# My Very First Wood Work Ever!



## Nef003 (Feb 28, 2012)

Hello everyone.. Just about a month ago, i wanted to buy a coffee table and was shocked at the prices for real wooden furniture. Seeing this i decided to spend the money on the tools and make it myself. *still not made table yet, that will be second to third project. 

Bought me all the tools for under 500$ most second hand.

Well, I finally fired up my my tools for the very first time, and following tutorials on how to make simple first projects, i decided to make a Cutting board.

I had never made anything in my entire life specially using wood. could never build legos or anything with clay, but I guess with age comes new experiences and gifts. 

I found in garbage an old wooden bed frame and reused one of them to make this.. 


I don't even know what kind of wood it is.

Tools used, 

Planer/Jointer
table saw
bandsaw
sander
clamps
glue

Took me a good 5 hours total. 

(i know its long.. but mind you, safety first.. I made sure to rehearse each step before making cuts specially on the finger chopping machine) 

Tools i hated using the most where

this Sander here.. Collects 0% dust :angry:



Loudest was the planer  I made sure that by 5pm i was done working with it.. way too loud for my neighborhood. 
Any recommendations on a quieter planer? 

"the person who sold it to me called me up the day after to hand me free earmuffs 
Delta 22-540


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## BigRad1 (Mar 15, 2012)

That is a great place to start. Even if I don't save money making my own furniture I get a sense of satisfaction each time I use it. Have also made furniture for my children and hope that they hink of me when I they use it.

Congratulations and welcome to the fraternity!


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Nefris, there is not a great deal of difference in the noise levels of jointers/planers... they are all very loud and hearing protection is a must. Be smart about it and always wear your safety glasses and hearing protection when working with power tools. I think your first project turned out just fine. We are all our own worst critics; we see the little flaws that other people will not notice because we know they are there. I think you are off to a great start and look forward to seeing your table.


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## AxlMyk (Jun 13, 2006)

Nice first project. Good idea.

Quieter planer? You don't say which one you have, but I put a BYRD Shelix head on my Dewalt DW735. It would wake the dead before. Now I can use it without hearing protection, if I chose to. Still recommend the protection though.
Added bonuses are smooth planing of figured wood, and if you get a chip in a cutter, turn the cutter, instead of replacing the knives.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

he has this planer

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00002239D

==


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## Tin man (Mar 4, 2012)

:nhl_checking:I have a Ridgid planer, never thought of it as being too terrible for noise, but then maybe all the years I have spent pounding on Tin have something to do with that?


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## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

You're of to a good start.
As for loud planer, I've found that the blunter the blades, the louder it is.
When they're blunt, they're hammering more than slicing.
Search the internet for all the ways of sharpening planer blades, you'll need to at some point even if that's not the problem now.


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## Nef003 (Feb 28, 2012)

gav said:


> You're of to a good start.
> As for loud planer, I've found that the blunter the blades, the louder it is.
> When they're blunt, they're hammering more than slicing.
> Search the internet for all the ways of sharpening planer blades, you'll need to at some point even if that's not the problem now.



I checked my blades, and they do need sharpening.. also have some nicks on it.. 

P.S

Thanks everyone for your comments.. Can't wait for another warm day to start my next project


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## randyruth (Feb 20, 2012)

You should be very happy with your results. My first project ended up in scrap lumber and sawdust!!!!


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## darsev (Feb 3, 2012)

Nef003 said:


> Loudest was the planer  I made sure that by 5pm i was done working with it.. way too loud for my neighborhood.
> Any recommendations on a quieter planer?


Hand planes are quieter, a lot quieter than powered planers. I don't own a powered planer. I don't think that hand planes are than much harder to use, in fact I don't think hand tools in general are that hard to use and they are very handy to have around both for when you need to be quiet and when electrical power is an issue, and they are generally cheaper as well. 

Darryl


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## AxlMyk (Jun 13, 2006)

darsev said:


> Hand planes are quieter, a lot quieter than powered planers.l


Aha. We have a neanderthal among us. 

But yes. Dull blades don't help anything.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Darryl; no argument from me on your ode to hand planing, _however_, personally I prefer the speed and accuracy of my planer (thicknesser). When I'm making a project it's because I _need_ the finished product, not because I want to spend more time making it. 
This doesn't take away from the pleasure of using a perfectly sharpened plane and making shavings, while still being able to hear the radio in the background. Just different priorities. (My favourite is the block plane)


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## papawd (Jan 5, 2011)

Nice cutting board, be proud of Yourself and I am glad to hear You are thinking SAFETY FIRST remember what these tools do to wood and think what they would do to fingers and limbs especially Your table saw .....Most people get hurt from table saws before anything else..... Use push stick and featherboards when You can they really help.....


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## darsev (Feb 3, 2012)

DaninVan said:


> Darryl; no argument from me on your ode to hand planing, _however_, personally I prefer the speed and accuracy of my planer (thicknesser). When I'm making a project it's because I _need_ the finished product, not because I want to spend more time making it.
> This doesn't take away from the pleasure of using a perfectly sharpened plane and making shavings, while still being able to hear the radio in the background. Just different priorities. (My favourite is the block plane)


Dan, 

thanks for your comment about working quickly, which is true - I'd love to have a thicknesser. What I was saying though was that you can also get a job done quickly with hand tools as they allow you to work at times of the day and night when the noise of power tools would get you into trouble.

Not having a thicknesser, I have learnt how to set up the table saw to get fairly accurate sizing with a fairly smooth surface. A few swipes with the hand plane is usually all that is needed after that....

Darryl


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## Nef003 (Feb 28, 2012)

darsev said:


> Dan,
> 
> thanks for your comment about working quickly, which is true - I'd love to have a thicknesser. What I was saying though was that you can also get a job done quickly with hand tools as they allow you to work at times of the day and night when the noise of power tools would get you into trouble.
> 
> ...


I welcome all your comments for there is much truth in it. I wished i could have had a hand planer and some chisels to finish my cutting board, but since i didn't i had to stop my project midway by 5pm due to noise level on Electric Planer. 

Thanks to advice i have received, i have decided to sharpen the blades and also pick up a hand plane and already bought woodworking chisels from HF at 5 $









Any advice favorable size for hand planer? I'm not too knowledgable about sizes and needs.


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## Nef003 (Feb 28, 2012)

papawd said:


> Nice cutting board, be proud of Yourself and I am glad to hear You are thinking SAFETY FIRST remember what these tools do to wood and think what they would do to fingers and limbs especially Your table saw .....Most people get hurt from table saws before anything else..... Use push stick and featherboards when You can they really help.....


I am being very careful, specially when i came across this this site Sawstop

Very scary.. My gf wanted to buy me one, but when she saw it was almost 2k, she said omg... we don't have that kind of money to spend on a hobby :'( i do understand since we are both still far away from decent paychecks, or jobs.

Also bought myself a Full Face Shield here


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## darsev (Feb 3, 2012)

Nef003 said:


> Any advice favorable size for hand planer? I'm not too knowledgable about sizes and needs.


Nefris,

It would pay you to do some research on hand planes to give you some background on how they are used and how to set them up if you are not "too knowledgeable". The workhorse hand plane is "No. 5" which is the rough equivalent of the electric hand planes functionally. Block planes, as Dan said, are also very useful as they can get into the end grain.

As Dan alluded, hand planes can be a bit more work in setting up than electric planes. Part of the reason for doing research is that you will most likely need to spend time setting them up for use when you pull them out of the box. (I have still have to do that for the last one that I got, and it doesn't leave the surface 100% smooth. However I normally do a light sand as well and the minor blemishes for this plane usually disappear in a few seconds.) Have a look at the following page as an example of one of the many resources on the web that you might find useful. This one is about setting up a No 5 plane.

http://www.woodsmithshop.com/download/109/109-benchplanes.pdf

I can't remember where it was, but I recently saw a video of a workshop on hand planes which was quite useful. One thing I remember in particular from it was using a block plane to clean up a rebate that had been cut by machine.

While you are out buying hand tools, I would also recommend a good set of screw drivers. All the fellows at the shop have power drivers, but it is amazing how useful an ordinary hand screw driver can be when you have a problem area. You get a lot more feedback on how the screw is going into the timber than with a power driver.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

*Plane English*

Nefris, are you talking about an electric portable plane(r), or a manual Plane?
_"Any advice favorable size for hand planer?"_
I've had an _electric plane_ for years but never think to use it. As Darryl points out, for the type of job that an _electric plane_ excels at, a hand plane works as well. We'd all be less confused if we called a portable planer a thicknesser, and an _electric plane_ just that. Damn English language eh? 

Makita Planers - Makita Woodworking Tools - Makita Tools - Shop By Brand


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## BVSMITH (Mar 15, 2012)

Any project from scratch is a great learning experience, and an opportunity to learn how to use your tools. What a great sence of satisfaction!


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## darsev (Feb 3, 2012)

AxlMyk said:


> Aha. We have a neanderthal among us.
> 
> But yes. Dull blades don't help anything.


Sorry - couldn't resist. Here is a photo of the Mon-Fri work router....

Neanderthal (Darryl)


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