Setting up a home woodworking workshop

[Deleted member 174758]

Tools and machinery:

Planer/thicknesser (we don't call them jointer/thicknessers in the UK). £180 for the cheapest

Mitre saw - crosscut capacity is more important that cut depth for you, so a 190/216mm single bevel sliding compound mitre saw with a 250 to 300mm crosscut capacity is what you would probably be best of with to start with (look at deWalt, Makita, Milwaukee, etc). £200 plus

Sander - ideally a random orbit sander as they work a lot faster than an orbital sander. £60 for a DIY tool

Router - 1/4in or 8mm. You don't need anything fancy. £70 plus

Router cutters - chamfer with bearing (for edge chamfer), round-over with bearing (for edge radiusing), core box (for finger recesses). £30 plus

Clamps - probably sash clamps with cast iron heads, or alternatively clamp heads (which can be used on home made timber bars - not as good as sash cramps, but a lot cheaper when you are starting out). You'll probably need 4 to 6 of them with a 24in capacity (the shortest you can buy). £60 plus

But what about the rip cuts - are you thinking a track saw is better then than a table saw? Even though my rip cuts for a chopping board will only be 1 inch or maybe 1.5 inch wide? Isn't a table saw more accurate for repeat cuts than a track saw?

Table saw for rip cuts, especially for shorter, thinner pieces which a track saw won't be anywhere near as good on. Yes, you can use a track saw if you are doing half a dozen cuts, but it takes a bit of faffing about and for truly parallel cuts (which is what you ideally want), in volume, it takes a table saw. £150 plus

You will also need to look at dust extraction for your planer, table saw, mitre saw, router and sander. Initially you can get by with a decent P3 mask (e.g. JSP Force 8 with P3 filters), but in the longer term you really need extraction unless you want chest problems - for which hardwoods are noted. £200

You may have to make-up bases for the table saw, mitre saw and planer/thicknesser - basically just chipboard boxes held together with 1 x 1in (25 x 25mm) softwood cleats, glue and screws. Table saw might need a home-made run-off table to support work as it comes off the saw

New I cannot see this coming at under about £1000 in real terms, and that's without the shed or benches (all necessaries) - more if you buy more durable kit. So £3k at a reasonable guesstimate

Hand tools - decent tape measure, reasonable combi squares (Bahco CS150, CS300), glue scraper (can be an old chisel), block plane (always kept sharp), hand saw (because you will need one from time to time)

Home-made timber racking to keep your wood stash off the floor - can be as simple as some Spur shelving

Decent lighting

Lastly you'll probably need 2 benches: one to assemble the boards (basically just a pair of trestles with some timbers between them and a few sash cramps on top), the second a basic workbench, probably with a woodworking vise, about 5 x 2ft (as you are not working on large stuff you don't need anything bigger). These can (should) both be home made - but please don't go down the rabbit hole of big, professional cabinetmaker's benches when all you need is a basic bench which can be made-up for maybe £100 or so (plus the cost of the vise) from softwood and sheet materials and which is strong enough and heavy enough to provide a stable working platform. The Sjoberg, Lervad or Ulmia bench can come when you are making money - and need it. I think I still have some SketchUp drawings of a low cost home bench I designed a few years back (based on something my old man made in the 1960s). Let me know and I'll dig them out

Had any thoughts about what glues you are going to be using and how you are going to finish your product?

 

[danlightbulb]

Had any thoughts about what glues you are going to be using and how you are going to finish your product

Titebond3 is what they use on YouTube. And mineral oil.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Titebond3 is what they use on YouTube. And mineral oil.

They are in America (again) - can you ask for those in your local Screwfix, and how expensive are they? I'd try a British source! Personally, I'd take a look at Everbuild D4 or Evostik Resin W (blue) for glues, whilst for oil, maybe something like walnut oil or a good quality Danish oil - partly because these are readily available

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I'm beginning to think this is one of those joke threads.

 

[danlightbulb]

I'm beginning to think this is one of those joke threads.

Why's that? It's not my fault most of the vids are American and not up to UK standards.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I did hope that the OP, rather than taking YouTube videos at face value, might by now have done a bit of research into materials, suppliers and tools in the UK. The USA has a far larger craft product market than we have here (my cousin in California was involved in that circuit for a number of years, so I've heard about it at length from someone who was involved). That all tends to make stuff in these videos seem more doable than they may be in reality, especially in the UK.

OP, have you been round any craft shows yet, or looked at other possible sales outlets such as galleries or direct online through, say, eBay, Etsy or Facebook Marketplace? That might give you some idea about what is on the market (and for that matter where any gaps in the market might be) together with how much you might be able to ask for your products. Bear in mind that galleries and shops have high overheads, so their mark-ups can seem huge at first sight

Not to put too fine a point on it, I have been involved in related products in the past and it really is quite a hard market to make a reasonable return for your investment in (in time as well as money).

 

[danlightbulb]

I'm not doing it for profit. Just want to cover my costs and have some upskilling and new challenge.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Yes, but if you want to sell anything at all you will surely need to know what sort of products are in your intended market, what sort of quality is expected, where to sell, and what sort of prices things fetch. Seeing other people's work will help you understand the quality/price level you have to achieve in order to be able to sell anything (as well as maybe giving you some ideas to "borrow"). Watching a video of someone else doing it is enjoyable - but when you do it yourself you'll encounter real world problems that nobody will show in a video. That can include issues such as dealing with snipe from planing, learning to read grain so you plane the timber the right way, dealing with shakes, dealing with rowed timber, taking out machining marks, getting a consistent level of sheen in your finish, etc. Yes, all technical issues, which can become quite frustrating to deal with

Even with a simple designs, it can sometimes be deceptively difficult to produce a professional-looking product if you are starting from the point of being an experienced woodworker - and you are starting without any relevant knowledge or skills, which can only make it a lot harder for you. This is a valid consideration whether or not you want to make money

I'm not trying to put you off - but I am trying to help you gain a realistic perspective

 

[danlightbulb]

I appreciate the advice have to start somewhere though and in my case that's from the beginning.what other choice is there.

 

[ETAF]

I did mention in post 11
Things like
Market / fashion
Selling channels
Maybe a usp
Overheads tax
Etc

That’s is where I have helped people start up business

So many business sole traders fail by not looking into this area a little and then find they cannot even recover costs

Also you will have invested in particularly kit

Anyway as you say you have to start somewhere
And so long as you are doing it for fun hobby past time and not expecting to make a living
Otherwise you really do need to think hard about some of the above