Thinking of finally taking the plunge and selling the power tools....(Long)

[Chris Hachet]

I have a very similar story, I've always wanted to build a little wood shop but never had a garage, so I just started collecting power tools that I thought I needed and storing them, finally got a house with a two car garage and set them up, then I bought a fence to replace mine that cracked on my table saw and it came with a couple old Stanley hand planes, that's when it went down hill, it's just so much more pleasant working with hand tools, I still use the power tools for some things, like milling a log I found, but I did joint one of the edges by hand, and cut it to length with my $3 Disston crosscut that I found at a Restore. So, the power tools come in handy for big jobs like that, it would've taken me days to rip a log by hand. And I don't have a proper bench for hand tools. That's going to be my first project. I've read two books on the anatomy and building of old benches. It should be a somewhat difficult project, but at the same time a little forgiving, IE: large joints, and inexpensive wood.

...and once you build your first bench and use it, you will know what you do not like about it. You will like your second bench much better, methinks.

[Mike williams54]

Well, my first bench, old kitchen counter and cabinets from a remodel years ago, has basically set my benchmark, it needs to be built from... Real wood, with a vise or two. I'm going for the roubo design, I think the nicholsen one?( the really simple made out of construction grade with an apron and no vises) would be easiest, but What kind of person would I be if I took the easy route.. It shouldn't be too hard, I have a book.. Haha

[Patrick Harper]

Mike, I'm currently doing a roubo build out of construction lumber. Some tasks are tedious, but it isn't too hard. So far, I have four large beams glued up for the top. I've started jointing the faces by hand and I should be ready to glue the whole top up soon. Let me know if you have any questions.

[John Sanford]

This seems entirely rational.

Chris

Entirely too rational. It's a trap!!

[Mike williams54]

Thanks for the offer Patrick! I may need to take you up on that when I get started. What type(s) of vise are you going to use? I'm using alder, I already bought a ton of 12/4, I used it because it was the cheapest route. About 1.80 bd/ft. It was that or construction grade Doug fir. Couldn't find any SYP in utah, which I hear is a good bench material.

[Chris Hachet]

Well, my first bench, old kitchen counter and cabinets from a remodel years ago, has basically set my benchmark, it needs to be built from... Real wood, with a vise or two. I'm going for the roubo design, I think the nicholsen one?( the really simple made out of construction grade with an apron and no vises) would be easiest, but What kind of person would I be if I took the easy route.. It shouldn't be too hard, I have a book.. Haha

That old bench will make an awesome glue up and assembly table though. Laminate is easy to clean after you make a mess. Alder should also make a really nice bench....it is expensive here in Ohio but much cheaper out west where you live.

Chris

[Peter Evans]

I belong to a woodworkers association that has an excellent workshop, with quality large power tools. In my garage I have a pretty ordinary drill press that gets a lot of use, and a vintage scroll saw I use for cutting saw handles (otherwise I would just use a coping saw for such work). I used to do all wood prep by hand, but now that I am a septuagenarian, I find the top quality power tools make a considerable difference to getting things done. So you may not need to have your own power tools.

Cheers
Peter

[Patrick Harper]

Mike, I'm using the Benchcrafted Classic Leg vise with criss-cross. No end vise for me. I'm using SYP, which is very easy to find here. If I could have found something like Alder for what you scored, I would have jumped all over it. 12/4 material would have saved me a lot of time in milling.

[Jim Matthews]

We do the same thing with clothes.

Every Spring, the unopened Rubbermaid tubs go straight to Goodwill.
No peeking allowed.

If we didn't look for it in a year - we didn't need it.

[Jim Matthews]

I used to do all wood prep by hand, but now that I am a septuagenarian, I find the top quality power tools make a considerable difference to getting things done. So you may not need to have your own power tools.Cheers, Peter

This is really sensible. Apprentices being thin on the ground, burn electrons when necessary.

I favor buying your lumber as close to your preferred dimensions as is reasonable.

While I can hog off 1/4 inch (6+ mm) by hand, that might be all can manage in a day.
Sometimes it's worthwhile to dust off a power tool, or pay somebody that owns one already.

Since the OP already owns some basic milling machines, keeping them in reserve
another couple of months won't seriously hurt his resale values.

[Greg Berlin]

Ok, you guys talked me into keeping them. I kind of wish I had a better shop setup then where I don't have to switch the dust collector between each piece and all that. Like they were set up and ready to go. They might get more use coming up as the wife need projects. Table saws scare the crap out of me, but a new one with riving knife and all that would be nice. Plus a better planer than the base base ryobi cheap one I have.

[Chris Hachet]

Mike, I'm using the Benchcrafted Classic Leg vise with criss-cross. No end vise for me. I'm using SYP, which is very easy to find here. If I could have found something like Alder for what you scored, I would have jumped all over it. 12/4 material would have saved me a lot of time in milling.

I just saw the no end vise thing. this is exactly how I am building my bench, and using the Benchcrafted classic as well with the cross-cross.

[Chris Hachet]

Ok, you guys talked me into keeping them. I kind of wish I had a better shop setup then where I don't have to switch the dust collector between each piece and all that. Like they were set up and ready to go. They might get more use coming up as the wife need projects. Table saws scare the crap out of me, but a new one with riving knife and all that would be nice. Plus a better planer than the base base ryobi cheap one I have.

Exactly-you will know what you need as time goes by. I almost sold my chopsaw a few months back, but it ahs come in very handy for some remodeling and general construction stuff I have done since then.

[Mike williams54]

No end vise? I didn't even consider that, I don't recall Christopher Schwartz saying it wasnt needed. It seems like a very useful option, clamping between dogs, and if you do a sliding shoulder type(not sure that's the technical term) then you have even more options. Then again you can still use dogs and hand plane without clamping, like nicholsens bench with no vises. Hmm

[Chris Hachet]

No end vise? I didn't even consider that, I don't recall Christopher Schwartz saying it wasnt needed. It seems like a very useful option, clamping between dogs, and if you do a sliding shoulder type(not sure that's the technical term) then you have even more options. Then again you can still use dogs and hand plane without clamping, like nicholsens bench with no vises. Hmm

Christopher Schwartz Built a giant Roubo IIRC out of French oak with only one vise, and he enjoyed it just fine. In his write up, he said that every mechanical part you add to the bench is just one more opportunity for something to break.

I am considering a second bench that will have an end vise. Scored some really good lumber, will have some left over for the second bench.