What You’ll Need to Create Handmade Wooden Accents for Your Home

Rustic is in in a big way right now, but that, unfortunately, means that handcrafted wooden furniture and accents are more expensive than ever. Luckily, with some affordable tools and just a small amount of time mastering them, you can create your own beautiful furniture for pennies on the dollar!

There’s no need to worry about renting a shop or building a shed either. Anyone with a garage or an unused outbuilding has the space, and it really can be both simple to do and a potential money-making hobby. Read on for the top five essentials you’ll need to get started on creating your own handmade wooden accents for your home!

Miter Saw

One of the absolute essential tools for woodworking, a miter saw is a type of chop saw that allows you to cut angles on two axes. This is essential for almost any project, as pretty much no one wants to make everything square!

 

Your saw will also see tons of use without any angle on the blade, though. This tool is the go-to when you have a piece of wood that simply needs to be shorter, and you really can’t start any meaningful woodworking without one.

Some may argue that a circular saw can fill the same role, but with that type of tool, your cuts will never be perfect. When you’re making furniture, perfect cuts are a must. Check out https://www.cozydownhome.com/best-miter-saw for some reviews of top of the line ones.

Table Saw

Much like the miter saw, a decent table saw is something that you will have a hard time working without. Used primarily for large sheets of wood or for ripping (cutting down the length of a board to make it narrower), this is one tool you may want to invest heavily in.

Cheap table saws may be okay for basic woodworking, but “you get what you pay for” is especially true on these tools as the guards and stands will be less robust, potentially allowing for the wood to move while you’re cutting it. This can result in diagonal cuts that are a pain to fix.

If you have a tight budget, you can get away with initially investing in cheaper models on and upgrading them later. However, we would recommend a sturdy, powerful, name brand table saw simply for your quality of life and to improve working speed!

Scroll Saw and/or Band Saw

Scroll saws and band saws have thin, flexible blades that allow you to move the wood around while cutting it in order to cut shapes out of solid wood.

Although you can technically get by without having one, cutting things mostly to size saves a ton of time on the lathe or sanding stages simply because you have less material to remove. If you don’t have the cash to invest right away or only want to do a few projects, a circular saw and some abrasives such as files or sanders can do the job more slowly.

Lathe

We couldn’t mention the lathe above and not list it here! Lathes hold wood in place and then spin it at a high speed.

How is that useful? Well, if you don’t have some sharp carving knives it isn’t, so be sure to invest in some alongside the lathe! All the operator needs to do is hold the knife against the turning wood to shave away at it, and when mastered, the lathe allows for rounded wood pieces for your projects.

This is especially useful for tables or other furniture with legs, but it can be used for many other projects as well. Be mindful of the horsepower the motor puts out as well as the maximum length it can hold when you’re buying one. Hardwood requires a heavier duty motor, and heavy-duty motors also make quicker work of softwoods if speed is an issue.

Sander

Oh, if only it was so simple! There are many, many kinds of sanders. Belt sanders, orbital sanders, osculating sanders, bench mounted sanders…

Chances are you’ll need more than one of these, but when you’re beginning, a good handheld belt sander can do the trick. Sanders let you shape wood quickly, remove sharp corners, and put a nice finish on any wood you’ve been working. Truly essential for anyone who doesn’t want to spend hours on finishing!