Professional operations for the processing of metal and especially wooden blanks are getting closer to the amateur level of their technical performance as technology develops. Working tool designs are becoming more ergonomic and safer to use, and the trend towards smaller sizes opens up new possibilities in terms of organizing production processes. A specialized segment of a semi-professional tool for making furniture at home has also formed, which takes into account the specifics of processing materials by the hands of a non-specialist.
Main list of woodworking tools
The presence of elementary carpentry tools is a basic condition for the organizationfurniture production at home. Even a one-time performance of such operations will require the use of impact and cutting devices. Specifically, in the main set of tools for making furniture, you can include:
- Hacksaw. Processing lumber without this tool is impossible. Another thing is that in the conditions of in-line manufacturing it is more expedient to have a machine circular saw for such purposes.
- Planer. Also a common carpentry tool, through which you can perform planing operations with different parameters of the layer to be removed.
- Chisel. In a sense, a kind of planer, but in a simplified form. The user works with the handle and blade, which also removes the top layer of wood from the workpiece.
- Axe. As a rule, furniture manufacturing tools are focused on the accuracy of the operations performed, allowing you to fine-tune the shape of the future product. The ax is an exception, as it performs rough processing of the workpiece. For example, as part of the workflow under consideration, this tool may be required to cut a log from which it is planned to form a table leg. Depending on the size of the ax, it can be used to create grooves, remove bark, cut blanks, etc.
- Jigsaw. It can be manual or electric, but the nature of the tasks to be solved is the same - to perform extremely accurate and accurate cuts with minimal damage to the edges. Ideal for cutting chipboard of different thicknesses.
- Installation tool. Direct means to executeassembly procedures - hammer, wrenches, screwdrivers, etc.
Screwdrivers and drills as the basis for assembly operations
In choosing a tool for furniture production, a lot will depend on the technological stage of manufacturing the item, its complexity and possible compatibility with other operations. But regardless of the completeness of the production cycle, assembly work will be required, in which the operations of drilling and twisting hardware are used. Accordingly, a screwdriver and a drill will become the basic tools for making furniture at home. How to approach the choice of these devices? To begin with, again, the organizational capabilities for arranging the workshop and the operating modes in which the assembly will be carried out are determined. The following questions are then resolved:
- Multifunctional models or specialized. Today, devices with combined functions of a drill and a screwdriver are in fashion. By changing the equipment, you can connect one or another mode of operation - including with a shock function. But for precise and serial operations, professional carpenters recommend using specialized models without combined functionality.
- Power system. Again, it makes no sense to follow the fashion trend by choosing battery versions. They work well in remote sites without a stable source of power, but are more likely to organize furniture production in a room with access to the network. You can talk about the disadvantages of working with a connected cord,however, this drawback is more than offset by the lighter weight (due to the lack of a power supply) and the default higher power of mains power tools.
- Tape models. A special and relatively new type of screwdrivers that are used in factories and in private workshops. In fact, this is an automatic screwdriver, which is equipped with a store with fasteners of a certain format. In the in-line mounting mode, the operator will not need to be distracted by the installation of the consumable - the system will automatically install it without losing the pace of serial work.
- Additional options and features. For the manufacture of furniture with your own hands, the tool is selected with an emphasis on ergonomics and safety. In this regard, a desirable set of optional software will be the presence of a reverse stroke, a soft start system, a pipe for connecting a construction vacuum cleaner and electronic torque control.
Grinding machines
Without the operations of polishing and grinding when finalizing the internal and external surfaces of lumber, it will also not be possible to do. At the same time, the nature of such work is different - in some versions, grinders also perform cutting operations and correct the texture for certain roughness parameters. The most common types of grinding tools for furniture making include the following:
- Angle grinder (angle grinder). One of the most common tools that is used in the domestic sphere and is also called a grinder. Although angle grinders inmainly intended for rough work with stone and metal, in certain modes with suitable abrasive wheels it can also be used in cleaning wooden surfaces.
- Direct grinder. Device with an elongated body and a collet clamp of equipment in the form of an abrasive head of different sizes. This model can be used for spot grinding and polishing furniture surfaces in corners and other hard-to-reach areas.
- Belt grinder. Unlike the previous model, the design of the tape machine has a symmetrical design with a wide working platform driven by rollers at both ends. An abrasive belt is mounted on them, which in the process removes the upper layer of the workpiece. In addition to polishing and sanding, this method can remove old paint and other unnecessary coatings.
- Models for polishing. Outwardly and structurally, such machines resemble angle grinders, but with smaller dimensions and low power. This tool for making furniture is valuable for its disc nozzle made of fur, foam rubber or felt. Also, with the help of abrasive wheels made of felt and wool, mechanical finishing of furniture surfaces is provided.
Measuring tool for working with furniture
In this case, we are talking not so much about traditional devices and devices for marking. The presence of a pencil with a marker and a tape measure with a ruler is mandatory, but this does not end the set of measuring tools. Recent years not only on professionalindustries, but also in home workshops, the basic list of necessary tools for making furniture includes electronic levels, goniometers, inclinometers and rangefinders. Of course, not in every case all these means of controlling dimensional and spatial parameters will be involved, but the full cycle of furniture manufacturing provides for their use.
For practical craftsmen who still do not plan to organize a full-scale production line, it is worth limiting themselves to purchasing a multifunctional laser protractor level. The value of this tool lies not only in the ability to control the geometric parameters of the assembled product, but also in facilitating the installation procedure.
Particular attention should be paid to the requirements for tools for the manufacture of upholstered furniture, since this process will require the organization of a cutting and sewing zone. In this part of the work, you will also need a meter with scissors and sewing devices with related accessories. And this is not to mention the need for a sewing machine and other elements of textile production.
Machinery for making solid wood furniture
Tables and chairs are made from solid wood, but such work requires more serious equipment, such as milling machines and trimming machines.
For thicknessing and jointing in large factory workshops, two different processing tools are used, but for organizing a small workshop, a combined thicknesser and jointer is optimally suited. When choosing a unit, it will be importantpre-calculate the planing width - for example, up to 400 mm.
Carefully remove defects from the array will help transverse cutting. What tools for making furniture will cope with this task? It is advisable to focus on the trimming machine. You should think in advance about the processing configuration and the approximate dimensions of the part to which the equipment will be applied. For example, table miter saws cut workpieces across, but with the ability to change the cutting angle up to 45 degrees. Such models are used for final processing, the accuracy of which is ensured by workpiece clamps, guides and a scale for measuring the position of the saw blade.
Working with a solid workpiece involves more than just labour-intensive cutting operations. It may well require delicate cutting to give the surface a certain texture. In other words, elements of decorative refinement are implemented as part of the overall process of manufacturing wood furniture. The tool for such work is mainly associated with manual carpentry and joinery processing tools, but for hard wood with a large amount of removal of excess mass, this method will not work. To perform delicate turning or cutting, a version of the lathe with a rotating thrust and driving four-tooth center will help. It is for home use that desktop-type models should be preferred, but with the ability to fine-tune the torque and angles of mechanical action.
Tool for making cabinet furniture
Asprefabricated elements for hull structures, MDF and chipboard boards are usually used, that is, an emphasis will be required on processing operations in relation to pressed wood lamellas of varying degrees of rigidity. As already mentioned, jigsaws (especially electric ones) and some models of manual cutting machines allow you to cope with accurate cutting of workpieces that are demanding for processing. But if you need a tool for making furniture from chipboard or other similar material in large volumes, then it is better to turn to small-sized machines. Today, there are many variations of low-power panel saws (about 2-4 kW) that can be installed on a workbench in a garage. The main attention in the choice is given to the parameters of the saw unit - the thickness of the cut and the possibilities of tilting the disk. The rest will depend on individual workflow requirements.
Also, do not forget about the possibilities of a curved cut. If solid homogeneous boards can be corrected with a hand tool after an unsuccessful curly cut with a hacksaw or saw, then a chip in the chipboard can ruin the workpiece. What tool is needed for the manufacture of furniture with curved cutting elements? Such a cut is qualitatively implemented by band saw installations, which it is desirable to select according to the dimensions of the target part. At the same time, it is important not to forget that the normative maximum for the same chipboard in thickness is 36 mm, therefore, with an average cutting depth of 80 cm, you can work with any workpiece. Problemconsists only in the limitations of the batch sawing practiced today, when several parts are cut at the same time in one pass. What is more important is the characteristics of the saw blade (band). Especially for processing chipboard, it is recommended to use equipment up to 26 mm wide, since an increase in this parameter will provoke the formation of chips.
Furniture edging tool
Careful processing of furniture elements along the edges is also indispensable if you plan to achieve factory-level quality. What tools for making furniture are used in this case? An edge banding machine is optimally suited, with which you can easily glue surfaces with veneer, melamine, polyvinyl chloride and other decorative fittings. Some models of such equipment also process the basis of the material if its current state is not suitable for further processing.
In the manufacture of hull structures, the tasks of preparing holes for dowels and other fasteners and fittings are often encountered. They can be made with a hand tool, but to ensure high geometric quality, it is also better to use a small drilling and welding machine, provided with guides and fixing units. Holes can be made in different formats and at different angles, which will not allow any electric drill to be made with the same degree of accuracy when working with your own hands. Tools for the manufacture of furniture with large sections and facades require the preparation of appropriate fixtures for fastening. Machines with two and threedrilling groups will ensure high accuracy when forming holes for hinges in various configurations and in automatic mode.
Tools for making doll furniture
A very special area of application for wood material, in which performance and power are not at the forefront of the requirements, but extremely high accuracy and precision. You will have to deal with blanks of miniature sizes, so you should initially focus on a hand tool. Only in the general preparation of parts can machining elements be used, but correction and formatting operations will require a special carpentry set with cutters. Such a tool is used by the masters of the art of architecture, performing original artwork on wood.
In doll furniture, the tasks are not so laborious, but painstaking and also require a great deal of concentration and attention. What tools are needed to make this type of furniture? It is not always necessary to work with small parts, so it will not be superfluous to prepare a jigsaw. It will allow you to carry out the basics not only for furniture elements, but also for houses. It is also worth considering in advance the means of polishing parts and consumables for installation. If full-size furniture is assembled mainly with hardware, then doll furniture is assembled with glue. And in order for the assembled structure to dry faster at the joints and gain a sufficient degree of strength, a building hair dryer is used, the hot streams of which speed up the processbinder polymerization.
Auxiliary tools
In any production process, regardless of scale, the quality of work will be affected by the level of technological organization. This applies to accessories and auxiliary devices that provide the technical infrastructure for performing functional tasks. To understand the need for such inventory, it should be recalled again what tools are needed to make furniture. These are whole sets of devices for carpentry, marking devices, machine tools, etc. And if the representatives of the latter group are by and large self-sufficient in terms of organizing the workflow, then a reliable base is needed to use screwdrivers, electric jigsaws, hacksaws and screwdrivers - a workbench. By the way, even small-sized desktop-type machines need a stable and stable platform for installation. Another thing is that the fastening equipment and some marking elements along the cutting lines are included in their own design. In addition to the workbench, it will not be superfluous to take care of a vice, clamps for clamping, tensioners for tying the parts to be joined, etc. In some cases, thread-cutting equipment is used. It is used as a machine tool in the formation of non-standard threads - internal or external. As such a tool, taps and dies of the desired format are used.
Conclusion
The tool and equipment discussed above may well become a full-fledged assistant in creatingan original piece of furniture according to your own design. Of course, not everything in the result will depend on the characteristics of the applied technical means of processing. The quality of the product will ultimately be affected by the skills of the carpenter of the performer, and the operational properties of the components used, that is, lumber. Obviously, such work at home is risky, but it also provides a lot of additional opportunities for implementing non-standard ideas. This is especially noticeable in the author's works of artisans, where stylized textures and textures are successfully embodied. Today it will not be difficult to find a tool for making antique furniture using brushing and patination methods. These are the same cleaning and grinding machines, supplemented with thermal effects. But in addition to physical processing, such operations will also require consumables in the form of chemical compositions for external application. For example, one of the simplest ways of artificial aging is coloring. It involves a combination of paint application (usually white) and a sandpaper abrasive method. Thus, with virtually no investment in execution technology, the effect of shabby Soviet elite furniture is achieved.
