Woodworking consists of constructing or decorating something from wood. Woodworkers use a variety of tools and materials to accomplish the creation of an imagined project. Seasoned woodworkers recommend beginners to start woodworking with basic tools and then gradually add bigger equipment with the acquisition of advanced skills. There are numerous resources and organizations available to help assist with woodworking projects. Many offer various video tutorials, related articles, and projects to cover all of the essentials, including what wood to choose for certain projects, tools to select for certain projects, and how to secure a safe workplace. Once nailing down the basics, woodworkers can literally build a boat or house from scratch.
Choosing the appropriate wood for a specific project will determine the beauty and strength of a piece in mind. Various wood specimens exist, each with an ideal purpose in woodworking, including soft and hardwoods. Contrary to the term, softwoods aren't weaker than hardwoods. Softwoods stem from coniferous trees, such as fir, cedar, redwood, and pine. Coniferous trees produce a yellow or reddish appearance, and grow exponentially faster than other trees. Retailers offer softwood at a cheaper price because of its wide availability. In fact, tree farmers sustainably grow softwoods to ensure an endless supply of wood without contributing to deforestation. Each of these softwoods may serve better for building, such as cedar, fir, and redwood. Others may prove ideal for furniture-making, such as western red cedar, fir, and pine. Woodworkers often use pine for carving furniture.
Most woodworkers prefer to work with hardwoods, because of the available options in color, texture, and grain pattern. The wider scope allows woodworkers to create unique furniture; however, hardwoods are generally more expensive. Woodworkers may have trouble affording or working with more exotic hardwoods, such as Brazilian rosewood. Additionally, many exotic hardwoods are facing extinction due to the exploitation of the world's forests. Woodworkers can find common hardwoods on the market, including ash, birch, cherry, mahogany, maple, oak, poplar, teak, and walnut. Each hardwood serves their own utilitarian purpose, such as weather-resistant outdoor building, furniture-making, and accents for existing projects.
Beginning woodworkers should not invest in expensive stationary power tools, such as table saws, drill presses, band saws, or jointers until reaching proficiency in the trade. Concentrate on developing basic techniques with manual tools before investing in heavier, expensive equipment. Additionally, most woodworkers use these basic tools more often than stationary power tools. Seek retail wood outlets or professional woodworkers to complete projects requiring joints, rips, planes, and crosscut lumber at specific dimensions. While this may cost an extra few bucks, it will save a bundle on buying unnecessary tools, especially with limited workspace. Most beginner woodworkers will add onto current inventories over time and with careful budgeting.
A basic woodworker's tool kit consists of measuring, cutting, shaping, joining, and portable power tools. In addition, woodworkers must include safety equipment to avoid injury. Woodworkers need measuring tools to accurately identify cutting points in the materials used in a project, including a combination square, sliding bevel, marking gauge, framing square, steel tape of ten or twelve inches, folding ruler, compass and scratch awl. Cutting tools make it necessary to customize length and thickness of the wood used to create pieces, such as a crosscut saw, rip saw, back saw, coping saw, hacksaw, slip-joint pliers, needle-nose pliers, and diagonal cutters. Shaping tools, such as smooth plane, low-angle block plane, round rasp, and a utility knife allow the woodworker to design the aesthetics of the piece. Other tools may include claw hammers, finish hammers, nail sets, hand screws, C-clamps, routers, circular saws, twist drills, jig saws, and more.
Woodworking requires more than wood and the basic tools to get started. In order to complete a specific project, woodworkers gather certain materials to complete the piece to preserve, decorate, or even restore its utilitarian and aesthetic purposes. Adhesives, fasteners, and certain hardware permanently adjoin individual wood pieces. Epoxy, dyes, stains, paints, and lacquers aid in finishing the aesthetics of the project's appearance. Oils, waxes, and varnishes preserve the wood from the elements. Sheet goods enable the woodworker to build sturdier pieces with the right application.
Amateur woodworkers may find the plethora of available techniques overwhelming at first. Beginners should get acquainted with just a few basic woodworking techniques before diving into the trade. For instance, a mitered joint refers to two pieces of wood cut at opposing angles in order to adjoin the pieces without a gap. Coping refers to cutting wood along its own profile, often used on inside corners. A rip refers to cutting in the same direction as the grain of the wood. Crosscutting cuts across the grain of the wood, usually with toothed blades. Mortise refers to the removal of wood in order to occupy a certain space, most commonly used indoors. Lastly, planing wood reduces the overall thickness of a flat surface, either with a manual or powered planer.
Many publications and resources offer woodworking projects for hobbyists and professionals. Some plans require more materials and stationary power tools. In addition, some may also require a spacious work environment to accomplish the task at hand, which may mean a private garage will not be well suited for larger do-it-yourself projects. The easiest home woodworking projects will likely consist of small projects, such as a wooden jewelry box, built-in wall shelving units, cutting boards, dining room tables, chairs, towel racks, and outdoor picnic tables. Advanced woodworkers can literally build houses, boats, and patio decks.
Beginners would benefit from joining woodworking associations. Not only do these organizations provide guidance into the trade leading to expertise, it may also lead to suppliers and other networking leads. Woodworking associations will build beginners into professionals with enough dedication and energy spent in the trade. Oftentimes these organizations will provide the necessary training and education at little to no cost; however, membership may be required for admittance into certain workshops.