Some Basic Woodwork Skills

Step 5 Conclusion

This instructable was the first time I've done joinery in a decade, and I sucked way more back then than I do now. That's just because I was impatient before.

The *basics* of joinery are about common sense and method rather than high levels of skill and obscure knowledge (though they certainly come into play when, say, making foxtail wedges: joints where a peg splays around wedges as it's pushed into a socket, locking it firmly into place without glue or fixings).

These basic techniques can be combined to construct a lot of things out of wood. No matter how awful you think you are at joinery, as long as you're careful and patient you can produce passable woodwork.

Comments

[brisser]

thank You so much sir!

[sabr686]

Thanks Nach, you made it look and sound simpler than ever. Age does tend to mellow you out and make you take your time a lot more too. Mistakes cost money! KN

[SCUBASTEVEAU]

 Just adding my thanks for a job well done, awesome explanations. My father, older brother and father in law are both quite competent at woodwork but I've never really had much flair for it, though good with my hands at other hobbies. I recently moved into a new house that has required a few touches here and there and your instructable has seen my wood work gain a passable quality that even drew admiration from my stoney faced father in law today!
I need more practice but I am now inspired by my improvement, based on instruction from you.
Gold!
SD

[Ngendrer]

I've been working with wood some years ago, not that much ok, but this instructables was great!!! thanks a lot.....

[christophor]

I remember reading this Instructable before, but for some reason I didn't really understand it. I wish I'd followed this advice from the beginning. I'm a suburban dwelling computer repair man with zero wood-working experience since 7th or 8th grade Wood-Shop. That was many years ago. Last year I wanted to build my own computer desk because I don't like the junk they sell these days. I picked up some cheap hand tools and some decent lumber and got started working on the floor in my garage. I figured it would take about an hour. Six months later I had several piles of scrap wood and tetanus shot. I'd drilled holes in my hands, lost almost a whole finger-nail to a dull chisel and suffered numerous cuts, bruises and blood blisters. One day, my four year old told me to be more careful because she was tired of bringing me band-aids. That's when I finally realized I was doing something wrong. Now, it's been more than a year since I started. I've managed to build a decent little workshop in my garage. It includes a sturdy workbench I built from scratch and a small collection of mostly useful tools. I eventually managed to build a decent table that I now use as a desk. I used only the most basic wood construction techniques. I'd hesitate to even call it joinery. It's no masterpiece, but it is strong and it looks good. It must not be too bad because several people who've seen it have offered to pay me to build them dining room tables. Step 5 really resonates with me. I wish I'd followed your advice from the beginning. The most important thing in wood-working, or anything for that matter, is to have enough patience to take the time to do quality work. It may seem counter intuitive that going slower will get you there faster, but it really is true. I'd done nothing but waste time and money until I finally decided to slow down and concentrate on doing quality work. Since then, my skills have improved much faster than I'd expected. Now I have enough experience to recognize that I was an idiot. I'm lucky I didn't do any permanent damage. It's obvious to me how little I know compared to what there is to know. Yet I still managed to do a decent job once I slowed down. Haste makes waste. This is a great Instructable! It's well written and easy to understand. This is great advice for anyone not just beginners. I want my next piece to have more traditional joinery. That's actually why I wound up back here. Thanks for posting this. Great job! Keep up the good work.

[sixstringsandrhyme]

i concur...i've been woodworking for years, but it's interesting and eye-opening to see this tutorial b/c of its level of care...something i didn't necessarily employ in my own work 100% of the time... knowing what i'm doing after a good amount of experience, i can STILL say that this one helped me "smooth-out" some of the rough edges on my cutting habits.  :)  thanks for the tutorial, man!!!

[Zeppelinfreak]

Hey thanks for the tips, I'm just starting to get into woodworking so anything at all is helpful

[konigsberg]

This was great. I went out and bought some tools, found scrap wood, and went about making cuts and chopping joints. They were awful, awful! But damn I did it, thanks to your great instructions, and now I'm not afraid of trying the next thing.

Thanks!

[nadita]

Great job on the tutorial!! The first one I've come across that's an adequate introduction for a complete newbie. Thank you!!!

[Sharad]

You have demonstrated the basic wood working skills so well with excellent illustrations. Felt like starting wood working again to master the skills. Please provide more of these skills e.g mortise and tennon joint Sharad