---
title: 'First 13 Tools Every Beginner Woodworker Should Buy (in order)'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=boQaig2rs9I'
video_id: 'boQaig2rs9I'
date: 2026-06-30
duration_sec: 989
---

# First 13 Tools Every Beginner Woodworker Should Buy (in order)

> Source: [First 13 Tools Every Beginner Woodworker Should Buy (in order)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=boQaig2rs9I)

## Summary

This video provides a clear, step-by-step buying guide for beginner woodworkers. The presenter outlines five essential power tools and several key hand tools, explains what to look for, and offers tips on saving money, such as buying combo kits and used tools.

### Key Points

- **Overwhelm of tool options** [[0:04]] — Starting woodworking can be confusing due to the many tool options; the video helps break down the essential tools and the order to buy them, covering both power and hand tools.
- **First essential tool: Circular saw** [[0:50]] — A circular saw is essential for beginners to cut plywood and construction lumber. The presenter started with a Boral circular saw for building outdoor furniture.
- **Second essential tool: Drill and impact combo** [[1:41]] — A drill and impact driver combo is necessary for assembling projects. Brand choice is less important than choosing brushless tools for better power and battery life.
- **Third essential tool: Random orbital sander** [[2:42]] — An orbital sander is critical for finishing. The DeWalt is recommended under $100, and the Craftsman is a good budget alternative without variable speed.
- **Fourth tool: Jigsaw** [[3:39]] — A jigsaw is not mandatory but highly useful for cutting curves and adding variety to projects, such as making charcuterie boards or slotted handles.
- **Fifth tool: Router** [[4:29]] — A router is a valuable addition soon after starting, enabling edge profiles, grooves, and other unique cuts. The Milwaukee M18 cordless router is a top recommendation.
- **Power tips on buying tools** [[5:50]] — Combo kits can save money, but beware of pitfalls. Also, ensure the battery platform you choose has a wide range of tools available for future needs.
- **Essential hand tools: Tape measure** [[7:20]] — A tape measure is an inexpensive and critical hand tool. The fast cap Lefty/Righty tape measure is recommended because it can be read from either side and has increment marks.
- **Essential hand tools: Speed square** [[8:35]] — The Swanson speed square is an affordable, versatile tool for drawing square lines, scribing, and laying out angles, even used with a circular saw for angled cuts.
- **Essential hand tools: Clamps** [[9:38]] — Clamps are essential for assembly. Beginners should start with inexpensive F-clamps and pipe clamps; pipe clamps are versatile and affordable for gluing up panels.
- **Essential hand tools: Mallet** [[11:55]] — A mallet (rubber or wood) is needed for nudging pieces into place without damaging the wood, unlike a claw hammer which is for carpentry.
- **Essential hand tools: Chisels** [[13:10]] — Chisels are for removing small amounts of wood. The presenter advises against the cheapest chisels because they dull quickly; recommend NX RoR or buying individual 3/4" and 1/2" chisels.
- **Pocket hole jig for joinery** [[14:26]] — A pocket hole jig is a beginner-friendly way to make strong joints without advanced skills. The presenter’s own projects using pocket holes have lasted for years outdoors.
- **Budget tip: Used tools** [[15:51]] — To save money, check Facebook Marketplace, pawn shops, and Home Depot’s rental section for used tools, but take safety precautions when buying.

### Conclusion

The video emphasizes that beginners don't need expensive tools; starting with a circular saw, drill/driver, sander, jigsaw, and router, plus key hand tools like a tape measure, speed square, clamps, mallet, and chisels, is sufficient. Buying combo kits and used tools can save money, and the presenter provides a full buyer’s guide in the description.

## Transcript

don't waste money on tools that you do
not need here's what every beginner
woodworker should buy first when you
start woodworking it can be confusing
and a little overwhelming on what tools
you actually need in this video we're
going to break it down step by step on
what tools to buy in what order both
power and hand tools and I'm going also
tell you how to save some money on those
tools and to help you out even further I
put together a complete buyer guide for
beginner Woodworkers and I'll put that
as the first link in the description and
the pin comment to help you find it
easier as well as all these tools you
see today will be linked down there
let's go now there are a ton of options
on the market for woodworking tools and
it can be confusing and overwhelming
when you start trying to figure out what
you actually need but I think there's
five essential tools that every
woodworker should have in the shop no
matter what they're doing and while
these are beginner tools you'll use them
once your skills start developing so
you're not wasting your money on them
and the First Essential tool I think you
need is a circular saw now I started
with a Boral circular saw and two Boral
drills Building outdoor furniture and as
I sold that furniture because really
that's all you needed to build that
stuff was saw and drills when I started
selling those then I started upgrading
tools as I could it's essential to have
a circular saw in the shop because you
can do a variety of tasks with them you
can make various cross Cuts Square cross
Cuts or you can even do angle cross cuts
when you pair it with a speed square
which we'll talk about later and also
you can break down sheet Goods AKA cut
plywood with it and if you're a beginner
you're going to be using plywood as as
well as 2 fours 2 sixs and all the
common construction grade Lumber that
you can find at your local Home Store to
build projects with or at least most
beginners do start there where is where
I started and it did well for me then
the second most essential tool I think
you can buy for your shop is a drill and
impact combo contrary to popular belief
in most cases nowadays it doesn't matter
what brand you go with just go with a
brand that has brushless tools for
instance RI OnePlus HP line is the top
of the line of Roy obi's tools and their
brushless tools and they're great they
work great or if you're a Harbor Freight
fan just pick up the brushless Harbor
Freight Tools they're fine if you like
Milwaukee pick up Milwaukee it doesn't
matter you just need a way to cut the
wood and put the wood together and
that's essentially all you need when you
get the brushless tools that means
you're getting more power and more
battery life out of those cordless tools
they're just better all around now there
are much cheaper options if you go with
the brush line of cordless tools but I
think in the long run you'll be more
disappointed with the performance and
battery life on those as well as the
durability versus if you would have went
with the brushless line to begin with
I'll link to some of my favorites in the
description But ultimately just pick the
color you like and go with it it's fine
the third essential power tool that you
need in the shop is a random orbital
sander I think this one's the best one
under $100 this is DeWalt usually runs
about 80ish dollars give or take a
little bit depending on the sales it's a
great sander variable speed just an
allaround fantastic sander you can also
check out the Craftsman it's only about
30 20 $30 less it's the exact same
sander as far as I'm concerned as this
sander it just doesn't have varable
speed variable speed is nice to have not
mandatory but you absolutely need a
sander if you're going to be Woodworking
and these are some of the best in my
opinion now there are some that I didn't
like I tested like 15 16 different
Sanders and I found that those two were
probably the best Milwaukee makes a good
one as well and recently the M12
Milwaukee sander if you have the budget
you don't need this it's a 6 in sander
it's very expensive but it's also very
nice but you don't need to spend a lot
of money to get a good finish and I
think that's where these more budget
friendly options come into play now
after those essential tools I think
there's two more that are vital to a
very good well-rounded beginner
woodworking shop not necessarily
mandatory but you'll absolutely love
having these and number one is the
jigsaw the jigsaw you'll be able to cut
curves and various things that you can't
do with a circular saw and it's just one
of those things that just adds a lot of
variety to your projects for instance if
you're making sh cterie boards it's a
really good way to cut off those curved
handles or if you're making slotted
handles like I did on my stove cover
that's where a jigsaw is going to come
in handy now I would just go with the
battery powered one that's whatever
battery powered drill and driver that
you picked up that's probably the best
option but there's a lot of corded
options on the market if you want to
save a little bit of money and go with a
corded option or you just prefer corded
tools but having a jigsaw is one of
those things that just it helps a lot
and the fifth the entral power tool I
think every Woodworking Shop needs at
least at some point maybe you're not
there as a beginner but very soon after
your start you're going to want to pick
up a router again I have a bunch of
favorites I think the Milwaukee M18
router is probably the best one that
I've used however there's some great
ones as well DeWalt makes a great one RI
makes a great one here it is I've tested
a bunch of them and there's not a lot of
difference in most of them I'm not a
huge fan of the Makita one but a lot of
people love it so you really just
depends on which one you like which
brand you like just get the cordless
version of that Palm router that's going
to let you do edge profiles cut some
small grooves in wood and a whole host
of other things that routers can do that
no other tool can and the main thing is
make sure if you buy into a cordless
tool platform that they have all of the
tools that you think that you're going
to need moving forward routers and
Sanders and Saws and drills all that
stuff is in that battery platform
because that's what's going to be most
important for most people rii Milwaukee
DeWalt Makita Bosch like there's a whole
host of Brands out there that have a
bunch of tools in their lineup but then
there's some very Niche tools that like
cat come out with a drilling driver last
year there's not a lot of tools to
choose from on that battery platform so
you want to make sure you choose the
platform that has the most tools that's
going to be beneficial for you here's a
power tip for you if you're looking to
buy Power Tools number one you can save
money if you buy combo kits but there's
a pitfall there that we'll talk about
later that you'll want to avoid but if
you get a combo kit with say a drill a
driver and a circular saw you'll likely
save money versus buying them all
individually especially if they come
with chargers and batteries and all that
stuff most combo kits are going to come
with two batteries and a charger and
that's going to be plenty to get the job
done with your cirular saw and your
drill and driver the next power tip is
one of the main tools that I wanted to
purchase not long after I started
woodworking was a miter saw there's some
very good budget options out there the
skill I think is probably the best
budget miter saw on the market I love
that thing I think it was a fantastic
saw there's also some very expensive
models out there it just depends on
where you're at in your budget and what
you want or feel comfortable spending on
a miters saw skills a great start the
DeWalt right there behind me the dws779
is a very good MIT saw that I've had for
years but again it's going to come down
to what miter saw or what brands miter
saw that you really like there's a ton
of options I think skill is a good
beginner option dewalt's next level up
and if you want some space saving in
other words they don't have the sliding
rails on the back you may want to look
at Makita Fest or Bosch now let's talk
about hand tools now every woodworker on
Earth as far as I'm concerned needs a
few essential hand tools that you're
going to use all the time and that's
going to last you for a long time first
and foremost is a tape measure now these
are very inexpensive tools I like to
have a few laying around the shop
because I lose them all the time so
you'll notice I keep them handy one of
the most popular tape measures that I've
shown on the channel That A lot of
people love and I do too is the fast cap
Lefty righty the benefit of this tape
measure is you can read it from either
side doesn't matter which way you're
looking at it that's very handy and also
it does have increments marked on there
from 1/16th all the way up to 1516 if
you're in aerial measurements if you're
in a metric I'm not but I'm sure they
have a metric version of this but if
you're looking at Imperial a lot lot of
people especially beginners don't know
what a 38 is or what a 5/8 is the great
thing about this tape measure is it's
already on there so you'll know if you
look at 6 and 38 and make the Mark when
you go take this to the miter saw to lay
out your board you can just Mark 6 and
38 without having to count the little
marks they also make a standard version
fast cap old standby this is one of my
favorites as well and it doesn't have
those markings and it only reads from
one way just like most standard tape
measures so depending on your preference
I'll link both of those in the
description both great little tape
measures and they're less than 10 or 15
bucks very inexpensive very good quality
the next essential tool that I think
everyone workers should own is the
Swanson speed square often imitated
never duplicated is the Swanson speed
square I've owned one of these squares
since
1995 I think it was this one has white
paint on it all my tools had white paint
on the construction job site because I
like to keep up with my stuff and this
is one of them these things are
absolutely amazing and they're very
inexpensive and you can do a ton a ton
of stuff with them not only can you draw
Square lines not only does it have a
shoulder to help you scribe lines it
also has degrees marked along the
hypotenuse the long side of that
triangle and that lets you lay out
angles for instance if I needed to cut a
10° angle I can lay that out hold that
square on the 10 Dee angle use my
circular saw and cut that 10° angle
because all the outdoor furniture I was
building had a 10° angle on the feet and
that's what I use used to get that done
when I didn't have a miter saw speed
squar is absolutely amazing this is one
of the first squares I think you should
buy and again inexpensive now there's no
woodworking shop that can be complete
without clamps and as most people say
you can barely have enough clamps or you
can never have enough clamps depending
on who you're talking to now there's a
variety of clamps out there there's a
ton of information on what clamps you
actually need I think most people will
be just fine starting out with some of
these quick F clamps you can buy these
at most any Home Store this is an Irwin
brand I like them they're very
inexpensive as well Jorgenson's probably
my favorite F clamps as far as built to
last not a huge fan of the longer F
clamps at Harbor Freight but I am a big
fan of the Harbor Freight um parallel
clamp so it just depends on what clamp
you're looking for but I think most
beginners should stick to getting a few
of these F clamps these f- Style Bar
clamps and some pipe clamps depending on
what you're making if you're building
tabletop like coffee tables end tables
even dining tables or if you're making
cutting boards that sort of thing pipe
clamps are absolutely amazing and
they're very inexpensive I like the
Bessie brand that's what I own and then
you just pick up some 3/4 inch pipe or/
inch pipe depending on which pipe clamp
you went with half or 3/4 I think 3/4 is
probably the best for most people you
can build a whole bunch of stuff with
those and these F clamps you can also
pick up some quick clamps little Quick
Squeeze clamps they're also handy just
for holding things in place when you're
starting out don't over complicated just
get a few clamps you're just going to
need a way to basically squeeze that
wood together while you're assembling it
otherwise you can upgrade and get
different clamps as you grow in your
skills and understand why you would want
to use those clamps parallel clamps are
also great for tabletops cutting boards
that sort of thing but for most people I
think starting with pipe clamps is the
better option because they're more
affordable and you can just get the
different lengths of pipe that you need
36 in or even up to 50 60in clamps
depending on how wide of a panel you
need to glue up pipe clamps area the
most versatile and least expensive ones
you could get and then of course these
bar clamps matter of fact I started with
just this right here these right here
these are the her ones I started with
all that glue is dried on the handle I
use these for a very long time to glue
up a whole bunch of stuff before I was
able to afford anything else and so I
would probably recommend getting these
first then some squeeze clamps then the
pipe clamps and then if you need them
get some parallel clamps but you're
going to need a few clamps the next
essential tool every woodworker is going
to need is not a claw hammer that's a
carpenter you're a woodworker claw
hammers are they have their place and
you should probably have one but you
need a mallet and it doesn't matter
really if it's a rubber mallet like this
that you can pick up most anywhere very
inexpensive I've used this one a whole
bunch and I think I gave like3 $4 for it
they're very very cheap or just build
your own or buy your own wood Mallet we
don't sell these anymore but this is
just a standard wood Mallet that most
anybody can make now it depends on where
you're at and your skill level when I
first started I didn't have the tools or
the skill to build a mallet so I just
bought this one and this worked great
for a long time and then later on when
you want to have some fun and just build
your own you can build something like
this the reason you want a mallet is
because sometimes you just need to nudge
something into place or nudge something
out of place and these are great because
this rubber or this wood won't
necessarily damage the wood in any
significant way unless you're just
whacking away at it most of the time you
just need to bump or nudge something
into place get it just right so you can
apply a little more pressure with the
clamp or put a Fastener on there to
secure it in place but a mallet is one
of those things that you just need it's
just the way it is I don't make the
rules then the last essential tool I
think a woodworker needs is a chisel now
these are some of those tools that you
don't necessarily need at first but over
time you're going to need to remove a
little bit of material or shave a little
bit off or if you want to do dovetails
or box joints or anything hand cut you
may want to pick up a set of chisels now
I we'll caution you on not going with
the cheapest chisels out there because I
did that and the reason you don't want
to do that is the metal that they use
for the Chisel is so soft that it
damages easily and it will not hold an
edge and what that means is you're going
to be sharpening it a bunch and then a
dull knife or a dull chisel just makes a
mess of things that doesn't actually cut
the wood you're just kind of hammering
the wood out of there and it makes a
mess so pick up a good quality set if
you can budget it at the time you're
ready for chisels I recommend NX RoR
chisels this one comes in a nice little
box I like to keep this box because it's
easy to keep up with them and keeps them
nice and secure or you can buy them
individually as you need them my most
commonly used chisel is this 3/4 in
chisel and the/ in chisel so I think if
you're just going to buy them
individually you can pick up a 3/4 and a
half you could be able to do most things
with those if you just need to shave off
a little wood trim things up here and
there I think chisels are very important
another essential hand tool for me early
on was a pocket hole jig why because a
pocket hole jig allowed me to make some
really cool looking pieces without
having to learn the skill of mortis and
Tenon or dovetail joinery or any really
joinery at all because pocket holes were
very approachable very beginner friendly
and I've made a bunch of amazing
projects with pocket holes that have
stood the test of time I've got outdoor
furniture on my deck it's been out there
for several years in the weather all
pocket hole together still looks great
still holding up no issues at all built
a a ton of furniture for my home and
many others using pocket hole joinery
and all of it is still perfectly fine so
don't let anybody tell you that pocket
holes are not great now there's a time
and a place for other joineries
especially as your skills develop and
you want to make stuff that doesn't have
those pocket holes in it but this is one
of the better pocket hole jigs on the
market we actually sell these on our
website Faith valy tools.com you can get
the mounting board you can get the jig
the whole n I'll link to that in the
description as well Craig makes a good
pocket hole jig too I don't think you
can go wrong with most pocket hole jigs
on the market I would steer clear of the
very very budget no-name brands that you
can see on certain websites I would
steer of those I would just go with the
name brands like the Masa that we have
here or even Craig or armor jig are they
still thing I have a whole video on
pocket hole jig Joiner tips and tricks
if you just search on YouTube 731
Woodworks pocket hole jig you'll see it
now if you're on a budget you're just
starting out you don't have a lot of
money for your tools you're not selling
your projects yet you should probably
check out some use tools a lot of times
on Facebook Marketplace you can find
some Screaming good deals just make sure
you can trust the people you're dealing
with meet them in public use all the
safety precautions but you can find some
really good used Deals On Tools all over
pawn shops Facebook Marketplace even
eBay places like that so it may be worth
considering if you're into that you can
also check out Home Depot's rental
section as they also sell used tools
there power tip if you like this video
there's some tool buying Secrets Home
Depot doesn't want you to know click in
that box click in the Box it's you the
big old virtual fist buum