Brand New and Overwhelmed with Powertool Options

[Chris Merriam]

And that relates to a jointer-planer question how, exactly??

I know that SS is the cat's pajamas, based on what I read here, but that seems a bit of a stretch..................

Because in post #6 the OP said he is buying a SS, and I thought he'd like to know he can save $200

[Andrew Joiner]

I want to get the best tools I can afford. I really don't want to have to go through the tool and double check everything to make sure it is square/flat (maybe there is no way getting around this). So what unit/units should I buy? What features should I make sure they have?

Daniel,
What are you going to build?

For all tools and machines I would double check everything to make sure it is square/flat when you receive them. There's posts on here about low and high price brands being less than perfect as shipped.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Because in post #6 the OP said he is buying a SS, and I thought he'd like to know he can save $200

Fair enough, Chris - I missed that. My apologies.

I guess my eyes just glaze over whenever SS or Green Kool-aid come up........

My fault.

Carry on..................

[Wade Lippman]

Dropping $20,000 on WW tools when you haven't done any woodworking might not be the best approach. But if the money isn't important, then never mind.

About 10 years ago I bought two unused DCs and an unused RAS from a guy for $300. He also had an unused sliding TS, but I had no room for it. He needed to get rid of them because he was upgrading all his tools. I bet he never used the new ones either.

[Daniel McPherson]

Andrew - You asked what I am going to build. Let me explain my experience with welding, that may help. I had an item at my house break and thought, "Crap, well lets go buy a entry level machine so I can fix it, then I will have a welder on the off chance I ever use it." Well, that was four years ago. I have since had to buy and re-buy as I upgraded all my equipment once I realized I had a passion for fabrication that makes it so my wife drags me out of the shop each night. So at this point I want to make a bunch of shelving and cabinets for my welding, automotive, fabrication shop. But, I know how I am and five years from now I will probably be completely addicted to woodworking. Especially since the people I know who do both metal and wood tend to prefer wood. So the short answer is, "I'm not quite sure I know what I want to build, but I want to get tools that will allow me to build most anything without having to sell and repurchase for more capacity etc."

I don't know if that helps or not.

I understand needing to check each machine once it is received. I am sure that there are somethings that if out of spec are easy fixes and others that are huge fundamental issues. (Replace a bearing vs an improperly machined cast iron top) I would prefer to not have to monkey with any "fixes"

[David Kumm]

Start off buying reasonably cheap or used until you develop your hobby and find out what you like doing. Not all bad to learn, reassess, and upgrade. I started out with Jet, Seco, Delta, and upgraded, and upgraded, etc, etc. I've now found i like rehabbing old high end woodworking machines to build big stuff, entry doors, workbenches, cabinets. There is no way i could have predicted in 1995 what I would like in 2015. Starting out lower end also teaches you what to look for in a better machine and how many levels of build are out there. The hobby takes many variations. Dave

[Jim Dwight]

There is a huge diminishing returns point with woodworking tools. I have a Ryobi BT3100 table saw I bought new for about $300. I've built several bedroom sets with it. I dovetail drawers with a HF jig with a Grizzly template guide. I don't think cheap routers or hand-held tools in general make sense, I mostly stick to DeWalt, Milwaukee, Bosch, etc.. But my cordless tools are Ryobi and work fine. I also have a large HF hammer drill. I use a Ryobi AP-10 planner. Not many boards are over 10 inches wide. My planner is an old INCA 8 5/8 inch.

If I was starting over, I would get a decent table saw (wouldn't be a SS but I have no doubt they are decent), then a sliding miter saw (unless I found an old RAS), then a bunch of hand tools, then maybe a planner, then maybe a jointer. I'd get a track saw and keep the table saw to 30 inch rip. The track saw can put a straight edge on boards too. The track saw is the best way to cut up sheet goods.

[John C Bush]

I live close to the Griz Bellingham showroom and have had the luxury of seeing all their goodies on display and no shipping fee when I pull the trigger. I had a PM 8" jointer and now have the Griz 12" spiral and like it better. Good fit and finish and great performer. Had a classic Parks 12" planer and now have a Griz 20" spiral-bought it used and is also a great performer. Had a Rikon 18" BS-liked it but wanted bigger capacity and foot brake and now have Griz 21",good F&F and great resawing with a good blade. Also have Griz osc. spindle sander, edge sander, and 2hp DC--all have been good performers. TS is a SS ICS. I have been very pleased with Griz and as a hobby WWer I think their machines are a good value. I have a friend with a WoodMizer and usually mill out rough stock for my projects and rarely have needed larger capacity. If you plan to use pre-milled/dimensioned stock you may not need the larger capacity. I'd go big tho if reasonable for you. You can fab mobile bases in your metal shop and move machines to max out your 20x20 space. If you haven't poured your floor yet, consider in floor radiant heating. Best choice so far for my shop "equipment". Good luck and have fun shopping.

[Keith Weber]

Regarding your 20x20 planned space, remember to consider your infeed and outfeed requirements. It depends on what you're building, and what you might be building in the future. A lot of lumber comes in 12' lengths. If you're building boxes and small tables, then you can always cut them down first, but if you want to make a lot of trim for a house, then you need a lot of room for the infeed and outfeed (roughly 2 times the lumber length plus 2 feet, as a minimum. You mentioned having a door for the TS, but also consider that the jointer, planer, shaper, and possibly a bandsaw can also need this same floorspace requirement. Are you going to want to move these machines in front of the door every time you want to use them on a long piece? Just something to consider.

My former basement shop was a 650 sq. ft. L-shaped layout with a limited straight of 28 feet. It was problematic for me when I was making miles of trim for the house. My new shop is slightly smaller (about 550 sq. ft.), but it's about 11.5 x 48, so I have lots of room for the longer stuff. I like it soooo much better. Ideally, I wish I had 14' of width to allow for two lengthwise walkways instead of just one, but as a tool junkie, I'm sure I'd soon fill that to capacity as well.

[Daniel McPherson]

I looked at the prices on the Grizzly line. I am under the impression that you get a lot more bang for your buck with Grizzly vs Jet or Powermatic because they sell direct and not through distributors. Is this correct?

[Mike Schuch]

My 40 x 40 shop is divided right down the middle with wood working on one side and metal working / auto working on the other. I wish my woodworking side was bigger and I could live with a bit smaller metal working side. I would recommend not going any smaller than 20 x 40 for a wood working shop since you have the space. A seperate segergated finishing room would also be very nice to have. Depending on the auto work you do it could serve multi-functions for finishes and paint!

I have a 15" Taiwanese planer and a 8" Taiwanese jointer. Even though the jointer is probably the most used machine in my shop I haven't had a need for bigger than 8". I spent 25 years with a harbor freight 6" jointer and got along quite well... I love having the 8 jointer now though. Jointers are relatively simple beasts... so simple even Harbor Freight made decent ones for cheap!

I would put my money into other machines instead of a jointer and planer. I would love to have a good sliding table table saw with a scoring blade! I really like my sliding table shaper but what really made me fall in love with it was when I added the 1 hp stock feeder to it. All that setup and trying to keep the perfect feed rate pushing stock through the shaper is gone now... the power feeder does it all for me.

I learned wood working from my father on his Delta turret arm radial arm saw. As such my 16" Redstar radial arm saw gets much more use than either of my cabinet table saws. But I believe many others favor their table saws over a radial arm saw.

A drill press is also a handy wood working tool to have. And I would definitely recommend not using your metal working drill press for wood. Way too messy and way to easy to ruin a good board with cutting oil. You don't need as much of a drill press for wood working as you do for metal working... although bigger is always better.

[Lee Reep]

Mike,

Dittos on a RAS. Mine was the first major power tool I bought in 1975. That is still my "go to" saw for most work. My table saw is just for ripping. Hard to not favor your first saw that enabled you to make so much. After 40 years I've become pretty accustomed to that saw.

[John Sanford]

Get the biggest jointer you can afford, then get a planer that's as big or bigger. You can get a Hammer A3-41, which is a 16" Jointer/Planer for @ $6,300, plus accessories & shipping (A&S). The MiniMax FS41 Classic is $6,795. That's list, you can likely make some sort of deal if they're on sale, you're a good negotiator, etc.

Or you can get a Grizzly 16" Jointer for $4,350 + A&S, and a 20" Planer for $1,929.

Those are new prices. Of course, used prices will be less, but they may be more difficult to find. Prices for Jet and Powermatic machines will be higher than the Grizzlies and Baleigh, but less than the Euro machines.

All that said, I would recommend that you get used Asian/North American machines to start. Get an 8" jointer and 15"-20" planer, used, or perhaps a 12" j/p combo. Why? Because you're starting off, and dropping big coin seems unwise. It's harder to lose money when you buy used machines, so whether you decide that woodworking really isn't for you, or you determine that you want to dive in deeper, you can sell usually used machines for 80-150% of what you paid for them. That's unlikely to happen with machines you bought new. Now, I realize you'd prefer to avoid the upgrade path, and that's a legitimate perspective. I'm not suggesting you start with a 6" jointer and lunchbox planer, then upgrade to 8" jointer, then 12" or 16". No, just a single upgrade. If you really don't want that path though, then commit to a 12" or 16" jointer up front. A big jointer is more difficult to find on the used market than a 20"+ planer, so if the 5-6k is a hard limit, and you want separates, I'd get a 16" jointer and a used planer rather than compromise on the jointer size.

In truth, were it me, I'd reach deep and get either the above Hammer or Minimax, or be patient and get a comparable Euro machine used. I got my Minimax FS30 (12") jointer/planer for $1,200. They go new for about $5,300.

[Rod Sheridan]

You'll never regret buying the combo machine, as it will give you same size jointer as the planer.

It's really nice to have a 12 or 16" jointer.

I went from an 8" jointer to the 12" combo and couldn't be happier.

Regards, Rod.

[Kent A Bathurst]

I went from an 8" jointer to the 12" combo and couldn't be happier.

Brand / model?