In the Fall of 2022, I enrolled in the local adult education program to take an evening class in woodworking. Mt. Diablo has all kinds of great classes and my wife and I will likely take a bunch more over time.
The class I took was "Woodworking 1". It's the first class and upon completion of WW1 and WW2, you can then take any of the other woodworking classes. What I liked about the class was two-fold: it was going to teach me how to use the machines, it cost virtually nothing (ca. $250 for 10 weeks; materials I bought would be extra). In my home shop, I really don't have much in terms of machines. I don't want or feel I need a bunch of machines as I like using hand tools because, well, I enjoy the fine skill I get to develop over time. It became important to me when I stopped working in the lab as a chemist (working with my hands) and became "middle management." Still, I wanted to learn how to safely use them and this seemed like a great way to do so.
The project was a step stool. Always hand to have a step stool in the home. Three or four years ago, I made Christan Becksvoort's shaker step stool and my daughter loved to use in; initially as a step stool and later as a chair when she ate food while watching TV. This step stool would be a bit taller which is good as she has grown quite a bit so something a few inches taller would be helpful.
Construction of the chair was relatively straightforward. I used Paduk and curly maple for the chair and shellac and wax to finish it. The wood choices were a driven by what I could find at Rockler before the class. I had never worked with Paduk before so it was fun to try out a different wood. It behaves a lot like walnut with hand tools. It is a really pretty orange and has a nice spicy chocolate scent when planed. It looks beautiful when finished. The only thing I didn't like about it was the orange dust that it would leave behind. Also, with shellac, some color would leach out. I kept this all in mind when doing the finishing work.
I liked some of the tools, disliked some, and was a bit indifferent to others. Mostly, that's what I want to discuss as the construction was straightforward (thought that doesn't mean I didn't have to think a bit for parts of it).
Jointer
They had a nice one - a Powermatic. In fact most of their tools were nice and they do upgrade on a regular basis. I didn't really enjoy using it. Mostly, I don't like the potential risk for serious bodily injury. In theory, if you do it right, it can be safe. Sorry, it just raises my stress level at the moment. I supposed with a powerfeeder that might make it feel safe. Not in any rush to own one for home.
Planer/Thicknesser
The two of them: a 15" and 24" PowerMatic. I really liked these machines. I felt reasonable safe using them. My biggest struggle working with handtools is getting the wood to desired thickness. It take a lot of effort by hand and at times I've used wood that has been thicker than I'd like. When I finished my formal project for the quarter, we were allowed to do other things until the quarter ended. I brough in some wood for upcomming projects that needed to be thicknessed. What would have taken me a full weekend of work, I did in a matter of 30 minutes (I am slow by the way). Now, speed is not my primary goal in woodworking but, I'd like to have a way to get past some of the donkey work. As such, I ended up getting a DeWalt 735 when it had a Thanksgiving Black Friday sale. Been happy with it the few times I've used it. I also know there is a way to use a sled at home to get it to act like a jointer if I need it.
Table Saw
They had a Saw Stop. Truth be told, I really like the safety features of this tool. Kind of wish Saw Stop had a larger line of tool types with this technology. If so, I would buy them. I would say I'm indifferent to this machine. It really came in handy for some work I did where I needed to make a bunch of repetitive cuts for a time sensitive Christmas gift I am making. I don't mind cross cutting by hand or ripping 1" stock by hand. I have ripped 2" thick stock by hand and don't enjoy that so I definitely need a machine to help with that but the next tool can do that - bandsaw.
BandSaw
I've been wanting a bandsaw for a long time. I could make long rips in thick wood or resaw thick wood for design consideration. They had a variety of bandsaws at the school - Delta, Powermatic, and Laguna. I was happy with all of them. I did some resawing as well curve cuts with a bandsaw and I felt reasonably comfortable with using it. When Powermatic had a 10% off sale over Black Friday, I bought their PM1500 bandsaw. I need to set it up but have a few woodworking things to do first. Plus, it weighs 400 lbs. I have a nice way to get it off the pallet and onto the rolling base when I get to it.
Both the planer and bandsaw I purchased will trigger the need for proper dust collection in the shop. Fortuantely I had been saving for that. It will be either Oneida or ClearVue. Honestly just waiting for either of them to have a 10% off sale. Since I really don' need either tool I purchased, I could easily wait a year if I need to. If there is any upside to the anticipated recession, is I should be able to get a dust collector for a discount. Also keeping my eye open for used models from Oneida as well.
Drill Press
They had two from PowerMatic. I liked them. Then again, I used my dad's drill press from time to time and I knew I would. I will get one in the near future. I don't think it will get much use but handy to have one. Currently on the lookout for a vintage one (art deco era) that has been restored.
Router - hand held and table mounted. Didn't enjoy using them at all. I have no intention of owning one. I call it, along with the jointer, the spinning blades of death. Will that limit some of my woodworking options. Yes. That's fine. I'm not into molding (yet) and if I were, I already have an ok set of hollow and round planes needing some light restoration. As for making grooves, I have Veritas small plough plane and quite a number of blades. It's a handy tool and I like it. Also have the Veritas skewed rabet plane as well.
Oscillating spindle sander
It was handy to use when I had made a bunch of band sawn reindeer as donation gifts. Eventually, I will likely get one at home. More than likely I will see about getting an inexpensive one for home. I don't need it that often but I can see making more band sawn reindeer for donations that the school can sell at their holiday boutique. In that case, less time per unit means I can provide more for the donation if I don't to have to sand them by hand.
Drum sander
They had a Grizzly and are now upgrading to a Powermatic. It came in handy for a few things. Felt safe to use. I don't see myself getting one for home. I use hand planes and I have found ways (by learning from others) how to plan thin stock ca (1/16 to 1/8" thick) by hand.
Chop Saw
They had the Dewalt one. I've used my dad's in the past. I am comfortable using it. I don't intent to get one. It doesn't take long to cross cut a 12" wide board by hand and I actually like doing it. After 7 years, I can saw by had reasonably well so it's not like the chop saw will produce a better cut. Again, I'm not a production shop. If I have to make a half dozen to dozen cross cuts on rough stock on a weekend that would be about the max I ever need to do at once.
Handheld rotary sander
They had one. I didn't use it. I use my hand planes for almost all of my final smoothing of the wood and a little bit of sand paper if I have curves or round overs to smooth out. As such, I just don't see the need for one at home.
Table top mortiser.
The school had one but we didn't need to use it. I have one at home, a Powermatic. I didn't feel confident in my ability to make a good mortise and bought one. I like it. At first I "needed" it to get a decent mortise. Since then, I've learned how to do a mortise by hand. As such, unless I have a lot of mortises I need to do, I prefer to do them by hand. For me, the whole woodworking journey was to develop the hand skills. I really liked my days as an active bench chemist doing highly skilled technical work. I am very good at my management roll, but, I wonder if I had to do it over again if I would have left the bench. Then again, almost all of my peers in grad school, who stayed techinal, ended up no longer working at the bench as most reached a level where managing those who were at the bench became their job. As such, I may not as easily had a choice. Well, that's crap the more I think about it. We all have choices we can make or not make. I just don't think I gave it as much thought and most folks don't. That's ok I have woodworking now to work on my hand skills and at the end of it, I have nice furniture that I likely couldn't afford to purchase.
All in all, very happy with the MDAE WW1 experience. I like the instructor and the school and the teaching assistants. It's a good place to be. So much so, I am now taking woodworking 2. Enjoying it as well. They have woodcarving and woodturning classes as well as other hobbies. As such, I plan to take a lot of classes over time. I used to do a bowling league (till bowling started to hurt my hand) and enjoyed the one night out a week. These classes have that similar feel. I still enjoy woodworking at home but it's nice to woodworking around others from time to time as well.
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