Episode #2: Beginner Woodworking Tips With Marc Thoma
Are you interested in learning how to get started with woodworking? In this episode on the HobbyScool podcast, I chat with Marc Thoma with Pacific Coast Woodcrafts.
Specifically, we cover:
What tools are needed for woodworking?
What is the first thing someone should do if they want to get started in woodworking?
What are the must haves when setting up a woodworking workshop?
Where is the best place to get lumber to build projects?
Listen in to learn about Marc's top 10 tips for a beginner woodworker to keep things simple.
Mentioned In This Episode
How to find Marc: Pacific Coast Woodcrafts
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Transcript:
00:00:02 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
And today my special guest is Mark Thoma. Mark I'm super excited to chat with you today, we're going to be talking about beginner woodworking. Tips for the aspiring creator. And before we get started in all the good questions I have for you, can you tell the audience a little bit more about you and how you help people in your woodworking business?
00:00:26 Marc Thoma (guest)
Thanks Destiny, glad to be here. So I come from a German background and my father was actually a Carpenter in in in my native country of Germany and that seems to have rubbed off on me and so I've actually combined my passion for gardening and growing food for my family with building a lot of outdoor structures using our Western red cedar which is native here on the West Coast.
00:00:57 Marc Thoma (guest)
Canada, where I'm living.
00:01:00 Marc Thoma (guest)
And in winter, you know it's fairly wet here, so I don't want to really want to do much work outside, so I've actually set up a garage workshop as well where I started building indoor creations out of wood. Various different species of wood. I built my own bathroom vanity out of cherry when I realized that I couldn't find the right one that I wanted at the right price.
00:01:27 Marc Thoma (guest)
And now I have lots of plans of course, and big dreams of replacing a lot of the furniture in my house with custom built solid wood replacements.
00:01:38 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
So you kind of caught my attention when you said I built my bathroom vanity but I couldn't find what I was looking for and I can tell you I we redid all of our secondary bathrooms this year and I had troubles too finding, you know, finding a vanity that I thought was built well and was, you know, kind of what we were looking for, which was more of a farmhouse style which is kind of what we have. So I love this kind of, you know.
00:02:07 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
Kind of got you started in this, and I know that I know that the listeners here are curious about woodworking and you know a lot of different ways they can use it in home and and do different things. What is your favorite project that you've ever completed or worked on?
00:02:25 Marc Thoma (guest)
So I think it's a toss up between my outdoor projects that I've done for my garden. I've built raised garden beds. I've built my own greenhouse and I've also.
00:02:38 Marc Thoma (guest)
Delta and Arbor that used to be for my grapes, but now is actually for my new Kiwi plants.
00:02:45 Marc Thoma (guest)
So the outdoor projects have, you know, been big ones, but I think again I'll go back to that bathroom vanity that I built because it was the first time that I ever built something like that. As I mentioned, we couldn't really found find what we liked. We found the construction of most of them was kind of subpar with the wrong types of materials when we asked to upgrade our materials we were told, well, that'll be another, you know, 2 three, $400.
00:03:15 Marc Thoma (guest)
More and so basically I just said, OK, I'm going to build it myself. I got out a 3D modeling software. I measured everything, make sure it would fit and then I basically just modeled it out the way I need wanted it to be. And then I went to a local lumberyard here and got some cherry lumber. And yeah, it took me about a month, maybe two months at most, to build it on the weekends and evenings, but I got it done. It's not 100%.
00:03:45 Marc Thoma (guest)
Perfect, but I learned a lot from it and we have a beautiful functioning bathroom vanity for probably at least I would say if there is the price of what we would have had to pay for.
00:03:57 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
And you say it's not 100% perfect, but I could probably tell you if I was looking at it.
00:04:03 Marc Thoma (guest)
I would.
00:04:03 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
Say it's 100% perfect.
00:04:05 Marc Thoma (guest)
It's typical that a woodworker will find their own flaws in their projects. It's you know, like with anything else, like an artist probably does the same thing when they. But when they paint a painting, you know where your flaws are. But unless you mention it to someone else, they probably won't see them so, but again, you know it works really well. I'm really happy with how it turned out.
00:04:27 Marc Thoma (guest)
And that cherry really turned a beautiful reddish brown just from exposure to sunlight. Jerry does that, which is really nice. I even built a a small floating shelf as well from the same cherry because I had some leftover and so you know, we've got a a small shelf above her toilet where we have store a few things on so it's very nice, yes?
00:04:51 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
I definitely want to love to see a picture of it and I'm sure you have a picture on your blog post so you know.
00:04:57 Marc Thoma (guest)
I think I might have a picture somewhere. Yes, yeah, I didn't. Actually this was before I started Pacific Coast Woodcraft so I didn't actually, you know, take lots of photos and and be able to document it, but I think it's the kind of thing that I think I will build again. Like you mentioned, secondary bathrooms. I have a secondary bathroom that I actually would like to replace the old.
00:05:20 Marc Thoma (guest)
Vanity that's basically made from just some old plywood into something you know that's obviously sturdier and looks better, and is is something where I can again even further perfect the craft of of building a vanity so.
00:05:38 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
So let me ask you this, I know and I don't know a lot about this this topic myself. I'm not a builder, I haven't done any woodworking or anything like that, but I I do know from talking to people that having the right.
00:05:51 Marc Thoma (guest)
Tools you know.
00:05:53 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
Really make the difference? Can you tell us a little bit about the tools that you own, or you think you know anybody who wants to get into woodworking and woodcrafting? What kind of tools do they need to get?
00:06:07 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
Started.
00:06:09 Marc Thoma (guest)
Yeah, and I think this is the most expensive part of the hobby. I mean there are other hobbies where it's kind of the same idea, like if if you're you know into golfing, you have to buy, you know all your golf clubs and golf gear and that so with woodworking you do need to buy. You know. Obviously tools. I find that you can actually sometimes buy them new when they're on special so you know if if if one of the local tool places or big box stores has a special on you might be able to get something.
00:06:39 Marc Thoma (guest)
Their half price in. In some some cases and then buying them used on like Facebook marketplace or or other online used marketplaces is is actually not a bad idea so I do own a table saw which I which I bought used. I actually knew someone at work who who was getting rid of their old table saw so I got it off of him. I've got a miter saw which is new. I've got a band saw which I also actually got through Facebook marketplace. It's an old delta.
00:07:10 Marc Thoma (guest)
Three wheel bandsaw which actually works quite well. It's just a little bit harder to source the blades that go into it because there are certain lengths. I've got a drill press which I bought new and you know I have some handheld power tools like Sanders and drills. I have also quite a few hand tools, not all the ones that I want yet, but one of my biggest.
00:07:35 Marc Thoma (guest)
Needs really is to get a decent Japanese pull saw that I can I can use for cutting there. There are sometimes occasions when you need to cut something that a power tool like a table saw doesn't work that well for so having having some hand saws chisels to sort of clean things up properly, it's always important to have too.
00:08:00 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
Some more let me ask you this. What is the first thing that someone should do if they wanted to get started there, interviewed? You've kind of peaked my interest, so I'm kind of, I want to do some things I want to do around the house. I I don't really own any tools. So what what are some of the first things that you would recommend somebody like me and maybe even somebody a little bit more advanced than me should do to get started in woodworking?
00:08:25 Marc Thoma (guest)
Yeah, I think one of the best things to do is to start watching some videos on YouTube, especially of the simpler projects. There are some YouTube creators out there that are doing some of the simpler projects which you know don't take a long time to build. You don't need as many tools, and they're, they're not. You know, using a lot of wood, so it's a little bit less expensive to put together just so that you get familiar with some of the processes and the tools that you'll need to use for your own projects.
00:08:54 Marc Thoma (guest)
But you have to be careful that you don't get sucked into watching YouTube videos all the time. Sometimes that happens to me. You want to watch a few videos, maybe gather together some tools and wood, and then make some projects based on those videos and you have to keep in mind that every project that you make will get better. And then as you continue making projects you know you'll you'll. You'll encounter maybe a project that you want to do where you think. Oh, I don't really know how to do that particular aspect of the project.
00:09:24 Marc Thoma (guest)
And that's where again you do some research and you find a YouTube video. Someone that's showing you how to do that. Or maybe a blog post, or maybe find a good book in a bookstore that will teach you how to do that properly. And then you know you'll learn as as you go along.
00:09:42 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
So let me ask you this. If I'm and so in in my garage I have a place where I could kind of set up a woodworking type place. You know, it's A3 car garage and we only use you know, part of it. What are some must haves that you would recommend? So you know, if I was wanting to set up something like that, what what do I need to go get? How do I need to set it up?
00:10:05 Marc Thoma (guest)
Yeah, so depending on where you're setting up you'll have different needs, but the the the most important one of the most important needs is good lighting.
00:10:14 Marc Thoma (guest)
In your workshop so that you can see everything clearly, it's also for your own safety so that you know you can see what you're doing. You're not, you know. You don't have shadows in the way that might that might cause you to to injure yourself. So LED lighting, especially now, is really inexpensive. There's so many different options, so you can and and some of the LED lighting is just literally plug it into an outlet and and you can put it up on your ceiling and have.
00:10:45 Marc Thoma (guest)
Really good lighting.
00:10:47 Marc Thoma (guest)
And then you want to have a decent temperature in in your workshop, and you want it to be regulated in some way so that it's not too cold, not too hot. Obviously a lot of woodworking generally is done in the winter time when the weather's not as good, so you want to make sure that you're not having to you know bundle up too much and and have it comfortable so that you know you don't have cold fingers, and then you know it. It makes it a little bit harder to sort of feel what you're doing.
00:11:17 Marc Thoma (guest)
And a lot of people will install a mini split heat pump in like a detached building. Or if you're if you're actually have like an attached garage, then sometimes attached garages are are already heated and other times you can tie it maybe into your existing houses system.
00:11:38 Marc Thoma (guest)
You need good power, so you need to have enough outlets spread out around the shop so that you don't have to use extension cords, which can be a tripping hazard. In my case I actually got a subpanel put into my garage so that over time I can have a more outlets added as I accumulate more tools.
00:11:57 Marc Thoma (guest)
The other important thing is to have a fire extinguisher for safety reasons so that in case ever if something were to happen, you could hopefully be able to deal with a fire at least a small one.
00:12:13 Marc Thoma (guest)
And you want to have good dust collection so that you're not breathing in wood dust, which can be not good for your health. So you want to make sure you're you've got a good air quality in your workshop and then you know you have tools you have wood. Make sure you have adequate storage so you can repurpose old kitchen cabinets to store stuff into. You can use Pegboards to store small tools and you can get like special racking for lumber.
00:12:43 Marc Thoma (guest)
So that you can have a small stash of lumber for projects.
00:12:48 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
Which kind of brings me to the next question is where do you recommend we get lumber for the woodworking projects? Is there a place that you go? It sounds like you might even get some from from local local trees that you have. I don't know if they're on.
00:13:05 Marc Thoma (guest)
Well, I would love to yeah yeah well yes. I mean we we are here on the West Coast of Canada so a lot of you know our lumber is is sort of more along the line line of softwood lumber such as Western red cedar which I mentioned before. So I go generally for like the cedar and that I go to home center or a big box store that that we have locally. Here. Usually the quality is OK. You kind of need to pick through the lumber there because.
00:13:35 Marc Thoma (guest)
You know you don't always find the best pieces, so I do look through the lumber and make sure nothing is too warped. Make sure there's no damage to the boards themselves.
00:13:45 Marc Thoma (guest)
UM and then?
00:13:48 Marc Thoma (guest)
You practice basically with, you know the cheaper lumber. You can get pine boards for instance, again from your big box store to practice with, but then once you know you've gotten a bit more experience and maybe you have a little bit of extra money to spend on, you know a particular project like I did with bathroom vanity. Then you go to a hardware dealer and your hardware dealer will be able to. They'll have more exotic woods, they'll have a larger selection, they have more knowledge as well. So if you're looking for a particular
00:14:20 Marc Thoma (guest)
quality of wood, they can help you pick out the right wood for the right project and then you can, you know, start getting getting lumber from there.
00:14:30 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
So before we hang up here, what are some of your top tips for a beginner woodworker to help them get started and but really just keep things simple. We all we all want to keep things simple and make it easy on ourselves.
00:14:47 Marc Thoma (guest)
Yeah, so the first thing is choose smaller projects within your abilities, so don't you know start off by building a bathroom vanity or you know building a huge deck in your backyard. Start with a smaller project, maybe do a cutting board for your kitchen or you make a small little sort of side table for your living room and then as you progress with your abilities then you can start tackling sort of the larger projects like in physical size but also the more complex.
00:15:18 Marc Thoma (guest)
Projects.
00:15:19 Marc Thoma (guest)
And along those lines, you want to choose projects that have a little bit simpler construction with no complicated joints so that you know. Again, you can build up your abilities as you work on different projects, and don't worry if you don't have enough tools. Many projects can be built just with a few tools providing that you take it nice and slow. More expensive professional grade tools mainly allow you to work more efficiently, sometimes more accurately.
00:15:50 Marc Thoma (guest)
It's usually more efficiently so you don't necessarily need really expensive professional grade tools when you first start out. Don't aim for perfection. As I mentioned, my bathroom vanity has a few flaws in it. Your first projects will have a few flaws. It's very hard not to, you know, make a make your sort of beginner projects and not make some mistakes along the way, but even you know the professionals if you really ask them, they can point out where every fly is in their project.
00:16:21 Marc Thoma (guest)
And they're not 100% perfect either.
00:16:24 Marc Thoma (guest)
Take safety seriously.
00:16:27 Marc Thoma (guest)
Make sure you invest in the proper safety gear, which which is usually called PPE personal protective equipment.
00:16:35 Marc Thoma (guest)
And make sure to use it so things like safety glasses, ear protection, dust masks, or a respirator if you're applying finishes. And also be careful that you're not wearing baggy clothes. Tie up long hair and things like that to make sure that you don't get stuff caught in equipment as you're working.
00:16:57 Marc Thoma (guest)
For finishing your projects, try a simple ribbon oil or wax finish. There are many to choose from. They're easy to apply a lot of them are actually food safe now, so if you're making kids toys or cutting boards that'll have food contact and they're safe to use and they're they're they're easy, they're they're, they're, they're not as complicated as having to spray on finishes and things like that. If a part is not working out, save time and frustration.
00:17:28 Marc Thoma (guest)
Just toss in the scrap bin and remake it. You'll find that the second time around things just seem to go smoother.
00:17:36 Marc Thoma (guest)
And on that note, don't use expensive lumber as I mentioned to build build at the beginning you can use construction grade lumber or pine for your bigger projects. They're relatively cheap, easy to find, and you won't necessarily feel bad if you need to scrap it and and make a new part and so avoid the exotic hardwoods when you first start as they're very expensive.
00:18:02 Marc Thoma (guest)
And as I mentioned, keep an eye on Facebook marketplace or other online use marketplaces.
00:18:08 Marc Thoma (guest)
Because sometimes it would work or has unfortunately passed away or they downsized and you can get good quality tools for a great price. And sometimes you can even make a package deal where you can get a whole bunch of tools for you know a very good deal and then the most important thing is have fun, take breaks and take your time. Sometimes when you're knee deep in a project I know you know you'll be rushing to try to finish it, and that's usually when mistakes happen and sometimes.
00:18:38 Marc Thoma (guest)
Also, when the injuries happen, I often will work only just for an hour or so on a project every day for about a week until it's done.
00:18:46 Marc Thoma (guest)
And I know that if I get too deep into a project like I sometimes do, I actually forget to eat or drink and I get tired. And you know, that's when you start making mistakes.
00:18:57 Marc Thoma (guest)
And so those are kind of at the top 10 tips that I have.
00:19:02 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
And I and I loved what you said about choosing smaller projects to start with and and the example that you gave with the just doing a cutting board for your kitchen like that would be perfect. I would love to do something like that.
00:19:15 Marc Thoma (guest)
Yeah, and it just you know the cutting Board project is good because it allows you to kind of, you know, prepare the wood ahead of time, making sure it's straight, making sure it will. It will fit together.
00:19:27 Marc Thoma (guest)
Without any gaps and then gluing it together and then you know sanding it down, getting it nice and smooth and putting on a beautiful finish so it it it kind of covers all the different aspects of what you'd normally then do in a larger project, but just with something where it's easy to handle, you don't need much space, right? It it it doesn't take up much space as you're working on it so and that's the problem I had with my vanity is that took up a lot of space in my garage so you know I had to juggle things around to.
00:19:57 Marc Thoma (guest)
To keep it to keep from tripping over it and so forth.
00:20:03 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
So Mark, can you let the listeners know where they can find you? And I think you also have a free gift for them.
00:20:10 Marc Thoma (guest)
So my website is@pacificcoastwoodcraft.com.
00:20:15 Marc Thoma (guest)
And that's my main, uh woodworking blog, and there's some links to other things as well. There's a link actually to my YouTube channel as well there. And yes, I have a a free download which is called 10 beginner tips on getting set up for woodworking, so it covers some of the things that I covered here in the podcast, but it has some additional tips on how to get get set up properly so that you can have an enjoyable.
00:20:46 Marc Thoma (guest)
Woodworking hobby.
00:20:48 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
So Mark, thank you so much for joining us and we'll make sure all of those links are in the show notes so people can find you and grab your free gift.
00:20:56 Marc Thoma (guest)
Great, thank you very much for having me.
00:20:58 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
Thank you.