Hello from Congleton

[Petemcr]

Hi all,

Complete beginner here from Cheshire who hasn't touched anything wood working related since school, and now through necessity I've built my first project which was an outdoor BBQ table, and have fully enjoyed the process.

Hasn't come out perfect and I only had a hand saw available and a few other tools but it has made me want to learn a lot more.

 

[johnnyb]

welcome I'm just down the road.

 

[Petemcr]

welcome I'm just down the road.

Awesome, is that Macc way or Sandbach, or biddulph? They're the surrounding areas I know

 

[johnnyb]

biddulph way just wrong county

 

[Bingy man]

Hello and welcome- often the less tools you start with the better as you can only work with what what you have available. Build up your tools based on what you need rather than what you want .. good luck

 

[throbscottle]

You can do a great deal with just hand tools. Even just a saw and a hammer go a long way.

 

[Petemcr]

Thanks everyone for the very warm welcome,

This is what I've managed so far, not perfect but I was expecting it to be a lot worse if I'm honest

I just needed something to have next to the BBQ for when I'm cooking, but it has opened the gates now... if only wood was cheaper

 

[throbscottle]

That's really good! There are people with much more tooling able to produce much worse work I'd be very happy with your table if I'd made it. Are you sure you're a beginner?
I never buy wood unless I absolutely have to. Inveterate scrounger that I am I now have a stockpile of reclaim I can't manage. A few donors on the "nextdoor" website did me proud there. Soon builds up.

 

[Bingy man]

That's really good! There are people with much more tooling able to produce much worse work I'd be very happy with your table if I'd made it. Are you sure you're a beginner?
I never buy wood unless I absolutely have to. Inveterate scrounger that I am I now have a stockpile of reclaim I can't manage. A few donors on the "nextdoor" website did me proud there. Soon builds up.

i agree as I didn’t have much in the way of tools as a young Ladd but they build up quickly especially if you look after them , plenty of bargain tools at car boots and market stalls etc , also lots of people throw away good timber ( just ask permission) . Skips and building sites etc.

 

[Petemcr]

That's really good! There are people with much more tooling able to produce much worse work I'd be very happy with your table if I'd made it. Are you sure you're a beginner?
I never buy wood unless I absolutely have to. Inveterate scrounger that I am I now have a stockpile of reclaim I can't manage. A few donors on the "nextdoor" website did me proud there. Soon builds up.

thank you sir, very kind of you to say, I was reading up about using pallet wood, so I'm going to keep an eye out for some and see if I can get them.

i agree as I didn’t have much in the way of tools as a young Ladd but they build up quickly especially if you look after them , plenty of bargain tools at car boots and market stalls etc , also lots of people throw away good timber ( just ask permission) . Skips and building sites etc.

I'm actually in the process now of asking my dad if we still have my grandads hand plane as he was a carpenter, hoping he still has some of his old tools around.

 

[throbscottle]

Pallet wood is both a blessing and a curse. Yes, you can get some nice pieces that way, but often it's very rough, splitty and splintery, and reverts to wibbly-wobbly shapes once it's no longer a nice, self-supporting structure. De-nailing them is an art-form in it's own right (I started my big-bench build using pallet wood last year - layering the slats so the edges compound to make the top surface. 3" thick, 14 pieces deep (about 11" I think) so far, by 6' long. Had to stop due to not being able to use the garage since October. Half-way there. Point is, it's a long, slow and space-consuming process! I'm trying to get it to about 18-20" deep).
Don't use any marked with "B" - it's poisonous. (B is for Bromide, I think). Look out for them around larger shops and industrial units, and ask for them if you see any building work - builders likely will be glad to have you take them as it saves them a disposal problem. Always ask.