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Message
re: Woodworking tips for a first timer
Posted on 9/12/26 at 4:54 pm to Loup
Posted on 9/12/26 at 4:54 pm to Loup
quote:
was the most enjoyable Saturday morning I've had in a while.
Something primal about taking a stack of wood and turning it into something.
My wife wants new raised panel built ins in the living room. Got a quote to get the work done, over 5k for turn key.
Decided to diy. I'm 1k into building a router table to make the cabinet doors.
Haven't bought a single part or piece that's actually going into the cabinet build yet. I'll get there eventually.
Posted on 9/12/26 at 9:30 pm to baseballmind1212
quote:
I'm 1k into building a router table to make the cabinet doors.
I built mine for about $200 about 10 years ago. I just went on-line to Grizzly and they have several decent tables for well under $1K and ready to use once they arrive-------I'm sure some assembly required.
Posted on 9/13/26 at 8:27 am to baseballmind1212
quote:I love woodworking, but don't have the room to really get into it. You don't appreciate the creativity required to solve some of the problems until you get hands-deep into it. Instead I settled for 3d printing/digital electronics and will be getting a home CNC soon to scratch those itches.
Something primal about taking a stack of wood and turning it into something.
Posted on 9/13/26 at 1:51 pm to RoyalWe
quote:
I love woodworking, but don't have the room to really get into it.
You don’t need a lot of room, especially if you go the hand tool route. A good workbench of about 2’x5’ and hand tools will allow you to do a lot. 2-3 hand planes, a set of chisels, and dovetail/tenon saws will get you very far. To that I would add a track saw with a portable work surface for handling plywood and even rips and cross cuts for lumber. A table saw is nice, but not necessary and takes up a lot of room.
Posted on 9/13/26 at 2:46 pm to gumbo2176
quote:
I just went on-line to Grizzly and they have several decent tables for well under $1K
They definitely do. I already have a benchtop router setup. I wanted something more permanent/sturdy.
300 for the router lift
300 for the router motor
About 250 for the sheet goods.
Still need to buy the paint and hardwood for trim. Basically building a test/sample fave framed cabinet with inset doors.
My wife doesn't think I'm capable of building a professional looking and finished face frame cabinet. The router table is my full scale mock up
Posted on 9/13/26 at 11:43 pm to Loup
quote:
Yeah I'm seeing that now, should I spend extra money on a better router? My use for this will be pretty rare, I figure I could steal my dad's if I need something better for a project.
Yes, I have a family of routers and still plan on buying more. My Bosch 1617EVS is my most used "big" router, can take 1/2" and 1/4" shank bits. The 1617 has a lot of available accessories, optional fixed and plunge bases, router table bases, and many companies make custom base plates and jigs for it. It's a great do-all router and something you can grow with in woodworking.
Posted on 9/14/26 at 10:50 am to Poobear13
quote:
I have built many cabinets with adjustable shelves but I have yet to ever adjust a single shelf
hahahaha truest statement ever!
Posted on 9/14/26 at 12:41 pm to Loup
I took on building new kitchen cabinets and doors. The first machine tools I bought were a table saw and jointer. Given the warpage of big box lumber, I have no idea how folks build medium to large without a jointer. My project would've been crap without one. Yes, both table saw sleds and router fixtures can accommodate, but that's just too much headache for me.
Posted on 9/19/26 at 2:50 pm to Loup
I think i did pretty good. There's one wonky drawer I need to figure out how to fix. A lot of small errors that I notice but my wife says she'd never have seen them if I hadn't pointed them out.
I should have bought the birch plywood instead of cabinet panels.
Still have to do the closet rods and shelves but that won't take long.
There isnt a square wall in my house, surprised it fit in that corner as well as it did.
I should have bought the birch plywood instead of cabinet panels.
Still have to do the closet rods and shelves but that won't take long.
There isnt a square wall in my house, surprised it fit in that corner as well as it did.
Posted on 9/19/26 at 7:51 pm to Loup
Maybe consider moving it off the was a bit so the drawers have more clearance. Can be accomplished with a filler strip, upper and lower. Doesn’t have to be huge.
Great, job !!
Great, job !!
Posted on 9/20/26 at 4:39 pm to Loup
Oh youre biting into drawers right off the bat. Good for you. Drawer slides require a lot of fine detail tuning. But there are a few tricks that once you figure them out theyre not too bad. The biggest challenge imo of woodworking is figuring out how to keep everything as square as possible and that is easier said than done especially with a substance like wood that wants to do anything but stay straight amd square.
Posted on 9/21/26 at 6:38 am to 9rocket
quote:
Maybe consider moving it off the was a bit so the drawers have more clearance. Can be accomplished with a filler strip, upper and lower. Doesn’t have to be huge.
That would be the easiest. I pitched it to my wife yesterday and she doesn't want to lose any hanger space, even from a 3/4" thick piece of trim. Whenever I started this I tried to talk her into making this 6" narrower but she wouldn't have it.
Posted on 9/21/26 at 6:43 am to WhiskeyThrottle
quote:
Oh youre biting into drawers right off the bat. Good for you. Drawer slides require a lot of fine detail tuning. But there are a few tricks that once you figure them out theyre not too bad.
Getting the drawers spaced right took me longer than the rest of it. I've never felt dumber in my life. I cut a piece of plywood to use as a spacer for the slides and for some reason I couldn't get the measurement right.
quote:
The biggest challenge imo of woodworking is figuring out how to keep everything as square as possible and that is easier said than done especially with a substance like wood that wants to do anything but stay straight amd square.
3 of my 4 drawers came out perfectly square. I had hell squaring with the one that wasn't square.
Usually the stuff I build doesn't require tight tolerances. 1/8" or 1/4" off here and there doesn't make a difference. I was having fits over being precise on this build. I enjoyed the hell out of it, though. Learned a lot and looking forward to my next build. I'm eventually going to build a new kitchen table and coffee/end tables.
Posted on 9/21/26 at 7:54 am to Loup
that looks amazing great job. The only inside furniture I’ve ever made is a coffee table LOL. I will say though that 20 years later it’s still a dang good coffee table
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