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

[00:00] don't waste money on tools that you do

[00:02] not need here's what every beginner

[00:04] woodworker should buy first when you

[00:06] start woodworking it can be confusing

[00:08] and a little overwhelming on what tools

[00:10] you actually need in this video we're

[00:12] going to break it down step by step on

[00:13] what tools to buy in what order both

[00:16] power and hand tools and I'm going also

[00:18] tell you how to save some money on those

[00:20] tools and to help you out even further I

[00:21] put together a complete buyer guide for

[00:23] beginner Woodworkers and I'll put that

[00:25] as the first link in the description and

[00:26] the pin comment to help you find it

[00:28] easier as well as all these tools you

[00:29] see today will be linked down there

[00:31] let's go now there are a ton of options

[00:33] on the market for woodworking tools and

[00:34] it can be confusing and overwhelming

[00:37] when you start trying to figure out what

[00:38] you actually need but I think there's

[00:40] five essential tools that every

[00:41] woodworker should have in the shop no

[00:43] matter what they're doing and while

[00:44] these are beginner tools you'll use them

[00:46] once your skills start developing so

[00:48] you're not wasting your money on them

[00:50] and the First Essential tool I think you

[00:51] need is a circular saw now I started

[00:54] with a Boral circular saw and two Boral

[00:56] drills Building outdoor furniture and as

[00:58] I sold that furniture because really

[01:00] that's all you needed to build that

[01:02] stuff was saw and drills when I started

[01:04] selling those then I started upgrading

[01:06] tools as I could it's essential to have

[01:08] a circular saw in the shop because you

[01:10] can do a variety of tasks with them you

[01:12] can make various cross Cuts Square cross

[01:15] Cuts or you can even do angle cross cuts

[01:18] when you pair it with a speed square

[01:20] which we'll talk about later and also

[01:22] you can break down sheet Goods AKA cut

[01:25] plywood with it and if you're a beginner

[01:28] you're going to be using plywood as as

[01:30] well as 2 fours 2 sixs and all the

[01:32] common construction grade Lumber that

[01:33] you can find at your local Home Store to

[01:35] build projects with or at least most

[01:37] beginners do start there where is where

[01:39] I started and it did well for me then

[01:41] the second most essential tool I think

[01:43] you can buy for your shop is a drill and

[01:45] impact combo contrary to popular belief

[01:48] in most cases nowadays it doesn't matter

[01:51] what brand you go with just go with a

[01:53] brand that has brushless tools for

[01:56] instance RI OnePlus HP line is the top

[01:59] of the line of Roy obi's tools and their

[02:02] brushless tools and they're great they

[02:04] work great or if you're a Harbor Freight

[02:06] fan just pick up the brushless Harbor

[02:08] Freight Tools they're fine if you like

[02:10] Milwaukee pick up Milwaukee it doesn't

[02:12] matter you just need a way to cut the

[02:14] wood and put the wood together and

[02:16] that's essentially all you need when you

[02:17] get the brushless tools that means

[02:19] you're getting more power and more

[02:20] battery life out of those cordless tools

[02:22] they're just better all around now there

[02:24] are much cheaper options if you go with

[02:26] the brush line of cordless tools but I

[02:28] think in the long run you'll be more

[02:30] disappointed with the performance and

[02:31] battery life on those as well as the

[02:33] durability versus if you would have went

[02:35] with the brushless line to begin with

[02:36] I'll link to some of my favorites in the

[02:38] description But ultimately just pick the

[02:40] color you like and go with it it's fine

[02:42] the third essential power tool that you

[02:44] need in the shop is a random orbital

[02:47] sander I think this one's the best one

[02:49] under $100 this is DeWalt usually runs

[02:51] about 80ish dollars give or take a

[02:53] little bit depending on the sales it's a

[02:55] great sander variable speed just an

[02:57] allaround fantastic sander you can also

[02:59] check out the Craftsman it's only about

[03:01] 30 20 $30 less it's the exact same

[03:04] sander as far as I'm concerned as this

[03:06] sander it just doesn't have varable

[03:08] speed variable speed is nice to have not

[03:10] mandatory but you absolutely need a

[03:11] sander if you're going to be Woodworking

[03:13] and these are some of the best in my

[03:15] opinion now there are some that I didn't

[03:17] like I tested like 15 16 different

[03:19] Sanders and I found that those two were

[03:21] probably the best Milwaukee makes a good

[03:23] one as well and recently the M12

[03:26] Milwaukee sander if you have the budget

[03:28] you don't need this it's a 6 in sander

[03:30] it's very expensive but it's also very

[03:32] nice but you don't need to spend a lot

[03:34] of money to get a good finish and I

[03:36] think that's where these more budget

[03:37] friendly options come into play now

[03:39] after those essential tools I think

[03:40] there's two more that are vital to a

[03:43] very good well-rounded beginner

[03:45] woodworking shop not necessarily

[03:47] mandatory but you'll absolutely love

[03:49] having these and number one is the

[03:51] jigsaw the jigsaw you'll be able to cut

[03:53] curves and various things that you can't

[03:56] do with a circular saw and it's just one

[03:58] of those things that just adds a lot of

[03:59] variety to your projects for instance if

[04:01] you're making sh cterie boards it's a

[04:03] really good way to cut off those curved

[04:05] handles or if you're making slotted

[04:06] handles like I did on my stove cover

[04:08] that's where a jigsaw is going to come

[04:10] in handy now I would just go with the

[04:12] battery powered one that's whatever

[04:14] battery powered drill and driver that

[04:15] you picked up that's probably the best

[04:17] option but there's a lot of corded

[04:19] options on the market if you want to

[04:20] save a little bit of money and go with a

[04:22] corded option or you just prefer corded

[04:24] tools but having a jigsaw is one of

[04:26] those things that just it helps a lot

[04:29] and the fifth the entral power tool I

[04:30] think every Woodworking Shop needs at

[04:32] least at some point maybe you're not

[04:34] there as a beginner but very soon after

[04:36] your start you're going to want to pick

[04:38] up a router again I have a bunch of

[04:40] favorites I think the Milwaukee M18

[04:43] router is probably the best one that

[04:44] I've used however there's some great

[04:46] ones as well DeWalt makes a great one RI

[04:49] makes a great one here it is I've tested

[04:52] a bunch of them and there's not a lot of

[04:54] difference in most of them I'm not a

[04:56] huge fan of the Makita one but a lot of

[04:58] people love it so you really just

[04:59] depends on which one you like which

[05:01] brand you like just get the cordless

[05:03] version of that Palm router that's going

[05:05] to let you do edge profiles cut some

[05:07] small grooves in wood and a whole host

[05:09] of other things that routers can do that

[05:11] no other tool can and the main thing is

[05:14] make sure if you buy into a cordless

[05:15] tool platform that they have all of the

[05:17] tools that you think that you're going

[05:19] to need moving forward routers and

[05:21] Sanders and Saws and drills all that

[05:23] stuff is in that battery platform

[05:26] because that's what's going to be most

[05:28] important for most people rii Milwaukee

[05:30] DeWalt Makita Bosch like there's a whole

[05:34] host of Brands out there that have a

[05:36] bunch of tools in their lineup but then

[05:38] there's some very Niche tools that like

[05:40] cat come out with a drilling driver last

[05:42] year there's not a lot of tools to

[05:44] choose from on that battery platform so

[05:46] you want to make sure you choose the

[05:47] platform that has the most tools that's

[05:50] going to be beneficial for you here's a

[05:51] power tip for you if you're looking to

[05:53] buy Power Tools number one you can save

[05:55] money if you buy combo kits but there's

[05:58] a pitfall there that we'll talk about

[06:00] later that you'll want to avoid but if

[06:03] you get a combo kit with say a drill a

[06:05] driver and a circular saw you'll likely

[06:08] save money versus buying them all

[06:10] individually especially if they come

[06:11] with chargers and batteries and all that

[06:13] stuff most combo kits are going to come

[06:15] with two batteries and a charger and

[06:17] that's going to be plenty to get the job

[06:18] done with your cirular saw and your

[06:20] drill and driver the next power tip is

[06:22] one of the main tools that I wanted to

[06:24] purchase not long after I started

[06:26] woodworking was a miter saw there's some

[06:28] very good budget options out there the

[06:30] skill I think is probably the best

[06:32] budget miter saw on the market I love

[06:35] that thing I think it was a fantastic

[06:37] saw there's also some very expensive

[06:39] models out there it just depends on

[06:40] where you're at in your budget and what

[06:42] you want or feel comfortable spending on

[06:44] a miters saw skills a great start the

[06:46] DeWalt right there behind me the dws779

[06:49] is a very good MIT saw that I've had for

[06:51] years but again it's going to come down

[06:53] to what miter saw or what brands miter

[06:56] saw that you really like there's a ton

[06:58] of options I think skill is a good

[07:00] beginner option dewalt's next level up

[07:02] and if you want some space saving in

[07:03] other words they don't have the sliding

[07:05] rails on the back you may want to look

[07:06] at Makita Fest or Bosch now let's talk

[07:09] about hand tools now every woodworker on

[07:13] Earth as far as I'm concerned needs a

[07:16] few essential hand tools that you're

[07:18] going to use all the time and that's

[07:20] going to last you for a long time first

[07:22] and foremost is a tape measure now these

[07:24] are very inexpensive tools I like to

[07:27] have a few laying around the shop

[07:28] because I lose them all the time so

[07:30] you'll notice I keep them handy one of

[07:33] the most popular tape measures that I've

[07:34] shown on the channel That A lot of

[07:36] people love and I do too is the fast cap

[07:39] Lefty righty the benefit of this tape

[07:41] measure is you can read it from either

[07:43] side doesn't matter which way you're

[07:44] looking at it that's very handy and also

[07:47] it does have increments marked on there

[07:49] from 1/16th all the way up to 1516 if

[07:52] you're in aerial measurements if you're

[07:54] in a metric I'm not but I'm sure they

[07:56] have a metric version of this but if

[07:58] you're looking at Imperial a lot lot of

[07:59] people especially beginners don't know

[08:01] what a 38 is or what a 5/8 is the great

[08:04] thing about this tape measure is it's

[08:05] already on there so you'll know if you

[08:07] look at 6 and 38 and make the Mark when

[08:10] you go take this to the miter saw to lay

[08:12] out your board you can just Mark 6 and

[08:14] 38 without having to count the little

[08:15] marks they also make a standard version

[08:18] fast cap old standby this is one of my

[08:20] favorites as well and it doesn't have

[08:22] those markings and it only reads from

[08:24] one way just like most standard tape

[08:25] measures so depending on your preference

[08:27] I'll link both of those in the

[08:28] description both great little tape

[08:30] measures and they're less than 10 or 15

[08:32] bucks very inexpensive very good quality

[08:35] the next essential tool that I think

[08:37] everyone workers should own is the

[08:39] Swanson speed square often imitated

[08:41] never duplicated is the Swanson speed

[08:44] square I've owned one of these squares

[08:47] since

[08:48] 1995 I think it was this one has white

[08:51] paint on it all my tools had white paint

[08:53] on the construction job site because I

[08:54] like to keep up with my stuff and this

[08:56] is one of them these things are

[08:58] absolutely amazing and they're very

[08:59] inexpensive and you can do a ton a ton

[09:02] of stuff with them not only can you draw

[09:04] Square lines not only does it have a

[09:05] shoulder to help you scribe lines it

[09:08] also has degrees marked along the

[09:11] hypotenuse the long side of that

[09:13] triangle and that lets you lay out

[09:15] angles for instance if I needed to cut a

[09:18] 10° angle I can lay that out hold that

[09:21] square on the 10 Dee angle use my

[09:22] circular saw and cut that 10° angle

[09:24] because all the outdoor furniture I was

[09:26] building had a 10° angle on the feet and

[09:28] that's what I use used to get that done

[09:30] when I didn't have a miter saw speed

[09:32] squar is absolutely amazing this is one

[09:34] of the first squares I think you should

[09:36] buy and again inexpensive now there's no

[09:39] woodworking shop that can be complete

[09:42] without clamps and as most people say

[09:46] you can barely have enough clamps or you

[09:47] can never have enough clamps depending

[09:49] on who you're talking to now there's a

[09:51] variety of clamps out there there's a

[09:52] ton of information on what clamps you

[09:54] actually need I think most people will

[09:56] be just fine starting out with some of

[09:58] these quick F clamps you can buy these

[10:01] at most any Home Store this is an Irwin

[10:03] brand I like them they're very

[10:05] inexpensive as well Jorgenson's probably

[10:07] my favorite F clamps as far as built to

[10:09] last not a huge fan of the longer F

[10:12] clamps at Harbor Freight but I am a big

[10:14] fan of the Harbor Freight um parallel

[10:16] clamp so it just depends on what clamp

[10:18] you're looking for but I think most

[10:20] beginners should stick to getting a few

[10:22] of these F clamps these f- Style Bar

[10:24] clamps and some pipe clamps depending on

[10:27] what you're making if you're building

[10:28] tabletop like coffee tables end tables

[10:31] even dining tables or if you're making

[10:33] cutting boards that sort of thing pipe

[10:35] clamps are absolutely amazing and

[10:36] they're very inexpensive I like the

[10:38] Bessie brand that's what I own and then

[10:40] you just pick up some 3/4 inch pipe or/

[10:42] inch pipe depending on which pipe clamp

[10:44] you went with half or 3/4 I think 3/4 is

[10:47] probably the best for most people you

[10:49] can build a whole bunch of stuff with

[10:51] those and these F clamps you can also

[10:53] pick up some quick clamps little Quick

[10:54] Squeeze clamps they're also handy just

[10:56] for holding things in place when you're

[10:58] starting out don't over complicated just

[11:00] get a few clamps you're just going to

[11:01] need a way to basically squeeze that

[11:03] wood together while you're assembling it

[11:05] otherwise you can upgrade and get

[11:07] different clamps as you grow in your

[11:08] skills and understand why you would want

[11:11] to use those clamps parallel clamps are

[11:13] also great for tabletops cutting boards

[11:14] that sort of thing but for most people I

[11:16] think starting with pipe clamps is the

[11:18] better option because they're more

[11:19] affordable and you can just get the

[11:21] different lengths of pipe that you need

[11:23] 36 in or even up to 50 60in clamps

[11:25] depending on how wide of a panel you

[11:27] need to glue up pipe clamps area the

[11:29] most versatile and least expensive ones

[11:31] you could get and then of course these

[11:33] bar clamps matter of fact I started with

[11:36] just this right here these right here

[11:39] these are the her ones I started with

[11:40] all that glue is dried on the handle I

[11:42] use these for a very long time to glue

[11:43] up a whole bunch of stuff before I was

[11:45] able to afford anything else and so I

[11:47] would probably recommend getting these

[11:49] first then some squeeze clamps then the

[11:52] pipe clamps and then if you need them

[11:53] get some parallel clamps but you're

[11:55] going to need a few clamps the next

[11:56] essential tool every woodworker is going

[11:58] to need is not a claw hammer that's a

[12:01] carpenter you're a woodworker claw

[12:03] hammers are they have their place and

[12:05] you should probably have one but you

[12:06] need a mallet and it doesn't matter

[12:08] really if it's a rubber mallet like this

[12:09] that you can pick up most anywhere very

[12:12] inexpensive I've used this one a whole

[12:14] bunch and I think I gave like3 $4 for it

[12:17] they're very very cheap or just build

[12:19] your own or buy your own wood Mallet we

[12:22] don't sell these anymore but this is

[12:24] just a standard wood Mallet that most

[12:25] anybody can make now it depends on where

[12:28] you're at and your skill level when I

[12:29] first started I didn't have the tools or

[12:31] the skill to build a mallet so I just

[12:33] bought this one and this worked great

[12:35] for a long time and then later on when

[12:37] you want to have some fun and just build

[12:39] your own you can build something like

[12:40] this the reason you want a mallet is

[12:42] because sometimes you just need to nudge

[12:44] something into place or nudge something

[12:47] out of place and these are great because

[12:49] this rubber or this wood won't

[12:51] necessarily damage the wood in any

[12:53] significant way unless you're just

[12:55] whacking away at it most of the time you

[12:56] just need to bump or nudge something

[12:58] into place get it just right so you can

[13:00] apply a little more pressure with the

[13:01] clamp or put a Fastener on there to

[13:03] secure it in place but a mallet is one

[13:05] of those things that you just need it's

[13:08] just the way it is I don't make the

[13:10] rules then the last essential tool I

[13:11] think a woodworker needs is a chisel now

[13:14] these are some of those tools that you

[13:16] don't necessarily need at first but over

[13:19] time you're going to need to remove a

[13:20] little bit of material or shave a little

[13:21] bit off or if you want to do dovetails

[13:24] or box joints or anything hand cut you

[13:27] may want to pick up a set of chisels now

[13:29] I we'll caution you on not going with

[13:31] the cheapest chisels out there because I

[13:34] did that and the reason you don't want

[13:36] to do that is the metal that they use

[13:38] for the Chisel is so soft that it

[13:40] damages easily and it will not hold an

[13:42] edge and what that means is you're going

[13:44] to be sharpening it a bunch and then a

[13:46] dull knife or a dull chisel just makes a

[13:49] mess of things that doesn't actually cut

[13:51] the wood you're just kind of hammering

[13:53] the wood out of there and it makes a

[13:54] mess so pick up a good quality set if

[13:56] you can budget it at the time you're

[13:58] ready for chisels I recommend NX RoR

[14:00] chisels this one comes in a nice little

[14:02] box I like to keep this box because it's

[14:04] easy to keep up with them and keeps them

[14:08] nice and secure or you can buy them

[14:09] individually as you need them my most

[14:11] commonly used chisel is this 3/4 in

[14:13] chisel and the/ in chisel so I think if

[14:16] you're just going to buy them

[14:17] individually you can pick up a 3/4 and a

[14:19] half you could be able to do most things

[14:20] with those if you just need to shave off

[14:22] a little wood trim things up here and

[14:24] there I think chisels are very important

[14:26] another essential hand tool for me early

[14:28] on was a pocket hole jig why because a

[14:31] pocket hole jig allowed me to make some

[14:33] really cool looking pieces without

[14:35] having to learn the skill of mortis and

[14:38] Tenon or dovetail joinery or any really

[14:40] joinery at all because pocket holes were

[14:43] very approachable very beginner friendly

[14:45] and I've made a bunch of amazing

[14:47] projects with pocket holes that have

[14:49] stood the test of time I've got outdoor

[14:51] furniture on my deck it's been out there

[14:53] for several years in the weather all

[14:54] pocket hole together still looks great

[14:56] still holding up no issues at all built

[14:58] a a ton of furniture for my home and

[15:00] many others using pocket hole joinery

[15:03] and all of it is still perfectly fine so

[15:05] don't let anybody tell you that pocket

[15:07] holes are not great now there's a time

[15:08] and a place for other joineries

[15:10] especially as your skills develop and

[15:12] you want to make stuff that doesn't have

[15:14] those pocket holes in it but this is one

[15:16] of the better pocket hole jigs on the

[15:17] market we actually sell these on our

[15:19] website Faith valy tools.com you can get

[15:21] the mounting board you can get the jig

[15:23] the whole n I'll link to that in the

[15:25] description as well Craig makes a good

[15:26] pocket hole jig too I don't think you

[15:28] can go wrong with most pocket hole jigs

[15:30] on the market I would steer clear of the

[15:32] very very budget no-name brands that you

[15:34] can see on certain websites I would

[15:37] steer of those I would just go with the

[15:38] name brands like the Masa that we have

[15:40] here or even Craig or armor jig are they

[15:44] still thing I have a whole video on

[15:45] pocket hole jig Joiner tips and tricks

[15:47] if you just search on YouTube 731

[15:49] Woodworks pocket hole jig you'll see it

[15:51] now if you're on a budget you're just

[15:53] starting out you don't have a lot of

[15:54] money for your tools you're not selling

[15:55] your projects yet you should probably

[15:58] check out some use tools a lot of times

[15:59] on Facebook Marketplace you can find

[16:01] some Screaming good deals just make sure

[16:03] you can trust the people you're dealing

[16:05] with meet them in public use all the

[16:06] safety precautions but you can find some

[16:09] really good used Deals On Tools all over

[16:11] pawn shops Facebook Marketplace even

[16:13] eBay places like that so it may be worth

[16:15] considering if you're into that you can

[16:17] also check out Home Depot's rental

[16:19] section as they also sell used tools

[16:21] there power tip if you like this video

[16:23] there's some tool buying Secrets Home

[16:25] Depot doesn't want you to know click in

[16:26] that box click in the Box it's you the

[16:27] big old virtual fist buum