Woodworking as well as carpentry has different definitions to every different individual woodworker. For a DIY woodcrafter it is a method of fulfilling his or her hobby whereas for those who have gained expertise in the different domains of woodworking, it is a profession or a way to build a better career. But whatever it means to different peoples, there are similarities in choosing tools for woodworking projects.
Whether it can be woodworking or sculpting every crafter knows his or her tools well and it is quite possible that a pro is also using the same tools just as a novice DIY beginner using for basic try on wooden projects.
There are a vast range of hand and power tools available in the online and offline marketplaces that are related to the different genres of woodworking. But not all of them are eligible for all to work with as every woodworker is not equally efficient to handle complex tools. Every individual woodworker should choose his or her working tools accordingly to their skills and abilities to handle the same. Among all kinds of basic and advanced woodworking tools and equipment there are few such tools that are commonly used by both novices and pros.
So, in this article we have profiled up such 7 common woodworking tools that every woodworker must have followed by their usage.
7 must have woodworking tools
- CLAW HAMMER
Let’s start from the very grassroot level and with a very common tool for woodworking that is also familiar to all for its household usage too, the claw hammer. From a beginner woodworker to an expert professional every woodworker must include this particular tool to their woodworking equipment. The both sides of the head of the claw hammer used in woodworking should be equivalent to each other’s weight that means the rounded head part should be similar to the waffle head part’s weight.
If the counterbalances of the claw hammer is poor, it will create nuisance during work and can cause severe injuries to the user. This tool is commonly used for construction jobs like nailing and fastening the wooden parts together or to eliminate the stock from the wooden products in order to reframe or repair them. Unfortunately, this tool leaves some markable scars while used on woods. So, it is recommended to use this on the same before polishing.
Generally, the common claw hammers come in the sizes of 20 ozs. The sizes can be customized according to the woodworkers’ requirements or some of them are already available in the market. Choose fibreglass made or steel constructed handled with rubber grip system instead of wooden handled claw hammers as those are stronger and also sustain for a long time. But if you are involved in too much nail driving in your woodworking, wooden handled ones are the best choice as they will produce less stress on your hands and wrists while hammering on woods.
- CHISEL
Working with hands in woodworking creates a fine fine difference between wood crafters and wooden factory workers. Machines can not make such perfect joineries which can be created by hands with a good and sharp chisel. Chisels are mainly used for making the uneven surfaces of the wood smooth and even and also creating different types of joineries like tenon and mortise, dovetails etc. Chisels can be of different sizes and shapes and made of different elements too. It is suggested to choose chisels with harder metals, so that those won’t need to be sharpened frequently and be used for long times after a single polish.
- SCREWDRIVERS
Different shapes and sizes of screwdrivers are the most useful tools that should be definitely included in the sets of the hand tools of any woodworker. There are different types of screwdrivers to be needed for several woodcrafting projects like star head drivers, Torx drivers, slot and flathead drivers etc. Whatever the shape or size would be, the screwdrivers used for woodworking must be well constructed.
Most of the time the screwdrivers are made of soft metals that are used for delicate woodworks like making cabinets or working in tight places. To work into a thinner area of any wooden product, you would need a sleek headed screwdriver so that it would be easy to work in narrow spaces. For a heavy duty job you must need long screwdrivers. You can know more about screwdrivers and other woodworking related tools here at theedgecutter.com
- HAND SAW
Hand saw is the basic saw that can be used by both the beginners and the pros. Selecting a suitable and comfortable hand saw should be the prior concern for any woodworker. As the power saws can not be applied on every type of woodwork, hand saws can be fitted in to accomplish such jobs. Choose a fine toothed hand saw for smooth and fast cuttings. The only drawback of hand saw is it’s really time consuming to work with hand saws though it is useful for small projects.
- BLOCK PLANE
Block planes are the hand tools that contain versatile work ability. With the help of a good block plane you can curve, flatten or square a wooden piece finely. All you need to know is the proper technique to handle the same. When you need to smooth or chamfer the uneven stocks inside the wooden products, block planes are the tools to do the job perfectly. Additionally, you can also smoothen different joints like dovetails, mortise and tenon joints etc by using a block plane.
Block planes also carve the sharpened edges of the wooden pieces. Block planes are the complete rescuers of yours that makes free from spending your valuable times on sanding uneven surfaces of the wooden products.
Tools should be properly taken care of after every use. Make sure that your block plane’s blade should be sharp enough for next use. It is quite possible to grow burrs on the blades. Sharpen your block plane’s blade on sharpening stone and use a little bit of oil to make the process smooth.
- POWER DRILL
Power drill is such a power tool which most of the common people keep in their houses for several uses. So, this is not a tool that is specifically used in Woodworking and carpentry and also you don’t need to buy it separately for woodcrafting as there are no such variations for the particular tool.
Some people think that cordless drills are more useful than power driven ones as the former one can be carried to anywhere and no need of electricity to work with, but they are not affordable for everyone whereas power drills work much more efficiently. Most of the power drills come with two different speed control variables to work with. You need to choose one according to your convenience and requirements.
- CIRCULAR SAW
Circular saw is known as the most versatile power tool for woodworking and carpentry projects. Circular saw can be both hand held or table mounted and also be carried to anywhere because of its compact structure. Circular saw is such a fancy machinery that can be used for making any kind of interior designs as well as carpentry jobs like making a small kitchen shelf to create large garden shade and do many other unconventional ways.
Circular saws come with such a facility that allow you to set the depth of the blades of the saw and by using different depths of blades you can create several different dados, edges, cut offs, narrow slots etc. Therefore a high quality circular saw should be the first power tool for your DIY wood workshop and professional wood workshop.
Few things to be considered while buying a circular saw for the first time is to check the TPI or how many tooth-per-inch are there in the saw. The more tooth it contains the cuttings are going to be more smooth whereas the wide toothed saws would create rougher cuttings, though there are also chances of burning the woods because of the frequent friction of the teeth while running through the woods. That’s why most of the fine-toothed saws run slowly while cutting, so that it won’t be able to create much burning scars on the woods.
