Please Help A Novice

[Matt Stiegler]

here's another thread you may find useful, although its a few years old: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=16370


I suspect most folks here would say 220 and 3HP is the way to go if you're serious about it and can afford it. I recently upgraded from an underpowered contractor saw on 110 to a 3HP cabinet saw on 220 and am very glad I did. But there are certainly lots of folks out there doing great work perfectly content with 110.

[Greg Cole]

+1 to the comment about spending a little time remodeling the home you just purchased (unless it's new). You will pick up some hands on & some tools and turn the house into your home. Diving right into making furniture is tough as it's expensive to tool up and outfit a shop and learning by doing tends to use excess time and material.
I too wince at prices of well built furniture, but don't fool yourself into thinking you can make a piece cheaper when you stop and factor in all associated costs (and time). Use the motivation that you are doing it yourself & you enjoy the journey into the craft and leave the "cost savings" to the bean-counters of the world.
Buy tools as you need them when you are starting out. I'd advise to not buy the cheapest there is nor the most expensive. Buy serviceable tools that are in your budget, when /if you outgrow them you can usually sell a decent model/well cared for tool for 40-60% of purchase price.
Lastly, dust collection and a real work bench (flat and able to secure your work to the bench via vices, hold downs etc) should be high on the list. My DC was one of the last "big" tools I bought and I built a real bench last winter after "getting by" with a plywood topped piece of junk.