How small?

In my dad's workshop we have a whole range of stuff, but things I think we couldn't doe without:

• Power drill
• Drill press
• Circular (or table) saw
• Router
• Jigsaw
• Miscellaneous items such as chisels, hammers, etc.

We also have a band saw, which works pretty well for cutting out guitar bodies. It can get a bit expensive building up an extensive shop of quality tools, so I'd suggest getting the basics first...

woodworking is a wide field when it comes to tools.

best would be to go to a book shop and get a DIY woodworking book with projects to build, might give you a better view of want you'll need for certain projects.

but the most important:
*nice and solid woodworking table
*hand saw
*some wood glue maby
*a table saw would be nice to cut up big pieces, you can get them for anything from about R800 i think
*drill
*jig saw
*chisels

but first find out what it is you want to build, and then buy the stuff as you need it.

Thank you for the replies. I'll most likely finish the guitar I started a couple of years back.

Small as in equipped to make small items of furniture at a latter stage.

We already have the common DIY tools like drills, jig saw, small router, sander, hand saw, a solid table. I'll probably invest in some clamps first. You can never have enough.

I have the poster dad for DIY.

He was a boiler maker by trade but did all the woodwork (cupboards and furniture) in our old house (of which he was the builder)
Our cars used to stand in car ports as the garage was take up with power tools, hand tools, etc.
He's the kind of guy who if he needs something like a funny sort of drilbit to get a job done would make the machine nescesary to make the drilbit to make the object he finally wants to make.
Currently (at age 76) he is building up a caravan from a second hand chasis he got. (He used to make all our own lawnmowers)

When I was younger I didn't care a bit for wood-work. Now I would love to be able to make stuff, but I find I don't have the time (and I'm a little scared for my hands - seeing as piano is my living and my life).
Just out of interest.

What advice I can give on his behalf is to go rummage through pawn shops and auctions where in due time you will find anything you could possibly ever need at much cheaper than new.

WantzChas wrote:
Small as in equipped to make small items of furniture at a latter stage.

If you're looking at making legs for stools, tables etc. then a wood lathe is a good idea, though you need to build up the skill...

I would include a couple of hand planes as well. Stanley #5, #2 and a block plane. Look for good second hand planes at flea markets and pawn shops. Learn how to sharpen and tune them up and you will have something that cannot be replaced by any power tool. You will also have a couple of heirlooms that you can hand down to the ankle biters one day.

Good luck with a most rewarding hobby. Just beware of "honey, do you think that you can make one of these for me" ! ! !

Lots of clamps. Bandsaw - before you get that get a decent jigsaw. Planes. Sanders. lots of sanding to be done by hand so sanding blocks. Join a woodworkers association. you're in Pretoria so:

http://www.ptawoodworkers.com/

not expensive at all to join them.

If you're not going to make an income from it, dont. Being guitaris, we're already gear mad. I spent R400 on a hammer the other day, this year I spent R10k on power tools, but I use it every day for bread, and sometimes butter.

I belong to the east rand woodworker assoc. I make no money from woodworking. I have pretty much not made too much woodworking stuff. But 160 ZAR I get newsletters with tips and for sales of tools etc.. Once a month I get to go and chew the fat with a bunch of guys, some who make money from their work, others who do it for a hobby. And there is a guy there who goes to all the woodwork assocs in Gauteng and you show him a picture of a stewmac or LMI jig and he can machine the thing for you in his workshop. Well, pretty often he can anyway. And you get ideas. You ask the guys about all sorts of woodowrk dilemmas and they very often come up with ideas that you never thought of. And they tell you where to go to get things. I must correct what I typed in earlier post - get a decent jigsaw first. router and jigsaw you must have them.

Hi,

I am a carpenter by trade and currently work for my dad's business. We do things on a large scale but for diy home based stuff for building cupboards:

1) No need for a table saw. Just work out your cutting list and most board suppliers will cut the sizes you want for like R60 per board. It will save you on overheads in the teething phases.
All you basically need is a level, good quality battery drill, quality hand planer, maybe like a festool circular saw with fence, good jig saw, bits and screws and off you go! BICs and kitchen cupboards are very easy to do and are mostly very profitable. You will be surprised to see how far you can go with just the basics. Wood lathe... Never had one! Send your laminated parts to places that specialize in that. Keep your overheads down to a minimum.

Could go into details but I'm typing from BB.

Most stuff I would recommend has already been mentioned. Maybe it helps to get an idea of where on the guitar you use what:

Body blanks you have to plane, thickness, glue (if not 1-piece), saw, rout or sand around. So you need either a planer/thicknesser or a hand plane (I like the suggestion for a #2 but they are not easy to come by) and to learn the skill of planing. For glueing you want a square straight glue face so a router and straightedge comes in handy. Once again you can do this by hand but it does take picking up the skill. For body glueing, three wide clamps across and some smaller ones to hold down are going to suffice. For sawing the shape you want at least a jigsaw but if you can use a band saw it makes life easier. To rout around you want guide extension on a router but if you have the time ou can sand to shape as well, this can be done with a drill press and drum.

Pickup cavities, neck pocket/tenon, control cavities and other holes require either a router or rather accurate chiseling. Either teach yourself on scrap or... well actualy by now you have decided to buy a router.

Necks need jigsaw or bandsaw, then rasps or various types of small planers. The truss rod wants a (you've guessed it...) router. For some shapes, the headstck needs glueing requiring clamps. The final shape is best done with a sanding block of some length.

Now it gets expensive. You want a jig and blade saw for the fretboard slots, lots of special tools for fretting, soldering stuff for electronics, spray paint equipment for the finish, special files for nut work, gauges for string placement, etcetera etcetera. You don't need everything StewMac has to offer, but most of it is handy to say the least. Half of that you can make yourself as Ray pointed out, but eish....

I was looking for a Mortice Plane, got one quote for R3.5k. Return on investment? If I had time I could make one cannibalising parts from old planes I have rusting on the shelf, so I ensure my chisels are razor sharp and moer voort.
A pile of tools are pretty useless without the skill to use them. Start small with hand tools to see if you have the knack. I only buy stuff when the need arises, but I usually buy 'industrial' tools, more reliable, but much more expensive.