Now the next thing you should be asking me is, “What are the three necessary tools?” Well, the essentials for the foundation of your easy woodworking project or small woodworking project would be:
“3” Essentials Of Woodworking
- Project Plans
- Project Blueprints
- Materials List
Some people may argue with that, but this is the “foundation”, you need to start here and then proceed. Yes, you do need tools, hammers, saws, screwdrivers, but first things first. The whole problem is that everyone one wants to jump in head first. I know they are all excited about creating their wood-craft project and that is good. However, the first rule should be to think about what you are going to make and how you are going to make it and what are you going to need to make it.
What is the problem? The problem is everyone goes off half-cocked and then wonders why their project turned out the way that it did. What I have given you is the “essentials“, the “bare essentials!” This is what you need to a bare minimum. If you want to have any hope of your project having a professional look you have to start with these.
The Plans: The plans are necessary to give you direction, to point you towards your goal, the finished product. Without directed your running in the dark, who knows where you will end up. Not a good thing. The plans tell you almost everything you need to know, how long, how wide, how many and how to. This is, of course, if you have a good set of plans, there are some really shoddy ones out there and even some that don’t even work or make sense, so you need to be careful.
The Blueprints: Blueprints are much like the plans, but are much more detailed and complete to give you the entire picture. These help you to visualise in detail the whole project, which in turn helps you through the small phases of the project because you can see what you are working to and adjust as necessary.
The Materials List: Finally, this is the part that saves you money and time. Without the materials list, you are just guessing and that isn’t a good thing. The list tells you exactly what you need down to the last nail and keeps you from either over ordering or under orders.
The Professional Look: What’s the big deal? Who says your woodworking project has to look professional anyway? Well, it don’t, but it would be nice if it did. I am sure you want a project you can be proud of and one you can show off to your family and friends. Also, if it looks professional you could even start a kind of side business and sell it giving you possibly a part-time income or even more. There are a lot of possibilities for a professional looking project, but not much for one that is not.
What next? I advise you to find a place which can give you the three essentials you need. You need to be careful to get the proper materials for your list of essentials, not all places are as advertised and many are incomplete. If you do that at least you will be off to a running start. It doesn’t mean your woodworking project will be perfect, but it will mean you have a great start to give you the best results for your skill and experience level. Without it, you don’t have much of a chance at all.