Woodworking for beginners can be very challenging; this is because most of them have not mastered the basic techniques which are required. The golden rule is that if you do not know something then what you need to do is to learn. The same case applies to a newbie in woodworking; if you do not know how to go about it then you need to learn. In woodworking, there are many things that you need to learn to become good at what you do. However, these are the quick start tips which you need to get you started.
1. Type of Lumber
This is the first tip that you need to know, this is because there are very many types of woods which are categorized into two main categories. There is the softwood and hardwood, the reason as to why you need to know the types of wood is because each category has its own advantage and disadvantage. The types of softwood include; fir, pine, cedar, and spruce, the type of hardwood include; mahogany, cherry, birch, and maple. It’s important to know about the different types of lumber as each has its own set of characteristics. A customer may require you to use either softwood or hardwood, thus you need to know which one to use.
2. Essential Tools
The next equally important tip that you need to know is what the essential tool that you need for your work. There are a wide range of tools which are required meaning you need to know how to choose the right one. One of the most important tools is the planner and as a beginner choosing the right planer is crucial. Once you learn about the basic of woodworking then choosing the essential tools become much easier. This is because you need to buy the tools which you know how to use and before using them reviewing the safety measure is quite important. The kind of tools that you will need will mostly depend on the kind of project that you will be handling. However, it’s important to learn about the essential tools which are must have for any woodworking project.
3. Lumber Properties
As much as it is important to know the types of wood you also need to know the properties of wood. This is to enable you to know how to treat wood and use it as intended. Some of the things which you may need to know are wood swell and shrink depending on humidity. Wood is much stronger if it stretched at the grain. The other property of wood that you need to know is there are some types which bend under pressure and others which are not suitable to be used when dry. The other tip is that one should not pick wood which has knots or from the center of the tree. Learning all the property of wood will allow any newbie to make the right decision when it comes to selecting the right kind of lumber for different projects.
