Found this and thought you might like it

Over at basicwoodworking2000.com, they have a great post about finding good wood projects to build. It's really interesting and I thought you'd get a kick out of it.

I know for me the biggest struggle is always finding a project that matches my skills and talents that isn't too advanced and still allows me to be creative. Take a look and tell me what you think.

Once you know the tricks, finding good wood projects for yourself is easy. It takes a little bit of practice, though, so the first thing to remember is to be patient with yourself. I know, it sucks to be patient, and people tell you to do it all the time, making it even MORE annoying. In order to help with that, I’m going to give you some guidelines to bear in mind while you get started. I’ll put you miles of ahead of where you started.

Start with what you know – If you’re just starting out with your very first woodworking project, you won’t know much about good wood projects, so start there. Is there anything that just makes you smile when you think of making it? How about something that would make a great gift for someone close to you? Remember, it doesn’t matter if you don’t like the outcome for it’s usability. It just has to be fun to make.

Good wood projects appeal to the creative side of the craftsman (that’s you). They should make you stretch your skills and feel like you’ve grown, even just a little. Most of all, they should make you feel good about yourself and your growing skill set.

Do you have a good set of plans to follow? Never just “wing” a project, because chances are it will fail and fail miserably. You should never make a single cut or drive a single nail until you have a clear, concise picture in your mind of what you want the end result to look like. Woodworking begins in the mind long before it begins in the shop.

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Complete Wood Working Hand Tools Checklist

There is a rising group of woodworkers that enjoy being true purists with tools, and only want to use the classic hand tools. If you're one of these folks, I wish you all the joy and excitement hand tools can give you. This is a short list of a full kit of hand tools you will need in your shop. Using these, you should be able to build everything from a spice rack to a houseboat, given the proper plans, time, and amount of patience.

You should be able to find most of these tools at a nearby Home Depot, Walmart, or hardware store for a reasonable cost.

Complete Hand tool Kit for Woodworkers

1. A Hatchet.
2. A Claw Hammer—Large and Small size preferred.
3. Cross-cut Saw, 20 inches long.
4. Rip Saw, 24 inches long.
5. Wooden Mallet.
6. Jack Plane.
7. Smoothing Plane.
8. Compass Saw.
9. Brace.
10. Bits for Brace, ranging from ¼ inch to 1 inch diameter.
11. Several small Gimlets.
12. Square.
13. Compass.
14. Draw-knife.
15. Rule.
16. Two Gages.
17. Set of Firmer Chisels.
18. Two Mortising Chisels.
19. Small Back Saw.
20. Saw Clamps.
21. Miter Box.
22. Bevel Square.
23. Small Hand Square.
24. Pliers.
25. Pair of Awls.
26. Hand Clamps.
27. Set Files.
28. Glue
29. Oil Stone.
30. Grindstone.
31. Trusses.
32. Work Bench.
33. Plumb Bob.
34. Spirit Level.

You won't necessarily need all of these to get started with your project. It's a wise (and frugal) choice to buy the tools as you need them for a specific job, but there is an argument to be made that having them on hand saves you the time and effort of going to the store to pick them up. For any that you can't find at the store, you can also look online at ebay.com or amazon.com for them. They can usually be bought for a reasonable price.