In this article you will learn the about most common woodworking tools. This list will include beginner tools to specialty tools and is a one-stop shop to all the common tools that you will see in a workshop.
Directory
- What tools do you use for woodworking
- Saws
- Sanders
- Nail guns
- Drills
- Clamps
- Planars
- Routers
- Other essential items
What tools do you use for woodworking
There is a large array of tools and equipment that is seen in a workshop. Which includes cuttings, sanding, drilling, clamping, and planning. There are also many types of tools within a category that you will have to chose depending on the type of woodworker you are.
Below is a table of all of the common woodworking tools and if they are essential to all woodworkers or a specialty tool. This table is exhaustive and you can skip to the saws, sanders, drills, clamps, planers, routers, and essential accessories.
| 1-5 Essential to Specialty | Description | |
| Circular Saw | 1 | Power saw that can do rip and cross cuts |
| Table saw | 2 | Power saw that can do precise cuts |
| Miter saw | 3 | Power saw that can cut miters and bevels |
| Hand saw | 1 | Various hand saws to do many cuts in wood |
| Chisel | 1 | Hand tool to cut or shape wood |
| Random orbital sander | 1 | Hand-held power tool to sand wood surfaces |
| Belt sander | 4 | More powerful power sander to deeply strip wood |
| Disk sander | 4 | Lateral disk power tool sander |
| Nail gun | 2 | Power or manual tool to put nails in wood |
| Drill driver | 1 | General drill to insert screws and put in drill holes |
| Impact drill | 2 | Drill driver with more torque than drill driver |
| Hammer drill | 4 | Special type of drill with more immediate torque than the impact drill |
| Right angle drill | 3 | Drill for small spaces |
| Drill press | 4 | Machinery for easy drilling of various materials |
| Clamps | 1 | Clamps to set joinery as wood dries |
| Hand planer | 2 | Manual or electrical hand-held planer to level wood |
| Bench planar | 3 | Machine to plane wood to a precise thickness |
| Router | 2 | Tool to designs and shapes for joinery in wood |
| Mallet | 1 | Hammer with a wooden or rubber head |
| Marking gauge | 1 | Mark precise lines for wood joinery methods |
| Sliding bevel | 1 | Mark precise angles in wood |
| Square | 1 | Check squareness of wood corners and joints |
Saws
The 4 main type of saws that woodworkers use are circular, miter, table, and hand saws. While there are other saw types like jigsaws, I did not include them on the list because they are not as precise and effective.
4 Main types of woodworking saws
| Circular Saw | Table saw | Miter saw | Handsaws* | |
| Uses | Versatile tool to perform almost any cut | Rip and cross cut with precision | Cut miters and bevels with precision | Hand tools to perform almost any cut |
| Versatility | 5/5 Very versatile | 3/5 Fairly versatile | 2/5 Somewhat specialty | 5/5 Very versatile |
| Pros | Portable Cut long pieces of wood | Precise Powerful Quick to cut | Precise Powerful Quick to cut | Manual tool |
| Cons | May not be as precise Less powerful Less efficiency | Not as portable Not ideal with smaller wood pieces | Not as portable Cannot rip cut | Requires more labor Not a power tool |
| Price Range | $40-130 | $150-650+ | $115-450 | $7-100 |
The circular saw
The saw that you will need will depend on the type of projects that you will be doing. I general, the circular saw is the most portable and beginner-friendly saw between the table and miter saw. You can also cut the longest pieces of wood
The table saw
The table saw is not portable but you can create a wide variety of cuts with the help of table saw jigs. It is also more precise than a circular saw.
The miter saw
The miter saw is a specialty type of saw that is great for cutting miters and bevels of varying degrees. It is not good for cutting wide pieces of wood like plywood sheets.
Hand saws
If you want to cut your wood by hand, then you will need different hand saws for the type of cuts that you want to create. Some examples of common hand saws that woodworkers user are coping saws, fret saws, hack saws, back saw, rip saw, and the Japanese saw.
You would use a hack saw to completely cut through materials. The back saw is ideal for cutting joinery with precision and the coping saw for cutting in any direction.
Here, I grouped all handsaws together for simplicity. If you would like to learn more about different types of handsaws, then you should check out my article “Handsaws Complete Guide”.
Sanders
Sanders are used to smooth the surface of the wood to give it a nice, clean finish.
| Random orbital sander | Belt sander | Disk sander | Block sander | |
| Uses | Smooth almost any project | Remove a lot of material | Sand smaller pieces | Manual hand sander |
| Pros | Versatile Affordable | Can serve as a thicknesser Powerful | For handheld workpieces Easy to control | Manual tool |
| Cons | – Not for smaller workpieces – Not ideal for removing material – Not as powerful | – Not for smaller pieces – Not for fine projects | – Not to remove a lot of material – Not for pieces to heavy to hold | – Requires a lot of manual labor |
| Price range | $30-80 | $40-160 | $60-300+ | $3-9 |
Random Orbital sander
The most common sander for woodworkers is the random orbital sander. It is a hand-held, portable sander that rotates on a disk. Additionally the random orbit prevents from burning through the material as you are sanding.
Belt sander
The belt sander is ideal for woodworkers who are want to knock off a lot of material. This is more of a specialty tool that is not as essential in every workshop
Disk sander
Technically, a random orbital sander is a type of disk sander. However, a disk sander is generally marketed as a lateral stationary sander.
The disk sander is not as versatile and portable as the random orbital sander. It does, however, allow for more precision in sanding smaller pieces
Block sander
A sanding block is a handheld, manual type of sander. You will wrap or clamp the sand paper around the sanding block and knock off the wood by hand.
To learn more about sanders, then you should check out my article “Sander Complete Guide”.
Nail guns
Nail guns are moderately essential if you are putting nails in wood. While you could do it by hand, using a nail gun is more efficient and accurate.
The reason why I do not say that nail guns are very essential is because screws do a better job at holding pieces of wood together, and nails should only be used on non-structural pieces.
Drills
Drills are very essential in woodworking. If you want to drill a screw into wood, you will first have to drill a pilot hole and use the drill to screw the screw into the wood.
| Drill driver | Impact drill | Right-angle drill | Hammer drill | |
| Uses | Versatile drill for woodworking | Drill driver with more torque | Drill for small spaces | Drill with bursts of torque |
| Pros | Versatile Essential | Versatile Powerful | For small spaces | For denser materials |
| Cons | Not as powerful | Costs more than drill driver | Not as powerful | May be too powerful in some scenarios |
| Price Range | $20-90 | $40-130 | $60-170 | $40-200 |
The drill driver
The most common type of drill that woodworkers use is the drill driver. The drill driver will be able to complete the majority, if not all of your woodworking projects.
I would highly recommend getting a drill with variable speed and torque to prevent damage to your piece
The impact drill
The impact drill is like a regular drill with more torque. The speed and torque start off slow and then increases.
Some projects will require an impact drill if the torque on your regular drill is not enough power. However, many and most woodworkers will not need an impact drill.
The right angle drill
The right angle drill is a slightly specialty tool but would provide value to most woodworkers. It is good for drilling into small spaces that would be difficult to reach with a conventionally sized drill, like right angle corners.
The hammer drill
The hammer drill is what I would call a specialty tool in woodworking. It provides more torque than the drill driver and supplies that torque immediately, in comparison to the impact drill.
Very few woodworkers will find more value in a hammer drill than an impact drill. The hammer drill is good for drilling into other materials though
Clamps
Clamps in woodworking is a very essential piece of equipment regardless of the type of woodworker you are.
You will need to clamps to hold the pieces together to let the wood glue dry. Even if you don’t use wood glue, 90 degree angle clamps will help with getting that perfect angle in hand joinery.
If you need to get clamps or are interested in which clamps to get, then you should check out my other article “Woodworking Clamps: How-to, Types of clamps, Tricks”.
Planers
Planers are used as a thicknesser to get the wood at the desired consistent thickness.
Planers in general are a good tool to have, but I would not call them very essential. You can get by without using a planar.
| Hand planar | Bench planar | |
| Pros | Portable Cheaper | Powerful Precise |
| Cons | Not as powerful | Not portable More expensive |
| Price Range | Manual: $30-100 Electrical: $150+ | $290-600+ |
The hand planer
A hand planar can be manual or electrical. A manual planer is much cheaper (~$30-100) and requires more physical labor. An electrical planer is more expensive ($150+), requires less physical labor, and is quicker and more powerful.
The bench planer
The bench planer is not hand-held and not as portable as the hand planer options. However, it does provide much more precision and consistency in the thicknessing the wood.
I would call the bench planer a specialty tool because you do not need one unless you want to build professional products and need quick speed and accuracy.
A hand planer will suffice for most projects.
To learn more about planers types and their features, then you should check out my article “Wood Planars”.
Routers
I would call routers slightly essential. While you could get away without using one, it is useful when creating designs in wood pieces.
There are many different types of routers. You have the hand-held, plunge-based, fixed-based, and d-base routers.
When buying a router, I would recommend to buy a hand-held router with a removable base kit.
I have a bosch router kit with a plunge and fixed-based accessories. If I needed to, I could also buy a D-base accessory.
Buying removable bases will save you a lot of money if you decide to upgrade.
To learn more about all of the different types of routers and their uses, then you should check out my article “Router Complete Guide”.
Other essential items
In woodworking, you will also need chisels, a mallet, a marking gauge, a sliding bevel, and a square. Below I will explain why each one of the items are essential.
Chisels
You will need chisels to cut out joinery and shape the wood. Some of the common chisels for woodworking include bench, mortise, and parring chisels.
You should get a kit for any type of chisel that you choose to use. This will include different sizing for the different types of joinery and sizes of wood that you will be working with.
The mallet
You will need a mallet in conjunction with the chisel to cut and shape wood. Using a hammer will be very difficult and would not produce a clean finish.
A mallet can also be used on the wood to get a tight joint to be flush with the corner.
The marking gauge
The marking gauge is an essential tool, especially for hand made joinery. It is used to create a straight line to create precise cuts.
Trying to create a mortise or a dovetail joint without a marking gauge is very difficult
The sliding bevel
The sliding bevel is used to create precise angles in the wood. These angles can be used to create hand joinery methods along with the marking gauge.
The square
The square can be used to check the squareness of the corners of the wood. It can also be used to create straight, 90 degree angle, lines in the wood.
Conclusion
In this article, we discussed the 23 most common woodworking tools. We also went over different tool types in each category and compared the tools to see which one would be right for you.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this article and I wish you luck on your woodworking journeys!
EverythingDiyProjects is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. We also participate in other affiliate programs which compensate us for referring traffic.