4 Vital Machines for Your Workshop

If you are looking for a hobby where you can create something beautiful and practical, you could do a lot worse than working with wood. Wood is a great medium to create with, and is not so expensive that your initial mistakes hit your wallet. The only real cost comes from buying your tools and, depending on how serious you are, setting up a workshop. Many hobbyist woodworkers actually end up selling a lot of the things they make, and for these a workshop becomes a must. For those who would like to start setting up a workshop, I have outlined a few machines that I believe are necessary for any woodworker.

Band Saw

A band saw is the perfect way to cut awkward shapes out of wood, and is much less troublesome than struggling with a coping saw. If you really want to make beautiful wooden objects with intricate shapes, then a coping saw may be necessary; but a band saw is a much better alternative for most shapes you will make, and can be used for so many other sawing jobs. This is a basic must in a joiners shop.

Drum Sander

Unless you like to spend all of your time sanding down wood then this is something you will need. The perfect solution for large wooden areas that need to be sanded, it can also be used on smaller items. You do not need to have different sanders for different grades of finish, as the grit of the paper can be changed to accommodate whatever finish you require. If you are refurbishing something like a door, this is the perfect tool to remove old paint or varnish too.

Thickness Planer

Another must for a workshop is a thickness planer, and the bigger the better. Whether you are roughing out a piece of wood or creating wood with perfect square angles a planer is a great machine. It will feed the wood for you to ensure you are not overworking it, and you can adjust the table height to achieve your desired thickness. This machine has saved carpenters and joiners an incredible amount of work.

Table Mounted Circular Saw

This is the bedrock for all other tools as it is the starting point from rough wood. If you do not have one of these you will be doing some hard sawing before using any of the other machines. Much of the timber used in a workshop starts life being purchased in large lumps, which are slowly reduced in size as they are used in the workshop. If you are going to start with only one piece of machinery in your shop, this is as good as any to start with; actually it is probably better than most, and I recommend buying one straight away.

There is huge satisfaction in working a piece of wood and having it result in something that is both beautiful and practical. You can accomplish this result with simple hand tools, but as your projects become bigger and bolder you will need a workshop to make your life easier. Filling it with these machines will ensure that your workshop is equipped for anything.