Relearning in E TN


Quijote

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Hello from Friendsville, TN.

When I was growing up, my dad had a 30x20 shop in which we did everything to woodworking, to metal fabrication, to mechanic work. Looking back on it though, the woodworking was all butt joints and nails or screws. I am looking to relearn how to do all of this. I don't have the space for the big power tools I grew up with. I will be limited to hand tools and coming up with innovative clamping solutions as I will be doing most of my work at the dining room table. 

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Welcome, but you're going to struggle working on your dining room table. Working with only hand tools, you'll need something stronger and heavier than that table.   Good luck, we'll help all we can, but you are in for a tough time, especially trying to learn as you go along.   I'm not trying to discourage you, I'm pointing out that it's going to be tough, and you need to be ready to deal with that.

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Welcome to the forum!  You will find lots of help here (and some joking).  People will always try to give you advice that is both helpful and realistic.  

Will you be actually working in the dining room of your home?  Or will you be using an old dining table in a shop setting?

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I don't have any area for a shop. Small house with no garage. All bedrooms are taken up by kids. What I have been doing is covering the top of the table in cardboard and move it into the corner of the room. I then plane/cut towards the wall. I use an old board clamped to the table top for a planning stop. The table fits tight enough into the corner that it doesn't move. 

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Since a dining table is a rather light-weight workbench, I suggest looking into some of the Japanese styles of tools and practices. Much of their traditional woodworking methods take full advantage of bodyweight and tools that cut on the pull stroke, minimizing the need for a heavy workbench.

Of course, much of that is done while sitting on the floor, not always a good proposition for some of us old, fat 'muricans ...

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