[vreed]

I  new(ish) to hand tool woodworking and am trying to create a project list for honing my skills.  Any suggestions on beginning projects?

Topic

[Mike in TN]

#2027471

I would start with some hand tool appliances such as bench hooks, shooting boards, marking gauges and similar items and then use those to support additional shop item work. They can normally be made from scraps and any minor flaws will only be known to you. You add to the shop capability while you hone your skills.

[Seth Ruffin]

#2027472

I have not been traditional woodworking long either. I have mostly tried to do workshop projects; shooting boards, saw till, saw bench, building a bow saw or other tools, I ended up building a workbench my first year but I really needed one and didn’t find it that daunting. I’m sure in years to come I will find faults with it but it works way better than the little 20″ x 30″ top I was trying to plane all my projects on. I’ve heard some people suggest tool totes. I hope to build a traditional tool chest for all my tools in the next year. I think it partially depends on the type of builds your interested or excited about and what skills you have and want to develop.

[theolithic71]

#2027478

Honing

I suggest learning honing as a skill honing activity.

[Travisg]

#2027598

Work bench

As others have mentioned, I am doing the same in starting with projects that build my workshop. I am a beginner as well and have found it nearly impossible to enjoy working on anything without a solid work bench. This has become one of my first projects. It is teaching me a lot about joinery, planing, finish work and more. Once my bench is complete, I hope to be spending more time in the shop and less time on YouTube learning the tricks of the trade.

[ScottM]

#2027601

I concur with others here. I’ve been building my appliances, bench hook, shooting board etc – moving toward a bench and tool cabinet for the workshop.

In terms of building skills I’ve been making small boxes.

I’ve also been driving my wife crazy searching local markets and the interwebs for more hand tools :)

 

[MikeT]

#2027611

The first thing I did!

The very first thing that I did was the Roubo Book Stand that Roy Underhill showed how to do on one of the episodes of The Wood Wrights Shop!  It turned out really well, but you have to pay attention to how and where you do the chisel work for the hinge!  All in all it is a great starter project to start doing something that you can do with just hand tools and actually get it done in a after noon or two.

Mike T

[Author]

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