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So You Want To Be A Woodworker by Rick Fox |
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Chapter #2 - Getting Started
Now on to your first "project". Since I happen to have completed mine, I consider myself to be totally qualified to give advice on yours. Don't be concerned that you have blown your total budget on tools. All you need now is wood, anyhow. How expensive could that be? Answer: "Do you really need two cars?" Unfortunately, the syndicate who owns all the trees also knows how desperate you are to actually build something with all those tools you just bought, and has jacked the prices up to just below that of a new Jaguar. But don't be discouraged. Most woodworking project plans can be customized to use common, everyday pine two-by-fours. The prices on these are actually less than a used Toyota. When selecting your quality lumber, be sure to pick up each piece, examine it carefully, look down it from both ends, sigh, shake your head, and put it back on the stack. If any other woodworkers are in the area, this will quickly establish you as a discerning craftsman. Then just walk around the lumber area until they have left, and then go back and grab the few that are only moderately twisted. If there aren't any left, just buy a sheet of particle board. I suggest that your first project should be a workbench. Since you are the only one who will be using it, you won't have to listen to other members of the family make snide remarks about its aesthetic value. Like, "Is it OK if we hide whatever that thing is when company comes?" The only problem with building a workbench is that you need a workbench to build it on. Don't worry - once again I have an important tip for you. Write this one down: "The Dining Room Table". Chances are, there are a bunch of useless items cluttering up what could be a suitable substitute for a workbench. Silly flowers, frilly place mats, coasters, etc. These all can be removed while you are working, and then replaced before she retur... um, I mean when you are finished. (Tip: always use a depth stop on your drill bits.) After cutting out the pieces for your project, be sure to rout the corners off everything. No self-respecting woodworker would allow a 90-degree corner on a piece of wood. You did buy a router, didn't you? And a roundover bit? That one tool, above all others, is what separates true craftsmen from just "wannabes". (If you didn't buy a router in chapter one, don't fret. Just ask yourself, "Do I really NEED that gas grill?") |