Woodworking Tools // Watch Before Buying

This video covers the worst woodworking tools I purchased early on. If you want to save money, watch this entire before buying. There are plenty of videos talking about what tools you should buy, but none talking about what you shouldnt buy. I wasted a lot of money starting out, let me help you avoid that before you buy something thats a waste.

Links to products mentioned

[tonycummings]

no clickbait, no annoying acoustic guitar, straight to the point, please never change

[ScottWalshWoodworking]

I just wanted to say that I really appreciate you wearing the same t-shirt the next day for the sake of continuity.

That's all.

[scratchinjack]

Yep. I'm a "two lines past the third big line" measurer. So I switched to metric. Much easier to count in tens.
I use all the "sucky" clamps and I'm okay. I do very little wood working as I a m a different hobbyist and just make tables and simple cabinets but your advice is invaluable

[chuckc]

These are the neighbors clamps I borrowed, and still have years later.

[ThomasKentgaming]

Biggest mistake was any tool I bought with an imaginary use in mind. Expanding the selection for a specific purpose has always felt good. The “this seems like it will be useful eventually” purchases have rarely turned out that way.

[jameswaldo]

Being an actual paid safety guy, I definitely appreciate you promoting safety! 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️😂😂 Your videos have been great and taught me a lot. Thanks and please keep up the good work! 👍👍

[danielrybin]

Honest opinion - i find your style of deadpan comedic delivery hilarious. Keep it up, love the videos!!

[mainerdiy]

Another tip in the tape measure category, buy shorter length tapes. When was the last time you measured a 25' board in the shop?

[johnvodopija]

Thank you for the video. I bought two micro jig grippers when I bought my first table saw. It really helped build my confidence using the saw safely. Keep up the great content. I really enjoy your no bs approach 👍😎🇦🇺

[justkirk]

Great video - and sound advice. Completely agree with the Bessey corner clamp thing - I chucked mine as well. Only one cringe moment. At 6:09 in your video, the way you are sawing (toward the holding hand) is a recipe for a nice cut - trust me, I know this! Never cut or saw toward exposed soft bits.

[scottv.]

I felt the remark about the tape measure. I did end up buying one with the fractions and it has metric and I have found myself using metric measurements more now, it is just easier.

[ButchB]

I got down a Paul Sellers hole late one night and wound up buying a beautifully refinished Stanley #5 1/2 Jack plane within a couple days. I had no business dropping nearly $100 for a hand plane early on. Thank god someone (wood worker for years...) bought it off me for the same price. I literally drove straight to Woodcraft and bought a 6in Starrett combination square and use it all the time and I. Love. It. Every time I pull it out of my apron...which was another great first-ish purchase: an apron or tool belt. I’m not going to lie, I still feel like an imposter wearing a tool apron, but it is so much more efficient and enjoyable than looking everywhere for your most used tools.

[Not_TVs_Frank]

I wasn't sure what was going on when I saw you starting with half of my gear on your bench, but you went and supported all my choices. I was lucky to miss most of the mistakes and land on better stuff. I did end up with a 90˚ clamp as a gift, but that got replaced with a bunch of 3/4" ply scraps turned into corner clamps. And 1000% agree on the Grrripper. They are not cheap and completely, absolutely worth it. They are very well made and let you make better, safer cuts. If you can't find the cash, put them on your gift list. Save quarters in a jar, something. I can't claim they are essential since people got along without them for a long time, but lordy are they worth having.

[denoftools]

Man I feel your pain on that mic. Twice in the past week I paused my recording software to look something up and then when I went back to finish I forgot to hit record again. Nothing like getting into your editing software only to find you only have half a video.

[sergioleone]

I was gonna question him on the Kreg jig, but he's absolutely right. I built 19 kitchen cabinet doors last year and used pocket hole joinery. I bought the first Kreg jig that he showed, and decided to upgrade to the larger one. Should have done that from the beginning.

[mr.b.w.]

Highly recommend Japanese hand saws, I never use my standard wood saw now, the Japanese pull saw is nice to use and gives me a more accurate cut.

[DazDaz]

I loved the tape measure one. As someone who uses metric I was like "nope, don't have that problem". Great video as always sir.

[andersonolive]

“Buy tools as needed, not as wanted.” Has been something I need to repeat to myself daily, especially now that I’m getting a tiny bit of momentum in the beginning of my woodworking. Oh and as a long time EMT I can’t help but say, anything safety related. BUY IT. Don’t skimp on it either. It’s a matter of when, not if, an accident will happen. USE A REAPIRATOR ETC

[sinisterdesign]

Definitely agree on the hand saws; I've actually had the opposite experience with Harbor Freight clamps, though. I own both HF and DeWalt trigger clamps, and while the DeWalts are definitely a bit nicer for the reasons you mentioned, the HF trigger clamps otherwise perform just as well. I've used them in quite a few glue-ups with no real problems. Harbor Freight's Pittsburgh F-style clamps, though, are pretty notorious for the low quality of their bars, leading to twisting and slipping when clamped. I really like Taylor Tools for F-clamps; I'd recommend those instead.

[BrendennCC]

Not going to lie, when I saw the grriper in the thumbnail and in the shot through the whole video I was mad thinking “how is he going to say the grriper is a waste of money?” Huge sigh of relief at the end of the video though, you got me 😂