Advice Needed -- Ambitious Dream

[John McCall]

New Member of SMC, love the informative and entertaining discussions that occur here. Thanks for the good insight and enjoyment you have already provided.

I am designing a new shop from scratch. My experience is limited to a lifetime of small projects using old, often cheap and limited power and hand tools, but now, as I look toward retirement, I want to focus serious energy on doing it right. I have spent hours reading your comments, purusing reviews and catalogs on the internet and reading woodworking books and magazines. To make the decisions I now face, nothing would be more valuable to me than hearing advice from those with good experience.

What comments/advice do you have regarding the following choices I am considering (or others not on my list):

Table Saw:
Powermatic 10" Model 2000, 5HP or
Grizzly 12" Model 0606, 7HP or
Sawstop 10" 3HP

Bandsaw:
Powermatic 20" Model 2013B, 3HP or
Lagunna 18" Model LT18, 4.5HP

Drill Press:
Powermatic 18" Variable Spd or
Grizzly Model G0482 12 Spd

Planner:
Powrematic 15" Model 15, 5HP or
Grizzly 20" Model G0454, 5HP

Jointer:
Powermatic 8" Parollelogram, 2HP or
Grizzly 8" G0593, 2 HP

Lathe:
One Way 2436, 3HP or
Powermatic 4224, 3HP or
Grizzly G0456, 2HP

Powermatic and Grizzly are featured in my choices because they seem to present good quality/value choices, but I have looked at Delta, General, Jet, Craftsman, and a few others, including ones outside my price range. Perhaps there are tools available that are less expensive but of equal quality.

Obviously, there are many other choices to make (dust collection, sanders, hand tools, shop layout, etc.), but these I've listed seem to be the big ticket items.

I plan to focus my efforts on furniture and cabinetry. Quality of the equipment is important, as is safety, but the budget has its limits.

Sorry for the length of the question. I look forward to your help.

[Kurt Forbes]

If you use the lathe get the table saw with the biggest table because you will be covering it with turnings as it lays there slightly used. It will at least be useful that way.

[Rob Russell]

John,

Given what you're already looking to spend on equipment, I'd suggest that you look at some of the combination machines. I personally went with Felder equipment, but the MiniMax is certainly good too. It's a bit more of an upfront investment, but if you're building a "dream shop", you might want to check the SMC archives for discussions on european machines.

Rob

[Pete Brown]

I don't know what type of work you hope to do, so some general recommendations:

For a bandsaw, I recommend looking at the MiniMax MM-16, 20 or 24 depending on your needs. I have a MM-16 that works very well for me. A 20 or 24 will give you more table capacity and will also allow you to run wider blades, in case resawing is to be a primary use.

For the jointer/planer and tablesaw (and also a shaper and horizontal mortiser), take a look at some of the MiniMax sliding combo machines. I drool over good european sliders every time I see them. If you want to process a lot of sheet goods, go with the longer sliders (10', IIRC). Some folks have also mounted router tables on the outfeed of some sliders in order to do dados with the slider.

If a full combo is out of your budget look at their straight sliding table saws and/or the saw/shaper combos.

Get as wide a jointer as you can. I use my 6" jointer to face-joint lumber, and the size is a significant restriction. The 12" and larger jointers offered as part of the combos (and also as part of eurpoean-style jointer/planers such as offered by MM, Laguna, and now Grizzly) look to be a good deal.

A dust collector should be one of your first purchases. I recommend an Oneida cyclone. I have the 2hp Super Gorilla for my tiny shop, but they have lots of other choices for different shop sizes and equipment needs. They'll design it all for you for free.

The OneWay lathe will set you back a significant amount. I've always heard good things about it, though.

Pete

[Frank Snyder]

John - I have mostly Powermatic equipment and I'm quite happy with them. The PM2000 is an outstanding table saw and serves my needs very well.

For dealing with sheet goods, I went with the Festool methodology of taking the lightweight tool to the heavy sheet of plywood, rather than the heavy sheet of plywood to the half-ton tool (slider)...get my drift? Combo machines and sliders are interesting, but I don't think I'd adapt well to one in practice. This is really a personal choice of how you work.

I'd reconsider PM's drill press (I own it) and check out the new Delta's when they come out in March.

I have Laguna's 16HD bandsaw it appears to be very well made and cuts straight. Some people here have had bad customer service experiences with them, but I've yet to experience this myself.

PM's 15" planer is only 3HP (not 5). I would save up for a Byrd Shelix head on whatever planer you go with. PM now offers both the 15S and the 209 with Byrd heads.

I also have the PM PJ882 8" jointer and I like its oversized beds. Definitely go with the parallelogram tables.

What kind of joinery to you plan to use in your work? If M & T, you'll want to budget for a hollow chisel mortiser.

The main reason I chose PM is that WMH is local to me and I can knock on their door if I need parts or service. I think you can get more for your money with Grizzly, and to be honest, a lot of these Taiwanese-made products are the same. Go with the company which you're comfortable dealing with and has a good customer service track record, and determine what woodworking methodologies work best for you.

Hope this helps.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

If you can afford a Saw Stop you might take a gander at the Austrian Sliders and combos. There are some really good used machines around too.

I'd say take a look ar General for lathes.

You might want to consider a bandsaw.

[Pete Brown]

For dealing with sheet goods, I went with the Festool methodology of taking the lightweight tool to the heavy sheet of plywood, rather than the heavy sheet of plywood to the half-ton tool (slider)...get my drift? Combo machines and sliders are interesting, but I don't think I'd adapt well to one in practice. This is really a personal choice of how you work.

I do the same with my Festool stuff. It has been really worth it. I'd have looked more seriously at a sliding saw if my shop was larger, but I can't get one in there. The Festool system (out on a couple saw horses with 2x4s across the top) has done everything I expected of it.

One suggestion. If you do go with Festool (I have their 55 saw, not the larger one), get the full length guide rail that will handle 8' sheets. I have two smaller ones with some rails that are used to join them, and getting them both to follow the same line is difficult when you constantly break it down and set it back up to cross-cut vs rip cut 8' sheets.

Pete

[Nancy Laird]

John, don't discount Steel City in your research. We have a new 15" planer and a new 6" wedge-bed long-bed jointer, and both are very nice. Prices are good, workmanship is excellent, and they come out of the crate pretty much ready to roll. They also do cabinet saws, band saws, shapers, spindle sanders, drum sanders, drill presses, mini-lathes, bench grinders, bench-top mortisers, DC systems, and air cleaners.

[glenn bradley]

"What comments/advice do you have regarding the following choices I am considering (or others not on my list):

Table Saw:
Powermatic 10" Model 2000, 5HP or
Grizzly 12" Model 0606, 7HP or
Sawstop 10" 3HP

Bandsaw:
Powermatic 20" Model 2013B, 3HP or
Lagunna 18" Model LT18, 4.5HP

Drill Press:
Powermatic 18" Variable Spd or
Grizzly Model G0482 12 Spd

Planner:
Powrematic 15" Model 15, 5HP or
Grizzly 20" Model G0454, 5HP

Jointer:
Powermatic 8" Parollelogram, 2HP or
Grizzly 8" G0593, 2 HP

Lathe:
One Way 2436, 3HP or
Powermatic 4224, 3HP or
Grizzly G0456, 2HP"

Do you want to adopt a son? Sorry, no help there but that is an impressive short list.