Want to create magic? Take up carpentry

Carpentry is a great hobby to pursue. Nothing can beat the satisfaction of making a small piece of furniture with your own hands. Even if it is just a stool or a small shelf, one can take pride in the whole process of trying to make it as good looking as possible.

With a bit of experience, one can try more complicated pieces of furniture with hardwoods instead of processed woods.

Hardwoods are natural woods like teak, rosewood, sheesham, mango wood etc. that are commonly used to make furniture. Processed woods are sheets of plywood, particle board, medium density fibreboard, block board and so on. Processed woods can be used only for making things like shelves, cabinets or loudspeaker boxes (if one is pursuing electronics as a hobby as well). With hardwoods, one can only be restricted by creativity because it allows the hobbyist to even carve intricate designs, say for an elegant colonial style sofa.

Even if one is not very keen on building furniture, basic knowledge of carpentry can help in fixing small problems with existing furniture or even wooden doors and windows in the house.

Though carpentry requires a bit of physical strength, it is slightly easier these days with a variety of electric power tools available. For instance, instead of the good old wood saw, an electric circular saw can cut a standard eight-foot board in a few minutes without any effort.

However, caution must be exercised while using power tools as bad usage can lead to very nasty injuries. It is mandatory to go through product usage manuals thoroughly and view tutorial videos extensively before using power tools. It is also strongly advised to use safety gear.

There is one other thing required for carpentry: patience, and loads of it. This is particularly important while measuring and marking the wood. There is a saying: measure twice and cut once. Measuring and drawing lines for cutting has to be done carefully because wrong marking will render the piece of wood useless because it might be smaller than it was intended to be.

DH lists a few power tools and accessories that can help one get started:

Tape measure:
Without doubt, this is the first piece of hardware that a carpentry hobbyist must have. A good quality retractable metal tape measure will be handy. A cheap one will cost about Rs 150, but it is advisable to buy a better quality one for about Rs 400.

Wood hammer:
A hammer is an obvious tool for carpentry. It could one with a medium-sized head and a good quality one will cost about Rs 300.

Try square:

Try square. Picture credit: commons.wikipedia.org/ Luigi Zanasi

This is a tool to mark perfect right angles while marking wood for things like cabinets or shelves. There is another tool called a speed square that can also be used. A try square will cost about Rs 100 or so for a small one and the cost will go up depending on the length of the ruler it has. A speed square will cost upwards of Rs 400 and up to Rs 2000 for a higher quality one.

Power drill:

Cordless power drill: Picture credit: flickr.com/ HomeSpot HQ

A drill can be used to make holes or tighten screws. A power drill that works on mains power can be bought for as little as Rs 1,000. These days, cordless battery-powered drills are becoming popular since they are not restricted by the length of the power cord. Cordless drills obviously don’t have this problem. They cost upwards of about Rs 2,500.

Circular saw:

Circular saw. Picture credit: commons.wikipedia.org/ Rasbak

This is used to cut sheets of processed woods. Several professional carpenters often use stone saws/ cutters to cut wood. Stone cutters generally cost lesser than circular saws but they run at a faster speed and this tends to burn the wood or produce poor cuts. A circular saw is meant to cut only wood and the speed is set accordingly. Circular saws made to cut wood will have blades that are bigger in diameter than in stone cutters. The price of circular saws begins from about Rs 3,500.

Jigsaw:

Jigsaw. Picture credit: commons.wikimedia.org/ Widar23

This has a narrow blade and is useful for cutting circles or intricate curves in sheets of wood. A jigsaw can be used to cut thin metal sheets too, but a different blade will have to be used. Jigsaws are priced Rs 2,000 and above.

Sander:

Orbital sander. Picture credit: flickr.com/ Mark Hunter

As the name suggests, it is used to smoothen wooden surfaces. The cheapest sander is called an orbital sander and is priced upwards of about Rs 2,500.

Plunge router:

Plunge router. Picture credit: en.wikipedia.org/ AussieLegend - Own work

This is for the slightly advanced woodworker. This is useful while cutting circles and can produce more precise cuts than a jigsaw. Routers can also be used to make rounded edges from wood sheets, cut grooves on pieces of wood sheets. It is an extremely versatile tool that has many uses. A basic router is priced Rs 4,000 upwards but smaller versions of these are available from Rs 2,000 onwards.