/diy/ - Do It Yourself

[Anonymous No.74993]

Sup /diy/

I want to learn woodworking as a hobby. How should I accomplish this? The googles have done nothing for me. I found one school located an hour away from me that could teach me how to be a carpenter for a profession. Naturally this is crazy expensive. I don't need a profession, I just want to learn how to build shit without killing myself.

I also don't have a place to build shit. I could clear out the basement, but I'm sorta iffy on clearing out the area and setting up a workshop when I'm just starting out.

Wat do?

[TehLocksmith !UV0Nnuip0c No.74997]

Start by choosing something to build. Look to build it with as little materials/tools as physically possible. Complete, and move on to the next project.

You'll slowly accumulate the skills and tools necessary but without breaking the budget/fun on the first go around.

That is how most people got started.

I was fortunate enough to grow up in a family members woodshop and learned a lot of the basics just by watching. You can do the same by watching the New Yankee Workshop (Norm Abram is God), Ask This Old House, Woodsmith Shop, etc.

[Anonymous No.75002]

What tools are an absolute necessity? Even though I technically have a lot of tools in the house, my grandparents never took care of them, so everything that doesn't belong to me is essentially a rusted POS. I have a small hammer, two screwdrivers, and a dremel stylus that I use at work for taking down dog nails.

What else does an absolute beginner need?

[Anonymous No.75005]

Get some 'woodwork for beginners' books. There are loads of them out there, try your local library or discount bookstore. These will explain what different tools look like and what they are for, and give you plans for a few easy projects to get started. Once you have the basics you can move on to more advanced books or experiment on your own.

[TehLocksmith !UV0Nnuip0c No.75006]

>>75002

A 1/2" chisel would be great. Varying grits of sandpaper (make a sanding block as your first project). A multi-hand saw. Ball peen hammer (12-16oz, 1' combination square, and pencils (free at Home Depot).

You can build A LOT with just that. Don't worry about stocking up on hardware such as nails, glue, screws, etc. Buy those as you need them and accumulate them with leftovers.

Then you can always add more - cordless drill, a drill press attachment for your Dremel (these are great), various bits, etc.

What kind of hammer and what kind of screw drivers? #2 Phillips is an absolute necessity, although I'm sure you have it. Flat-head too (size not as important).

You will discover what you need as you progress.

[TehLocksmith !UV0Nnuip0c No.75007]

>>75006

Didn't mean to put multi in front of hand saw. Just hand saw. 8-10 TPI will be great.

[Anonymous No.75008]

>>75006

Good to know. I'm not sure what size they are, but I have one phillips head and one flat head. They're fairly small and skinny, but they work on most standard screws.

What do you recommend for a work space? Should I just bite the bullet and clear a space in the basement, or would doing it in my room be feasible when I'm just starting out?

[Anonymous No.75016]

>>75008
I'd clear the space bro, if you're interested in building things as a hobby, trust me, you will use it. It's extremely fun, lucky for me my father has a metal shop, all kinds of welding machines, torches, forges and even a plasma cutter. I'm starting out my project with building a bicycle out of aluminum and using other parts from old bikes, I'm just building a weird looking frame for it, I also want to get a motor for it, like a weedwacker motor that uses fuel. It's going to be a lot of fun lol. but first I need to master the art of welding MIG and TIG, then I have to find a cheap fuel powered weedwacker and so on, but trust me I've been building dumb things to practice welding and it's a tun of fun, I'm sure wood working will be hell of fun!

[TehLocksmith !UV0Nnuip0c No.75027]

>>75008

Start with your driveway. Make sure you enjoy it and plan to continue doing it before you make an effort to clear space for it.

It can get very messy indoors with all the saw dust, etc. In fact, I do nearly all of my work in my driveway. When I'm done, I'll use the leaf blower to blow the dust into the grass (which acts as a fertilizer, really).

[Anonymous No.75047]

>>75027
>>75016

What about sharing the workspace with something else? I was looking into getting one of those pre-made sheds and converting it into a space for grooming dogs. So long as I make sure my grooming tools and supplies are locked in an air-tight storage space, do you think I could share the space? I imagine that ventilation needs would probably be fairly similar, and I have ear and eye and lung protection already for when I do high velocity drying.

[TehLocksmith !UV0Nnuip0c No.75050]

>>75047

Sawdust isn't bad for your lungs in small quantities. It'll become a problem to your nose and eyes before your lungs. It's actually one of the most pleasant smells you've ever experienced. Ventilation is still key, if only to keep your shop clean.

Again, try your best, if possible, to cut outside unless you have a shop vac hooked up to whatever machine you're using or rigged in a way to suck up the wood as it's being cut. If you keep the door open, you'll be fine. More than fine really. It's just an easier cleanup if it's outside.

[Anonymous No.75332]

Would volunteering for habit for humanity as a novice garner you any useful skills or would they have you doing dumb monkey work?

[Anonymous No.75340]

>http://www.amazon.com/Woodworking-Basics-Mastering-Essentials-Craftsmanship/dp/156158620X/ref=sr
_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322275145&sr=8-1


I'm all for helping you out, but did you even try? You may not want to have to spend money on a book, but it's well worth having a reference on your bookshelf.

[Anonymous No.75342]

Since this is a woodworking thread and I dont want to create another one. Could some woodworking anon give advice on this project? It is a loft bed (I know it has been discussed alot and that sex will suck) and my concern is the resistance of the structure so I'm going to post some pics hoping some of you can give me some advice regarding the structure and how/what to use to make the conections.

[Anonymous No.75343]

[Anonymous No.75345]

[Anonymous No.75474]

>>75342

this this looks overbuilt as hell.
good work!

[Anonymous No.75518]

The best piece of advice I can give you is:

Buy Craftsman from Sears. You would be wise to buy right now too during the holiday season. You don't buy Craftsman, you invest it.

Also, why not build a shed? Get some plans and try it out.

Some tools that would be nice to have in a workshop are:

Radial Arm Saw
Drill press
Routing table
Shop Chest

Go to Sears and ask about any tools you want, they should help you. Lowe's is the best department store aside from Sears. I would recommend Sears for any tools though.

For cheap wood ask the manager for any surplus or cracked wood, you can salvage anything; the only reason they don't sell it other than beatles is because many clients use it in construction.

Feel free to ask anything, /diy/ seems to have a great community so far.

[Anonymous No.75530]

I've found that the best way to learn woodworking and carpentry is to just be thrown into it. I started by volunteering at Habitat for Humanity building walls and roofing, from there I moved into more detailed work like beveling and routing

[Anonymous No.75535]

awhile back my dad gave me his cordless power-tool set from craftsman that was a circular saw, a drill, a reciprocating saw and a flashlight (so useless, except to run the batteries down before recharging them). They're not powerful, but they will take apart and put together anything I am doing on a hobby scale. I think you can get a similar set for pretty cheap, especially during these christmas sales.

As far as space, the easiest thing to do is get a cheap pair of folding sawhorses and put a piece of plywood on it as a workbench. These things will get you started for basic no-frills furniture if you're doing larger stuff. If you want to do more detail oriented things then chisel sets are what you need.

[Anonymous No.75537]

>>75535

Ugh it's late here. I forgot to mention that will the drill you can get a lot of different bits to create different types of hole, as well as a lot of different drivers for all sorts of shit.

If you have a little bit of money to spend, a chop-saw is really handy. But if you're just starting I think it would be best to get going as simply as possible and figure out what you need as you get more advanced. Hell, you may find you don't enjoy it that much and it's better to find that out with just handyman tools than a specialized set of equipment.

[Anonymous No.75542]

There are a lot old, but really good, woodworking/carpentry videos floating around out there. New ones as well... But really, the skills don't change all that much so a 30-year old video is still relevant.
Might try youtube or searching torrent sites for vids.

[Anonymous No.75564]

Australia has a 'mensheds' organisation where you can go to learn from skilled people for free and maybe to help others learn. Does th US not have a similar organisation?

[Anonymous No.75758]

OP here.

Excellent tips everybody. I never would have thought about habitat for humanity. I don't know if the US has a mansheds organization, but I could always go to the senior center and talk to some old fogies. See if they feel like teaching somebody.

Thanks so much!

[Anonymous No.75788]

>>75474
So, do you think this built on pine wood will be enough for a 215 lb male?

Also any recommendations for the unions please

[Anonymous No.76550]

Polite bump.

Also, I have been looking online, and it looks like the mensheds thing is mostly an Australian thing. While there might be /something/ similar to it in the states I don't know necessarily that they'd really want anything without a penis around.

[Anonymous No.76578]

>>75345
>>75343
>>75342

This looks good for the most part, though it looks like most of the support comes from those angled arms, which wouldn't be enough for heavy use, especially by adults. I suppose if you use rafter support brackets for the slat support beam you would be fine, but just wood screws and I'd worry about all that sheer force in one spot.

At the end of the day woodworking is mostly furniture, support structures. Spread the weight distribution as much as you can. Way back when I started one of the largest impacts on me was walking around looking at the underside of a floor in an unfinished basement.

And while it pales in comparison to a full shop, if you want a simple start get a good drill/bit set, and then a multitool like the Rockwell Bladerunner (though buy new Bosche blades for it right from the start. It can function as a lesser version of most shop tools including a jigsaw and miter saw, and newer models have a shop-vac attachment so it'll suck up all the sawdust from all your major cuts)

[Anonymous No.76624]

>>75345
>>75342
>>75343

What do you use to make these 3D pictures?

[Anonymous No.76627]

>>76624
Sketchup pro 8 for the modell and simple screenshoots for the pics.
>>76578
thanks for the advice

[Anonymous No.76635]

>>75788
Union apprenticeships pay you as you learn the trade. You also get full benefits and all that, however you do have to pay dues. You also have to be clean for random UA's, however once your apprenticeship is over and you get your journeyman papers you can do whatever and go where ever with the craft you learn.

To get started you just go down to your local union hall and say you want to sign up to be an apprentice, all you have to do is have the balls to do it and be able to work hard. As long as you work your ass off and don't complain they don't care who you are.

I'm currently an apprentice who is specializing in a few different things. You have to be well rounded if you want to go big in construction, but I digress.

[Anonymous No.76639]

>>76627

Thank you for answer.