PTS Flowbench Forum

Hey guys,

It feels silly asking, but are there some basic woodworking tips covered on the PTS forum somewhere? I've got a skillsaw and some sawhorses, but I don't have a router, table saw, etc, and I'm not really a woodworker. I'm ready to start building my bench and would like to collect any extra tools that I may need. Though I have little woodworking experience, I'm half-arse handy around the milling machine and lathe, so I figure that doing the woodwork can't be that bad.

Ciao,

~Josh

YouTube brother.....

Following Racepumper idea .... This guy has many tips Joinery ... learned a lot ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfQbOhE7CBI

Practice on scrap wood first!

Josh, you might be surprised how cheap a Chinese router is.

Myself, I always feel a lot more comfortable building things out of metal.
A skill saw will work fine.
The trick is to use a fresh sharp blade, and clamp some aluminium angle to the piece being cut to guide the edge of the saw or router.
If you are fanatically careful in positioning and clamping down your guide pieces very precisely, you can cut a dead straight square cut, within a few thousandths of an inch.

Think every cut through very carefully first, and don't be in a hurry.
As already said, practice on some scrap first.

And YouTube

Brucepts wrote:Practice on scrap wood first!

When I get done all my wood is scrap

I suppose I wasn't sure if I needed to collect more tools for the PTS flowbench project.

Racepumper, you're right, Youtube is quite an invaluable resource.

I suppose that my main concerns are that my current tooling is pretty limited. I have some drill motors and a circular saw. If a router is really required, I will go get one. If not, I'm happy to just use my drill with some hole saws or whatnot... I realize that I need to go out and grab my motors (I have 6 of the Surplus Center ones... I realize they have different models, will get specifics later) and measure the dimensions to be sure of my hole diameter needs.

I don't suppose I'll be able to cut 8" holes for deck plates with a hole saw though. It looks like a router is in my future.I looked at routers a bit today. We have a discount tool store nearby, they have factory refurbished Ryobi plunge router for something like $60, and several packages of router bits.

Hotz, that guy on Youtube shows some pretty neat stuff, and he's kind of funny too. I guess he gets on my nerves a little bit in that particular video, but I can overlook that as he does seem to have quite a bit of good information to share. I've watched other videos of Steve Ramsey and he's grown on me a bit. Anyone who dedicates such time and effort for a community of enthusiasts is alright in my book.

You definitely need a router. I just finished my build and router was the most important tool in woodwork. I bought a cheap chinese one and it worked for me just fine, I ended up doing almost all the woodwork with it. You can do very precise job with a router if you take your time and set up every cut properly.