Your First Five Woodworking Power Tools (Fixit Fingers Fiver)

In this week's episode of Fixit Fingers Fivers, we look at the most important aspect of starting a woodworking hobby, Power Tools! Now we are talking HAND power tool, not larger bench tools like a table saw. They are smaller, cheaper, more accessible and a great place to begin your learning before moving on to the bigger investments.

After I list the 5 I believe you should start with, I'm going to discuss prices vs quality of budget (Work Zone / Ozito), DIY (Ryobi / Bosch Green), and Trade / Professional (Makita, Bosch Blue, Milwaukee, AEG, DeWalt, Rigid etc) level tools, as well as some side topics like battery vs corded. So stick around until the end.

Big Box DIY Level Tools - Get Building this Weekend! (Should Be Well Under AUD$500 Total)

A cordless Power Drill (Kit, with Batteries and Charger), a cordless Circular Saw, a corded Random Orbital Sander, a corded Jigsaw & a Trim Router (either cord or no)

180mm (7") Japanese Pull Saw (Ryoba) from last week -

My Makita Hammer Drill (with 2x Batteries & Charger) -



Already know what you are doing. What are YOUR top 5 tools? What do you take out of mine to make room? Comment below! :D

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00:00 - Your First 5 Power Tools
07:05 - Price vs Quality / Battery vs Corded Discussion

[DownUnderWoodWorks]

Great video James, well pitched. Held my attention right to the end.

[lesteryip]

Very helpful video. Finally find a channel from Australia. Mostly from US referring to inches. Keep scratching my head trying to convert it back to cm. Keep it up.

[sumosprojects]

Fantastic presentation James, budget tools for folks whom tinker & costly tools for folks whom use em daily all day long, great tip Fingers 🍻🍻🇦🇺🇦🇺👍👍

[BuiltByChris]

Excellent review. And I agree with you 100% with everything you have said. In my circle of friends and acquaintances, I am the go to guy for anything tool related. I have recommended Ozito tools to anyone who only drills a hole once every blue moon or so. Like you said, for the price I think they are pretty good value. And I also have (not only the yellow tools) but, a Festool Domino. I had to sell a kidney to get it, but it is a fantastic machine. Lot of great info in this video, and will help a lot of people getting into the game. Well done. PS. thanks for the shout out.

[IsaKocoglu]

Awesome stuff Buddy.

Thank you for answering our questions
👌🇦🇺👍

[Tomeccho]

All my tools are Ozito... except for the beloved trim router which is Ryobi. It's the only hand power tool I wanted to spend a bit more on to get a better tool.
Ozito is fine for bastard cuts and roughing out, they're cheap but still gutsy and you know if you wallop them too hard it won't break the bank to replace them. That said, I've had all mine for 4-5 years now, exact same 5 tools as here except I have an Ozito angle grinder too, and they are all still going strong. The angle grinder and jigsaw have even spent a night in the rain (don't ask lol) and still come out grinning.
The only real difference in the 5 Tool Starter Pack shown here is my sander is a detail sander, not an orbital and all mine are corded. I'm happy to have the inconvenience of cords over the inconvenience of tools going flat when I need to use them or being flat because I forgot to charge them 😂 Plus, batteries don't last forever.
My only other power tool is a dropsaw, also Ozito. Not much you can't make with that small arsenal.

[dereklark]

Great video James. For me I like a track/plunge saw over the circular saw but that is purely a personal thing.

[sheilbwright]

Great well thought out. But since you asked for it, partly because I am a klutz, I prefer the barrel style jigsaw since you have a modicum of more control. For the router I started with the 1/2 inch since with the hardwoods the trimmer was underpowered and the choice of router bits is greater. I now have the same trimmer and I am impressed with how useful it is and it the router I use the most but if I could only have one it would be the beast.
Cheers

[Nedswoodworks]

Great review there James, I have a Ozito circular saw and use it sparingly but it does the job when called apron, I bought a Makita 91/4 back 30 years ago and it’s still in my Triton 2000....I like blue too.... got a good tip of Mark D and bought the MT sander wow that thing is awesome for power!!... keep up the good work mate. Learning all the time!

[SMee]

Well said mate, that was a pretty well thoughtout and presented spiel. 👍🏽
Something for everyone no matter what level they are at. 👌🏽

[damiangianchino]

Hi James - I’m really interested to hear your opinion of a cheap track saw vs something like your circular saw and all the Kreg gear you have?

[ausfox]

Great video, very helpful.
Be careful with top brands as they have Trade and general which are very similar in style.

[Mauricio_Ferrari]

James what about the Ryobi jigsaw? if you were starting again would you buy it for the kind of work you do? I'm about to start with some basic round cuts and I'm in doubt if should start with a second hand Ryobi that I found or with an AEG one that is at the top of the budget.

[Wackywoodworks]

I am locked into AEG tools now its a love hate relationship... love the tools hate being locked in and being a brand snob... lol...But like you that what I normally say to people that ask what brand should I get, ... I normally add pick a brand and stick with it.

[DavesShed]

Thanks for the video. You missed HiKOKI (formally Hitachi) and AEG. I disagree with you that it is just about the colour. There are small differences in quality and there are definitely differences in range.
I had 'personalised' notifications on and I wasn't getting any notifications of your videos. Now I have set it to "All".

[Mauricio_Ferrari]

Hey James, this is a very good video. Would you mind talking about that blue guide for the circular saw? or if you have talked about it in another video could you please link to it?. Thanks, regards from New Zealand.

[kuffyswoodwork]

Well done mate, you have chosen wisely with Makita. Makita is like the Collingwood Magpie's of the tool world "simply the best" 😂🤣👍

[Ace-zbxr]

Hand held belt sander > orbital sander, especially the ones that can be function while upside down on a flat surface. It allows you to sand both big projects and small parts. Even if you get one that can't be flipped, I'd still suggest the belt sander due to its power and ability to remove material quickly. I think the biggest question to ask yourself is if you had to sand small parts or big projects by hand, the decision is easy. As for "premium" tools, they exist soley for taxation reasons. The quality difference doesn't justify the price difference, especially the laughable table saws.
As for brands, each brand does something a little different. The shape and weight of the Makita drill and driver is much better than the bulky Dewalt varients. Not all the tools from the same brand are the same in quality so pick them up, check the power, feel the material quality etc before you buy.
I look forward to the video on available timber in Aus. Sometimes it feels like there's only 3 types, Pine, Vic Ash, and firewood.

[byforge]

I would say get rid of the jigsaw, and replace it with a good electric heated beard brush. Every woodworker needs one of those

[briansbuildsandoutdoors]

Powder tools? Did read that right? Anyway mate, I'm a teal fan but I do have yellow and green in the armoury too. All the best, Brian.