WW Book, first question

Recommended list of tools in order of importance. Which tools should I buy first?
Substitute tools: Using a tracksaw if you don’t have a table saw
Efficient use of the workbench
Simple Joinery
Drawer making
Box making
Clamping/gluing/making square
 
Recommended list of tools in order of importance. Which tools should I buy first?
Substitute tools: Using a tracksaw if you don’t have a table saw
Efficient use of the workbench
Simple Joinery
Drawer making
Box making
Clamping/gluing/making square

All of that sounds obvious, but it isn't. When you are new to woodworking you think you have to have exactly what the directions call for. Knowing what you could use instead and still have it work out the way it is supposed to would help a lot. Add to that list "definitions glossary". Sometimes you think you know what they are calling for and find out it's the wrong thing. Also a brands comparison list. What works best under what conditions and what works good enough even if it isn't the best.
 
Pam, you hit on one thing that forums are best at - brands comparison. That is a moving target at any point in time. Print media, even delivered digitally, could never be current enough.

Occasionally someone posts something like, "What does such and such mean?" And we are all over that, with 1.3 answers for every respondent and a ton of kidding tossed in as well. Even more often, someone asks, "Which such and such should I get?" Meaning brand and model, of course. Here we have at least 1.8 answers per respondent, along with even more kidding around. :rofl:

Maybe not as straight forward as it might be, but a lot of fun, and a whole lot more relevant at any moment than anything written. That includes magazines. I have only written one tool review. It was not totally positive - and it was not published. I got paid but I learned a lot about tool reviews in the process.

Darby also offered a good list. As we go, we will learn that every answer to questions like those are unique to the person who asks. There is no one definitive 'right' answer, unless you work for a tool manufacturer, of course. LOL! For example, if you can only have one saw, perhaps because of space or money, and you want one that will cut straight and curved lines, then a bandsaw is one of the 'right' answers. If we make tool choices based on what we want to do, rather than on what 'everyone else' has, we can make some very good choices for ourselves. We may even have a few extra bucks for other important things in life. Like chocolate. Heheheheh.....
 
Jointery - Different types and why a particular joint is better for a particular application.
Finishing - Ditto above
Wood movement issues - How to predict and deal with wood movement in projects. This issue has caused me much grief.
 
I see that many have jumped suggesting different pieces of furniture, but if I remember the first thing I built I used only a saw, a hammer and some nails. If ths book has to be for the newbbies and wannabes woodworkers it should start with very, very simple projects suitable to be made with the most elementary tools and then move onto more complex one that will need other tools hand and powered ones. Although that from what I've seen DIY things are pretty common in US but I gues there will always someone who doesn't even know how to dig a nail on a piece of wood or cut a piece straigth.
 
I had a much longer reply made up but our company server rebooted and it got lost. For the time being, remind all the newbies that those of us who have been doing this a lot longer always expect to make mistakes, so the new guys shouldn't be surprised or discouraged when it happens. Mistakes just present an opportunity to learn how to correct them. I doubt I've built anything without screwing up something.
 
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