Most Important Tools For Woodworkers

Introduction:

Every woodworker use tools. It doesn’t matter if you are professional or amateur. Every woodworker needs to know the most important tools to use.
If you are looking forward to opening a workshop or just getting experience for starting to work with wood at home or job, here is a list, in no particular order of most important tools woodworkers use.

1.  Table Saw

If there truly is a tool every woodworking woodshop have, that sure is the table saw. This tool has a huge variety of blades to choose from and you can change them any time. With a table saw you can do many things that with hand tools you can’t. You can create straight cuts. It can be good for cutting something, such as plywood. Don’t forget to be really careful with this tool, it is one of the most dangerous tools in the workshop. Before starting you should probably read the instruction, to be sure everything is fine and will work properly.

2.  Power Drill

Small but handful tool. The tip for this tool comes in various sizes, there is a large selection to choose from. With the power drill, you can make holes in wood, plastic and even metal. You can change the tip to a screwdriver and get the most out of it. This tool is very helpful at home starting from installing picture hangers on a wall to fixing or making furniture.  Every beginner woodworker should probably start with buying a power drill and practice with it.

3.  Jigsaw

This one is a hand-held tool. With a jigsaw, you can cut curves, circles, and squares. It works by attaching a blade to it. There are various types of blades for this tool at the market. The only problem with this tool is the control of it. The control is not the best because jigsaw blades are small and weak. But it can always be helpful to have jigsaw in your toolbox.

4. Chisels

There is a huge variety of chisels, they come in many shapes and sizes. To use chisel you must force the blade in some material to cut it, mostly wood. Sometime to make the force bigger, you can force chisel by pushing hand on it or using a hammer. This tool is used to make sculptures from wood or to remove big sections of wood. When you learn to work with it, there is a huge amount of things you can do.

5. Circular Saw

There are two ways to use a circular saw. Handheld or you can mount it on the table. You can set the depth of the blade for it, what gives you the ability to do more. You can cut straight pieces of wood same like with the table saw, but the difference is this one is handier because it’s smaller. Circular saw is light, that gives you the opportunity to work with it in different places, just be careful and when cutting hold the wood still.

6. Router

This one is a hand tool or power tool. Routing is a high-speed process of cutting. Often mounted upside down. It is used to rout (cut) out an area on hard material, usually wood. It is used to cut fancy edges, circles, and ovals with smooth edges. Also round corners on work of all type. Of course with the router you can do a lot more than only cutting fancy edges, you can also cut flawless dadoes and perfect patterns.

7. Japanese Saw

Most European saws cut when pushing. That’s the difference between Japanese saw because with this tool you cut with pulling motion. Its told that cutting with pull is more efficiently. This saw is the best for softwood, for harder wood some prefer European saw. But a good thing about this tool, if you have to cut a large amount of wood, this makes the work easier, because you put much less effort with pulling than pushing. Of course, the Japanese saw is a must in any woodworkers shop.

8. Compound Miter Saw

Compound miter saw cuts very quick and accurate. This tool is great for making crosscuts on wood, no matter those cuts are square, angled or beveled. Sometimes this saw allow the user to angle and bevel the cut at the same time. The head and blade are adjustable, that allows anyone both vertical and horizontal cuts. It’s easy to use this saw, place the wood on the table against the fence, set the angle and press the blade into the wood. But also this saw can be quite dangerous and make injuries, remember to be safe using this saw.

9. Random Orbital Sander

This is a hand-held power tool for sanding, it uses sandpaper disks. This tool is spinning the sanding disk creating motion that works better and faster than sandpaper by itself. This is a very useful tool since you don’t want the work to be sanded for too much or too less. Switching the disks of this tool takes only a few seconds, that makes it really handy and easy to use.

10. Safety

No matter you are professional, creating a workshop or just getting started to work with wood, the most important step is safety. When working with wood, small wood pieces can fly away, sometimes blades do crack, that's why it’s important to use proper eye protection. Always disconnect power from saw when changing the blades, because you can never know what could happen. Woodworking and alcohol are two things that never go well together, never drink if you are going to work. Don’t forget about collecting dust, sometime you can’t see the dust, but it can enter your lungs and do serious damage.
It doesn’t matter if you are opening a workshop or just getting started, it always is a very exciting process to start or learn something new. At first, it would seem difficult, but with practice and time, it just gets easier. Also, everything is learnable. And when you get to know how to make furniture and other things from wood, it can be handy for yourself and might save you some money. Remember to always read the instructions before starting to work and stay safe.