A Total Beginner's Guide to Woodworking

You might have found this video because you've been binge-watching videos of people making all kinds of things and you thought to yourself: hmm, it kinda looks like fun, then you kept watching and thought but seriously. I wonder if we could do some of this and then you thought I really think I could do this, but everyone seems to have a lot of tools. It kinda looks like a super-expensive hobby and I don't know where to begin. I don't even know what half those tools are Hi, I'm Steve - and this is Woodworking for Mere Mortals - the channel dedicated to teaching beginning woodworkers how to make cool things without a huge shop or a truckload of money. First of all, you don't need as many tools as you might think, be sure to check out my video on the 7 essential power tools for new woodworkers and for everything else that you'll need to get started, be sure to download my free guide to setting up A shop for under $ 1000 at my tool, list.

om and be sure to check out my video 18 things every beginning, woodworker should know. There'S links to all of these resources down in the description in this video. I want to give kind of a high-level overview of what exactly woodworking is and what to expect from it. There are thousands of videos detailing every minute detail of this hobby, but I think it's time to look at the forest instead of the trees woodworking metaphor, I will assume that you have never built anything out of wood and have little to zero experience I'll address the Most common questions, you might have been afraid to ask, because you thought they were just too basic. Woodworking means a lot of things, but here's a reasonably boring definition.

I came up with that. Most hobbyist still probably agree with woodworking is a productive craft that involves cutting shaping and joining wood, to create decorative and/or, useful things, there's nothing physically demanding about woodworking and you can build at your own pace. The basic concepts are simple to learn. Yet it's a hobby that will always remain fresh and challenging as your skills evolve if you're the kind of person who loves problem-solving, you'll, love, woodworking I've been at this for over 40 years now and faced new challenges with every single project. I build it's part of the process.

You will never reach a point of perfection, but the journey itself is half the satisfaction. The other half is being able to produce some really cool stuff for your home. Using your hands and your brain in general. Woodworking is a very solitary experience if you are a bit introverted and love taking on tasks from start to finish, you'll, probably love woodworking. There used to be two stereotypes of woodworkers, the cranky shop teacher, who taught a really boring class to kids, who didn't want to be there and the retired grandpa who puttered around in his garage with a lot of time on his hands to build an occasional birdhouse.

That was gon na make now, thankfully, those stereotypes are no longer relevant. There is more diversity in woodworking now than ever before, thanks in large part to online communities and the affordability of tools and materials. In the past 10 years, there's been a huge rise in two groups of people making woodworking a hobby first women, it's incredible how many women have set up shops and started building. In fact, it really wasn't that long ago, when a female woodworker was kind of unusual. Today, women woodworkers are commonplace and it makes sense, because there is nothing about woodworking, that anyone can't do and making things is an empowering experience for all of us.

The second huge demographic spike has been among Millennials people in their 20s and 30s. I hear from people all the time who work in Silicon Valley or just having some sort of an office job and feel the need to make things with their hands and surveys. I'Ve conducted of people who have taken my Weekend, Woodworker courses, a big reason. Many of them site is that they simply wanted to do something productive on their weekends and get away from their computers, and, despite what you might think, it's not a requirement to have a beard. I need one wall just to show off my hand.

Planes a maker is a relatively new term that is cropped up in the past decade, or so it's an all-encompassing term for people who like to dabble in different crafts. This could mean a little woodworking, some metalworking epoxy and concreting computer programming. Electronics, 3d printing baking sewing knitting, jewelry, making sculpting ceramics robotics, even playing with LEGOs if you've ever made a greeting card out of construction paper and macaroni you're a maker. So basically we're all makers. A woodworker is a maker who's, mostly interested in learning and refining the craft of creating things out of wood.

Sometimes we bring other materials into our projects, but the focus is always on the wood. It'S an affordable, timeless material. That'S easy to build with this one's a little vague, but I tend to think of carpenters as building structures, homes and buildings. Construction work. I don't think of framing a house out of post beams in two by fours, as woodworking per se.

Woodworking tends to be more concerned with building furniture and other items that can be moved around. That said, there are a lot of people who refer to woodworkers as carpenters, so it doesn't really matter again. There is no solid line between these two terms, but to me, cabinet makers build things that are permanently mounted in place, such as kitchen cabinets and are mostly concerned with the surfaces that are visible. Furniture, of course, can be positioned anywhere the owner likes and therefore more parts of the finished piece are potentially visible. Cabinets might use plywood more often than furniture and are assembled using screws and other mechanical fasteners.

While furniture often uses solid lumber and is usually assembled with stronger joinery and glue, furniture making might demand a higher level of precision, but there is a lot of overlap here. I'Ve built plenty of furniture with plywood and screws, and I've seen some amazing cabinetry that rivals high-end furniture. You might have an image in your mind of what woodworking will entail, but there are different ways: people approach this craft hand, tool woodworking, has had a huge revival in the 2000s and is more popular than ever hand. Tool woodworkers choose to use classical tools and methods to build things, hand, saws, chisels, scrapers and planes are preferred over anything that plugs into the wall. Getting started can be very inexpensive, but as your skills improve and the mania sets in you will discover that a 200-dollar hand.

Plane is not unusual hand. Tool woodworkers, probably feel more of a connection to the process than any other type of woodworker it takes. Patience. Has a longer learning curve and is a slower way to build. It'S a lot quieter, but the personal, fulfillment and satisfaction can be enormous.

I would guess that 90 % of woodworkers today are power tool, woodworkers everything I do on my channel and in my weekend, woodworker courses are geared towards plugging in tools or charging batteries. Power tools such as miter saws, table saws, drills sanders are ubiquitous and can be a very affordable way to start building projects right away, cutting a board on a table saw doesn't take anywhere near the skill and finesse of using a handsaw and takes a fraction of The time not only that, but the learning curve is very shallow for power tools. It really doesn't take long to get up to speed and build your first project. Probably the biggest drawback to using power tools is that they have the potential to cause serious injuries. It'S nothing that should prevent you from using them, but you need to really familiarize yourself with safety procedures.

Please see my safety basics, video for more tips. Digital woodworking machines have been around for a while, but have become more affordable in the past few years and are appealing to more and more hobbyists. The primary tool here is the CNC machine that makes precision cuts on flat pieces of wood using a router you'll need to layout and design. All of your work on a computer and the machine will take care of the rest, cutting out all of your pieces. You don't even have to be in the same room when it's cutting the second tool, some hobbyists invest in is a laser cutter or engraver.

This tool allows you to make even more precise cuts than a CNC and creates a really beautiful art. The biggest drawbacks to using digital machines are their cost. You can easily spend thousands of dollars on them, they have their limitations and you'll probably still want a table, saw and others power tools in your shop. Some people feel that digital tools make them less connected to their woodworking and remove the handmade satisfaction of making things. Most people have a mixture of hand, tools and power tools in their shops.

For instance, a blended approach to woodworking might make most of the cuts using a table saw but use a chisel and hand saw to cut dovetail joints. Some people find that hand tools, offer greater precision and control for cutting technically demanding joints and enjoy improving their skills. At these tasks, there are two types of woodworking that some enthusiasts usually people with an artistic bent specialize in wood, turning and scrolling wood. Turning involves using a lathe to create bowls, spindles and other rounded objects. It'S kind of like sculpting clay on a potter's wheel.

Only with wood and chisels, the only real downside to getting into wood turning is that the lathes can be pretty expensive. Scrolling involves using a scroll saw which is capable of cutting extremely tiny, curves and intricate patterns. It takes practice to become proficient, but it's relaxing and you can create some stunning art with a scroll saw. Unlike a lathe, scroll saws are relatively inexpensive and they're pretty quiet and they don't make a huge mess. You can even scroll on your kitchen table.

If you want, you can certainly find uses for both of these tools in a standard woodworking shop. Maybe you need to make an occasional table leg or add some decorative scroll work to a fancy bookcase, but in general they just aren't tools that you will use that often, unless you really want to dive deep into them and unleash your inner artist is woodworking dangerous. It'S probably safer than driving but safe is not woodworking understand how your tools, work and learn. How to use them correctly is woodworking. Expensive doesn't have to be.

Does it require a lot of physical strength nope? Does it take a lot of time to make things you can, but I prefer to make projects that I can complete in a weekend or two? Do you need a lot of space nope I used to build on the roof of my apartment. Is there a long learning curve know the basics of woodworking are simple in my Weekened Woodworker course. I teach you how to complete your first project in two days.

Can I do this? Yes really. Yes, I think one of the reasons why woodworking has become a crazy popular hobby in the past few years is that it offers people a retreat from all of the noise that fills our lives. These days, I'm talking about the endless stream of social media and the 24/7 barrage of online information. We don't want to miss out on.

We spend hours every day trying to catch up on social posts from people we don't actually know and feel stressed if we fall behind on their latest stories. We love venting rage, chasing trends and getting depressed over events that are beyond our control. We start to feel anxiety because none of this ever reaches a conclusion. The feeds of our lives are constantly being endlessly refreshed and we can never find an end when you step into a woodworking shop to build something. It'S just you you'll get to use your hands for something productive, other than tapping on a phone or a keyboard.

You enter your shop with an idea of what you want to accomplish and can envision what it'll look like when you're done, you'll create something from nothing using logic, intelligence, problem, solving skills and common sense. You will be fully responsible for every aspect of making a project from finding a plan or designing your own to selecting the tools, you'll use, obtaining lumber and other materials to determining a course of action and overcoming challenges. You will not be able to pass the buck and you will not be able to blame others for your mistakes, but you will know when your project is complete and you made every inch of it. Hey woodworking is fun and you get to make some cool stuff for your house, but ultimately it's about discovering who we are and finding out that I can offer so many more internal rewards if we simply take the time to create unplug yourself for a few hours. A week and plug in some power tools, thanks for watching everybody,