somebodies wood lot.
Wood from there can be disgustingly cheap. From that point until wood is sold in a store or lumberyard, there can be 10-12 people who buy that wood and each one adds cost to it.
what I paid 17 cents for the store or lumberyard charged $10.00 for. Yes there can be that big a difference.
If you have no idea where your local sawmills are call Wood Mizer. as your starting point.
Another thing with circular saws is to check the blade is square to the base. Out of the box they are sometimes off a bit and can make straight cuts difficult. One reason cheaper saws are cheap is they don't take the time to check and adjust this alignment. For years I thought my old Craftsman saw from the 80's was junk until I read this somewhere and checked it. After figuring out how to adjust the alignment and fixing it, the saw made much better cuts.
YouTube is a decent place to learn and get ideas. I've been impressed with wortheffort, he's non-curmudgeonly but doesn't rely on lots of special tools. He's also how I learned to set up my old wooden hand plane.
In reply to frenchyd :
Fair point frenchy, I guess I should have been more specific.
Obviously practice is the key to proficiency in any discipline, but to take the piano for an example, you can sit down in front of a piano every day of your life and noodle away and never become great, or even good. You need to learn about reading music, what finger combinations make what notes, what dynamics are, etc
So to be a little more pointed in what I'm asking, instead of just finding wood and having at it, what would be considered good resources for someone looking to gain a better understanding of techniques, specialty tools and thier use and what sort of projects or exercises would a relative beginner benefit from most. Whilst there's no substitute for time and practice, noodling aimlessly without direction is a really ineffective way of getting better at something.
I'm ok at construction carpentry like framing and finish carpentry etc. But I wouldn't be able to build a dove tailed drawer to save myself (at least I don't think I could, maybe I'm wrong)
I do appreciate your advice though, I've seen enough of your house to know you're no slouch when it comes to working with wood, thank you.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Thanks Keith, appreciate the lead. There's alot on youtube, and it can be difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff when you don't fully understand which is which.
I'm sure I could watch a bunch of different stuff and try and figure it out for myself, but sometimes it's just much easier to ask someone who's already been there and done that.
In reply to daeman :
Woodworking for mere mortals is a good entry level channel to learn from. He uses basic common power tools and basic techniques. He is more focused on teaching while he works.
Paul sellers has a good one next level midrange channel. More traditional techniques and hand tools with more complex techniques. Also teaches while he works. I like third coast craftsman channel. Its mix of modern and traditional. Not focused on teaching, just video of him working, but the videos are well done.
Rob Cosman has a very good higher skill level channel, focused on teaching techniques, not full projects. He is mostly traditional. The wood whisperer is a very high end modern channel. Sort of like new yankee workshop in the sense that he has every high end power tool you can imagine.
If you want to go super old school check out Mr. Chickadee. It's like stepping back in time. Woodworking, timberframe building, blacksmithing, all with antique hand tools.
These are the ones I like, but there's a million of them out there.
daeman said:In reply to frenchyd :
Fair point frenchy, I guess I should have been more specific.
Obviously practice is the key to proficiency in any discipline, but to take the piano for an example, you can sit down in front of a piano every day of your life and noodle away and never become great, or even good. You need to learn about reading music, what finger combinations make what notes, what dynamics are, etc
So to be a little more pointed in what I'm asking, instead of just finding wood and having at it, what would be considered good resources for someone looking to gain a better understanding of techniques, specialty tools and thier use and what sort of projects or exercises would a relative beginner benefit from most. Whilst there's no substitute for time and practice, noodling aimlessly without direction is a really ineffective way of getting better at something.
I'm ok at construction carpentry like framing and finish carpentry etc. But I wouldn't be able to build a dove tailed drawer to save myself (at least I don't think I could, maybe I'm wrong)
I do appreciate your advice though, I've seen enough of your house to know you're no slouch when it comes to working with wood, thank you.
Watch others work wood. I sure did my share of it. But what I found is my own nature of never being satisfied with my work until I personally thought it was good enough. Perfection is the enemy of getting it done. And until it's done you can never sit back and feel good about what you achieved.
I look at the thousands of things that could have been done better or are less than perfect and it bothers me, Right up to the moment I look at all I've achieved.
My wife was pressuring me to get the ceiling in our master bedroom finished ( in spite of my 60-80 hour work week driving the school bus) and I kept putting her off know a job like that would take me months as I'd planned it out.
I started working whenever I could but a month rolled past and then 2. Etc. She got disgusted at my apparent lack of progress and called someone to help me. A former cabinet maker took my pieces and finished the whole job in three days. Not exactly the way I'd planned. Some ways better a few minor ways not quite the way I'd do it. But 3 days instead of 3 months.
My point is I'm not the best wood smith and I'd be a whole lot worse without the right tools and equipment. My only real achievement is perseverance. 31,000 man hours in my house so far. 90% of it no one sees 
In reply to mayalison :
You have a yard? Or just some shallow water surrounding that canoe you call home?
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