this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2023
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Woodworking

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A handmade home for woodworkers and admirers of woodworkers. Our community icon is a planter box made by @Captain Aggravated, the winner of our summer '24 woodworking contest. Congratulations!

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[–] [email protected] 66 points 9 months ago (1 children)

"Today we're gonna make an entire dream house for only $0.17. So to start with, let's go outside and see what we can find just laying around."

grabs $47,000metal detector, hops in a $60k 4x4 with clear product placement labels in every shot, two minutes of time-lapse of someone wandering around aimlessly while apparently looking for things

"Alright so we found a couple old glass bottles that can be washed out and made into a rustic display piece, and if you follow me over here you'll never guess what I found. That's right, its 147 acres of forested land with a 6 bedroom, 2.5 floor cabin and small pond, all with blank ownership forms! And with just a couple million graciously donated by my parents, we have all we need!"

" this just goes to show all you need to do to accomplish your dreams is get your hands dirty and do a little hard work."

filler for ad revenue

" Anyway thanks for watching, this episode was sponsored by that game company you hate and can never escape ads for! "

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

2.5 floors? Is that how they describe lofts or something?

[–] [email protected] 64 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Don't forget the plainer, 6ft vices, 14in miter, industrial table saw, ceiling vacuum, 10k sqft working space, chisels, and time.

Oh and the pallet that isn't covered in grime and weathered.

[–] [email protected] 39 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It's like those "I turned this piece of cracked waste wood into this fantastic resin table" videos.

The many buckets of resin in itself costs thousands. And they only passingly mention that the resin was sponsored.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 9 months ago (1 children)

You see something similar on metalworking videos: "I just used this scrap piece of steel/brass/copper/aluminum I had laying around". Conveniently leaving out the fact that it's hundreds of dollars of raw material.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago

To be fair the scrapbin in a Metall workshop thats been running for some time is usually pretty full and has some nice pieces. In production it's often the case that you have to be carefull not to keep to much junk. (Source: professional metallworker)

[–] [email protected] 38 points 9 months ago (2 children)

For me it was more the video "We build this wonderful (some totally expensive wood) box for (absolutely small money)" - and the key point was that he had a large enough cutoff of said expensive wood lying around from a previous project, and all he needed to purchase was some felt and hinges.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago

"I just had this 4 foot slab of walnut laying around"

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I don't get the hate for the Domino. It is an extremely useful tool to save time, but it is a purely luxury thing and there is nothing that you can't do without it. After all, in the end a Domino is just a fancy dowel and you can build anything that is shown in those youtube videos with a cheap dowel-jig. I built complete tables with this jig: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osC9T3WVnlM which cost me 20€ in a set with dowels, drillbits and woodglue. Yes, it took me 2 hours to do the dowelling which would have been 15 minutes with the Domino, but I am only building a table once every 10 years and not weekly like those Youtubers do.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Nobody hates the domino. They hate that it's used in YouTube projects trying to display doing something on the cheap.

If the projects used a dowel jig instead, nobody would complain. But the domino is a very expensive tool and blows the goal of a 35 dollar project.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (2 children)

If the projects shown would use a dowel jig, you would only get one video per month from your favorite channel instead of one per week. Additionally, it would be extremely uninteresting to watch the YouTuber use the dowel jig after the first 2 videos you watch because it is tedious and not very interesting.

And I really dont see the point. As a hobby woodworker you would be able to complete the projects with the same result by using a dowel jig, it would just be more work for you. When they say "I use the Domino because I have it on hand, but you can use any tool that you own to join these boards" that really is true. The Domino does not change the outcome, it just makes the process easier.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 months ago (1 children)

And they're using like 2x4 ft "offcuts" because everyone has offcuts the size if a dining table, right?

[–] [email protected] 27 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I found $17,000 worth of rare Australian long grain chestnut on the side of the road, around the back of a house, inside of a locked building, that was perfectly dry and already pre-planed.

That's how I was able to build this $65,000 table for $35.

They only hang up I had is that for some reason some guy fired a gun at me like 6 times while I was picking it up.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

So, my friend has an 8ft wide industrial planer...

[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 months ago

Meh I don't mind folks investing in their hobby/profession. The click bait is bad, but if there's none of that and they say "I'm making a big fucking table" I totally accept they probably have the equipment to do so well.

I watch mountain biking videos of people on 10k bikes, backpackers wearing 2k in gear easily (plus the time to be away from work for weeks), artists with excellent materials, hell even gamers streaming on very high end gaming PCs that can handle gaming and video capture

[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 months ago

It's weird.

I watch the videos to learn how to use tools and just enjoy the process. You may see a domino tool as a crazy extravagance that nobody has. Another person mentioned the resin or the large workbench as our of reach for most.

I don't even have a room that could fit a small workbench in, I use a tiny folding table thing if I need to saw anything.

Sponsors should always be disclaimed but otherwise I just add the tools to the spreadsheet of dream workshop items and enjoy the video.

Lathe envy intensifies

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago

The difference between the tools they use and the tools you use is that theirs is way more expensive and also a tax write-off.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago

The trick is: use YouTube differently. Ignore the trash, only watch and share the good stuff. After that, watch what it does to your algorithm. You'll discover cool shit.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Probably an unpopular opinion, but Festool makes the ugliest, cheapest looking tools. They look more at home on Wish than an actual job site.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 9 months ago (8 children)

job site

Lol. Carpenters and framers use Dewalt, Milwaukee, Makita, Metabo, and Bosch. If you showed up with a truck full of Festool, we would assume you have more money than sense. I'd expect to see a bunch of Festool in a fine woodworker's shop over a job site.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Commenting from Germany: the amount of Festool I have seen on jobsites is really quite high. Especially due to their good dust collection.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago

Aah, my experience is in America. Yes, I can see festool being much more common in Germany, and possibly not as ridiculously overpriced as it is over here.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

I get if people buy their tracksaw or similar but their drills do look like toys. On the other hand if you're already invested into their batteries and you then also need a drill maybe it makes sense to go with the same brand.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Most contractors I know use Hiltis and that's a lot more expensive than Festool. But there's a sayinh that I heard once: Buy contractor grade tools, never buy contractor grade consumables

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

What's the actual difference between the festool domino and a ryobi biscuit joiner?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I can edge glue boards without all that and they are plenty strong . A little more effort to align them I suppose, but otherwise I don't see the point. If I did a dowel jig is trivial to make.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Don't even need a dowel jig, nail head in-between the boards and a slight tap on either side you have a marking that lines up on both sides

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

Thank you! Youtube has been trying for ages to get me to watch some clickbait video where the thumbnail is a nail between two pieces of wood. Now I finally know what that does without watching the video.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

And if you tape it into the corner of your combination square:

  • the rule part of the square keeps the reference faces aligned vertically
  • the nail can't tip toward one board, causing vertical misalignment
  • consistent centering (or off-centering, if that's what you want)
  • I find it's easier to position the rule on my layout markings than to position a handheld nail. There is a slight offset, of course, but if that's a consideration, do your layout to compensate.
  • I find it's quicker, too.

If you are doing floating tenons, just mark the ends. If your tenons need to be vertical with respect to your reference face, use a long nail or screw, mark the tops, adjust the height, mark the bottoms.

If you can tolerate more offset or are willing to always layout to compensate, drive a woodscrew vertically in a long narrow block with only 2 square faces. Adjust the screw depth as appropriate. The block gives you something to hang onto without taping anything.

And now I bet you're envisioning the construction of your own dedicated jigs made from scraps and wood or drywall screws.

@[email protected]

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

I absolutely agree, usually I go for the ganged up edge planing to get that complementary mating edge. Also if I were more than a hobby shop and doing things for money on a time budget, I'd probably think about buying some of that oh so expensive Festool stuff.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (2 children)

2024 and you can get your Ryobi domino.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (4 children)

People will complain about any number of tools. "THIS GUY HAS $10K IN TOOLS, MINIMUM, NO ONE CAN DO THIS PROJECT WITHOUT ALL THOSE TOOLS!!!1!"

Ignoring the fact that while that particular shop has expensive tools, nobody (sane) goes out and drops all that money at once. Most woodworking projects only need a table saw, a planer, a cordless drill, an orbital sander, glue, sandpaper and finish.

All of the tools can be found cheap on Facebook marketplace, Craigslist, OfferUp, yard sales, or estate sales/auctions.

  • Table saw: I ran with a DeWalt job site saw for years before my wife talked me into getting a saw stop. $350 new, or ~$100 used. You can also find used contractor saws for $300 on a regular basis on the aforementioned platforms.

  • Planer: I used a shitty lunchbox planer for years that I saved from a dumpster with some 3D printed gears that I designed. I bought a used tank of a planer (still only 12", but 230V and weighs about two of me) for $200. You don't need a jointer. Make a jointer sled for your planer and a jointer sled for your table saw. Takes longer, but I still used the planer sled for boards that don't fit on my jointer.

  • Cordless drill: Ryobi has a drill and driver combo for around $100, or get a DeWalt for $60. Or scrape the bottom of the barrel for Harbor Freight that'll get you by for a bit for $20

  • Random orbit sander: I used a $14 one from Walmart for years until my hands started hurting after using it. $100 for a new Makita one, can be found for $50 or less used.

  • Sandpaper: $12 for a massive pack on Amazon

  • Glue: $10 for a medium sized bottle of Titebond II

  • Drill bits: $5 at harbor freight

Woodworking isn't a cheap hobby, but you can get into it with used tools and some restoration work. People love to nitpick shit, and it gets old seeing the same defeatist mentality of people talking themselves out of even trying it.

Space is the only thing you need, but even then, I started on a 5'x5' apartment balcony in Florida, and used an uninsulated, unpowered 9'x16' shed in Alaska for several years.

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