Help please - Christmas present for a novice woodworker

[skimty]

Hello all
I wonder if you can help me. My husband has been interested in woodwork for some time and I wanted to get him the things to make a small project for Christmas such as a box or something quite easy.

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Thanks you in advance

 

[Fromey]

A nice thought. Really we need to know what he has already and what your budget is. Is he interested in power tools or hand tools?

 

[Jensmith]

I took it more to mean the materials to make something rather than the tools...

Are you looking for a kit of somekind? Does he have a lathe - pen turning for example? not too expensive to start in if you have a lathe already.

 

[skimty]

Thank you for getting back to me.

I suppose the budget is about £100-£150 because it's his birthday in January so we can combine the two.

Yes, I suppose a kit is the sort of this I'm looking for but with a skill he can learn. He only has general DIY tools rather than specific woodworking tools.

 

[paultnl]

Maybe look for an evening class in woodwork that you can sign him up for.

 

[skimty]

Yes, I tried that but there aren't any around here and he is a sort of figure it out himself person.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Well if he is looking to learn new skills for a project such as a box, why not buy him a nice dovetail saw and an instructional DVD? Rob Cosman is the King of the Dovetail and there are good saws around for present-prices:
http://www.robcosman.com/dvd.php
http://www.axminster.co.uk/veritas-veritas-dovetail-saw-prod794089/
http://www.axminster.co.uk/lie-nielsen-lie-nielsen-straight-handled-dovetail-saws-prod460294/
http://www.axminster.co.uk/ice-bear-japanese-ikedame-dovetail-saw-prod22299/

Cheers
Steve

 

[SurreyHills]

If it was to help him make something then for a bit more than your budget you could get him a week-end course with Andrew Crawford making fine boxes. See http://www.fine-boxes.com/courses/courses/weekends for more information. Tto give him something for Christmas and a taster for the course you could buy him one of Andrew's books.

I have no tie in with Andrew Crawford but would love the chance to get some pointers on making fine boxes.

 

[Edwin]

There are quite a lot of unknowns here, mainly what tools your husband already has, and what his skill level is. I'm not sure what sort of kits are available or what tools they need.

I would take Steve's line and buy some good tools that would be useful whether he was working on a kit or an original project. This is going to sound boring, but what about a set of chisels? Axminster sell boxed sets of Kirschen chisels for about £95. If you wanted extras, you could go for some sharpening stones and a sharpening jig (if he needs one).

As to a box of any sort being "easy", I'm not too sure. The parts of even the simplest box have to be cut precisely. Tools like chisels and saws are used on all kinds of work, easy or difficult. They also last a long time - sometimes for generations.

 

[Jensmith]

+1 for Andrew Crawford. I went and his courses are excellent. Good introduction to box making