My Shop

[Steve Sawyer]

Some people tend to speak in absolutes, Ron, and unfortunately it affects woodworkers as much as anyone else. The principle of deciding on spending a bit more and buying something once, rather than pinching pennies and upgrading several times is a good principle to keep in mind. But it is an idea to help us in making wise purchase decisions.

When I first started in this hobby about 30 years ago, I had very few tools, and they were of marginal quality. Despite that, I was able to enjoy myself immensely, learned a lot, and turned out some pieces of which I am still proud.

"The best you can afford" is indeed what everyone should be saying, because we each have varying budgets. But again, the principle is to encourage the purchase of tools that are a pleasure to work with and retain both their utility and their value. If all you can afford is stuff from Harbor Freight, you might have to fuss with stuff a bit more, but you might also actually develop some valuable skills as you learn to compensate for less-than-ideal tools.

So yeah, get back in the shop, enjoy yourself and don't let someone's tendency to see (and express) things as black-and-white spoil things for you, or obscure the wisdom that can underly even the most obnoxious pronouncements.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Hi Ron, hope I can add something of substance here. When I started woodworking, I couldn't afford a lot of good tools, but I had a lot of fun using what I had. Now that I have and can afford really good tools, I still have fun, but because I have so much less time, part of the joy of woodworking is now just using a sweet tool. Situations change, but one thing remains a constant, we're all in this to enjoy something, so who cares what anyone else thinks is the right amount of money to spend on a tool, as long as your having a good time.

[Danny Thompson]

The most useful power tool in my shop is a cheap $99 Delta Shopmaster table saw embedded in a workbench made from 2x4's, MDF, and formica. Oh, wait, I did add a Biesemeyer fence, but it was a blem on clearance . . .

The best piece of furniture to come out of my shop, the one that gets the best response, has a hand-scraped finish made with a cheap Lowes block plane (blade cambered).

I am adding better tools as I can afford them, but no faster. Stick with what you've got, and if you don't want to spend the money on LV or LN then follow Marcus Ward's advice about cheap Stanley hand planes. It is certainly a sound strategy.

[Jason Scott]

Ron,

I just wanted to state one fact, the finest Italian exotics, Lamborghini for example, were "hand crafted" with "rudimentry" hand tools. After stating that, I have found that "top of the line" equipment, which I have very little of, aid in making a project "easier", not "better". I started off as a kid the way you did, although I would not consider my upbringing "poor", my shop was outfitted with gifts, from mom and dad, or grandparents, and lets face it, no one gives a budding, young woodworker top of the line Powermatic equipment, oh how I wish they did lol. Anyway, about a year ago I got back into woodworking from a decade away from it...One of the reasons was b/c I was extremely frustrated with the outcome of my projects. I thought it was b/c I had crappy equipment. Some of this was true, ever try to get something square, when cut on something not square? It is difficult to say the least, especially for someone that is still in much of a "learning" process. So while top of the line tools certainly aids in making a project go a little smoother, it is by far away as the 1 thing that will make a project nice, skill and experience I have found is what does that. The only reason I am posting is b/c I have heard several folks state the same thing you have, heck I have even had people on the internet make fun of an old Craftsman tablesaw I had, and they treated me as if I shouldn't even be woodworking...Like you I got heated up over it, but in the end, some people are just jerks, and they will never change. I saved up, and bought equipment when I could, the first purchase was my Powermatic 64A tablesaw. It is an awesome saw, and one of the best "contractor style" saws out there IMO, but it is far from the "best". I waited for a great deal, and found one new in a guys shop, still in the box for 500 bucks, not bad when they are 1000.00. So my advice, is just remember that some of the finest things were crafted without the modern tools everyone drools over now, and if you ever forget, you will remember when you see a picture of a priceless Italian sports car Don't let anyone tell you "tools make the craftsman", it just simply is not true. I've seen guys on here that have craftsman saws produce outstanding stuff that I only wish I could do right now on my Powermatic, just look at Matt, from mattsbasementworkshop podcast. Tools make it easier, not better IMO, now if only I could stop with the "it has to be perfect" mentality, that is even worse than thinking tools make the craftsman. Good luck man!

[Peter Quinn]

Hi Ron...I say chin up sir! Step into your shop each time ready to do your best work and enjoy the process. The trees after all have done most of the really hard work for us already. Wood is a generous, complicated and ultimately forgiving medium that offers the craftsman a lifetime of joy through which to experience its splendor. Don't let any person's opinion affect your relationship with your craft.

Seems to me forums like this offer woodworkers a great place to exchange techniques, teach their methods and explore new ones. Being new to the Creek I find it is an excellent place to get equipment reccommendations from a group of people with broad and diverse experience. That's what brought me here in the first place. Most tool makers don't offer test drives (shame!) so the best you can do is ask other owners and filter the responses.

My own opinions regarding shop equipment have been forged by a lifetime of experience growing up in a family of tradesmen that made their living with their`hands and tools. My opinions are specific to my background, needs, budget and situation thus I'm never sure they are of any real value to others, but I continue to offer them just in case.

My grand father was a pipe fitter with eight children in a New England mill town who's heyday had long passed. Times were tight, means were limited. Over his lifetime he built a hobby cabinet shop outfitted with quality hand tools and machines each of which in relative terms had cost him dearly. He eschewed the instant gratification of buying lesser tools opting instead to be creative with what he owned, save for what he wanted, and make good use of his friends generousity with their equipment. My family still own's and uses many of the tools he bought and many of the things he made with them. He made neither excuses nor apoligies for the things he had or the things he lacked, and neither should anyone of us.

Of one thing I am certain; my shop is my own space, and when I enter it all these things fade from my mind. There's just me, my tools, and the wood. When you do work for sale to others it has to please them, but when your work is a personal journey for your own enjoyment there are no critics that matter and only one judge...YOU!

[Mark Roderick]

Nobody means "Buy the best or don't buy anything at all" literally. Those of us who like like Lie-Nielsen hand planes still have to acknowledge that you can get better quality by spending twice or three times as much. And as somebody who likes and recommends Lie-Nielsen hand planes because they show what a hand plane can do, it still baffles me why any hobbyist would buy something like Felder or even Festool, where (in my opinion) the increase in accuracy is way beyond anything useful or even relevant to woodworking. At the end of the day, as long as you understanding what you're getting, to each his own.

And yet there are some items marketed as "tools" that are not worth buying at any price. I recall when I was a young homeowner and needed to cut wood from a soffit to install a vent. I purchased a Black & Decker jig saw from a home center, and the darned thing just wouldn't cut the 3/4 inch pine. It smoked and whined and about 20 minutes later I had my small hole, with blackened edges.

A couple of years later I bought a Bosch jigsaw and had a revelation the first time I made a cut. The Black & Decker, which was still on my shelf, went directly into the trash.

There are lots and lots of "tools" on the market like the Black & Decker jigsaw. Chisels with backs so warped and steel so poor they can never be sharpened. Electric saws with bearings so poor they can never cut straight. On and on. I'm sure that by number there are many, many more of those kinds of "tools" on the market than there are real tools.

Don't buy any of that cr*p, period. Beyond that, as long as you understand the tradeoffs you're making between price and quality, each of us has to find the balance that makes us happy.

[Danny Thompson]

Ditto on that B&D jigsaw to Bosch experience! On the other hand, $150 is a LOT for a jigsaw and hard to justify when funds are tight and your money would be better spent on diapers, an oil change, or a flu shot. Sometimes you just have to make do.

That's where you have to look for alternate techniques that may do the job well but at a fraction of the cost--e.g., maybe try a decent coping saw.

The problem is, when you don't have a lot of money to drop on this hobby, buying a tool is a little like marrying it. Your "life partner" is never going to understand when you want to replace a B&D jigsaw, no matter what you say about the one that costs 5 times as much, not as long as the B&D is still running.

So my advice is to make your purchases carefully, even when they are less expensive. Buy the best quality tool you-can-justify-in-your-own-mind for the job, including options that may not be the tool you initially had in mind.

Good luck.

[Russ Sears]

Bob Jones, the famous golfer, won the US and British Opens and Amateurs in 1930. It was an unheard-of feat and he received a ticker tape parade as a result.
He was using hickory shafted clubs at a time when many of his competitors were using steel.
His "piloting" skills were much more important than his "airplanes".

Having said that, he remarked that he was never really comfortable with his 7 iron.
When frequency matching of shafts came into vogue, his clubs were pulled from the museum wall and tested. It was found that the shaft on his 7 iron had a different flex point from his other clubs. So, perhaps, better tools would have made him a better golfer. However, it's my guess that better tools would not have made anywhere near the difference in the outcome than his skill at using his tools did. My clubs are better than his by any objective criteria and I'm lucky to break 95.

There's an analogy in there somewhere.

[Ron Hedrick]

I would like to thank everyone for their words of encouragement and their thoughts on this subject. In my opinion we forget that it is not the fact that we own the biggest, baddest or most expensive but how well we use what we have. I know for a fact that if someone gave me the most expensive of all shop tools and gave a Maloof or a Krenov Dollar General quality tools they would still kick my butt. I think that sometimes we loose site of the fact that this is a fun and creative activity and we shouuld encourage all who come here no matter what tools they own or whatever their skill set. Once again thanks.