Alright, so i have been lurking on the mill now for a while, first as a guest, then as a registered user, and now finally as a member who actually posts. I am fairly new to woodworking, i took 4 years of shop at highschool and actually worked for the teacher at night as an assistant for the woodworking class he ran. Anyways, i went to college last year (U of M) and had been itching to do some work and over the summer i decided to build a shop. I rented 1200 feet of warehouse space, worked like hell, and saved enough money to buy ALOT of tools. My philosophy was buy tools that i would be able to use for at least 20 years. For handtools thats pretty easy, but for machinery its not. I researched and this is what i came up with. Anyways, i wanted to finally pop my head up and say hello. Heres what i bought this summer:
I bought alot of LN chisels, planes, hand saws, Starrett measuing and marking, etc etc.
laguna 18" bandsaw with resaw blade and lots of blades
Laguna TS with Scoring, mobility, and Sliding Table.
Delta x5 16 1/2" drill press (overkill)
Minimax 16" jointer planer with mortising, Just bought (today)
10 24" bessey k body clamps
10 40" bessey k body
6 60" bessey k bodu
6 98" bessey k body
40 bessey c clamps
Lots, Lots, Lots more. The sick part is i feel like i have just the beginings of what i need, even though i know i have more than most. Another thing i planned for though is this. I am 20 now, and in college, in 2 years i'll be on my own and not making enough money to buy the tools i want, and in 10 years i probably have a family, mortgage, allowances, food to pay for. Right now i pay for car insurance, part of my houseing for college, and a couple other things that i can easily pay. So i should buy tools now, and buy tools that will last me a long time.
How do i pay for it all??? Over the summer i worked as a counselor at a computer camp, I assembled (4) play structures and stained them (30 by 60, playground sized !!!), demolished old sheds and buillt new ones for a neighbor, and moved a house with 2 of my friends. In addition, a fair amount of trim carpentry that justified to the parents and SO the tools being bought
Right now i am actually a SAT tutor for 15 hours a week and am about to start a job working in a cabinet shop for 8-16 hours on the weekend do various tasks, but hope to learn something.
Now if i could only afford some wood...
and some time to actually use the tools...
just kidding, i still do manage an hour or three a day between school and work.
Well, i'm rambling, this is a great place and a pool of knowledge and i am really glad that i found the mill, i have already learned alot just reading alot of threads here, and now that i'm posting i'll probably have a question a day