[Tom Dalton]

Greetings,

I'm a super noob, never owned allot of tools or did anything "handy" well. I've always been an IT professional and never had any interest in woodworking until the Quarantine. My 2 oldest daughters came back home from college after I just downsized and we have no furniture!!!

So I decided to do a little research on building some basic desk/furniture to use in the house. I started watching Steve Ramsey and then found some easy to build designs from Ana White's blog.

We'll a borrowed Mitre saw and a new Ryobi driver/impact kit and I built my first few items, a messed up coffee table, and a beautiful farmhouse end table! I'm so proud. So I'm moving forward with my research as I look to acquire my first Circular saw, table saw and jig saw.

Wish me Luck!

Tom D.

Yorkville, IL

end table:

https://twitter.com/tsdalton/status/1258103792215744514?s=20

coffee ( messed up so made it a TV stand )

https://twitter.com/tsdalton/status/1258103959488733187?s=20

 

[Semipro]

Hello and welcome to the router forum, Tom

 

[Cherryville Chuck]

Hi Tom and welcome.

 

[Bstrom]

My standard welcome message include imploring you to pursue the knowledge and safety needed to enjoy this remarkable pasttime without regrets. Please heed any info sent to you by the veterans here as you accumulate tools and take your time getting a clear understanding of their purpose.

Enough preaching - welcome!!

 

[DaninVan]

Hey, Tom; welcome! You can post pictures that are on your own hard drive by dragging them from the desktop to the field under your comments.
Please, as Brian just said, pay a lot of attention to ALL the safety comments in your new tools manuals, and everywhere else you find them.
These things can do a lot of damage in a big hurry, and usually without any warning.
Stick will likely point you at some serious reading...well worth the time. It's a steep learning curve.
Stay safe!

 

[JOAT]

Welcome aboard. Table saw, buy push sticks and push blocks, and use them. I make my own, but new, best I think to buy a few first. And make sure to stay to one side of the blade - you stand behind the blade, and if you have kickback a chunk of wood is as likely as not going to zip back and you want it to pass you, not hit you. And I would start with cheap wood. You can buy expensive wood after you do good work.

 

[Marco]

You are getting off to a good start Tom, both projects looked good. As for the "Coffee Table" just say you made a TV Stand because you planned it that way. At least that's what I do.....

A good thing tool wise to have is Kreg's Pocket Hole jig. You will likely use it a couple of times a year whether making shop stands or furniture.

 

[Nickp]

Welcome, Tom...you will love it here...

...and it looks like you're off to a good start. It's obvious you paid attention to detail in your first projects.

Like anything else, there's always more than one way to skin a cat...ask questions, get lots of answers then make up your own mind and enjoy...that's what we're all here to do. You will find yourself helping others soon...

When it comes to spending your good money for tools, seek advice here...we've all made our mistakes and we can help you make yours as well...:grin:...we will make every effort to help you spend your money...

Good luck...

 

[Stick486]

Hello and welcome to the forums Tom...

We've put some helpful information together at this here link to help you get up and running in the world of routers... We hope it to be useful to you... Enjoy...
do take some time and read the safety PDF's... PLEASE!!!
Blood and trips to the ER, we find, are very annoying... Not to mention – expensive...

DUST COLLECTION

There is some information on dust collection at this here link if it you need it...

ROUTER TABLES

there's more here at this link on RT's than you'll be able to digest at one sit down (or many)...

 

[DesertRatTom]

Stick's pdfs are really great, better than buying a how to book.

I've attached a pdf of the 18 or so things that accelerated my learning curve. It's long, but has pictures, and it might save you some of the (expensive) mistakes I made. I don't think you can do much until you get a workable table saw, and a lot of folks here like the reasonably priced Bosch 4100. Push blocks are great, but you will also want to get a gadget called the Wixey digital angle finder. It enables you to set the blade exactly 90 to the table for workable assembly. A slightly angled cut is impossible to glue up (how do I know?). That's for sure where I'd start on my tool selection.

 

[RainMan 2.0]

Welcome to the forum Tom , I’m sure you’ll enjoy it here . I’ve learned a lot since I joined , especially how to spend your life savings on tools lol .

 

[old55]

Welcome to the forum Tom.

 

[jw2170]

G'day Tom. Welcome to the forum.

 

[DesertRatTom]

I forgot to attach the pdf. Here it is:

 

[marecat3]

Welcome to the forum

 

[Multiwood]

Welcome to the forum Tom

 

[sreilly]

Welcome aboard Tom. Looking at the two projects it looks like they came out very well. I couldn't tell if there was any finish applied or not but if not you may want to consider it if for no other reason then to protect the wood and make it easier to keep clean. It can also alter the color if using a stain but sealing the wood is a good idea. There are both water based and oil based products with the water base having slight odor compared to the oil based.

You didn't mention what area you have to set up a shop, like basement or garage, and that can make a difference in tool selection. I have about 1/2 of my basement to use but still find it can be close. Due to that I put wheels on most everything I can and make the tool portable. Of course the shop is generally built around the table saw and mine is no different and does have a mobile stand that is made for that saw so there is the possibility to fairly easily move it if necessary.

 

[roxanne562001]

Welcome to the forum

 

[MEBCWD]

Welcome to the Router Forums Tom.

 

[ScottyDBQ]

Welcome, Tim. You got a couple of nice projects there. This is a great form with a lot of experienced and knowledgeable woodworkers who are always willing to answer your questions.