Woodworking Power Tools

More often than not when becoming more interested in a woodwork hobby the time comes when you decide to upgrade to buying woodworking power tools. Offten the question is which of the woodworking power tools are my best investment and what is the first thing I should buy. Mostly this would depend on the type of work you are doing, for instance if you are into carving or making furniture from heavy logs your best bet would be a small chainsaw rather than a circular saw.

Over the years I have built many woodworking projects. Including, house hold furniture, desks, vanitys, coffee table, bookshelves, strip plank cedar sea kayaks, work benches. Also outdoor furniture and landscape projects, timber decks, house framing and stairs to name a few.

The most important woodworking power tools to cover the general nature of these projects, in order of versatility are.

Reciprocal Saw
The most versatile and usefull of start-up woodworking power tools, best general use saw that will allow you to attack most projects before moving into the more specialised tools. However if you can afford you buy a lot of gear straight up start with a table saw and radial arm or cutoff saw.

Power Drill
You will need to drill holes, go for a two speed or variable speed drill

Sander
The best finishing sander is the orbital sander, there are models avaliable that have sandpaper disks with Velcro attatching systems that are a great time saver.
Belt sanders are best for heavy sanding such as dressing rough sawn timber, sanding surfaces level before finishing and removing stains & vanishes.

Cordless Drill
One of the best inovations for woodworking tools is the battery operated tools. The leader for home woodwork is the cordless drill (the best would have to be nailers for building sites) and will save hours of time and complete a job far cleaner than manual screwing or drilling.

Cuttoff or Mitre Saw
Great for fast and accurate cutting of woodworking stock, especially when multiple cuts are needed for pieces of the same lenght as you can set a stop or jig.

Bench or Table Saw
Another all purpose woodworking tool, cut, groove, chamfer, thickness and size. Good for pannel work.

Router
Routers are also an all purpose machine, mainly used for shaping, chamfering, decorative edging, grooving, tounge and grove, bead and cove,  mortice and tenon joints, dovetails joints and even thicknessing. Most use of a router requires jigs or setting up and cutting jigs.

Electric Planer
Electric planers are mainly used for cleaning rough sawn or uneven timbers, some care needed when using on finishing work. Some woodworking machines such as a table saw also incorporate planers.

Drill Press
Another woodworking tool (and metalwork)that is a usefull addition to any workshop. Good for repetitive hole drilling, and large holes cut with hole saws. Very accurate when working using a jig.

Finally when buying woodworking tools buy the best you can afford, top names such as DeWalt, Hitachi and Makita are robust have excellent backup for brushes and parts and will serve you well for years.