Best selling wood projects - Beginning Woodworking A Basic Woodworking Starter Kit

Best selling wood projects

I am often asked, particularly by parents who have a child interested in woodworking, what is a sensible basic starter tool kit.  I have thought about this a lot, and have usually referred them to good old Google to see what is recommended elsewhere.

I tried it myself recently, (Googling), and was disappointed with the results.  The kits were either too elaborate, or attempts by commercial enterprises to flog off tools that werent selling.

Sooooo ........ I have put my limited grey matter to work, and come up with my own basic tool kit list.  These tools are based on what I have seen my grandchildren use in my own workshop, and I have left out tools that they cannot handle.

Having said that, I dont think that there are any essential omissions.  In other words, this starter kit would suit anyone commencing woodwork.

Okey dokey - measuring and marking time.

• 300mm (12 inch for you foreigners) steel rule
• Steel retractable tape measure -5m, 8m, 10m ... whatever you can find .... length isnt that important.  Handy to have a stopper button like this one.  I like the metric/imperial tapes, but children should have one or the other - too confusing otherwise.
• Combination square - 90 and 45 degrees
• Pencils - HB or H - kids always press too hard
• Pencil sharpener

Screwing and nailing:

• Warrington hammer - easier for kids to use than a standard claw hammer, as it isnt as heavy and is better balanced.  There are different sizes in these, so take the kids to the markets and get them to try the hammers before buying.
• Nail punches - flat ended - 1/8 inch and 1/16 inches wide at the tip
• Screw drivers - flat bladed and phillips head (posi-drive) -  small and larger in each

Chiseling and sharpening:

• Four bevelled edge chisels 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and 1 inch wide.  Older chisels are usually better than the new consumer chisels from the hardware stores.  Again, the markets are your friend.  Best value around at the moment are the older English bevelled edge chisels - anything made in Sheffield.
• Pocket knife - useful for so many little jobs around the workshop. In Australia you have to be over 18 to own one of these - Jeez, talk about the nanny state!
• Oilstone - and protective wooden box - for sharpening.
• Sharpening lubricant - I use a kerosene/oil mix of 3/1, but straight kerosene would probably be OK. Plastic squeeze bottle is from a hair-care store.
• Beginners might like to use a honing guide - not shown here but follow the link.

 Sawing:

 For kids, a shorter hand saw is better than a longer one, as they have more control over the cut.  You wont need all of these saws, but two would be good.

• An 18-22 inch crosscut saw with around 8-10 teeth per inch is most easily managed.  Number 1 is a Disston American Boy - 18 inch X-cut saw. Number 2 is a 20 inch Warranted Superior X-cut saw probably made by Simonds.  Number 3 is a 22 inch X-cut Spear and Jackson.  Of all three my grandkids prefer the 22 inch saw
• A tenon saw has a brass or steel spine to stiffen the blade and children handle this easily if it has smaller teeth - say 10-12 per inch. Cross cut of course.  This one - number 4 - is a Tyzack.
• There are no rip saws shown here, and children struggle to use them anyway.  Most of the timber that kids will use will be milled and dressed. If not, they can ask an adult to use a power tool to do it for them.  Kids faced with hand ripping, will simply lose interest very quickly.  As far as timber is concerned, its better if it is softwood - lighter and easier to handle.

 Planing and Smoothing:

A hand plane is one tool that kids love using. Since most timber used by children will be dressed, they can start with a block plane - Number 1 above - for all those small jobs.  It is a good size for small hands, and the blade is narrow enough that it isnt too hard to push.  This one is an older Stanley 102 - a great little apron plane.

As kids get older and can handle heavier tools, a smoothing plane like this Stanley Number 4 (actually numbered 2 here) is a logical next choice.  For youngsters, a number 3 sized plane might be better, as it has a narrower blade and is easier to push.  These - the Stanley 4 type - are the most common sized plane everywhere, and once again the older ones are better than the new stuff being sold in hardware stores.  Another trip to the markets!

Number 3 is a jack plane, and is longer at around 14 inches.  It is great for shaving off a lot of wood in a hurry, but may never be needed by youngsters. Older woodworkers will find it to be sooo useful.  This one was made by Carter Tools right here in Australia.

Drilling:

Dont ask me why, but kids love drilling holes.  A decent hand drill with double pinion gears like this one is just the ticket.  Of course there are plenty of cheap cordless power drills around at the moment, but most youngsters dont have the strength to handle them.  OK for older, stronger children though.
A hand drill like this one is great for hand-eye co-ordination, and for the development of fine motor skills.

A decent set of sharp drills is a must.  Kids are prone to break the finer drills in a drill kit, so supervise these if they have to be used.

..... and that is about it.

I really dont think that there are any other essential tools.  With this kit, nearly all woodworking tasks that children will address will be covered.  This same set of woodworking tools would be an excellent starter tool chest for any beginning woodworker.  Of course there are absolute buckets of extra tools that could be added.  These can be acquired as the need arises, and as woodworking skills develop and grow.

Now, there are plenty of other tools that I use regularly, but they arent essential, just desirable and useful. If you get bitten by the handtool bug, there are dozens of ways of expanding your knowledge and ability to use them well.

Just to inspire you further, here is a chest of handtools that were once owned by a piano maker known as H O Studley.  Feast your eyes on the tool chest that he made for his tools :

Picture courtesy of Fine Woodworking - see link above

OK ....... a woodworking tool kit can be put together piece by piece.  Knowing whats important and whats not, helps us focus on essentials.   My list above can be a guide for birthdays and Xmouse presents as well.

Hope it was of some help.........

.....  and happy woodworking to all ..............
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Best selling wood projects - Time Out and a Road Trip

Best selling wood projects

We have had a week away from the village, catching up on family and friends.  It is always a pleasure to spend time with loved ones, and to meet new friends along the way.  Our sojourn took us south through Newcastle and Sydney to the Blue Mountains, then after a night with my lovely sister in Kurrajong - onward to the south west.
Bathurst, Carcoar, Cowra - then to Young.
Plenty of pix, of course.

The autumn (fall) weather was spectacular.  Even from the car window there was always something happening.

Carcoar is NSW second town established west of the Great Dividing Range, and is totally classified by the National Trust.  We love stopping here at any time, but April is colourfully splendid.




























The old railway station hasnt been used for yonks, but still holds an air of elegance and grace.

Its been a while since the last train rattled along these tracks:

The use of wrought iron lacework and the attention to detail in the construction are a real delight.

The only construction happening at the moment is being done by the paper wasps as seen below:

The last of the summer grasses are starting to brown, but recent rains have brought forth a flush of late wildflower growth - before the frosts arrive to cover all in white.

As if this wasnt enough, the evening skies also entertained.

To top this all off, I discovered some great old tools and some fabulous timber.  More on those next time .....
.................... and happy woodworking to all .............
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Best selling wood projects - Cabinet with Glass Door

Best selling wood projects

Cabinet with Glass Door - free plans update.

At the link you will find the free plans to build this awesome antique looking cabinet. An old window was used for the door.

Link Type : free plans for woodworkers

There are other related woodworking free plans bits of information found at our web site woodworking category Cabinet Making

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Best selling wood projects - Chisels and Such

Best selling wood projects

One of the most useful of our workshop tools is the humble chisel.  In historic terms, it is also one of the oldest in homo sapiens toolbox.  From stone - through copper, bronze and iron - the modern steel chisel has a long heritage.  As woodworking has refined itself over the centuries, chisels have evolved into the variations on the chisel theme that we have today.

We now have bench chisels, butt chisels, paring chisels, dovetail chisels, mortice chisels, and all the variations of carving chisels that you can imagine.  There are likely to be other categories that I have left out.

You will find treatises on chisel types in numerous publications, so I wont go into them here, but the most common garden variety of chisels these days - is the bench chisels.  These are sold everywhere from hardware stores to specialist tool manufacturers, and usually in sets.

Here are some that are on offer at present:

• Plastic handled chisels
• Traditional design chisels
• Evolved design chisels
• Combination design chisels  

These modern steel chisels can all trace their lineage back to something like this one - a chunky firmer chisel with a socket for the handle.
This one was made by Ward and Payne in Sheffield in England.

It is only one inch wide, but is a beast of a thing and quite heavy - even without the handle.

Modern bench chisels have bevelled edges, which helps reduce the weight of the chisels in the hand, giving them better balance.

To further reduce the mass of the chisel at the handle, it can be mounted with a tang like this old Robert Sorby - also made in Sheffield.

Here is a set of tanged bevelled edge chisels (except for the smallest which is too narrow to carry a bevel).  All of these are English - made in Sheffield, but from many years ago.   Most were made in the first half of the 20th century.  The majority of these handles are English London Pattern chisel handles.  They look lovely but are an acquired taste as far as comfort in the hand is concerned.

They take and hold a keen edge, and more than hold their own against their modern equivalents - when used for general woodworking. Belting holes in jarrah or spotted gum all day will pull them up, but very few of us do that.

Most of these are F Woodcocks (made between 1939 and 1957),  but there are plenty of quality English makers, whose chisels are just as good.  Here are some:

English Chisels

• Robert Sorby
• William Marples
• Hale Bros
• Charles Taylor
• Edward Preston
• S J Addis
• Lindley
• Herring
• Pearson
• Ward and Payne
• Alex Mathieson (Scottish)
• Brades
• F Woodcock
• Greaves
• Thomas Ibbotson
• I & H Sorby

The best English steel was made from Swedish ore, and has some of those same qualities as the famed, and widely sought after Swedish steel chisel makers - Berg, Jernbolaget, Kronan, Toledo.  Sadly, older English chisels are overlooked in this country, except by those who know how good they are.  Not in the UK of course, where they are still valued.

The point is, that old English chisels are not the flavour of the month here in Australia - either at Sunday Markets or online auction sites. They are cheap, and excellent value for money.  It is easy to put together a set of English bench chisels for very little outlay.

I have put together this set over many years.  If I was doing this again, I would concentrate on the makers in bold type simply from personal preference, and the fact that I consider them to be the best in their class - but there is not much in it.  It may take quite some time to put together a set from the same maker, but a composite set like mine could be done at one Sunday market - for around the cost of a single new 1 inch chisel from the links above.

Because E A Berg - Sweden - chisels are often used as a benchmark for fine steel in old chisels, I will add a link for more information.
For a short history of E A Berg and his steel product making ventures - see here:
E A Berg

Enjoy Your Break
I will be taking a break from The Village Woodworker Blog for a few weeks, while I attend to other matters.  You will have an enforced break from the happenings in this neck of the woods.  Enjoy .....

I hope that your segue from autumn to winter - (late spring to summer for our northern cousins) is full of the joys of the season .....................
.................... and happy woodworking to all .........................
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Best selling wood projects - Slide out Shelves PDF

Best selling wood projects

Slide out Shelves PDF - free plans update.

Scroll down the list at the link and click on the Sliding Cupboard Storage to find the free downloadable plans to build this.

Link Type : free plans for woodworkers

There are other related woodworking free plans bits of information found at our web site woodworking category Kitchen Accessories

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Best selling wood projects - Doo Doo Doo Looking Out My Back Door

Best selling wood projects

* .... no, not John Fogarty, or even the Salvador Dali-esqe images from the old Creedence song .....

....... just some of the beauty that constantly surrounds us, and which it sometimes takes a stunning autumnal day to remind us of ............

Here, the native dahlias peek over the top of a bird-sown cottoneaster.  Poor old dahlias always bloom at the end of summer, and try to get their seed making done before the winds pick up and blow down their fragile stems. Ours can be five to six metres (20 feet) high.

Cottoneaster berries are a vital food source for birds in hard times, and as winter draws on and other food is scarce.  Silver-eyes love them, but they also support our local satin bowerbirds, who eat everything.  It will be a month or so before we see them.

Boxwood, as used in old quality tool handles, is hard to get these days.  Cottoneaster timber is often used as a substitute - not quite as tough, but very similar in colour.

Cottoneaster flowers here a foodsource for the native bees during the warmer months. Native bees are tiny, (they are the fly-spots around the mouth of the hive below) and they are very laid-back.  They wont even come out of their hive unless the temperature reaches 18 degrees Celsius (64.4 deg F)

Here is our little native bees hive - sitting on our veggie garden fence-post.  They are great pollinators and the garden benefits from them enormously.



They produce small amounts of very rich honey.  Well leave them the fruits of their summer labour, as they will need it to get them through the winter.  Next year well get some honey from them, and maybe divide the hive.



Here they sit above one of the last of the summer pumpkins.  This is a jap - one of the tastiest pumpkins in the whole pumpkin family IMHO - anyway they are my favourite and are fantastic in a baked meal.




The LOML has created her own little bamboo garden, and it is showing off some of the bromeliads which are in flower at present.

As well as the broms, the elkhorn ferns have done well and are growing on the small trees at the back.

This monster is growing a little further back.

Compared to her works of bamboo art,  mine are very rough and ready, and a sort of -in your face clumping type. Oldhami and painted bamboo are the two that I have planted.

Of course the liquid ambers are also responding to the season, and are beginning to change into their autumn coats.

Not a patch on what our cousins in the colder climates see, but a pleasant reminder of that riot of colour that happens in the northern hemisphere during their Fall.

While we all rejoice in the palette that the change of seasons presents us, nothing gladdens the heart like a growing woodpile to help ward off the coming winter chill.

My woodwork lately has been cutting and stacking firewood.  I did notice during these chores that some of the wood chunks had very pleasing grain, but I was too tired to do anything but keep throwing the pieces on the pile.  I made a silent promise that I would go back as the pile diminished and fish them out ............
..... I have a feeling that this is one promise that I may not keep ...............

 There is something about the smell of fresh split firewood that bodes well for the winter.

May your autumn senses be filled to capacity and your cup of joy overflow ............

................ and happy woodworking to all .............................

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