Richard D
Established Member
- Joined
- 18 Feb 2010
- Messages
- 118
- Reaction score
- 8
I could do with a bit of advice.
I'm close to being a total novice, using the few skills I picked up in school woodworking classes over 25 years ago to build boxes from time to time.
My main hobby is playing and collecting board games, some of which can be improved by making a custom case or box from wood. There's an example of what my schoolboy carpentry can manage in this thread here:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2599412
(am I OK posting links to other sites?)
But what stops me making more (and better) boxes - for others as well as myself - is the whole tedious process. I can't plane to save my life and usually hate sawing, so I've taken to getting all my wood pre-cut to size at the local sawmill (whether it's down to my little projects being more interesting than sawing 8x4 sheets for the local builders, or something to do with the way I tip, the guys at the sawmill are happy enough to saw my little bits of wood). But that's rather restrictive - firstly the sawmill only seems to have a pretty uninspiring selection of timber (mostly running to plywood to be honest), and secondly I have to plan everything out very carefully before I start - I can't change my mind mid-project and lop an inch off the width, say (and it's a real pain when I manage to chisel the wrong bit out of a set of finger joints, as the project is then on hold until I get back to the sawmill for replacement pieces). So I'd like to be able to do much more accurate sawing at home. Further, cutting finger joints by hand - and cutting grooves for sliding lids using a 60-year old plough plane - is a bit tedious at times. So I'd like to be able to do more using power tools (I don't actually need all ten fingers for my day job, but I've not lost any to my jigsaw so far).
Now woodworking is simply something I do occasionally when I want to make one of these boxes. So my budget is not going to stretch to four figures. Further, I hear about people with workshops, or double-car garages - not mine. Living in a house without a loft means that almost all the storage space that I have in the house is at the back of the garage, and my car lives at the front; I can find a few spare square metres of space, but for the most part my woodwork is done on a Black & Decker Workmate in the garden when it's not raining, and in the garage with the car parked on the drive when it is. I'd love to buy a big table saw, a routing table and planer/thicknesser, but I have neither the funds nor the space (nor the skill to make it worthwhile, I suspect).
What I probably could stretch to (given that it's my 40th and I feel like treating myself) is a small combi machine that will allow me to cut the wood to size and make grooves and finger joints in the garage, using the machine when the car's parked outside and pushing it into a dark corner for the rest of the time. My budget is between £400-700 - which is pretty much in line with what I usually spend when I have one of my madcap ideas every few years.
Can anyone recommend anything - or steer me away from obvious mistakes?
I've seen a "Woodstar Combi 06" for sale on the Screwfix website, though I'm a bit concerned that it will be Chinese-made rubbish (and it would probably need some sort of stand made for it). Or there is something like a second-hand Kity K5. I'm sure that I'd be better off with separate machines, but they're going to take up too much space.
Or am I kidding myself, and should I just carry on with my old tenon saw and chisels?
I'm close to being a total novice, using the few skills I picked up in school woodworking classes over 25 years ago to build boxes from time to time.
My main hobby is playing and collecting board games, some of which can be improved by making a custom case or box from wood. There's an example of what my schoolboy carpentry can manage in this thread here:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2599412
(am I OK posting links to other sites?)
But what stops me making more (and better) boxes - for others as well as myself - is the whole tedious process. I can't plane to save my life and usually hate sawing, so I've taken to getting all my wood pre-cut to size at the local sawmill (whether it's down to my little projects being more interesting than sawing 8x4 sheets for the local builders, or something to do with the way I tip, the guys at the sawmill are happy enough to saw my little bits of wood). But that's rather restrictive - firstly the sawmill only seems to have a pretty uninspiring selection of timber (mostly running to plywood to be honest), and secondly I have to plan everything out very carefully before I start - I can't change my mind mid-project and lop an inch off the width, say (and it's a real pain when I manage to chisel the wrong bit out of a set of finger joints, as the project is then on hold until I get back to the sawmill for replacement pieces). So I'd like to be able to do much more accurate sawing at home. Further, cutting finger joints by hand - and cutting grooves for sliding lids using a 60-year old plough plane - is a bit tedious at times. So I'd like to be able to do more using power tools (I don't actually need all ten fingers for my day job, but I've not lost any to my jigsaw so far).
Now woodworking is simply something I do occasionally when I want to make one of these boxes. So my budget is not going to stretch to four figures. Further, I hear about people with workshops, or double-car garages - not mine. Living in a house without a loft means that almost all the storage space that I have in the house is at the back of the garage, and my car lives at the front; I can find a few spare square metres of space, but for the most part my woodwork is done on a Black & Decker Workmate in the garden when it's not raining, and in the garage with the car parked on the drive when it is. I'd love to buy a big table saw, a routing table and planer/thicknesser, but I have neither the funds nor the space (nor the skill to make it worthwhile, I suspect).
What I probably could stretch to (given that it's my 40th and I feel like treating myself) is a small combi machine that will allow me to cut the wood to size and make grooves and finger joints in the garage, using the machine when the car's parked outside and pushing it into a dark corner for the rest of the time. My budget is between £400-700 - which is pretty much in line with what I usually spend when I have one of my madcap ideas every few years.
Can anyone recommend anything - or steer me away from obvious mistakes?
I've seen a "Woodstar Combi 06" for sale on the Screwfix website, though I'm a bit concerned that it will be Chinese-made rubbish (and it would probably need some sort of stand made for it). Or there is something like a second-hand Kity K5. I'm sure that I'd be better off with separate machines, but they're going to take up too much space.
Or am I kidding myself, and should I just carry on with my old tenon saw and chisels?
