Those few of you that follow my mere attempts to be a wood worker will know I have fun doing it no matter how the project turns out. Whether it works out

Those few of you that follow my mere attempts to be a wood worker will know I have fun doing it no matter how the project turns out. Whether it works out great or an failed attempt. Or whether it is a biggish project like the coffin or a small one like the cribbage board.

Having the right tools for the job can make things so much easier, yes I will agree with that statement. However as we all know you don’t always have the right tool or all the tools you require or want to have in your shop, in my case a basement. One thing I have learnt though, is learn the full capabilities of the tools you do have, if you do this then you may find that you already have a work around for many things that you didn’t realise.

Simple things like no table saw to cut various cuts in a various ways, while yes it may be a lot easier having one, and yes I still struggle when I want to rip long or wide cuts… but think what other saws you have that could also do the job, circular saw , mitre saw, scroll saw and also don’t be afraid to bring out those hand tools like hand saws and cooping saw and chisels. With a bit of practise and thought you will be surprised in what you can do and achieve and it will open up other projects that you can now have a go at.

Now again I am not the best wood worker heck I don’t pretend to be. I myself don’t have all the fancy tools you see on many of the wood working video’s.

eg; now just take it over to your table saw and…

Well I don’t have one. Yes I am going to get one in the near future, and that will change how I operate and build things, but I will remember that I didn’t always have one. If I am showing someone how to make something or do something then I will also try and come up with alternatives of how to make with out a certain tool.

If you don’t have a scroll saw then maybe a copping saw will do the job you want done. Don’t have a router to smooth sharp edges, then maybe a belt sander or orbital, even a hand plane. Whilst it may not give the same result as the router you can still achieve a good look.

The circular saw, you can still do a bit with it. You can set the angle of a cut, the depth and if you uses a straight edge jig you can still do a bit with it. Yes it is not as easy and there is more fluffing around but you can achieve it.

So don’t be too put off if you don’t have the all the fancy tools, there usually is another way of achieving the similar out come, and sometimes it is a better. So sometimes you need to think out side the square.

Have fun.

Regards
Nighthawk