Best tools for building furniture

Today we are going to do precisely that and start at the beginning… well kind of. Now this list was what I like to call the absolute skinny, meaning that it only lists those items that are absolutely necessary, supremely crucial, and totally vital to build something.

But this list, the one that I am finally getting around to writing today, is for the fun stuff and those items you will need to really truly be utterly successful in your furniture builds, and without suffering from Angina along the way.

Now, just like the first list here , there are going to be some items included that are fairly specific to the task at hand.

No point in aimlessly buying tools that will sit around untouched, collecting dust. A Battery Operated Portable Nailer …. A nail gun might seem intimidating at first, and with good reason.

These suckers are indeed a deadly weapon and not to be underestimated for any reason. With proper precaution and a few good reads of the manual, this is by far the most convenient and time saving tool in my arsenal outside of my saw, which I will get to next.

I included a nail gun compressor combo on the original list of must haves, so this item is simply the updated, more portable version of that item and feels a bit like a splurge for just how time saving and easy it is to use, so I would indeed recommend you go this route if you will need to use finish nails or brad nails for any reason whatsoever. The bigger the blade, the larger the cut and having the compound capability can miter and bevel at the same time is crucial on occasion, though most of the time either a miter or a bevel is all that is necessary.

Having a saw that will do these gorgeous things, set up in an easy to access location is quite literally a requirement for me to be able to build. If you are balancing babies, like I am balancing babies, being able to get in and get out when inspiration strikes is quite literally a make or break for me.

Not to mention it will give you the ability to cut as you build which is always a good idea so that you can measure and cut to length as needed.

The end. But… a cordless drill and an impact driver are absolutely lovely to have on hand. Even a quick change chuck is a tad inconvenient when you need to switch between drilling and driving with any kind of frequency. While there are a few variations of handsaws, a universal handsaw will allow you to do both rips and crosscuts.

You will have to plane and sand your wood to bring it a refined and aesthetic look. Skimp down on sanding and any imperfections will get exacerbated after you apply a finish. As with other tools, you may get confused by the fact that there are several different types of hand planes. The first plane that you should get is a No. With sufficient practice, a jack plane can be used as a smoothing plane and a jointer. Later on, you can think about expanding your hand plane collection with planes specifically designed for smoothing a No.

I have an entire guide that explains everything you need to know about hand planes so make sure to check it out. A lot of your time in the workshop will be spent on sanding. Again, sanding sessions can be quite long. Longer than a battery can handle. Orbital sanders use circular sandpaper disks. If you find the corded variant impractical, then make sure you have at least 1 spare battery for your sander.

A detail sander will help you reach places and angles where other larger sanders would not fit. For a start, a random orbital sander should be more than enough. It is worth having a few excess packages of sanding disks in your shop at all times. As soon as you open your last box of sanding discs, add them to your shopping list. Do not push a sanding pad to its limit. As soon as you start feeling that it lost its grit, throw it out.

And avoid the temptation to save them for later. Just throw it out. They are not expensive and there is no sense in wasting your time with a disc that has long lost its grit power. There are many different grit sizes. For any wood, you will want to start with a grit disc and move up to grit. You have to be very diligent about removing any dust after sanding as it will ruin any finish that you apply. First, remove any dust with a brush or a vacuum.

Then, take a piece of cloth, apply some mineral spirit to it and wipe your sanded wood with it to make your wood as clean as possible.

Only then proceed to the application of a finish. A finish gives wood a refined look and protects it from environmental hazards. You can get overwhelmed by the array of choice of different finishes. Selecting a finish for your wood does not have to be complicated, though. Namely, there are two main categories of finishes: layered and oil-based. A layered finish sticks to the surface of the wood and provides more protection.

Used to effectively dissolve or break substances like lacquer, varnishes, oils, and paints off of surfaces, brushes, and other tools.

Masking tape is made out of very thin paper that is easy to tear and release. You can use it to create clamps or mask off any areas that should not get painted or coated with a finish.

Another great use for tape is to avoid tear-outs when cutting across the grain. You will find masking tape very handy so go ahead and buy it in bulk. A good drill is paramount to any working shop. Here are our top 5 picks! This thing is probably numero uno on your must have list for DIY furniture building.

It's great for seamlessly piecing boards together. Quick Grip Clamps: A lot of times in furniture building you will wish you had more than two arms.

Clamps help with that. They're also great for holding pieces together overnight for a super tight fit. Finish Nailer: A good finish nailer is important for a professional looking product. We've recently upgraded ours and it's made a huge difference. No more goobered technical DIY term nails! Cordless Drills: If there if one thing that you can't have too many of as a DIY furniture builder or home owner for that matter , it's cordless drills.

Compound Miter Saw: We've been previously lucky in the fact that Nate's dad was "storing" his saw in our garage. Then, clamp these guides onto the cabinet at that location and install the slide. I may not use these often to install my slides, but I do really love them for helping me install my drawers. Once the slides are in place, I can turn these around and clamp the opposite direction to hold my drawers still while I install them onto the slides.

And finally, if you are installing new hardware on cabinets, furniture, etc, this is a handy jig to use to keep things consistent. To set it up, simply measure the distance of the screw holes on your pulls measure center to center and adjust the drilling holes on the front of the jig to match. Note that one side is metric and one side is standard. Then, you just have to measure to find the center of the drawer horizontally, clamp in place, and drill the holes for the pull.

It works the same for the doors, too. Simply adjust the distance you want the pulls to be from the door edge, clamp in place and drill. But if you are doing several, this jig is really helpful to save time and prevent crooked pull installations.

One of the most versatile tools for cabinet making is also one of the smallest. This simple Kreg Multimark tool is handy for lots of things like adjusting the blade depths on various tools. And you can run this along the edge of a piece to make a smooth mark all the way across. This is helpful for lining up the bottom panel during assembly. You can remove the knob and place the metal piece on the opposite side to adjust for various angles, too.

So, that covers cutting, assembling, doors, drawers, shelves, and hardware. Be sure to pin this post so you can save it for reference! Facebook Instagram Pinterest YouTube.