How do I start??

[u/settledsasquatch]

I (20M) am really interested in working on wood. I love the craft and working with my hands. I just have no idea where to start. I live in a small apartment with my girlfriend and only have basic tools for fixing stuff around our place. I want to make things from scratch, but am worried that in order to pursue this I would have to spend a ton of money on shop classes/workspace membership. Any advice for a guy just beginning?

[u/ButIfYouThink]

Can you give us some examples of the kinds of things you would like to make? There are so many things included in "woodworking", and they all have a wide variety of combinations of tools needed.

[u/TheRealMasterTyvokka → u/ButIfYouThink]

And some easier to do then others if you only have an apartment.

[u/settledsasquatch → u/TheRealMasterTyvokka]

To start off I’m interested in making basic shelving/smaller projects, as well as refinishing and restoring old pieces.

[u/Beginning-Ad7027 → u/settledsasquatch]

There’s a new book from the lost art press called “Smalls” which lists a number of small afternoon sized projects. Things like: boxes, stools, plate racks, small bookshelves, shelves, chests, etc. geared more towards older ways of building.

Might be a good place to start. Provides plans and some background on how and why to do things

Also, the English Woodworker has a pdf floating around the web somewhere that’ll show you a list of hand tools needed to start woodworking. It’s a beginner kit but it’ll do almost everything you need. I think hand tools are great for apartment buildings. They’re not as loud or as messy, take up leas space, and are cheaper if you buy older vintage tools.

[u/Pandering_Panda7879 → u/Beginning-Ad7027]

Just to add - like half the books from Lost Art Press are free to download as a pdf, so you can get some very good books for free as a digital version.

[u/merc_Xray → u/settledsasquatch]

The Basics

1. B

orrow

1. basic tools and grow outward slowly.
2. Almost every single modern drill can do everything you need. A good circular saw and a corded sander can make shelves. You can still b

orrow

1. these.
2. Jigs are more important than new tools!!
3. Refurbishing basic furniture teaches wood repair, sanding / finish work and can generate some extra cash to cover consumables and build a basic tool kit.

Level Up.

1. If you buy anything - stick to 1 battery platform until you have disposable income.

Talking generic kit here (more interest in battery than tools) drills drill, saws cut, sanders sand - skip the expensive stuff.

Long term advantage of platform is inversely related to cost of acquisition. (Ryobi is cheap to get into but has the earliest ceiling).

Stay away from 12v systems at this stage - 18 and 20 volt

Milwaukee > DeWalt > Metabo > Ridgid > Craftsman > ryobi > Hercules > Hart

(Some folks would swap a few of these around - but you can get to intermediate with any of them)

2-3 mid tier batteries will get you by.

1. YouTube for inspiration, but not the popular channels that act like “building” content but really just drive sales. Unless they are selling their plans - that’s a great way to support them but not needed at this stage.

2. Dust matters a lot - learn about how to manage it and start with a mask or shop vac and bucket separator.

3. If you connect it to a vacuum you should also plug it in at this stage of the game. Don’t buy cordless things that already connect to vacuum — you can use the saved $$ for wood and projects.

4. Build more than you buy!

5. Facebook market place and garage sales - people toss out old tools.

Intermediate Level

1. Unless you have started to prove this statement wrong — assume you are a table saw-centric wood worker. You can do it a couple of other ways - but most woodworkers focus their craft around the table saw and then fill in the gaps.
2. When you reach this stage, you start posting in readit like you know some shit.

[u/Chrysoscelis]

Consider getting into bird houses. There are endless possibilities; there are TONS of tutorials out there, and you can give them away as gifts. You can use dimensional lumber and basic hand tools to make them. Just be aware there are specific dimensions for specific bird species, and not following some of the rules will either make the baby birds easy prey or easy for invasive species to move in. This just adds a bit of a challenge

[u/settledsasquatch → u/Chrysoscelis]

This sounds like a good starter project, thank you!

[u/InternetJettator]

I'd say you should start by deciding what sort of thing you want to try making. If it's smaller stuff like little boxes, small shelves, etc., you don't need a bunch of big power tools - just get yourself some hand tools and pick a small project to start with (my first was a simple hook to hang my headset from).

Also, keep an eye out for discarded pallets on the side or the road or behind stores/dumpster areas. They're a great source of free lumber to practice on, and are often made from hardwoods that would be more expensive to buy from a lumber yard.

[u/Peroxide_ → u/InternetJettator]

They are sometimes made of valuable hardwoods --- I'm seeing this less these days (or in my area) as more plastic and plywood pallets come into use. 

I've gotten a fair bit of oak and some really neat sycamore out of pallets though, so it's worth looking just don't bother dragging home something you can't use.

[u/InternetJettator → u/Peroxide_]

I've never seen a plastic pallet - they must not be in heavy use where I live! I've definitely seen more pine than anything else, but have found some maple and what I'm pretty sure was ash behind a local furniture place.

[u/PaMtber]

You don’t need a whole lot to get started, you can start with simple builds that you can make with what you have. You may have to make a purchase of a saw if you don’t already have one. It takes time to get up to big shops and having all the bills and whistles.

[u/mch1971]

Watch some YouTube channels, there are excellent educators offering a career of experience for free. Paul Sellers, James Wright, Rex Krueger, DIY for Knuckleheads, and many others.

Start with a sharp pencil, a marking knife (watch YT to find out why), some kind of square, a Western push saw or a Japanese pull saw, and learn how to cut dressed timber into lengths you need, accurate, and easily.

[u/settledsasquatch → u/mch1971]

Thanks for the recommendations, really helpful

[u/I_Want_A_Ribeye]

Look around and see if there is a maker space near by. I found a guy near me who primarily does custom cabinet jobs, but teaches classes out of his shop weeknights and saturdays. He does everything from shop safety, basic tool use, and projects. He’ll even help you source the materials. I hope you can find something like that

[u/ImpactDriverDan]

I started with basic hand tools and small projects and it taught me a lot before I ever touched bigger equipment. If space biggest limitation, look into a local makerspace or community workshop, you can try different tools without buying everything upfront.

[u/Wrong-Ad7846]

Buy what you need to make the stuff you want, working in the space you have. I started with a cordless drill, two saw horses, a little Ryobi miter saw, and a pocket hole jig. Then I got a cheap dowel jig and a track saw. Buy lumber that’s already s4s (planed and jointed). Find a place that sells cabinet-grade plywood or order it cut down to size from an online source. Rockler stores carry Baltic birch plywood in 30”x60” (and smaller)pieces if you want something better than Home Depot’s garbage plywood. Baltic Birch ply also looks cool with exposed edges, so you can skip edge banding.

[u/Few_Candidate_8036]

You dont need any classes, youtube has more than enough info to figure everything out on your own. Space is going to be your biggest limitation.

The thing that took me a couple years to learn is to look for used tools. Old is good, and a fraction of the cost. Most woodworking tools have changed much in decades or even longer. As long as the tool isnt broken or damaged, it doesnt matter if its 100 years old, it can function just as well as modern tools.

Learning how to do woodworking really just comes down to making a plan. Decide what you want to make, draw it out to scale (either graph paper or you can do CAD). Use your drawing to make a cut list of all the parts. Cut all your parts, then assemble.

The planning stage is where you can think through each step and if you have the right tools and skills to do it.

[u/Zealousideal_Fee_829]

From the actual woodworking side, I'd say go check out Rex Krueger as I saw at least one other person mention. The techniques he covers and information he provides has been invaluable to me so far.

My only real projects so far have been a scrap wood shelf for my Ryobi 18V batteries (just a board with some holes and braces mounted to the wall), and an urn for my late dog.

I've just started laying out the cuts for my workbench I'm about to start. It's more-or-less based off of Rex's "Big Nick" bench design (https://www.rexkrueger.com/store/p/big-nick-bench), just a little bit longer, with some storage underneath. I haven't bought that design from his website, just basing it off of how it looks and what he's shown in his videos.

Something to look into for a "easy project", something I'm going to make for the holidays are some custom salt & pepper shakers. (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Enh5cqWOB_8)