[JayPOORJay]

Hello All.

My name is Jason. First let me say, I LOVE forums. I am a member of several.

Of my favorites - in the last years I've become the owner of a few older Jaguars and a Porsche. Then motorcycles, watchmaking, some welding, HVAC auto bodywork and and and...

I appreciate you ALL for showing up here and offering your hard earned experience, wisdom, insight, suggestions and ALL that. And then, to all the folks (like me) who show up with questions that keep them experienced folks busy, lol,,, one big happy family... Then to us all for using this format to keep alive, share and GROW our wisdom. Awesome!

Me and my Fiancee just bought a big ol Victorian/Colonial style house in NYC. We love it, have big plans for it, and have a LOT of work to do on it - so here I am.

I have a question about routers to begin, and setting up a router table and later, about using the table to cut about a million miles of exterior trim and other things.

I'm a little overwhelmed by all that this house has in store for me but, if I take it a step at a time, I should be alright, I think...

Ok folks - see you in the threads...

Seriously though, I am super grateful for this site and y'all giving me the ability to have access to it. Deeeeep Bow, Many Thanks.

J

 

[JMW-1955]

Hi Jason, welcome to the forum! You sound like a busy man and even more so now with your home. It is beautiful! May I suggest a couple sites for you. Being a car enthusiast, AMMO NYC, you may already be aware of Larry & his auto detailing channel. I also enjoy watch making too. Once again you may be aware of Marshall from Wristwatch Revival. He's another amazing gentleman. I sure look forward to your homes pictures as they become available. Before and afters are always great. Take care, Jim (Council Bluffs, Iowa)

 

[DesertRatTom]

Wow, that's a beauty. I don't think that it's a victorian, I think it is Craftsman style, which overlaps with Victorian. Lots of great, but simple woodworking on the interior is a trademark of Craftsman style homes, I'm not an expert, of course, but we had a wonderful one in the neighborhood where I grew up, as well as some pretty old Victorian homes.

I think you will be doing a LOT of work on the router table. So if you haven't already purchased your router, I suggest you budget for two, a Triton TRA001 which has a built in lift and is very powerful (You are going to do a lot of work on it(, and one of the trim routers or midsize units for hand held work.

I also suggest that you take the time to look up YouTube videos by Marc Sommerfeld. He started a router supply company and is using the products he produces, but he was a cabinet maker first, and his techniques are very simple and elegant. A great way to learn to use the router.

If you don't have a great table saw, I suggest you budget for one. You should have a block plane, a good quality chisel set that you keep shaving razor sharp. You are definitely going to need a miter saw of some sort, probably one with compound adjustmens for odd angles (for cutting and fitting all that trim).

I've attached a pdf of the 18 or so things that helped me start producing professional looking results. It is long, but has pictures. Just don't try to get everything at once. And if you are going to do this work indoors, pay particular attention to the sawdust collection segment. To match the wonderful hardwoods in those old homes, you will be using some fairly exotic and expensive wood, some of which if their dust lodges in your lungs, are carcinogenic.

I hope this will help you avoid some of the annoying and excpensive mistakes I made as I was learning woodworking. Just don't think you have to do it all at once. Start with the key power tools. I learned interior finish work fromworking as a 13 year old, apprenticing with an old guy who did it mostly with hand tools. Power tools save some time and muscle power, but they can also cause you to be careless about measurments. You don't use a tape measure to measure interior dimensions, use a story stick Literally a stick on which you make marks to indicate actual lengths. It's little things like that that allow you to do terrific work.

Glad you joined the fun.

 

[old55]

Welcome to the forum Jason.

 

[jw2170]

G'day Jason, welcome to the forum.
Looks like some interesting router projects in the future.

I agree with Tom in a TRA001 in a table and a mid size router for hand held jobs.
You will be doing a lot of router work, so the more power the better...

 

[JayPOORJay]

You guys are awesome, and thank you...

I just posted my first thread!
Looking forward to getting going...
With y'all's support and guidance.

Thank you!
I'm a little overwhelmed with what's in store but I think a day/step at a time, it'll be alright.

 

[DesertRatTom]

I'm a little overwhelmed with what's in store but I think a day/step at a time, it'll be alright.

That's a great way to approach this addiction/hobby. I got a lot of help from used woodworking books I found on Amazon. Have three shelves packed with books. And there are tons of videos these days as well.

 

[dwardio]

I think it is Craftsman style, which overlaps with Victorian.

That was my first thought too, but I'm hardly an expert. ¯\(ツ)/¯