Tools, tool, tools. So many to choose from, yet which is right for the job at hand? A circular saw simply can’t be beaten if you need to cut down a piece of lumber or plywood to size. The handheld tool known as the circular saw has a cousin known as the table saw. For serious woodworking and carpentry, you cannot have a workshop without a table saw. Just make sure you use it correctly and don’t fool around with it.
Saber Saw
A saber sawutilizes a very narrow saw to cut. While a saber saw moves along and cuts more slowly than a circular saw, it can also be used to cut the same kinds of curves and zigzagging lines of a circular saw. The best use for a saber saw are with lumber products that measure an inch in thickness. Too much thicker and you may run into trouble. Too much thinner and you run the risk of splitting the wood. You can fit your saber saw with an array of different blades that allows it to cut through everything from sheet metal to hard plastics.
Router
The router is an electrical must-have for any workshop that needs to make grooves in wood. An electrical router can handle just about any kind of groove that you need in your woodworking project, but once you become a master artisan, the router expands to become a tool that creates genuine works of art. While the beginner can use a router to make contours that would be useful in molding, the expert can use a wood router to design truly elaborate and breathtaking carvings, inset letters and numbers as well as geometric designs. A convertible attachment allows you to use some routers as an electric plane.
Orbital Sander
The orbital sander moves the sanding part of its mechanics in an orbital pattern. Orbital means circulating patterns as in the ways that planets orbit the sun or hangers-on orbit around their celebrity friends. You can use different types of grit paper to remove different levels of wood. The orbital sander leaves you with a very smooth wood finish. Any woodworker how uses their workshop to build cabinets absolutely has to own an orbital sander.
Electric Drill
An electric drill, whether corded or cordless, is another essential tool for the woodworking shop. The electric drill can be used for drilling and boring holes, of course, but it can also be used for so much more. Accessorize with a sanding disk and you can maybe get by without an orbital sander if you don’t do heavy duty sanding very much. The electric drill also becomes a powerful screwdriver used for both screwing and unscrewing screws. Attach a wire brush and your electric drill can remove rust, dirt and old paint. The electric drill also comes in handy as a buffing wheel. Layers of cloth mounted on an arbor that fits into the drill chuck means you can polish anything from silver jewelry to a cast iron skillet.
