Newbie in Bahama

[DavidD]

Hello all, my name's David and I live in Bahama, NC (north Durham). Glad to have found this group. I'm pretty new to woodworking - have gotten along pretty well with all sorts of DIY projects and have been thinking for quite some time about getting into woodworking. I have a garage that I'm turning into a makeshift workshop until I get my dream of my own separate building. I have a decent table saw, any suggestions on what tool would be a good next purchase?

I noticed the big auction going on in Greensboro ("mother of all lumber auctions" in the Hot Deals) and was wondering if anybody may want to go in on a lot or two - I figured it may be a good time to start a stock of scraps to be.

I was also wondering if any of you know of good web resources for ideas / designs for kid's furniture. I'd like to make a good, sturdy crafts-etc table and chairs for my 2.5 year old nephew (I figure he won't complain too much if there are a few imperfections in my first project).

Anyhow, looking forward to making plenty of dust and learning lots from ya'll.

Thanks,
David

[sapwood]

Welcome to NCWWer, David!

Tools??? You want tools
We're here to help

FWIW, I'd go with drill press, router, planer, jointer, and bandsaw . . . and finding a good deal often trumps tool preference.


Enjoy,
Roger

[BriarJim]

Hi David,
I'm new to the site and live near you. Hope we can work on something together. What tools you buy depends on what you want to build and how you want to go about it, in my humble opinion. You get a lot of opinions. If you hook up with someone who is willing to dress the wood (planer, joiner) down to dimensions you can use to build from there, it would be worth not having to invest in those.
I personally prefer to work as much as possible with hand tools, I just like the quiet, less dust etc. I feel a decent and stable table saw and solid workbench are necessities. For me the 3 things I can't do without are my Lie-Nielsen low angle jack plane, Japanese douzuki saw and waterstones for sharpening the plane blades and chisels. I am always amazed at the difference true sharpness makes.
But the best tool is you-your eyes, hands, attitude and imagination. Be safe. And I've been told there is always more than one good way to do anything in woodworking and there are no mistakes-only opportunities to improve the design.

[Trent Mason]

Welcome to the site David. I would buy whatever you need on a project-by-project basis. This gives you the opportunity to learn each tool as needed, instead of leaving it on a shelf.

It is great to have you here. This is a wonderful group of folks so feel free to jump right in at anytime.

[ScottM]

Welcome to our team David.