Flossie
Member
I would like some advice on tool purchases.
I have only experience of doing the most basic of woodwork tasks, but I am reasonably practical and capable, ( I installed a power shower and associated plumbing recently which involved some woodwork ) and I would like to build a number of things for the house so I was wondering what tools would make this a pleasant and productive experience. I have the basic DIY tools, several saws including a cheap jigsaw, lots of chisels, surforms ( but no plane), various files round and flat, a basic workmate table ( which doesn't include a metal vice), clamps, electric drill and numerous drill bits, electric sander, set square, metal rulers, mortice gauge, several float levels, hammers and screwdrivers etc and I was hoping to embark on the following projects and wondered what extra tools I would need
1) A floor standing bathroom cabinet 400w x 400d x800h with an internal shelf, a door, and some sculptured base, made out of either some glorious dark wood which I would varnish to handle the humid conditions, or perhaps some cheaper wood which I would paint white to match the cyan and white décor. I was hoping to create a decorated door with a panel or grooves of some sort, perhaps something like one the base unit on the left in this collection
2) Two wall-mounted bathroom cabinets with mirror of about 500 w x 500 h x 150 d with a shelf, and perhaps mount the mirror on a large extended hinge which would be attached to the cabinet door by another hinge so that the mirror could be pulled away from the door and rotate around a vertical hinge so that it could face any direction
3) The modification of an existing computer desk to reduce its width by about 5cm which would involve ripping off one side and cutting the relevant veneered chipboard panels and pieces and then fitting it back together.
3) A living room bookcase of about 1900 high by 1000 wide by 320 deep with a nice crown with some interesting grooves in it and capable of having some heavy books
such as
4) and perhaps even some display cabinet of a slightly smaller size than the bookcase but with doors with glass and further grooves or features in the woodwork
I was inspired to consider these projects, rather than buy the finished items, by the ease with which one can make wood work joints using a dowel jig I saw on Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Joint-Genie-pre ... 775&sr=1-8
and as it doesn’t seem to be rocket science I have decided I really ought to try my hand at being creative
So the tool list I have considered so far is
1) The dowel jig mentioned above, just to make my life easy, productive and less error prone
2) Some sort of circular saw or cheap table saw, I examined a number of these including the Ryobi ETS1526AL 240V 10-inch Table Saw for about £170 ( though there are refurbished ones available at £125)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ryobi-ETS1526AL ... 081&sr=1-2
or possibly
from
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Table-1700W-Fre ... 08&sr=1-69
but I have seen the same version for just over £100 somewhere else, though oddly the 1500w version seems to be more expensive, but perhaps that is down to additional extensions or blades
3) A router so that I can achieve some nice looking grooves etc on doors and crowns as seen in the bookcase and bathroom units above
4) And a book to help me such as
which is available 2nd hand for a mere £6 or so and one of many such books available from Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_nos ... &x=16&y=22
Sorry for the long post, and I suspect I might be a bit naïve in the skills required, what can be easily achieved and the tools required, but any input would be appreciated, particularly on a recommendation for the sort of power saw that I should get and the merits of the ones I have selected, I have already avoided some table saws that have received bad reviews on Amazon and elsewhere.
Mark
I have only experience of doing the most basic of woodwork tasks, but I am reasonably practical and capable, ( I installed a power shower and associated plumbing recently which involved some woodwork ) and I would like to build a number of things for the house so I was wondering what tools would make this a pleasant and productive experience. I have the basic DIY tools, several saws including a cheap jigsaw, lots of chisels, surforms ( but no plane), various files round and flat, a basic workmate table ( which doesn't include a metal vice), clamps, electric drill and numerous drill bits, electric sander, set square, metal rulers, mortice gauge, several float levels, hammers and screwdrivers etc and I was hoping to embark on the following projects and wondered what extra tools I would need
1) A floor standing bathroom cabinet 400w x 400d x800h with an internal shelf, a door, and some sculptured base, made out of either some glorious dark wood which I would varnish to handle the humid conditions, or perhaps some cheaper wood which I would paint white to match the cyan and white décor. I was hoping to create a decorated door with a panel or grooves of some sort, perhaps something like one the base unit on the left in this collection
2) Two wall-mounted bathroom cabinets with mirror of about 500 w x 500 h x 150 d with a shelf, and perhaps mount the mirror on a large extended hinge which would be attached to the cabinet door by another hinge so that the mirror could be pulled away from the door and rotate around a vertical hinge so that it could face any direction
3) The modification of an existing computer desk to reduce its width by about 5cm which would involve ripping off one side and cutting the relevant veneered chipboard panels and pieces and then fitting it back together.
3) A living room bookcase of about 1900 high by 1000 wide by 320 deep with a nice crown with some interesting grooves in it and capable of having some heavy books
such as
4) and perhaps even some display cabinet of a slightly smaller size than the bookcase but with doors with glass and further grooves or features in the woodwork
I was inspired to consider these projects, rather than buy the finished items, by the ease with which one can make wood work joints using a dowel jig I saw on Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Joint-Genie-pre ... 775&sr=1-8
and as it doesn’t seem to be rocket science I have decided I really ought to try my hand at being creative
So the tool list I have considered so far is
1) The dowel jig mentioned above, just to make my life easy, productive and less error prone
2) Some sort of circular saw or cheap table saw, I examined a number of these including the Ryobi ETS1526AL 240V 10-inch Table Saw for about £170 ( though there are refurbished ones available at £125)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ryobi-ETS1526AL ... 081&sr=1-2
or possibly
from
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Table-1700W-Fre ... 08&sr=1-69
but I have seen the same version for just over £100 somewhere else, though oddly the 1500w version seems to be more expensive, but perhaps that is down to additional extensions or blades
3) A router so that I can achieve some nice looking grooves etc on doors and crowns as seen in the bookcase and bathroom units above
4) And a book to help me such as
which is available 2nd hand for a mere £6 or so and one of many such books available from Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_nos ... &x=16&y=22
Sorry for the long post, and I suspect I might be a bit naïve in the skills required, what can be easily achieved and the tools required, but any input would be appreciated, particularly on a recommendation for the sort of power saw that I should get and the merits of the ones I have selected, I have already avoided some table saws that have received bad reviews on Amazon and elsewhere.
Mark
