New passion at 57

Those are the early signs of addiction Ruth. There is just something about working with wood that is very satisfying. I've been a consultant about half my life, so my accomplishments are measured by the results others produce. It's all kind of indirect. But with wood projects, when it's done, you can see it, touch it, pay for it. A very pleasant satisfying feeling.

So welcome to the Forum. We take good care of new members here because we were all newbies at one time. I've attached a pdf of the "17 things" that helped accelerated my learning curve. It's kind of long, but has pictures. I hope it will be helpful and save you spending money on stuff you're unlikely to use.

Do ask lots of questions and post pictures of your projects. You can post pictures directly from your hard drive. Expect lots of answers, including alternatives. And someone on here owns just about every tool ever available so we can steer you to good choices.

Welcome to the group Ruth. Here helping one another is as common as breathing and most all of us breath. This is a place of knowledge and learning. One of the amazing things about woodworking is that there are so many ways to accomplish so many tasks and the process of taking a piece of wood and turning it into something for a specific need/use or a personal piece of art is extremely gratifying. I look over some of my first projects and know where the mistakes were made and unless I point them out most people will never see them. Those are my lessons and reminders, my "I should haves". I have never made the perfect project yet but I have been extremely satisfied in many knowing that I am not a professional and yet I was still able to produce this with great pride.

What I've learned is buy tools by need and buy good proven tools. Subscribe to some good woodworking magazines and learn from each issue. The projects may not be something you're overly interested but the skills and methods learned will lend themselves to something that does. When you buy router or drills bits don't shop by price but rather quality that will last. The same goes for tools. And don't forget that with Black Friday rust around the corner you're likely to find some really good bargains that will be very tempting. And then there is always the well cared for used tools as well. Welcome to the landlocked "boat" syndrome and enjoy the journey.