First-year cabinet making apprentice tool list

What you actually need in year one

• •Tape measure (5 m minimum) and a quality combination square: accuracy is your whole job, buy these good.
• •Pencils, a marking knife and a marking gauge for set-out.
• •Cordless drill and impact driver with a decent bit set, your main power tool spend.
• •A starter set of bevel-edged chisels and a sharpening stone.
• •Quick-release clamps, a utility knife, screwdrivers, hammer and soft mallet.
• •PPE: earmuffs or plugs, safety glasses, P2 dust masks and comfortable steel cap boots.
• •A lockable tool box or sturdy tool bag.

Budget vs good vs premium

Spend properly on anything that measures or marks: a cheap square that is half a degree out will ruin every job it touches. Mid-range is fine for the drill and impact driver, and picking the same battery platform as your shop (or as the tradies you work with) saves money long term. Budget gear is fine for clamps, screwdrivers and the tool box itself. Premium hand planes and boutique chisels can wait until you know whether your career is heading towards solid timber work, because in a melamine kitchen shop they will mostly sit in the box.

What the workshop supplies

All static machinery is the employer's problem: panel saws, edge banders, CNC machines, drill presses, thicknessers, jointers, spray equipment and the dust extraction system. Most shops also supply glue, screws, hardware, sandpaper and consumables, and many keep shared power tools like routers, sanders and nail guns. Employers must not charge you for things they require you to have, and site-specific safety gear is generally on them. What is yours is the personal hand-tool kit, and looking after it well gets noticed.

What NOT to buy yet

• •A table saw, router table or any machinery for home: you have free access to better gear at work.
• •Full plane collections and carving sets before you know your stream.
• •A track saw: brilliant tool, but wait until installs make it worth it, or use the shop's.
• •Massive complete tool kits from the big-box specials: half the kit will never leave the box.
• •Anything the shop already supplies, so ask first, always.

Tool allowances and tax

Depending on the award or enterprise agreement covering your shop, tradespeople and apprentices who supply their own tools may be entitled to a tool allowance on top of the base rate. Check your award with the Fair Work Pay and Conditions Tool rather than guessing, because coverage differs between joinery, timber and construction awards.

At tax time, tools you buy for work are deductible: items costing $300 or less can generally be claimed outright in that year, dearer items are depreciated over their life, and repairs and insurance count too. You cannot claim anything your employer supplied or reimbursed. Keep every receipt from day one, a photo in a folder on your phone is enough.

Second-hand is your friend

Cabinet making is one of the best trades for second-hand tools. Old Australian and English made chisels, planes and squares from markets, online marketplaces and deceased estates are often better steel than new budget gear, and sharpening them up is good practice anyway. Just check for cracks in handles, pitted blades near the edge, and squares that are actually square before handing over cash.