Gift for my wife, starting with woodworking!
Hi everyone,
I’m planning a huge surprise gift for my wife. She has always wanted to get into woodworking and build our home furniture, but never had the chance to start.
We live in Europe. She will be working out of our garage, using commercial pre-milled lumber and plywood/lamellar sheets (no raw logs or heavy milling needed).
She wants to build minimalist, organic, Japandi-style furniture (think *Nabe Creation* style: light wood like European Beech or Birch plywood, heavily rounded/soft edges, no visible screws, and natural hardwax-oil finishes).
I want to gift her the entire package of tools, book and starting materials and I wanted to ask to you if what i'm planning to buy is okay or I need corrections. I want to post this both here and in /woodworking, but I'm a long time lurker with no karma!
Tolls list, budget 3000€:
I wanted to use Makita as main brand.
Makita SP6000J Plunge Track Saw (with 2x 150cm rails + connectors) + Makita LS0815FLN Sliding Miter Saw.
Mirka DEROS 5650CV corded random orbital sander, this is the most expensive piece, I don't want her to have pain in the wrists due to sanding.
Kreg Jig 720 PRO pocket hole system + Titebond II, I saw this as a first joint kit.
Makita RT0702C corded trim router + Bosch Professional 15pc bit set + Shogun Kugihiki flush-cut Japanese saw for wood plugs, these are needed for the rounded minimalist style.
Makita DDF485RTJ Brushless Drill (with 2x 5.0Ah batteries) + Makita DML811 hybrid LED work light on a generic 2-meter tripod.
Wolfcraft Master Work 1600 workbench, a mixed set of Wolfcraft quick clamps and Bessey bar clamps, 12x Tellure Rôta industrial double-locking casters, and Emuca drawer slides. These were basically requested to Gemini, since I have zero experience and didn't know what to buy, I have no opinion on these, should I have one?
Osmo Polyx-Oil 3062 (Matt) for that raw, velvety wood feel.
Since she does not have any experience (neither do I lmao), but both of us are really bookworms, I searched for a couple of strong big book to start understanding what to do, from google searches I've selected these two, what do you think?
Illustrated Cabinetmaking by Bill Hylton
and
Understanding Wood by R. Bruce Hoadley.
Questions:
Did I miss anything needed to start? Like, will she be able to start creating at least the workbenches for the garage?
Any specific tips for a beginner working with European Beech lamellar panels or Birch plywood for furniture frames?
Budget is locked at around **€3,400**, which includes the tools, books, and the plywood/hardware for the first 3 workshop benches.
Thanks in advance for your sanity check!