With the addition of a few measuring and marking tools and a cordless drill, the focus can turn to projects. Tools and techniques would be acquired as needed to complete the projects. I'd have them start by building a couple of saw benches like the one I built. Very easy and functional. Then, it's time for a Nicholson bench built from construction lumber, like the ones Bob Rozaieski and Mike Siemsen made. Mike told me he will be publishing an article on building a highly simplified one in a day for $100. After that, I'd have the beginner go through Bob Rozaieski's tools and techniques podcasts, starting here. I also like the project series for beginners in Jim Tolpin's The New Traditional Woodworker. You learn techniques while constructing useful tools.
I came to hand tool woodworking from power tool woodworking with a fully equipped workshop, so my introduction was different. I can easily date the exact moment it began: December 14, 2009. That was the date Bob Rozaieski posted his first podcast on the Porringer tea table. This beautiful little table is an ideal hand tool project and really opens your eyes to what is possible with hand tools. Bob's step by step introduction to hand tool techniques is very accessible. For me, making cabriole legs was a turning point. I made a first version from alder I had, then a second and finally a third from claro walnut. I benefited from this project immeasurably.
The main point I have tried to make in my contribution to this discussion is the importance of lowering barriers to entry in time, cost and skill. We need to make it as easy as we possibly can to get started.
Showing posts with label Beginning woodworking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beginning woodworking. Show all posts
Monday, February 13, 2012
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Get woodworking #3
Saws are next. Bob Rozaieski has a good video on handsaws for beginners here which I agree with, but I have a couple of observations.
Bob is all hand tools, and I have learned a lot from him, but I choose to use some power tools and I think most beginners will want to as well. What is the best power saw to recommend to a beginner? I learned from my son, who is a first time homeowner. He had no interest in woodworking growing up and is just now accumulating a few tools. To my surprise, when he needed a saw, he bought a jigsaw. The more I thought about this, the more sense it made to me, particularly for a mostly hand tool woodworker. Like many, I sold my table saw but kept a good bandsaw as I transitioned. A jigsaw serves a similar purpose at much lower cost. Thinking about it as the only power saw for a beginning woodworker, I went out in the shop and tried a few straight rip and crosscuts using my jigsaw and a speed square. It worked pretty well and, with the plane, it could be cleaned up fine. I know this may seem like an odd choice, but, again, I am trying to lower the barriers to entry in time and cost.
One of the advantages of having the jigsaw is that it gives a beginning woodworker an interim solution while they look for and refurbish the set of hand saws Bob is talking about. That takes time. Where I live, hand saws seem to be the one vintage hand tool you can reliably find at low cost. The problem, of course, is sharpening them. When I acquired my handsaws, I was lucky to find a local sharpening service that still had the equipment and knowledge to do a basic job of retoothing and sharpening. It cost me less than $20 per saw. If I hadn't found them, I likely would have sent the saws to Bob. It's a lot easier to take up handsaw sharpening if you start from a good point. Once again, lowering a barrier to entry.
While the beginner is looking for handsaws, the first projects I have in mind can be built with the jigsaw. Or, they can just go to the hardware store and buy a $20 handsaw, which will be nice to have around for cutting plywood.
Bob is all hand tools, and I have learned a lot from him, but I choose to use some power tools and I think most beginners will want to as well. What is the best power saw to recommend to a beginner? I learned from my son, who is a first time homeowner. He had no interest in woodworking growing up and is just now accumulating a few tools. To my surprise, when he needed a saw, he bought a jigsaw. The more I thought about this, the more sense it made to me, particularly for a mostly hand tool woodworker. Like many, I sold my table saw but kept a good bandsaw as I transitioned. A jigsaw serves a similar purpose at much lower cost. Thinking about it as the only power saw for a beginning woodworker, I went out in the shop and tried a few straight rip and crosscuts using my jigsaw and a speed square. It worked pretty well and, with the plane, it could be cleaned up fine. I know this may seem like an odd choice, but, again, I am trying to lower the barriers to entry in time and cost.
One of the advantages of having the jigsaw is that it gives a beginning woodworker an interim solution while they look for and refurbish the set of hand saws Bob is talking about. That takes time. Where I live, hand saws seem to be the one vintage hand tool you can reliably find at low cost. The problem, of course, is sharpening them. When I acquired my handsaws, I was lucky to find a local sharpening service that still had the equipment and knowledge to do a basic job of retoothing and sharpening. It cost me less than $20 per saw. If I hadn't found them, I likely would have sent the saws to Bob. It's a lot easier to take up handsaw sharpening if you start from a good point. Once again, lowering a barrier to entry.
While the beginner is looking for handsaws, the first projects I have in mind can be built with the jigsaw. Or, they can just go to the hardware store and buy a $20 handsaw, which will be nice to have around for cutting plywood.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Get woodworking #2
After getting the chisel sharp, I would take the beginner through a series of lessons demonstrating various uses of chisels, but I'll skip those here as readers of this blog are familiar with what they would contain.
What's next? So far, I've spent about $90 of the beginner's money and next comes the biggest expenditure I would recommend. A plane is the next tool logically; after all they're just chisels in guides. My opinion is that, if you can afford it, you should own one new premium plane and it should be your first (I'm ignoring wooden planes for the simple reason that I know little about them.). It's what I did by accident and I consider myself lucky. The new plane works right out of the box, important since the beginner doesn't know how a plane should work. A second reason is that I think you need to own one low angle, bevel up plane, one with square sides that is suitable for shooting. Equipped with three or more blades, it has unmatched versatility and simplicity. You'll never outgrow it.
This is a big expenditure, about $300, a major hurdle for a beginner. You can definitely do without it. The other alternative is to have the beginner get an old #5 and refurbish it, which might well be preferable. I'd have them follow Bob Rozaieski's video.
This is a major departure from my friend Bob's recommendations in his podcast series and I definitely respect his opinion. The smoother and extra blades I bought cost more than the seven old planes combined that I own. I have never wanted another new premium bench plane, but I am really glad it was my first plane and I am glad that I have it. If, as their skills increase, they decide they don't want it, it could easily be sold at a good price.
The bad news is, they've spent almost $400; the good news, it gets a lot cheaper the rest of the way. As I look at my tool chest, I can honestly say that there isn't another new premium tool in it that I really need. I have a number and I really like them, but I don't need them. There are good vintage alternatives for all of them. As I've gone along, I have enjoyed finding and refurbishing vintage tools more and more.
What's next? So far, I've spent about $90 of the beginner's money and next comes the biggest expenditure I would recommend. A plane is the next tool logically; after all they're just chisels in guides. My opinion is that, if you can afford it, you should own one new premium plane and it should be your first (I'm ignoring wooden planes for the simple reason that I know little about them.). It's what I did by accident and I consider myself lucky. The new plane works right out of the box, important since the beginner doesn't know how a plane should work. A second reason is that I think you need to own one low angle, bevel up plane, one with square sides that is suitable for shooting. Equipped with three or more blades, it has unmatched versatility and simplicity. You'll never outgrow it.
This is a big expenditure, about $300, a major hurdle for a beginner. You can definitely do without it. The other alternative is to have the beginner get an old #5 and refurbish it, which might well be preferable. I'd have them follow Bob Rozaieski's video.
This is a major departure from my friend Bob's recommendations in his podcast series and I definitely respect his opinion. The smoother and extra blades I bought cost more than the seven old planes combined that I own. I have never wanted another new premium bench plane, but I am really glad it was my first plane and I am glad that I have it. If, as their skills increase, they decide they don't want it, it could easily be sold at a good price.
The bad news is, they've spent almost $400; the good news, it gets a lot cheaper the rest of the way. As I look at my tool chest, I can honestly say that there isn't another new premium tool in it that I really need. I have a number and I really like them, but I don't need them. There are good vintage alternatives for all of them. As I've gone along, I have enjoyed finding and refurbishing vintage tools more and more.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Get woodworking #1
As many of you know, this week we are all supposed to post ideas to help folks get into woodworking. This is a subject I have been thinking about for some time and I have some unorthodox ideas. Being closer to my own starting point than many experts, and having a background in education are advantages, at least in some ways.
As an economist, I am inclined to think that the major barrier to becoming a woodworking hobbyist is high barriers to entry in time, money and skill. Stop and think how much it would cost you in time and/or money and/or skill to replicate your tool collection. Think how much time you have invested in acquiring the many skills involved to use the tools effectively and, if you have taken classes, the cost involved. These barriers to entry are a substantial deterrent, discouraging many who are interested.
So, my contribution to the discussion is thinking about how to lower these barriers to entry, in large part based on my own experience. We need to radically simplify, get down to the minimum things for beginners to learn at first. Remember the 80/20 rule? My suggestion is that it is a mistake to start building things right away. Think about learning golf. Would you just go out and play? I think it is better to get some lessons, in person if possible online if not, and spend a fair amount of time at the driving range and practice green first. The goal should be to minimize the barriers to entry in time, money and skill.
Sharpening is a gateway skill without which you cannot enjoy woodworking and cannot do good work. I personally wasted a great deal of time, money and effort trying to sharpen effectively when I began. Expert discussion is often not helpful because techniques appropriate for experts can be extremely frustrating for beginners and opinion is sharply divided among many alternatives. I think the place to begin is learning how to sharpen a chisel so that it is very sharp. I'd argue that most other sharpening is an extension in some way. The method needs to minimize the time, money and skill required. We want early success.
For obvious reasons, sandpaper on plate glass is the least cost and simplest. Yes, you will graduate but this is the method to begin with. Sharpening a chisel on a piece of sandpaper mounted on plate glass is as inexpensive as it gets. What about a honing guide? Freehand sharpening of chisels is too difficult for beginners. My opinion, and this is controversial, is that the best honing guide is the Kell. It is extremely well made and easier to use than any alternative I am aware of. Here's an expert opinion I respect: Why a Kell guide? Ron Hock speaks highly of it as well. My own experience confirms their opinions. I think a beginner can have better success with this guide than any alternative. Yes, it's expensive but the saving in time, the success you can have without a lot of skill and the money you can save by not pursuing multiple approaches makes it worth it. Compared to powered methods, it's cheap.
Finally, and this will be very controversial, I would not have the beginner flatten the back of the chisel! If it's already flat, great, leave it alone. If not, use the ruler trick. I know this goes against the majority opinion. My reasons are explained very well here: Don't flatten the backs of your chisels. Flattening chisels is too time consuming, too frustrating and too difficult for beginners. You don't need to do it. If you want a flat back, do what I did and buy premium chisels that are already flat, but you don't need to. Otherwise, forget it. I realize many of you will violently object, so I'll save a detailed justification for replies to comments.
Ask yourself this question: Do you know an easier way to get a beginner going with sharpening?
As an economist, I am inclined to think that the major barrier to becoming a woodworking hobbyist is high barriers to entry in time, money and skill. Stop and think how much it would cost you in time and/or money and/or skill to replicate your tool collection. Think how much time you have invested in acquiring the many skills involved to use the tools effectively and, if you have taken classes, the cost involved. These barriers to entry are a substantial deterrent, discouraging many who are interested.
So, my contribution to the discussion is thinking about how to lower these barriers to entry, in large part based on my own experience. We need to radically simplify, get down to the minimum things for beginners to learn at first. Remember the 80/20 rule? My suggestion is that it is a mistake to start building things right away. Think about learning golf. Would you just go out and play? I think it is better to get some lessons, in person if possible online if not, and spend a fair amount of time at the driving range and practice green first. The goal should be to minimize the barriers to entry in time, money and skill.
Sharpening is a gateway skill without which you cannot enjoy woodworking and cannot do good work. I personally wasted a great deal of time, money and effort trying to sharpen effectively when I began. Expert discussion is often not helpful because techniques appropriate for experts can be extremely frustrating for beginners and opinion is sharply divided among many alternatives. I think the place to begin is learning how to sharpen a chisel so that it is very sharp. I'd argue that most other sharpening is an extension in some way. The method needs to minimize the time, money and skill required. We want early success.
For obvious reasons, sandpaper on plate glass is the least cost and simplest. Yes, you will graduate but this is the method to begin with. Sharpening a chisel on a piece of sandpaper mounted on plate glass is as inexpensive as it gets. What about a honing guide? Freehand sharpening of chisels is too difficult for beginners. My opinion, and this is controversial, is that the best honing guide is the Kell. It is extremely well made and easier to use than any alternative I am aware of. Here's an expert opinion I respect: Why a Kell guide? Ron Hock speaks highly of it as well. My own experience confirms their opinions. I think a beginner can have better success with this guide than any alternative. Yes, it's expensive but the saving in time, the success you can have without a lot of skill and the money you can save by not pursuing multiple approaches makes it worth it. Compared to powered methods, it's cheap.
Finally, and this will be very controversial, I would not have the beginner flatten the back of the chisel! If it's already flat, great, leave it alone. If not, use the ruler trick. I know this goes against the majority opinion. My reasons are explained very well here: Don't flatten the backs of your chisels. Flattening chisels is too time consuming, too frustrating and too difficult for beginners. You don't need to do it. If you want a flat back, do what I did and buy premium chisels that are already flat, but you don't need to. Otherwise, forget it. I realize many of you will violently object, so I'll save a detailed justification for replies to comments.
Ask yourself this question: Do you know an easier way to get a beginner going with sharpening?
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