this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2023
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Woodworking

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A handmade home for woodworkers and admirers of woodworkers. Our community icon is a planter box made by @Captain Aggravated, the winner of our summer '24 woodworking contest. Congratulations!

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[–] UsernameLost@lemmy.ml 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

People will complain about any number of tools. "THIS GUY HAS $10K IN TOOLS, MINIMUM, NO ONE CAN DO THIS PROJECT WITHOUT ALL THOSE TOOLS!!!1!"

Ignoring the fact that while that particular shop has expensive tools, nobody (sane) goes out and drops all that money at once. Most woodworking projects only need a table saw, a planer, a cordless drill, an orbital sander, glue, sandpaper and finish.

All of the tools can be found cheap on Facebook marketplace, Craigslist, OfferUp, yard sales, or estate sales/auctions.

  • Table saw: I ran with a DeWalt job site saw for years before my wife talked me into getting a saw stop. $350 new, or ~$100 used. You can also find used contractor saws for $300 on a regular basis on the aforementioned platforms.

  • Planer: I used a shitty lunchbox planer for years that I saved from a dumpster with some 3D printed gears that I designed. I bought a used tank of a planer (still only 12", but 230V and weighs about two of me) for $200. You don't need a jointer. Make a jointer sled for your planer and a jointer sled for your table saw. Takes longer, but I still used the planer sled for boards that don't fit on my jointer.

  • Cordless drill: Ryobi has a drill and driver combo for around $100, or get a DeWalt for $60. Or scrape the bottom of the barrel for Harbor Freight that'll get you by for a bit for $20

  • Random orbit sander: I used a $14 one from Walmart for years until my hands started hurting after using it. $100 for a new Makita one, can be found for $50 or less used.

  • Sandpaper: $12 for a massive pack on Amazon

  • Glue: $10 for a medium sized bottle of Titebond II

  • Drill bits: $5 at harbor freight

Woodworking isn't a cheap hobby, but you can get into it with used tools and some restoration work. People love to nitpick shit, and it gets old seeing the same defeatist mentality of people talking themselves out of even trying it.

Space is the only thing you need, but even then, I started on a 5'x5' apartment balcony in Florida, and used an uninsulated, unpowered 9'x16' shed in Alaska for several years.

[–] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'd say you'd also need a router.

Lowe's has got this Kobalt-brand router plus table for right around $200 that's surprisingly good for the money. That's the router, base, edge guide, table with fence and miter gauge, basically everything but bits.

[–] UsernameLost@lemmy.ml 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

A router is at the top of my list for "nice to have, adds a lot of value, but not absolutely necessary for basic projects" tools. I still don't have a router table after 6 years, just a Makita plunge router that I got for $100. Great tool, but not 100% necessary if you're just trying to make basic tables and such.

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[–] AbsurdityAccelerator@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

Hating on festool domino is so cliche at this point. There are plenty of youtubers who are very upfront about building with limited tools. I think the expectations from the viewers are also ridiculous sometimes. "I can't build this. I only have a ziplock back full of ikea allen wrenches, a pocket knife and half a roll of duct tape".

[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net -1 points 10 months ago

I have a pocket knife, and there's plenty of logs in the brush. I could probably do it for less money at the cost of more time.

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