Before we get to the list let’s talk about pricing. I will try and state points when you can go for a cheap version of certain tools as some tools vary only slightly in different price ranges. That being said you should always try and get the best tool you can afford. Don’t buy an expensive tool just because it’s expensive and don’t buy the cheapest thing you can find either. Get the best that your budget allows. Also there are a couple features, especially on hand held power tools that you will want to look for when shopping. The primary thing you will want to look for is a dust collection port that will allow you to hook up either your shop vac or dust collection system to it and prevent a ton of dust and mess from happening. Honestly the best bit of advice i can give when shopping for tools is to do some research online. Read user reviews, look up the track record of certain brands and make your decisions accordingly. Listed below are pictures of the different tools. These pictures are in no way meant to endorse or recommend a certain brand or model. I simply used the best images from google image search I could find as a demonstration tool only.

I will arrange this list in the order of tools that I feel would be a great way to start. If you have the money to go full out and get a full workshop of stationary tool’s by all means skip ahead a bit but since this is a beginners guide I will try and start at the top. I will mostly focus on power tools as those are the tools I use the most. If you prefer to use hand tools this guide may not be the guide for you. I will however try and point out some vital hand tools when I think of them.

READ THIS BEFORE PROCEEDING!!!
First of all you’re gonna want to get some eye protection, ear protection and a dust mask or respirator. This is not an option. Getting dust in your eyes in the middle of a cut is insanely dangerous and is when most accidents happen. Also most power tools are insanely loud and ear protection is a must. I will discuss dust and dust filters more in a bit.

1: Circular saw.

This is an extremely versatile tool. You can use it to cut large sheets of plywood, cut 2×4′s and boards to length, miter cuts and so much more. Making a cutting guide for your saw can make this a dead accurate tool that will always be an asset to your arsenal and there are numerous tutorials to make one on youtube.

2: Jig saw.

This saw will come in handy if you ever have to make curved cuts, small cuts, interior cuts and several other cuts that a circular saw just wont do. I still use this. A lot.

3: Drill.

A drill is an absolutely vital tool. A drill can be used to drill holes, drive in screws, countersink holes, use hole saws, grinding wheels, sanding wheels and spindles and countless other tasks. Most people prefer cordless drill’s and I do find myself using mine more than my corded drills but a good corded drill will be a cheaper way to get started and you will never have to worry about batteries.

4: sawhorses.

A good pair of sawhorses is vital for starting out. You will probably not have a workbench when first getting started so some sawhorses and a sheet of plywood will work for a while. also you gotta hold your boards while cutting them and sawhorses are always great for that. Vital tools.

5: squares.

You will want a square of some kind to make sure your cuts are square and everything is straight and correct. I find myself using a 12″ combination square and a speed square. these can be had for fairly little money and they will last forever if you take care of them.

6: sanders.
You will find yourself using two different kinds of sanders the most. Those two sanders are:
Belt Sander

Random orbital sander

The belt sander is handy for shaping wood and smoothing out your curved jigsaw cuts. The random orbital sander is what you will use for working through your sanding grits and finish sanding your pieces for staining and finishing.

7: Router/router table.

By now we have cutting wood in all available angles, curves and lengths down pat but what if we want to shape the wood or round over corners? That’s where the router comes in. A router is basically a motor that holds bits with different profiles that cut different shapes into wood. The router is quietly the most versatile tool in the woodshop. The router is a perfectly capable tool while being handheld and can be used that way to trim wood pieces, route edges and countless other tasks but by flipping the router upseide down and mounting it into a router table it becomes a central tool in your shop. A router table can turn your router into a more accurate tool and if the router table has a good fence you can use the router with a straight bit and turn it into an accurate jointer 9we’re getting there. I promise). The router is a bit of a rabbit hole of a tool. There’s millions of tasks it can do and you will constantly find new ways to use it.

8: Some form of dust management.

This is a very controversial item on this list. Not controversial in that it’s not considered a necessary tool, in fact quite the opposite. Quite a lot of people state that you need to purchase this before starting doing woodworking at all. While I agree that this is a vital item in your shop I didn’t put it at the top of the list because the tools i started with are hand tools and can be taken outside to prevent dust from building up in your shop. Also this can be a fairly expensive thing to buy if you decide to go whole hog and i didn’t want cost to prevent people from getting started. The reason I put it in this spot on the list is because after this item all of the tools on this list are stationary tools and they make a lot of dust and with them dust control is a necessity.

Whether it’s a full blown central cylconic dust control system or a shop vac with attachments to fit on your power tools, you’re gonna need something to control the sawdust you’re gonna make. This is not only to keep your place clean and your spouse happy, it’s also for your health. Fine particle sawdust is a carcinogen and has been proven to lead to lung cancer. Even if you do have an awesome dust management system you will still want to always wear a dust mask or a respirator. All the tools in the world will be useless if you can’t use them. Take care of yourself.

With the above listed tools you can tackle almost any basic home project. These tools will also allow you to build the next tool on the list which if you put a little time and effort into will last you for years and be the single most used tool in your shop.

9: Workbench.

A good, solid workbench will be the single most used tool in your shop. Why is it a tool and not a piece of furniture? Because you will use it to clamp down pieces of wood and saw, chisel, plane, sand and assemble your wood projects. There are countless workbench designs on the internet ranging from super basic to insanely expensive and complicated (looking at you roubo bench). You should find one thqat fits your price range and skill level.

Now that you have your workbench you are entering into a higher level of woodworking. Your circular saw has treated you well so far but I’m sure you are feeling like using it can be a bit of a pain to use for every cut. That’s where the next piece comes in.

10: Table saw.

The table saw has been called by many “the heart of the woodshop” and for good reason. The table saw makes doing repetitive cuts a snap. You can use it to cut sheet goods, crosscut, miter cut and countless other taks. There’s also guides online on how to use it as a jointer 9more on that tool later). The tablesaw is one of those purchases that will pay for itself in no time.

11: Miter saw.

A power miter saw is handy for cutting boards to length and cutting precise miter angles. These come in three different flavors. the miter saw, compound miter saw and sliding compound miter saws. I personally only have a basic miter saw. Do some research online as to features that you feel you might need and buy the best you can afford.

12: Bandsaw.

A bandsaw is basically a replacer for the jigsaw. While the jigsaw is perfectly capable of making curved cuts and irregular cuts, it’s downfall is the jerky bumpy motion of the machine. This leads it to making rough cuts that require a lot of sanding to smooth out. The bandsaw on the other hand is very smooth in it’s cutting motion and you can make much more accurate cuts with less hassle and effort. Larger bandsaws can also be used to resaw wood which is the term for slicing a piece of wood into thinner pieces for either veneers or bookmatching. That being said a good quality benchtop bandsaw will be a great place to start and a vital tool for years to come. One pro tip about bandsaws is that the blade that comes with the saws (unless you are buying a very expensive saw) are usually pretty bad and rarely ever cut straight or even close to straight. Spend a bit of money and get a better blade. It will make even a cheap bandsaw cut like a more expensive one.

13: Jointer.

Here we are. The jointer. Basically the jointer is a flat bed with a spinning blade that can make one face or edge of a board dead flat. The essence of woodworking is making wood join together at precise angles and one way to make sure your angle are precise is by making sure your edges are dead flat and 90 degrees to it’s edges. The jointer and the planer are used together and you need one to use the other but I would recommend getting a jointer before getting a planer.

14: Planer.

The planer is used to flatten sides of wood and make the side parralel to the other side of the board. The reason why I recommend a jointer before a planer is because the planer can only make an edge parralel to a lfat edge of the edge is flat before using the planer. It’s kind of confusing and is difficult to explain via text but youtube is your friend. The planer is a vital tool as you progress in your woodowrking career.

15: drill press.

The drill press is useful for making extremely precise holes in wood. Your handheld drill is great for most drilling tasks but it falls short when precision is needed. That’s where the drill press comes in. The drill press and a good drill table (which you can easily make. there are several guides online) will allow you to set up stop blocks and jigs to make repetitive, precise holes. The drill press can also be used as a mini lathe, a spindle sander and many other tools.

With the above listed tools you can make pretty much any woodworking project you can imagine. The only tools that i didn’t list are one’s I either don’t have or don’t see much use in having. The one big tool i left out was a lathe. woodturning is in itself it’s own type of woodworking and one I don’t find very interesting. if you want to get into woodturning you already know you will want a lathe so I left it out of my list.

As far as hand tools go I do find myself using certain tools more than others so i will list out the ones I use. this is in no way a complete list of what you will need. This is just what I find myself reaching for on a regular basis.

1: clamps clamps clamps.

Rule number 1 of woodworking is: You can never have enough clamps. There are several styles of clampsand everyone has their preference and some clamps are better than others at different tasks. I personally use the F style clamps from harbor freight. They are cheap and extremely strong. You will amass a large collection of clamps as you progress and that’s ok. Having too many clamps is better than not having enough when gluing up a big project.

2: Chisels.

A good set of chisels that are kept sharp (a whole article unto itself) will be one of the most used tools in your shop. Useful for countless tasks. Buy the best ones you can afford but don’t be afraid to buy a couple cheaper ones when you’re first starting out.

3: handsaws.

Handsaws are handy for cuts that a power saw of some type would either be too dangerous to do or take too much time to set up to make. I prefer back pull saws. They are more accurate than western push saws and cut faster and with less energy exerted.

4: wood rasps. Wood rasps look a lot like files but they have bigger teeth and are used to shape wood. Files are not for working on wood as the teeth are too small to do much with wood. Rasps are super handy.

5: hand planes.

Hand planes are mystical tools. Woodworkers regard these tools with almost the same reverance as a samurai reveres his sword. There are dozens of different kinds of hand planes that are used for all sorts of different tasks and you can easily spend more on hand planes than on any other tool I have listed in this entire article. That being said I only have a couple cheap one’s and i rarely ever use them. setting up and properly using a hand plane is a journey that takes a long time to master and I have in no way mastered it. I don’t have much time to spend in my workshop so i find myself using power tools to save time. That being said i have used mine a couple times to even out some edges.

6: Hammers.

Sometimes you just gotta show the wood who’s boss and the hammer is great for this. Countless type’s of hammers are out there and each one is for a specific cause. the ones I use the most are a regular claw hammer, dead blow hammer and a rubber mallet.

I hope this list will help some of you guys starting out figure out where to start. The best advice I can give you is to find a simple project that you can make using some of the tools early on in the list and get to working. You will make mistakes, you will cut things too short and you will get frustrated. That is going to happen and it’s a good thing it happens. Learning from your mistakes will only make you a better woodworker. Stay safe, measure twice, cut once and have fun!

Also here’s another blog by a dude who clarified my frustrations in a far more eloquent manner than I am capable of. http://backpackingdad.com/2011/03/i-finally-figured-out-why-you-like-instagram-so-much/

I have alot of friend’s on facebook that have dog’s. I also know that I have alot of friend’s on facebook that have cat’s too. The owner’s of cat’s rarely ever mention said cats. They go about their lives enjoying their pet’s in the comfort of their own home and do not feel the need to talk ad nauseum about them or post countless photo’s of them sleeping on the couch or doing something “silly”. While people do post pics of their cat’s it is in no way near the volume of dog pic’s I see on a daily basis. The owner’s of dog’s do the exact opposite. i would wager that not a single day has gone by over the past few months where someone did not either post a picture of their dog, make a post talking about their dog or post something about a dog that need’s a good home. I get it. You like your pet. That’s great and I am happy for you. I really, truly am but you’ll excuse me if I don’t give a shit. Your dog’s sleeping on the couch is not worthy of clogging up my information stream, your dog doing something silly is not worth me reading about and while It’s never good to see an animal be put down because they didn’t get a home you have to realize that you cannot save every dog on the planet. Someone posted a picture of a stray dog that’s been walking around westport for the past year or so saying that it needed a good home. i say that it probably doesn’t. Think about it. Dog’s are territorial and love to dig through trash. Living in westport is probably the best place for a dog! Why would he want to be tamed? He’s a wild dog! Let him be wild!

Another point of contention is people who feel the need to constantly post about “dog rights’ and how they feel their dog’s are getting a bad rap for being a certain breed. All I have to say to that is that stereotype’s and commonly held belief’s about pitbull’s and rotweiler’s did not come from nowhere. Countless people throughout history have been attacked and mauled by these and other breed’s of dog’s. Every one of those dog’s has the instinct’s to be a killer deep down inside. You can train them to be nice but ultimately they can, and have been known to, snap when given the right scenario. How many time’s have you heard the phrase “Oh he’s never bitten anyone before. I don’t know why he did that” on the news when you hear about a pitbull ripping a kid’s face off. The reason he did it is because they still know how to kill. Now does this mean that you shouldn’t own them as pets? No. You can own whatever you desire as long as it’s legal to do so but you have to accept the fact that you own a dog that is a killer in potentia and will have to live with all that come’s with that. Parent’s will keep their children away from your dog’s BECAUSE IT IS THEIR JOB TO KEEP THEIR KIDS SAFE! They aren’t being rude to make their kid’s walk far away from your dog. they don’t know your dog. They don’t know if it’s safe around children or if it is a killing machine. Don’t get butt hurt when this happens, just move on and go about your day. If a mailman is scared of your dog when he comes to deliver the mail just ignore it. he’s probably been bitten by dog’s before and has every right to be scared of them. Ever heard of the phrase ‘Once bitten twice shy” before?

Basically what I am trying to say is this. Dog owner’s. while I value your love of your pet’s you gotta tone it down a bit. We get it. We just don’t give a shit.

Let’s break down the reasons that are listed above as reasons why mac’s are so much better than windows PC’s.

**Sidebar. PC is an acronym for “Personal Computer” which is a term that can be applied to any computer that is sold to the general public. This includes MACS. Anyways back to the show.

reason #1 “it just works”

This is the most common reason i hear for people to make the switch. They like their pc’s to be like duplo blocks. They have some of the functionality of Lego blocks but they have all the corner’s rounded off so you can’t poke your eye out or choke on them. Mac OSX is a swell operating system. It has a lot of eye candy and it really won’t let you break it but you really can’t do much with it beyond the things that you can do on any OS (windows, linux, commodore 64 etc etc). This argument is of course silly because the majority of the world’s computer’s are running various versions of Windows and I would wager to say that the majority of them “just work” as well. if they didn’t, Microsoft would be bankrupt and would be the laughing stock of the tech world. The fact that they are still the leader is testament that they do in fact make a viable and successful product. A lot of people say that they don’t have to do anything to keep their mac’s running properly but I have used mac’s and do not find this at all to be the case. When you buy a car you are required to change the oil, change the tire’s, get it tuned up from time to time and do general maintenance on it. If you do not the car breaks down and you have to pay far more to get it repaired. This is the exact same as with a pc. If you do not take care of it and do not do proper maintenance on it then you will run into serious problems whether it is window’s or a Mac.

Reason #2 “i don’t have to know what I’m doing to use it”.

Ahh yes. The classic argument that a computer should be able to be used by anyone regardless of their intelligence level or education on the subject of computing. I am all for technology for the masses. I think that the leaps that our society has made over the past decade alone can only be truly appreciated in the future as we get some distance on the subject. I do however have a problem with people who by their own admission have no clue how to use a computer telling me that I am wrong for not using a MAC. I’m sorry but I’ve spent year’s learning how computer’s work. i build computer’s, i play on them, I repair them, I support them, I do more than just use them. I also know how to use a computer (regardless of the operating system) properly. i know that when you go to porn site’s without having a good browser, ad blocking software and anti-virus software you run the risk of getting something nasty. I take care of my pc and it take’s care of me. By saying that your computer is so simple even a mentally handicapped chipmunk could use it should IN NO WAY BE A SELLING POINT! A computer is a tool for doing math, running businesses, editing and viewing different media and in general a tool for doing whatever you desire to do. The more power you have the easier it is to do these things and by POWER I mean knowledge.

Reason #3 “I work with media and I need a mac to do that”

I honestly have no idea where this one came from other than Apple’s tricky marketing. There is absolutely nothing that a Mac can do with regards to editing media (video, audio, photography etc) that a window’s pc cannot do. Nothing. Take for example the Adobe creative suite. This fine collection of software is available for both windows and Mac. I have used both versions over the years (I owned a power mac G4 for a year or so before it died.) and I have found the Photoshop experience on both to be IDENTICAL! There is not a single tool, option or filter that the mac version has that the windows version does not. “What about Audio recording” you say. I have been recording music digitally for over a decade now and never once have i wanted or needed a Mac to do so. Pro tools runs on windows as does several other recording program’s that are just as good if not better than pro tools. I personally use Cubase and not only love it but have never found a single reason to use any other recording software. In the video editing world you also have numerous options that are either the exact same program or a competitive software that does the exact same thing.

Reason #4 “It doesn’t get viruses”

People use this one a lot as a way to show their Apple superiority. It is true that you are less likely to get a virus on a mac than a windows PC but this is not for the reasons that people think. The real reason for this is that the customer base that uses Mac’s is far smaller than the portion that uses windows. Now if you were a hacker who wanted to write a virus that is intended on wreaking havoc upon the masses would you write it for a small group of people or for the majority of the world? Now you may be thinking “Yeah but that’s even more of a reason to be exclusive and to use a Mac” but I’m afraid you would be wrong again. The reason why you are no safer on a Mac than you are on a pc is that people take for granted that they are safe from viruses. If you believe that you will never need anti-virus software you will never install it and when a virus does come around (and they do. trust me) you are totally unprotected and have no chance. Basically a Mac without anti-virus software is just as vulnerable as a window’s machine without anti-virus software. the only difference is that the windows machine has numerous anti-virus software options to choose from (including very good free one’s such as AVG anti-virus) while Mac has very few options and almost none of them are free. You really are no safer on a Mac and after working in the IT support field for years I can tell you that when a nasty Mac virus come’s around it is devastating. A lot of my friend’s who have switched from windows to mac buy a windows pc, never remove any of the junkware that comes with it and then never install any anti-virus software. They then proceed to use internet explorer (which is the worst browser to ever be coded) to look at porn sites and then guess what happens? THEY GET A VIRUS! It’s not your computer’s fault that you looked at virus infested porn site’s without protection. It’s also not your computer’s fault that you did not take the time to do routine maintenance on it.

In closing I would like to say that I am no Window’s fanboy. I use windows 7 on my home pc because it offer’s the best platform for what I use my home pc for. I do everything from photo editing, hardcore gaming, movie watching and other things all without issue. I do however use Linux on my laptop’s and netbook as it simply run’s faster and works great for what I use those devices to do (web browsing, email, listening to music etc). I did not write this post as a defense for windows. A lot of people don’t like windows and i do understand why but every reason that I have been presented as to why they prefer Mac to Windows has simply not been valid to me. Basically all I’m saying is that you can use whatever the hell you want to use just don’t try to tell me that it is better because it really truly is not.

I’M IN A BAND!! Faster Than hell! I’m so grateful to be in this band as it is full of seasoned pro’s of the KC rock scene. So far I haven’t fucked up too badly so I guess I should be doing ok.
ho I wo
I’m also abut to get a promotion/raise at work which is fantastic! I really enjoy where I work and with/for. Good times!!

Wow that girl over there is gorgeous!

Sorry. Got sidetracked. Anyways. Things are good. will type more later. this netbook kinda sucks to type on.

The next day I started recording federation of horsepower at my studio (aka my parent’s house). So far it’s going incredibly smoothly and have knocked out all the drum track’s most of the bass tracks and almost all rhythm guitar track’s. It’s looking like tentatively there is going to be 9 song’s on the album but thing’s can always change.

Lastly I shot a few show’s last week and got some great photo’s. I shot the Bulletboys at aftershock bar and while I wont go into my critique of the performance I can at least say that the photo’s are good. On St. Patty’s day i went to the Riot Room and shot Trainwreck which is Tenacious D’s Kyle Gass’s side project band. They were amazing and put on a truly memorable show. As a long time Tenacious D fan it was an honor to meet KG and Lee. I sent my photo’s to them and they should be posting them to their website here soon which is an awesome thing. So basically I have been crazy busy but overall very happy. Later!

First thing I noticed about mpix.com was the pricing. It’s super cheap. it’s so cheap that it seemed TOO cheap to be real but I pushed those feeling’s aside and uploaded my photo’s. Uploading was easy once I figured out that you cannot upload grayscale jpg’s. Images have to be in rgb to be able to be printed. A quick batch edit in photohop was all that was needed and the photo’s were uploaded. Ordering was simple as well. they have an option to order a specific amount of print’s for each file in a folder so it’s easy to say “I need an 8×10 of all photos” and it’s done. I placed my order on thursday evening at 6:00pm and kept an eye on the tracking number.

Print’s arrived saturday and I was amazed at how fast they got here. 2 day’s from odering to arriving at my doorstep. So i open up the packaging and look at the prints and I am immediately happy. I am extremely picky when it comes to prints. I am a darkroom junkie. i can spend an entire day trying to get a single picture printed the way i want it to be and still not be happy with the end result. I want the black’s to be pitch black not some sort of off black that you get with digital prints. These print’s from mpix.com are what I have been wanting to find and have made me feel that going digital isn’t the end of the world. I will say this about the print’s though. The contrast is ever so slightly softer than what the photo’s look like on the pc screen so if you plan on getting some prints you might want to boost up the contrast just a touch to account for that. My images are already super contrasty so it worked out just fine for me.

i cannot express how happy I am to know that mpix.com is providing this product to the world as it fill’s the gap between traditional black and white print’s and digital workflow. I am a happy man.