re: Woodworking Advice

Pawn shops, pawn shops, pawn shops. Quality products at a fraction of the price. Also AAA or other rental services do a yearly sale to get rid of the old to make room for the new. If you can get into one of those they are gold mines.

Also start cheap. I like Harbor Freight. If I end up liking it I move onto grizzly/dewalt/other high price brand. Nothing sucks than using a tool twice and realizing you will never use it again after you dropped a car payment on it.

Clamps, pocket holes, planers, joiners would be a good place to start if you want to get good quick.

If you are a part timer and plan on doing a project a year and want to learn how to respect the materials you are using, then start with hand tools. The learning curve sucks but I respect wood/grain and now know how to cut/trim/shape wood that others I work with just don't understand. But when mine doesn't splinter, crack, or age incorrectly it all has to do with the 3-4 years I spent using hand tools. I hated it but understand it