Downsizing shop from Felders to ?

[Paul Grant]

Using puny equipment compared to what you have now will be a frustrating, cursing and less safe environment. It will cost you double in the future to buy, sell...and buy again. But if you need the money and space now and really have no choice then move forward. Coming back in the future consider more hand tool work supported by you bandsaw and Festool stuff.

[Chris Padilla]

Todd,

Are you the guy that WON the Felder saw in some contest or drawing or something? Your name sure seems familiar; I was at your house many years ago.

Anyway, you might start dumping things and then when the need arises, go back out looking for what you need. Having the Festool track saw may be enough to replace any sort of a table saw that will take up more room.

[Todd Solomon]

Todd,

Are you the guy that WON the Felder saw in some contest or drawing or something? Your name sure seems familiar; I was at your house many years ago.

Anyway, you might start dumping things and then when the need arises, go back out looking for what you need. Having the Festool track saw may be enough to replace any sort of a table saw that will take up more room.

That would be me! Good to hear from you Chris. Want a big, bad sliding table saw???

[Shawn Pixley]

Todd,

Answering your question directly, the Sawstop contractor saw with 36" rails, CI wings, and a mobility base works well. I bought mine years before the PCS was out. I move mine to use it and it has done all that I ask of it. I have added a folding outfeed table and will add a better dust collection shroud on the bottom. I don't have a jointer and do my jointing via hand tools. I have a planer but don't use it a lot. You certainly can make this work.

That said, if it were my decision, I'd try to hold on to the large equipment.

[Chris Padilla]

That would be me! Good to hear from you Chris. Want a big, bad sliding table saw???

Ha! I thought as much. Are you still at the same place? If I had room for such a machine, we'd be talking for sure!

[David Weaver]

I snuck up here from downstairs. As you get used to using hand planes to joint, it actually won't take you that long to do it, just keeping in mind that a fore/try plane level of surface finish on the face side of the board is plenty if you're going to run it through a planer. In general, on something like a 10x50 cherry board, it takes me about 5-10 minutes to have a board ready for a thickness planer.

I could really live without everything except for a decent bandsaw and a thickness planer. (I could live without those if I had to, but I don't want to).

Even ripping boards ends up not being that much of a problem if you do it fairly often and you are careful about what you do, and my wasted wood probably was cut into a third of what it was or less.

I'd love to have a big shop full of power tools better than the ones I have, but I would quit woodworking if I couldn't use the hand tools. Speed with them comes quickly when it is an issue of necessity.