How much money do I need to start woodworking?

Let's assume you want a versatile starter kit of essential tools and equipment to enable you learn basis woodworking skills and make things to see how much you want to commit to woodworking. If we include a basic bench in your budget I reckon we are talking somewhere between £100 and £130 (buying online).

I have researched and bought new lowcost tools and tested them myself as part of my groundbreaking course ' 'Design and make in wood'. Lets first dispel the myth about cheap tools. If they were badly made and did not fulfil their function they would not survive long on this overcrowded marketplace. A DIY cordless drill costing under £15 £100 (in 2025) might only be used a few minutes a month and will last for years.

a 36 hour integrated enabling course for total beginners

Here are extracts from 'Tools needed' from my proposed online course and whilst the Silverline 1/4" router cost £67 a Trend T4 router currently sells for £50. Three chisels cost under £10, a smoothing plane for around £20.

A lowcost smoothing plane is adequate for a beginner

Of course you can buy tools second hand tools from Ebay or find a local market that deals with old tools.

The truth is there is a feelgood factor to owning a plane that is top quality and costs in exccess of £200 but there is no guarantee it will make you a better craftsman. For the first few years of my professional practice in the early 1970s when I could not even borrow £50 from my bank, I used limited handtools. A cabinet I designed and which, by invitation was shown at sold at Sotheby's auction house I used mostly lowcost tools. Who would know or indeed care unless I told them!

Corner Drinks Cabinet designed by Jeremy Broun and sold at the Sotheby's First Sale of Contemporary British Crafts in 1980. Lowcost tools and power tools including a 16" drum sander were used.

Now when it comes to materials, its best starting off using a soft forgiving wood such as pine. Despite rises in timber prices and sanctions on Russian pine being imported, it is still a relatively low cost material. Plywoods on the other hand are expensive. You may well be advised to look in skips at the valuable timber many people throw out or sourcing offcuts. Its hard to put a price on it but if I answer the question bluntly - to get started making something in wood - £20 will go a long way for a first basic project such as a shoe rack, shelving unit, birdhouse or plant stand.