WORKING TIPS FOR NEW WOODWORKERS - Episode 1

Hi. I am woodworker with over 40 years of professional experience. I am
posting this series of episodes to help new woodworkers with some basics
that most newbies are confused about.

POWER TOOLS: Most new woodworkers are very confused about their first tool
purchases. There is temptation to buy cheap, inferior stuff when you are
new because you don't want to invest that much in an activity that you may
not be very good at. Woodworking, IMHO, does require a natural talent and
you need to spend a fair amount of time woodworking before you would know
if you have this talent. But, if you buy the cheapest tools you can find,
you will probably get discouraged before you go very far.

Then you will have the self-procalimed experts (like some of the regulars
of this newsgroup) who will tell you to start out with only the best. This
is nothing but pure liquid hogwash! There is no reason you need to blow
your life savings on power tools to get started as a woodworker.

Episode 1 - YOUR OWN SHOP FOR UNDER $500:

I have put together a list of medium-caliber power tools that would make a
great first inventory of woodworkers tools. Each of these tools has been
tested and inspected by me. I bought all of the following tools for my
eldest grandson for his Christmas present, so you can see that I am not
suggesting these items out of my butt.

THE LIST:

$119 US General - TABLE SAW (with stand)
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=46987

$79.99 Chicago Electric - 3 HP PLUNGE ROUTER
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=37793

$24.99 Chicago Electric - 1/2'' VARIABLE SPEED REVERSIBLE HAMMER DRILL
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=45338

$49.99 Dewalt - 1/4 SHEET HEAVY DUTY PALM GRIP SANDER
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=1284

$39.99 Central Pneumatic - 1/4'' AIR SCREWDRIVER
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=45266

$6.49 Chicago Electric - GLUE GUN
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=47445

$39.99 Chicago Electric - BISCUIT JOINER KIT
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=38648

$39.99 Wagner - POWER PAINTER
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=30760

$34.99 Chicago Electric - 7-1/4'' CIRCULAR SAW
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=46866

You will want to buy better blades for the 2 saws, but that should bring
your grand total to about $500, shipped. Keep in mind, this is not high end
stuff, but then again is is not the bottom of the barrel. You can check
around the HF site, but I would go with the list above. They sell cheaper
models for almost each tool on the list, but these have all been tested by
a professional with more than 40 years experience, yours truly!

IN THE NEXT EPISODE 2: How to use your table saw