Use dense hard woods for parts of tools that receive a lot of wear, like the bottom of hand planes.
There is nearly no limit to the types of woodworking tools you can make in your own shop, depending on your skills and the tools you already have. Projects for beginners can include push sticks for table saws, wooden mallets, and sawhorses. Many tools requiring motors and metal components can be made in your own shop by buying the parts you cannot make yourself and building your own tools from these parts.
Push Stick
A push stick is used to keep fingers clear of a moving table saw blade. To make a push stick, cut a piece of 1/2-inch plywood to a size of 12 inches by 6 inches using a jig saw. Make a handle by cutting a curve in the top front of the stick, arching up towards the back, so it resembles a shoe. Then cut 1/2 inch from the bottom, leaving a 2-inch-wide lip at the back. To use it, put the stick flat on the wood being cut, with the lip over the corner, and push.
Wooden Mallets
Wooden mallets can be made by using 3/4-inch pieces of wood. Cut a handle to a length of 11 inches and a width of 1 inch. Assemble a head by gluing and clamping two short pieces, 2 1/4 by 1 1/4 inches each, to opposite sides on one end of the handle. When the glue is dry, glue two larger pieces, 2 1/4 by 3 1/2 inches, over the sides of the head to complete a square head. Use a metal file or sandpaper to round off the corners of the handle.
Hand Planes
Many woodworkers enjoy building their own hand planes from kits. These come with the required metal pieces, like the iron (cutting blade) and screws, as well as the design plans to make the wood body yourself. For beginners, other kits come with the wood already cut and drilled, so you only need to assemble, sand and finish it. As with the woods for any of your tools, select dense, hard woods for the parts that will receive a lot of wear, like the sole, or bottom, of the plane.
Pipe Clamps
Not all shop-made woodworking tools are made from wood. Pipe clamps are a useful tool for clamping large sections of glued wood together, like table tops. They cannot be purchased pre-made, but the components can be found at most building supply stores, then assembled in your shop. You will need two clamp heads and one length of threaded steel pipe for each clamp. Simply screw one clamp head to each end of the pipe. Pipes 6 feet in length are usually long enough for most projects. The clamps can be removed and placed on longer or shorter pipes as needed.
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