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Top 5 Tools Every Woodworker Should Own

Posted on the 30 October 2021 by Lisa
woodworking tools

Many woodworkers create long-lasting, valuable, and high-quality pieces to exercise creativity and skills in pieces of furniture in every building. However, it’s pretty hard for a woodworker to achieve quality without those proper tools, especially if the woodworker has to install LEED access doors and panels to help with LEED certification.

A woodworker should have these five woodworking tools and most of which are relatively inexpensive. With these five tools, a woodworker can tackle almost any woodworking project with quality. 

Circular Saw

Some people say that the circular saw is more of a carpentry tool than a good woodworking tool. There might be no more versatile essential handheld tool than a circular saw power tool. A circular saw is just as accurate as a table saw when used in a clamp-on straight edge. It can handle a few tasks, such as cutting MDF or medium-density fiberboard and plywood. A quality circular saw is the first necessary handheld tool for every woodworker. 

There are two district designs that circular saw has. First is the direct drive, where its blade is mounted 90 degrees of the motor and directly on the arbor. Direct drive circular saws are the most common and least expensive. The second one is a worm drive saw, which is perfect for heavy work. It has the same blade design as direct drive, but its blade is gear-driven by the motor. 

Table Saw

Almost every woodworker invests in table saw in the early stage of the work. Table saws can produce a cut that is not easy to achieve by other types of saw. Its design is like an upside-down circular saw, exposing its blade below the work surface or table. Its blade angles and depth is easy to adjust for precision. 

The table saw is an essential tool in a woodworking shop as it is the centerpiece of which all other tools are used and organized. The table saw can cut sheets with perfectly straight edges and make woodcuts such as bevel, miters, and dado grooves. 

Power Drill

Some people might expect to have a cordless drill on this list, but a corded drill with a quality brand is more powerful and versatile for the essential power tools for woodworking. A cordless tool has a great advantage to being portable; however, corded drills are less expensive and can do heavy woodwork than a cordless one. Check this article for more information.

When choosing a corded drill, there are some options to consider, including whether a woodworker would prefer to have a 1/2 -inch or 3/8 chuck, straight or hammer drill, keyless or keyed chuck. It would help every woodworker to learn all the options before buying it. 

drill woodworking tool

Jigsaw

Every woodworker should have a jigsaw on hand. The design of these power tools makes intricate cuts that can be curved, serpentine, or straight. It is entirely different from a circular saw. Jigsaw will cut up and down or back and forth motion; its blades vary in competition and tooth numbers. Aside from wood, they are also capable of cutting plastics and metals. Fine tooth blades are best for veneer sawing, and the coarse tooth blades are perfect for rough and fast work. 

Jigsaw, also known as a saber saw, will allow the worker to cut circular patterns in stocks, and it is also perfect for new woodworkers as they can cut the wood easily with one hand. The best application for jigsaw cuts is interior cuts, such as inner rectangles or circles. 

Router

The last power tool every woodworker should have on hand is a good quality router power tool. The router is excellent at cutting grooves, patterns, and designs in multiple pieces of wood, or it will shape those decorative contours in workplaces and is also excellent at cutting dados and rabbet.  

Most of the routers available today offer two different bases. One is a Plunge Router Base, and the other, a Stationary Router Base. But most woodworkers prefer the stationary base model routers as it can take several tasks than the plunge router base model. Moreover, you can also mount it on the router’s table. 

When choosing a good quality tool, it would be best to choose one with two horsepower in size as it can do heavy work. It is essential to look for other features like variable speed controls, as cutting more significant bits should require a lower speed, easy-change bit collet, and a soft start mechanism. Start by knowing the requirements of your router power tool needs before buying it. 

Almost every tool of a woodworker starts with cutting tools. Whether softwood such as pine or oakwood, every wood stock needs to be crosscut and ripped to begin taking shape. For example, saws are the answers; however, they are for different tasks and cuttings. 


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