What are Power Tools

By: Jason Petrina




Power tools are essentially the most important things for anyone that wants to dive into woodworking. They help save you a lot of energy and time, compared to the traditional man powered tools. Power tools have become all woodworkers best friend since then. For all beginning woodworkers, what kind of power tools they should have is a vital question that must be answer. There are power tools beginners should own and become familiar with. The jointer is a power tool used to remove anything that may have made the surface of the wood unsmooth during the milling and drying processes. Before the lumber is ready for woodworking, you have to use the jointer to flatten and smoother out the lumber first. There are bench top and floor models for jointers, and depending on the model you want the price will also vary to it.

The most frequently used power tool in any woodwork shop would be the table saw. The basic function the table saw is designed for is cutting through the lumber easily. This power tool is basically one of the most useful out of all of them, since cutting wood is what takes up the most time in and woodshop; imagine using the conventional manual saw cutting lumber all day. Not only will you be tired out, but will be the most time consuming activity there is. Table saw does not only cut in straight line but you can use it to make crosscuts using the mitre gauge that is often supplied with the table saw. Like most other power tools, the table saw also come in different models. With three different formats to choose from such as bench top, cabinet and contractor models. The contractor model should be enough for a regular day usage, as it is the second most powerful model of the three after the cabinet model.

The jointer was to flatten and smooth out one face of the lumber, but to get a parallel flatten face on the opposite side may be difficult using the jointer. So the power tool that is often used to make both faces of the lumber parallel to each other then a planer will need to be used. To make the faces parallel, the planer will make the thickness of the board to be the same throughout its width. Without the planer the quality of the woodworks will not be as good. Just as most power tools, the planer do come in two models; bench top and floor models. The price will double if you were to go from bench to floor models, and it is advised that unless you are planning to work with a large volume of lumber a floor model will not be necessary.

An important handheld power tool is the router. The router allows you to easily smooth out the edges or the wood and provide surface treatments to the board. The router will allow you to touch up on your woodworks so in the end, the result of the product will look much better than just the original with no router. This power tool can also be mounted in a router table, which will help provide a steady surface used to smooth the surface of the lumber. In general you will need a router if you want your woodwork to have a nice finish to it. The routers do come in different models and different power settings like other power tools.

A power tool that can be used to cut curvy shapes in boards is the band saw. Even though it performs similarly to the table saw the added versatility is a definite plus if you get a band saw. It may not allow you to cut as much wood as a table saw but the ability to easily cut lumber in different shapes gives the band saw a spot on the list of power tools to have. Like most power tools it also comes in different models such as bench top and floor models. A floor model band saw would be suggested over a bench top band saw due to the price. The floor model is cheaper compared to a bench top band saw that provides good quality.

The most important handheld power tool and power tools in general is the drill. Not only is the drill the most used in woodworks, but is also one of the most used household tools around the house. The drill allows you to easily drill holes and drive in screws, with out the trouble of using a screw driver. When you use a drill to drive in screws it normally looks better than a manually driven in nail, if the drill was used properly. Like all other power tools the drill does come in different models such as corded and cordless. Corded require you to plug the drill into a power socket for its power. While cordless requires you to recharge the batteries. The model I suggest you use is the corded one, since the power you get from a corded will be stronger than a battery one. With more power, the torque for will also increase for drilling and driving in screws will be.



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