Tools you need to get started | Tools I use
Recommendation Picture
The minimum tools for you to get started Must have
Those are must-have items in my opinion. They are not necessary the cheapest options but the safest and most newbie friendly. Shop safety is always my top priority.
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1 Drill and impact driver set & bits
This is probably one of most must-have tools you need to buy at very beginning. Even if you don't do woodwork at all, this is a good tool set for home owners. A quality set will last you for a long time. Here I pick Makita 18V LXT platform as by far it has the most quality tools on the market for this platform.
2 Pocket hole jig
Pocket hole probably is one of easiest and yet strong joinery. It's very popular in cabinetry making world today. I think it's also good for beginners as besides cabinetry there are still so much it can do! I would recommend Kreg as it's simple and affordable. I've had my over 2 years now and it's still very strong and work extremely well!
3 A hammer
A 16 oz. rip claw hammer is good for beginner and hobbyist. Nice weight balance and still very powerful!
4 Wood chisel set & sharpening tool
You probably will not use this too often at this point so just pick a cheap one from the big box store near you or online.
5 Slide-out knife
6 Clamp sets
Everyone know that you can never have enough clamps, but you don't need to go super crazy right now. Just buy what can get you started at the moment.
I also recommend you buy the set to save money.
Bessey has best clamps but also very expensive, so you can just buy small clutch clamps(less than 24in) from them.
Jorgensen clamps are more affordable but also with are good so you can buy 36in or above from them and heavy duty ones.
Lastly, for anything over 48in, don't buy those commercial parallel clamps as they are extremely expensive! Just buy some 1/2x48in steel pipes,Pony Jorgensen pipe clamp fixture and coupling fittings to connect them into a longer clamp. See my video for more details: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8R49wB8/
7 Tape measure
You want a good quality tape measure. No need too long, usually a 16 ft. will be more then enough. I personally like auto lock feature but that's an optional for you.
It's very import to stay with imperial if you are in North America as I found imperial was extremely easy to work with.
Coming from a metric world I surprisingly found imperial worked much better for me in woodworking in the States as pretty much all material are designed to pair in inch. Based on 2 worked exactly great when doing hand work. Eg: to measure the gap on both end of a drawer, it’s easy to divide by 2. Also, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 thickness in material makes more sense to me than 19mm and etc.
8 A saw for sheet materials
Circular saw (battery powered) will be a good choice for you at this point. You should choose a battery powered in the same platform with your other power tools.
9 Drill press
Not for a long time you will know that be able to drill perpendicularly is very crucial in many woodworking occasion. Here I recommend a cheap but good drill press to get you started. However, I also know that this might not be ideal as it might be taking too much of your space so I will have an alternative for you: handheld drill guide.
Milescraft is a great brand! I like it so much for its perfect pricing point.
10 Small measuring tools
Besides a tape measure, you also need 1 or 2 small measuring tools. A high quality small 3in square and a caliper are necessary in day-1 in my opinion. Otherwise, the stuff you made will be quite off. You need to maintain a certain accuracy in production so the final piece can be beautiful.
For your caliper, a fractional dial caliper is way more easy to use then the regular one, as the reading can easily match with other measurements! Highly recommended!
Optional for now
The following are optional to buy at the beginning. I suggest that you don't need to buy them until you absolutely need them, meaning you just can't finish a project with your current arsenal.
Strap clamp with 90-degree corner pieces
Variable speed keyless corded jigsaw
Cordless variable speed oscillating multi-tool
Okey, I'm confident that you can get started right now. If you need any other optional tool, hardware and material recommendation, feel free to find them here. Those are I hand-picked on every of my past projects, so I can make sure they are useful and easy to use for most of woodworking hobbyists just like myself!