How to Get Into Woodworking

People get into woodworking for different reasons. For some, it’s a hobby and a means of playing around with woods, killing stress, and exercising their milk of creativity, while others take it as a profession or a serious business through which they earn their living. However, whether you are getting into woodworking as a profession or as a hobby, you need to understand the essentials before you delve in.

There have been debates on whether you will need to get the required training first or to purchase the required tools first. But in my opinion, since you are the one to make use of the tools for practice and perfection, you need to get hold of the most essential woodworking tools first before you seek for the appropriate training on woodworking. The tools are of different categories, and since you are a beginner, you need to start small.

 

Purchase the Tools –How to Get Into Woodworking

Cutting Tools

The most prevalent work to be done in woodworking involves the cutting of materials, most especially rough lengths of woods. They will always need to be ripped and crosscut before meaningful things could be created with them. Here, you will need different types of saws. The advice is to get the most essential ones first.

 

Filing, Planing, and Sanding Tools

In woodworking, after cutting the wood pieces to rough shapes, the next thing would be to work on them to make the finished product attractive. Saw blades always leave the wood surface rough and in need of filing, planing, and sanding, and to achieve this, the woodworker will need some tools, and they include planes, orbital sanders, and hand files.

 

Assembling Tools

When the wood materials has been cut into shape and sanded and filed to perfection and smoothness, they will need to be assembled into different forms to be able to serve the purposes for which they are made.

To achieve this, two sets of tools are needed, and they include the precision joints to lift and fit them properly, and the assembly and fastening tools to hold them in place. For these, you will need a hammer, screw gun, power drill, mallet and others.

 

Measuring Equipment

The age old “measure twice and cut once” saying is relevant in woodworking now more than ever, as people seek to achieve near perfect lines. So, you will need the necessary measuring equipment, especially the ones that a beginner can read easily. For measuring and angle checking as a new woodworker, you will need squares and shape measures.

 

Extra Tools

Having given you a roll call of the needed woodworking tools to start with, you also have to understand that you need to hold the raw materials you are working on in place while at work.  So, you will need some clamping materials to make woodworking easier and more convenient for you. They include the work bench and sawhorses.

 

Get the Training

Woodworking is not one of those skills that are inborn, so you need to learn the ropes. Having assembled the needed tools, you need to learn how to make use of them, work on raw wood, and come up with usable finished products.

 

You can start this process by buying some woodworking books and going through a lot of YouTube videos on woodworking, so as to get the basic knowledge.

However, when you are done with these, you will need to attend a physical woodworking class, where you will practice what you’ve learnt, under the guidance of an expert.

The advice is for you to find a class in your area and join. If you are a teenager or you are still in high school, and are interested in learning woodworking, you can search for some high school woodworking projects and join.

 

However, this is not open to adults. Adults who are out of school should search for classes close to them, and it is good to let you know that these classes are not easy to find.

If there are no classes around you, you can find any woodworking shop or station around your area, and go into an internship agreement with them. That will cover for what you’d have learnt from a general class. You even learn more and faster when you are given one on one private lesson.

 

Get a Woodworking Space

Woodworking needs a lot of space because you’d be working with long and bold wooden sheets. So, to be able to mill your own lumber, you’ll need space that will allow you to work freely and maneuver as fast and easy as you like.

You can make use of your backyard, garage, or shed if you have any. However, the space must meet the requirements below.

 

• It should be a properly lit place, to help you avoid injuries, as a lot of tools and materials can injure you if you do not see clearly.
• It should be an area with safe and clean layout, with proper ventilation.
• There must also be a proper store for woodworking tools inside the workspace.
• Remember not to allow extension cords run around the place, as this can cause serious injury.

 

If you do not have a sizeable space, then you’ll resort to buying lumber with reduced thickness and width or ordering custom sized wooden sheets.

 

Join a Woodworking Community

When your yard is ready, you can start the woodworking socialization. This will link you up with like minds and help you learn more about projects, trends, and other people in the community.

 

From them, you get fresh ideas and seek for help and motivation from established members. You can get inspired by their success and learn more relevant skills from them. This will definitely help you grow.