Need help with startup tools

[Charles Wiggins]

[John Sanford]

In my experience in an apartment, you can get away with the following power tools:

• Drill.
• QUIET vacuum.
• Sanders (if you have dust collection)
• Jigsaws
• Scrollsaw

I expect that you can also get away using

• Drill Press.
• Bandsaw (up to about 14")

Routers, circular saws, jointers, planers, tablesaws, mortisers, biscuit joiners, nope. No way, nyet, nein, non, uh uh.

You CAN get a lot done with just a jigsaw and hand held drill. Add in a few handplanes and chisels and Bob's Yer Uncle!

Were I in your shoes, and were I working indoors, not on the balcony, the first piece of equipment I would get would be a GOOD QUIET shopvac. (not ShopVac the brand). Festool, Fein, Bosch, and a few others make them. They are not cheap ($400+), BUT they will allow you to collect and control shavings, chips, sawdust and finer dust. The regular shopvacs you can get at Home Depot, Sears, WallyWorld, etc also work, BUT, they are much louder.

Then get a jigsaw, a low angle block plane, a bevel up smoothing (or jack) plane with a couple of extra blades with different bevel angles, a set of 4 chisels, a combination square, a 12' tape measure, a couple of files and rasps, some sandpaper and a sharpening setup. You'll be off to the races.

also I've watched a video on how to prepare stock but once I stock everything and glue it up for say a tabletop would you use the same method as preparing just one piece of wood vs like 3-4 planks glued together?

Yup, pretty much.

Consider looking at Japanese woodworking, the saws and planes and methods of work are optimized for working in small spaces. (The chisels are different, but not functionally so). Another thing you should consider is a book like The Unplugged Woodshop.

Since you're in NYC, you have the opportunity to swing by Tools For Working Wood. The trip would be well worth your time. They are in Brooklyn.

[Charles Wiggins]

Saying a jointer will be "quieter" than a router or circular saw is a bit like saying a car horn will be quieter than a screaming banshee. While true, both are equally effective at disturbing the peace. There's also the issue of wood dust while WILL get everywhere unless you invest in some really great equipment.

[Joe A Faulkner]

For $30, Rob Cosman's "Rough to Ready" DVD isn't a bad investment. Prior to attempting to build your first workbench, I'll recommend buying a Black and Decker Workmate. Use it to build a couple of small, stout saw benches. Then use these as work benches to build your full size or apartment size workbench.

[Matthew Hills]

If I was in NYC, I would take a weekend trip to Brooklyn:
https://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/...irections.html

Matt

[Peter Choi]

Thanks for all the tips guys! I plan on buying a jigsaw, a few planers (4,5,7), and maybe the unplugged woodshop. I may buy some chisels but don't really know what to do with them. I plan on making some circular cheese boards and I'm guessing I can use the jigsaw, a filer, and some sand paper to get it circular. For my bench, I might be able to go to a woodshop at art school near my place because I have a few friends that go there.

Oh and i'll definitely check that shop out! I actually live in brooklyn but its still a pretty far trek out there. Ill probably go this weekend.

On another note, if I make a work bench thats perfectly true, will it matter if my floor isn't perfectly straight? its slightly slanted but I do plan on moving soon.

[Mike Heidrick]

Is a coop shop or makerspace group available in your area? You could just pay membership fee and have access to space, tools, and others in your area with similar interest.

[Mike Schuch]

I would highly reccomend getting a Black and Decker Workmate 425 or better instead of building a workbench. I have 3 of them of various vintages and they are very sturdy, have a thousand different uses and fold up to an easily storable size. My shop is 40 x 40 and I have a full wood working work bench but I use my workmates all the time. I use them as saw horses, tool stands, clamping tables, painting stands, what ever I can imagine.

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If your apartment is anything like the apartments I had when I was in school I would also reccomend staying with hand tools. Besides the noise power tools make they also throw fine dust all over the place. Even jointers and planers which produce large chips of saw dust also make their share of fine dust.

I have taken a couple of wood working classes at the local community college. Not only does taking a class give you shop privelages to a very well equiped shop but you will also probably learn quite a bit and projects progress nicely when you have a scheduled class time to work on them a couple times a week.

[Keith Weber]

Peter,

I have an apartment in Hong Kong, so I know all about apartment noises. As far as I'm concerned, the ONLY acceptable power tool for an apartment is a hand drill, and it should be used for rare things like hanging pictures or pre-drilling a screw hole. Routers, jigsaws, jointers, planers, or power saws of any kind are unacceptable for apartment living. The noise and vibration from these things resonates through the building, so it's not just your immediate neighbors that are going to get annoyed. At a very minimum, you're asking to be the outcast of the apartment, and subject yourself to numerous visits from the building security. On the more elevated end, you'll get visits from angry neighbors, the police, and possibly evicted. You don't want to be "that guy". That guy is rude, self-serving, inconsiderate, and nobody likes that guy. My woodshop, BTW, is not in my apartment (nor is it in Hong Kong).

You said you lived in NY. You might want to look into by a woodworking club that has a workshop and tools already set up. You'd pay by the month, or by the time you used, but you'd save money by not having to invest in your own machines. Here's a start:

http://blog.makersalley.com/post/511...-york-hint-its

[Jim Matthews]

+1 on this.
Spend a little more on the lumber,
save a lot on a tool you can live without.

[Peter Choi]

I'm gonna try the all hand tools only first. At first it seemed like a lot of work but I always like the idea of well made hand crafted goods. I mean that's kind of how I buy my clothes. And I'm part hipster living in brooklyn coming from portland or. But in reality I'm really starting to like the idea of a hand tools only workshop. Plus I can woodwork whenever!

i have looked at all the woodshops around nyc unless there is some super underground one that no one knows about. But the fees are outrageous like 300-400 a month and then like a 400 dollar safety class. The cheapest was 150 with a 300 dollar one time fee which seems like not much but they fact it's an hour commute by subway and I have no car is a deal breaker. Maybe if it was close or I was making money off of this but I'm just building stuff for myself and some friends. Buying all that lumber having it delivered and then paying for storage or riding a cab seems like it will just cost too much. Plus I work a lot so havinh the freedom to work whenever and not wasting two hours back and forth seems too muh of a headache

[cody michael]

I would consider a nice bandsaw, setup right, I have hard they can cut as well as a table saw, and there reasonably quiet, and very versatile.

[Michael Moscicki]

I also do some woodworking in Brooklyn, however I have a basement that I use as my woodshop. That allows me to use power tools. I do have a scroll saw and it is not as loud as a router or lunchbox planer. That being said a scroll saw and something like the Ridgid Oscillating Spindle/Belt Sander would not be too far out of line to use in an apartment. The borg(Big Orange Retail Giant aka Home Depot) in NYC has 1/4 inch red oak and poplar that can be used for scroll saw projects. In 3/4 material they have Maple, Cherry, Poplar, Red Oak, and White Oak. It's not cheap compared to a real lumber dealer, but something to consider when starting off.

[Jim Dwight]

When I graduated college I moved to Philadelphia into an apartment. My degree is mechanical engineering and I had a good job but the money got eaten up quickly on rent, car payment, etc.. leaving very little money for furniture. I had a bean bag, a mattress and boxed spring set, and an old table my grandfather used to use - big enough for two people kind of. I got a two bedroom apartment and used the second bedroom as my workshop. I put a canvas on the floor and set up a table saw and used a lot of hand power tools. The belt sander probably made the most noise. I also had a cheap, noisy, shop vacuum.

The upstairs neighbors complained and we worked out a deal. I shut down all the power tools at 9pm. I didn't start up before 8am. And they didn't complain.

While power tools are noisy, they are not nosier than some people listen to music or TVs. I think hand tools are a good idea for getting along with landlords and neighbors but I also think power tools can be used if you are sensible about when you use them.

[mike mcilroy]

On another note, if I make a work bench thats perfectly true, will it matter if my floor isn't perfectly straight? its slightly slanted but I do plan on moving soon.

A lot of us don't have level or flat floors. Make the bench flat and heavy, really heavy so it doesn't move when you are trying to hand plane on it, then shim where needed.
Christopher Schwartz has good ideas for benches as well as step by step plans for a few benches.