New woodworker in Melbourne

[LFC]

Hey Guys!

I'm a very new woodworker, only starting in 2021 and coming in with no experience.
I've so far been gaining most of my knowledge from Youtube (channels like Woodworking for Mere Mortals) and have been reading the subreddits r/woodworking and r/beginnerwoodworking

I haven't made a ton of things so far, but have built my initial workbench as well as a shoe rack to allow me to try out a more complex design (i.e. building a tower that's 1.5m tall without any screws). Naively coming into this I had never thought about the idea of things being supported only by glue and the join of the wood, as opposed to screws and nails!

Don't really have any defined plans for the things I want to make more long term, sort of open to anything.

For now in terms of tools I've been focusing fairly cheap, to get familiar with things and potentially upgrade in future if required. To that end I have:
- Mitre saw (Ozito PXC)
- Jigsaw (Ozito PXC)
- Circular Saw (Ozito PXC)
- Drill (Ryobi One+)
- RO Sander (Ryobi One+)
- Belt Sander (GMC)
- Other basic hand tools like hammers, pliers, etc

Really stoked to stumble across an Aussie forum yesterday. I'm sure I had looked previously and not found anything (possibly I was put off by '.com' and didn't realise this was Australian); can't remember how I stumbled on it yesterday but glad I did.

I'm not certain how active I'll be on here moving forward, I'm sure I'll be a semi-regular lurker at worst but certainly won't have the time required to be across every post that's going on.
I'm hopeful I might eventually meet some of you around town!

Cheers

[verawood]

Welcome LFC

[old1955]

Welcome to the forum.

[Treecycle]

Welcome to the forum LFC. Learning how to do proper wood jointing instead of using mechanical fasteners is lots of fun and will improve your skills, especially if you do them with hand tools. Starting off with lower end power tools is a good way to start until you are sure this hobby is for you and then you can upgrade as funds become available. Having a workbench is a great start.

[LFC]

Cheers Tree - definitely the case that I learned a lot on that shoe rack build!

[crowie]

G'Day & Welcome to a top forum ...
There are a stack members around Melbourne and cross Victoria plus the rest of the country.....
You'll find a heap of helpful & knowledgeable blokes & ladies on the forum and for most very willing to assist.
Make sure you show off your handiwork as everyone loves a photo, especially WIP [Work In Progress] photos with build notes.
Enjoy the forum.
Enjoy your woodwork.....
Cheers crowie

PS - Watch out for local Melbourne get togethers, great way to meet like minded forum members & network...

[KeithP]

Welcome to the forum.

regards
Keith

[JJF]

welcome to the forum

[lyricnz]

Welcome! Every project you build, you'll learn things. Just keep at it, your skills will improve, and you'll figure out what's worth spending $ on and what isn't. What part of Melbourne are you in? There's people here from all around. I'm in Somerville.