5 Things to Know Before Getting Started with Woodworking

If you’re considering kick-starting your woodworking hobby or career, then welcome to new beginnings. As with new beginnings, understanding the guiding principles of woodworking will get you on your feet in record time. 

These principles cut across tool handling, information about wood, ensuring safety, and how to enjoy the learning phase. So, here are the things you need to know to ensure you are successful at this new initiative: 

  1. Know and Understand Your Wood – For those who can actively remember the journey to getting a driving license, learning the basics before entering a car was transformational. This was because you ended-up understanding a vehicle’s working system and the role each part played in steering it. So, also will having a working knowledge of the different types of wood you’d be using help you become a professional woodworker. 

With this knowledge, you would know the type of lumber that meets your peculiar project needs. You would also understand the impact of your immediate environment on wood. This reduces shrinking, warping, and other blemishes that may affect your work. 

  1. Know Your Tools – It should come as no surprise that knowledge of the tools you intend to create with is the second thing you need to know as a beginner. Your knowledge about wood grains and how they affect cutting motion when using saws will simplify your task every time you cut and this goes for how you use other tools. 

Understanding your tools also include taking care of them to ensure they deliver every time they are needed. 

  1. A Dedicated Workspace is Required – The Art of woodworking requires you to pay attention throughout working hours to produce quality items and for safety reasons. To regularly achieve a zen-like state during woodwork, distractions must be properly managed, the location of your tools should be known, and the workspace organized. This is why a space dedicated solely to your practice is needed. The dedicated space does not have to be a large garage or basement but something adequate enough that allows you to concentrate. 
  2. Know the Basics of Woodworking Safety – Woodworking involves the use of power tools and equipment with sharp edges that can sometimes be moving at speed. It is also a fact that using a basic tool such as a hammer wrongly can cause injury to the individual. This is why understanding the basics of woodworking safety measures is important before getting started. The basics also involve learning about the protective gear or items and type of clothing you’re expected to have when practicing. 
  3. Learn to Read Woodworking Plans – Woodworking Plans consists of the information needed to create a piece. A plan generally comes with the dimensions of components, list of materials, the size for cutting a piece of wood, and in some cases drawings. The information contained in a plan simplifies the creative process and ensures you can always check your progress for accuracy. 

Most of the expert woodworkers you intend to follow on YouTube will also provide plans for the pieces you intend to copy. Thus, learning to read woodworking plans before getting started will be of huge benefit to your career. 
You can learn more about getting started with woodworking in this comprehensive woodworking guide for beginners.