I'm spending 10K - are those the right choices?

[Dan Clark]

Gilbert,

I bought this drill press at Lowes after reading positive reviews on it: http://www.lowes.com/pd_78742-46069-...ductId=3162489. Normally, I don't buy tools at Lowes because they typically carry lower end tools. While this one certainly won't compete with something like a Powermatic, the price/value balance is excellent. Mine does not have any runout, the cross-hair laser helps with positioning, and because it's a floor model, the spindle distance to the base range is very good.

The only changes I made were to add a Woodpecker table and to change the lightbulb to an LED one (much less heat and electrical usage, and doesn't burn out).

Regards,

Dan.

[roger wiegand]

There are some smaller tools that I use a lot that I'd want to have if I were making furniture full time. First is a SCMS with a good fence system to allow accurate, repeatable cuts to length and angle cuts. You can do small pieces on the table saw, but anything over a few feet long quickly becomes awkward and accuracy falls off. Also arranging stops to make angled cuts on longer boards to exact lengths on a table saw seems to be beyond my skills. It's also a lot faster to go to the chop station than to rearrange the TS for crosscutting (most of the time theres a dedicated rip blade or dado head on the TS). Second is a machine to help with joinery. I have a biscuit joiner for aligning boards in a glue-up and light duty case work, and a hollow chisel mortiser for frames. Today I might well consider a Domino instead. Third is clamps-- lots of clamps. Fourth would be a set of planes- block, shoulder, jack, and smoother.

It was interesting to try to think of what stationary tools I use most, and also which are hardest to substitute for. The most used list would probably go in order SCMS, dust collector, TS, drill press, BS, lathe, jointer, planer, mortiser, shaper, disk sander, drum sander. I'd least like to give up the TS, jointer and planer, with the bandsaw close behind.

[James Zhu]

Do you have heat in garage? It is very cold in Quebec in long winter, not comfortable working under freezing temperature, also not good to high price tools like SawStop and Hammer J/P (condensation causing rust)

[Peter Kelly]

Hello all,

I've been reading a lot of threads about a lot of topics, but always in the shadow. Today I'm jumping in with the results of my inquiries. But first some backgroud info... (By the way I apologize if my english writing is not very good, I'm french canadian and I never really took english writing lessons )

Basically I've been working wood as a hobby for most of my adult life, building decks, outside furniture and the like. But I'm getting a lot of demand for house furniture and giving it a try, I realized that the level of precision needed, the type of wood used, and the fact that people are expecting much more when it comes to this type of product is not compatible with my actual machinery and set-up. As of today I work with a Bosch mitter saw, DeWalt portable table saw, hand power tools and basic hand tools.

Starting january 2015, I will be working full time as a woodworker and I'll spend 75% of my time doing house furniture and 25% (mostly summer) doing decks and garden furniture. I'll be working in my garage for now and hopefully be able to have a dedicated shop soon enough. As many of us do, I'll be sharing garage space with my wife's car at night so I'll move my equipment around, available space being 13x17. But I'm okay with that. Below I'll share my choices and my priorities. Please feel more than welcome to share opinions, insight, questions, anything that could help avoiding big mistakes. Also note that for some reason I don't seem to find dealers for Delta, Jet and some stuff from Grizzly among others. Canada is a pretty small market I guess.

Here we go...

priority #1 - table saw - my choice: Sawstop professional

priority #2 - jointer /planer - my choice: hammer A3-31, unless you suggest I go with 2 separate machines

priority #3 - bandsaw - my choice: Grizzly G0555LAN (as you can see, less $$ available lol)

priority #4 - press drill - my choice: Shopfox W1668

priority #5 - router - my choice: PC 7518

The only thing I was not able to decide on is the right dust collector. Powermatic 1300tx? Grizzly G0703?...

Did I miss something, a piece of equipment I didn't think of?

As I said, all insights are welcome and thanks for reading the whole thing

If priority #1 is a table saw, I'd go with a sliding table format saw. Hammer / Felder or MiniMax / SCM are both good choices. Priority #2 should be the dust collector & piping.

[Pat Barry]

If you are doing deck work then I think a 12 inch sliding compound miter saw should be on your list. Also a good circular saw and 18V Li Ion battery drill / driver

[Roy Harding]

The choice of a combination machine is usually related to floor space. I have a four function Felder CF531P which enabled me to have a sliding table saw/shaper/12" jointer/12" planer in a smaller space than the four tools would have taken separately. It works for me - however, there are occasions when I wish I had the four separate machines, so I'd be able to leave the machine set up for a specific cut. I've found that by being disciplined in how I work I avoid that conundrum in most cases.

[James Zhu]

http://www.hammerusa.com/us-us/produ...ner-31x31.html

The lowest hammer slider's list price (K3 winner 31x31) is $3699 in the states, even without any further discount, it is a very good price. However, we at Canada would pay lot more (20 to 30%) for the same hammer/felder product sold in states

I agree slider is way better than any traditional cabinet saw.

[richard poitras]

I'm not a fan of multi-function machines. Go with separate joiner and planer. Bill

Plus one .....

[Ruperto Mendiones]

Consider a router table and lift for the pc 7518. Also agree with a domino; it ~ obviates mortising and tenoning machines and accessories. Agree with saving a large fraction of the $ to buy what you need as you go along. Many of the tools and accessories I have bought thinking they would be useful down the road sit unused.

[Dan Clark]

About "shop vacs"...

To me a shop vac is something you use to clean your shop after you're finished making wood dust. Conversely a dust collector is something you use to help prevent spewing wood dust all over your shop (and in your eyes, nose, lungs, etc). For some people a dust collector is a large device that sits in the corner and has large tube running out of it. For others, it's a smaller portable device that attaches to each tool when you need to use it. Either will work, and either will be better for some tools and not for others.

I chose the portable dust collector route. I have two Festool "dust collectors" (CT22 and CT26) that function as good shop vacs too. Fein makes excellent portable dust collector/shop vacs too. Bosch just came out with a new one that looks very promising. I.e. lots of portable choices - each with pluses and minuses.

My shop is my garage, shared with two cars. Everything is portable or on wheels. I roll out my vacs, connect them to the tools, and store them away when finished. My CT's hook up to the Festools very well. Also, with adapters, they do a very good job with my router table (Triton router), Dewalt DW7480 table saw, Dewalt DW735 planer, and the Kreg jigs.

For some tools, like the Festool Domino (great tool!) and the Kreg jigs, it's very important to clear out the holes and mortices while they are being cut/drilled. For other tools, like the tablesaw, planer, and router table, used in combination with a mini cyclone, they do a keep most of dust from flying around. And of course, once your done, you can use a portable dust collector/vac to quickly clean up the remaining dust.

Be warned though... When you start using a vac/dust collector to get rid of most of the dust WHILE you are working, it's addictive. You won't go back to tools with poor dust collection.

Obviously, YMMV and depend on your needs, wants, and constraints. But I hope you consider dust collection a key factor in whatever setup you choose. Good luck with your decisions.

Regards,

Dan.

[Dan Clark]

...Agree with saving a large fraction of the $ to buy what you need as you go along. Many of the tools and accessories I have bought thinking they would be useful down the road sit unused.

Ruperto,

Agree completely. For example, after buying and selling a Hitachi plunge router, I bought a Festool OF1400. It's a great router and it has been a great tool for many tasks. Eventually, the need for a nice router table got stronger, so I have a Woodpecker router table, Triton router, and Kreg fence. Now I don't use the Festool as much, but it's still valuable. On the other hand...

I got a Bosch Colt for smaller hand work. Overall it's a nice little router, but it has no dust collection attachments. At least none that I can find. And poor dust collection is an issue for me.

The Festool router has several attachments for dust collection. Festool dust collection is very good for many cuts. The Triton router has a dust shield with a port that fits my Festool D27 hose perfectly. And the Kreg fence (and most fences) has dust ports. With my Festool vac attached, router table dust collection is excellent - for most cuts, there is virtually no dust.

So the Bosch Colt sits on the shelf except for those rare occasions that it is the best tool for the job. I bought it. I learned. I stopped using it mostly.

From advertising, lots of tools are awesome! From experience, it's a bit different. Please consider taking it a step at a time.

Regards,

Dan.

[Chris Padilla]

It all really depends on what you'll be building. Yes, there are some real basic things you need. I grew up around a table saw so that was the first thing I ever bought. Things grew from there.

My shop (garage) is bigger than yours and I would have a difficult time housing separate jointer and planer so the combo works great for me. Are changeovers a hassle? Yes, at times changing between the two can be an issue but it is just something you learn to deal with. So I have a very nice wide jointer and a widish planer with my MM FS41 Elite--16". I love it and it serves me very well. I think a table saw and jointer and planer are probably the minimal tools you'll want on hand. Other things are the various handheld tools like routers (or a router in a table...very handy) and sanders and jigsaws and circular saws and then something to clean up all the shavings and dust: cyclone dust collector and smaller vacuums like Fein or Festool are very helpful. You'll need an assortment of hand tools like chisels and saws and screwdrivers and a couple of planes as well. Oh...CLAMPS. See how all this is adding up quickly?! LOL Have fun!!!!!!!

[Gilbert Grenier]

Do you have heat in garage? It is very cold in Quebec in long winter, not comfortable working under freezing temperature, also not good to high price tools like SawStop and Hammer J/P (condensation causing rust)

Cold in Quebec it is...!! But yes, fully heated garage

[Gilbert Grenier]

I would definitely be looking at a mortiser. One of the power tools I wouldn't be without.

Went to the store to take a look at the Table saws and the rep there told me the exact same thing

[Gilbert Grenier]

http://www.hammerusa.com/us-us/produ...ner-31x31.html

The lowest hammer slider's list price (K3 winner 31x31) is $3699 in the states, even without any further discount, it is a very good price. However, we at Canada would pay lot more (20 to 30%) for the same hammer/felder product sold in states

I agree slider is way better than any traditional cabinet saw.

i'd love a slider but not enough room for now. But it will definitely be on my wish list for the real shop in a few years.