Anyone build their own furniture?

[Arcadio]

I'm moving to a new apartment and now I got the extra backyard space that would allow me to start some woodworking I've been wanting to do. I'm thinking of building some basic shelves and bookcases first but first I need to get the basic tools. Anyone willing to share some tips with a woodworking noob?

 

[highland145]

Wrong forum noob....:grin;

My 1st was a router. You can do a lot with that and a guide. Dados, rabbits, edges...

Then the sky's the limit. Miter saw, table saw, belt sander, orbital sander, planer, joiner table, plate joiner, shaper, mortiser, drill/drill press, etc, etc.....

 

[cloude27]

Pocket Jigs are nice to have if you are looking to make book selves.

I have made a fair amount of stuff for my house. The tool I use the most are, chop saw(get a 12"), belt/orbital sanders, cordless drill(I like the 20v dewalt stuff), pocket jig, wood glue and clamps.

 

[John Connor]

I've built my own bookshelf in high school. Then we moved and my dad turned it into firewood.

 

[highland145]

He probably figured that since your comic books were collecting dust it was pretty useless.

 

[John Connor]

He probably figured that since your comic books were collecting dust it was pretty useless.

I only own a few. Some are worth money. Never even read the damn things. Most of my books are on espionage, Delta Force, the CIA, Tracking, survival, SAS, science and a lot of Bill O'reilly books as well as Glen Beck.

Oh, I hear the hissing now.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Been toying with building a new computer desk but I always end up putting it off, there is a short window of opportunity where I can work comfortable in my garage as it's not insulated or climate controlled. Need to build a shed so I can move all the stuff from the garage, so I can finish the garage, then use it all year round.

The desk is basically going to just be a big solid table with some cable management build in, and lot of power outlets throughout. It will double as an electronics/computer/misc workbench. Debating on doing an L shape as one part of the L can be the computer workstation and other part a nice big work bench. My biggest obstacle right now is trying to find a proper cad program in Linux. I might have to just use Autocad in a VM. Most of the Linux cad programs are crap or have super steep learning curves. In general a lot of it is probably going to be winged, but I like to at least do a basic design first so I know how much/what lumber to buy and it gives me a general guideline to go by.

I recently bought a table saw so I'm kind of eager to use it for a real project. One main use I will get out of it is stripping the edges off 2x4's to get them nice and square. I see people use it for ripping plywood, but I find circular saw goes better for that especially in my small garage where moving a big sheet of plywood through a table saw requires more space than simply moving a saw across a stationary piece of plywood. I made a spacer so I can quickly clamp the straight edge at the right distance from the line, then cut along that, for nice straight cuts.

I'll probably get more into wood working stuff when I can condition my garage and use it all year round. I have lot of misc projects I've been wanting to do. I tend to want to work on that stuff in winter, but when it's 30 below in the garage, not really easily done. I tried it, you go through a lot of drill bits.

 

[highland145]

I only own a few. Some are worth money. Never even read the damn things. Most of my books are on espionage, Delta Force, the CIA, Tracking, survival, SAS, science and a lot of Bill O'reilly books as well as Glen Beck.

Oh, I hear the hissing now.

Why? Did you spring a leak?

:raz;

 

[Aikouka]

The hardest part for me and doing this is that lumber that you buy from Home Depot or Lowes is usually kinda shit, and you'll need a jointer (creates a proper 90 degree edge) and a surface planer (matches two sides to a uniform width) to get them straight (in that order). The problem there is money... a jointer (table) is about $500+ and a good surface planer is about $400+.

My next purchase will most likely be a router though.

 

[highland145]

Yard sale/2nd hand store/habitat store...I got my Shopsmith jointer for $100. Got my porter cable dovetail jig for $35.

 

[herm0016]

I am a wood worker/re modeler in my spare time. I would suggest a track saw and a router for your first good tools. If you can swing it, get a router base that will interface with your track saw track for making dadoes. They are both easy to store and you can do nearly everything with this combo. The track saw is superior to a regular circular saw with a rip fence or guide because they are made to me more accurate and can break down sheet goods faster and easier than with a table saw. You can also cut accurate miters and and angles. The track saw will joint your edges easier than a table saw as well. Jointing is the process of making your edges flat/straight and table saws are not very good at this because of short fence. Local lumber yards can be cheaper and have better quality material than the big box stores.

I have built several sets of cabinets for different places and am in the process of doing custom stair railings in our remodel. we laid about 1300 sqft of solid hickory flooring and gutted/rebuilt the kitchen so far. Sawmill creek is a great forum for learning and asking questions.

book cases are a good place to start. you can use simple joinery techniques and you can use plywood that is very stable with face frame of your chosen species.

 

[highland145]

Pics of hickory floor....

 

[herm0016]

Pics of hickory floor....

Floors and island top we built from old bowling ally, wrapped in black walnut. Island finished with waterlox. Floors are Bruce prefinished. Cabinets were delivered to me unfinished and we painted them. Too many boxes and doors to make in my garage.

 

[highland145]

Very nice. Thanks.

 

[Red Squirrel]

That's cool, the fact that it's from a bowling alley is a nice touch, I like the indicator lines. Can double as a beer pong playing area.

 

[ISAslot]

I made my coffee table. The closest I could find that was similar was ~5k, screw that.

 

[PJFrylar]

Why? Did you spring a leak?

:raz;

Either Beck or O'Reilly probably stopped talking, and the hot air started venting out their ears. The hissing sound is annoying but is preferable to hearing them speak.

 

[Imp]

Does Ikea count? If yes, then yes, and practically all of it.