$5000 to spend on machinery.....what would YOU do??

[Rick Fisher]

I would take it slow. $5000.00 is a good chunk of money but can be gone in a flash.

I would buy good used equipment. A used Cabinet Saw is a better buy than a new Contractor or Hybrid. IMO
Buy a good used cabinet saw and a good new Freud blade?

You can pick up a used 14" Band saw, and buy a new Tri-Master Blade?

Take it slow. The USA is in tough shape right now and there are great used deals around.

Remember, they will be used after you buy them either way.

[Jack Camillo]

you can pick and choose from a list like this, too.

Workshop Inventory
Christopher Schwarz
October 2007

Critical Machinery:
1. 14” band saw, ½ hp motor, cast-iron frame, no riser block
2. 8” jointer, 2 hp motor
3. 15” planer, 3 hp motor
4. 10” table saw, 30” rails, aftermarket sliding crosscut table
5. Hollow-chisel mortiser
6. Two portable dust collection units, one shop vacuum
7. Floor-model drill press

Critical hand-held power tools:
1. 12-volt cordless drill, 3/8” chuck, two speeds
2. 1-1/2 hp fixed-base router, used hand-held and mounted in portable router table
3. DeWalt 621 plunge router
4. 18-gauge brad nailer and small 5-gallon compressor
5. 23-gauge pinner
6. HVLP turbine and spray gun
7. Circular saw with quality carbide blades for cutting plywood
8. Variable-speed jigsaw
9. 10” sliding compound miter saw

Router bits:
1. Beading bit
2. Roundover (three sizes)
3. Pattern bits, a wide variety of diameters
4. Straight bits, spiral bits
5. Chamfer bits (three sizes)
6. Cope-and-stick bits (chamfer-edge profile)
7. Ogee bits (two sizes)

Hand planes:
1. No. 8 jointer plane
2. No. 4 smoothing plane
3. No. 5 jack plane
4. Low-angle block plane
5. 1-1/4” shoulder plane
6. Large router plane
7. Small router plane
8. Record 044 plow plane
9. Moulding planes: 1 pair hollow and rounds
10. Moulding plane, 5/16” beading plane
11. Moving fillister plane
12. Small scraping plane, Stanley 212 size
13. Bevel-up jack plane for shooting
14. Card scrapers, about 10
15. Spokeshaves, flat sole and round; large and small

Saws
1. Dovetail saw, 15 ppi, filed rip
2. Carcase saw, 14 ppi, filed crosscut
3. Tenon saw, 10 ppi, filed fip
4. Handsaw, 7 ppi, filed crosscut
5. Ripsaw, 4 ppi, filed rip
6 Lee Valley Japanese flush-cut saw
7. Modelmaker’s saw
8. Coping saw
9. Jeweler’s saw, equipped with scrollsaw blades
10. Hacksaw
11. Fine Japanese saw, filed crosscut, for detail cuts
12. Two sawbenches
13. 8” dado stack
14. 24-tooth rip blade
15. 40-tooth combination blade

Chisels
1. Bevel-edge chisels: 1/8” to 1” in 1/8” increments
2. Mortise chisels, ¼”, 5/16”, 3/8”
3. Mallet
3. Paring chisel, 2” wide
4. Skew chisels, left and right
5. Set of small-scale carving chisels
6. Corner chisel, 3/8”

Layout tools
1. 6” 4R rule
2. 6” and 12” combination squares
3. 8” try square
4. Miter square
5. Sliding T-bevel
6. 12’ tape
7. Saddle square
8. Dovetail square
9. Tite-Mark marking gauge
10. Blue Spruce marking knife
11. Awls, scratch and bird-cage
12. Two dividers
13. Set of three French curves
14. Compass
15. Protractor and center-finder for combination square
16. 24” aluminum straightedge and 32” wooden straightedge
17. Levels, 18” and 48”
18. 5mm-lead mechanical pencil
19. Dial caliper

Percussive tools
1. 22 oz. wooden mallet
2. 16 oz. hammer
3. Plane-iron hammer
4. Warrington-style hammer
5. Nail pullers, Japanese and Western style
6. Dead-blow mallet

Boring
1. Brace, 8”, 10” and 12”
2. Augers, full set of 13
3. Auger bit file
4. Forstners, ¼” to 1”
5. Brad-points, complete set by 1/64s up to ½”
6. Instybits, pilot and countersink bits, set from No. 6 to No. 10 screws
7. Countersink
8. Set of spade bits

Clamps
1. Two 12” F-style
2. Six 4” F-style
3. Eight 12” parallel jaw
4. Fourteen 26” parallel jaw
5. Four 40” parallel jaw
6. Four handscrews, large size
7. Four quick-release plastic clamps
8. Eight spring clamps

Shaping
1. Cabinet rasps and files
2. Floats, ¼” mortising float, bed float
3. File card
Screwdriving
1. Complete set of screwdrivers, Phillips, straight, Robertson
2. Set of index bit and driver for drill/driver

Sharpening
1. Eclipse honing guide
2. Duo-Sharp Diamond stone (x-coarse and coarse)
3. Sharpening stones, waterstones, 1,000, 4,000 and 8,000
4. Plant mister
5. Hand blocks (medium and fine)
6. Oil and oil-soaked rag
7. Mill file
8. Burnisher
9. Cheap 6” stainless ruler
10. Kell honing guide
11. 6” grinder

Miscellaneous
1. Detail carving knives, used for a wide variety of tasks
2. Sloyd shop knife
3. Sanding disk for table saw
4. Paraffin
5. Bench brush
6. Needlenose pliers, locking pliers
7. Putty knife
8. First aid kit
9. Two drawbore pins
10. Spray gun cleaning kit
11. Wide and varied collection of screws, nails, bolts, nuts, hardware
12. Hemp string, for measuring diagonals

[Paul Johnstone]

I've been near woodworking for a long time and thoroughly enjoy it myself.
I am a new homeowner...with a large basement. I'm also going to be selling a motorcycle soon....approx. value: $5000.00.

Cyclone and ductwork (check out Clearvue and Oneida).. roughly $1500
but money well spent to protect your health.

I would just get a hybrid or contractor's table saw with a good fence.
Then an 8" jointer, Kreg pocket hole jig, a bunch of K bodies (I think they are still on sale at woodcraft) or Jet clamps.

If you have money left over and you know you will do this hobby for a long time, get a floor standing planer. Otherwise, a portable is fine.

Drill press can wait. Most of the time, I just use mine for Euro hinges. But if you still have money, get one.

Bandsaw can also wait. Jigsaw can cut curves. You probably won't be resawing stuff right away.

It's better to get the core tools.. Cyclone, table saw, jointer, planer. Get quality there.

Also, don't forget good dust mask, as well as eye and ear protection.

[Joe Cunningham]

Wow, you all really spend a lot of money on this hobby.

I spent $300 for used hand tools and can go from rough cut lumber to finished product without need for ear protection, dust collector, or electricity.

Might take me longer to do things, but I still get great satisfaction out of my hobby.

After a year of doing it this way, I am thinking of buying my first piece of power equipment--a bandsaw. I've re-sawed lumber by hand and while I can do it for small projects, it sure isn't a whole lot of fun. Don't mind planing rough lumber by hand, and the wood shavings are saved for fire starter.

I figure in a few years I might get a drill press to cut down on hand-chopping mortises, and maybe an EZ system for cutting sheet goods.

I think if I had $5K to burn, I'd get a full set of hollows and rounds from Clark & Williams and a nice set of Wenzloff & Sons saws.

I'll crawl back to my Neadertal cave now...

[Tim Marks]

You have probably figured out by now that everyone here has an additional hobby.... spending the new guy's money....

Don't blow your $5000 in one shot.... make sure you are going to enjoy what you are doing. I would add one tool at a time, adding the next tool when you find you need it. And if you have a basement, sizing of tools might be important (you can get a 6" jointer down the steps easily, for example, but an 8" jointer takes a crew). My basement stairs severly dictated what I was going to buy. Now that I have a ground level "shop", I am much happier.

If you buy everything at once, most of it will still be in the box in a month or so, because this stuff takes some time to set up. You will enjoy yourself more if you concentrate on one machine at a time, and buy the next as you find your self needing it.

I would purchase tools in the following order (one at a time):

1. Hybrid TS (like the new Grizzly G0661 with riving knife... it is not a contractor saw, despite the name).
2. Lots of clamps (I like the Bessey tradesman bar clamps... I have alot of the Bessey K clamps, but they are heavy and awkward and I don't use them except where I really need them).
3. Router (I like my DW625 and PC892, in that order).
3. Oscillating palm sander.
4. 6" or 8" jointer and 15" planer (don't buy a lunchbox planer)... these are like peanut butter and jelly, can't buy one without the other.
5. Dust collection of some sort (something with a canister, a cyclone can wait for a while until you get a full workshop and permanent DC trunk lines installed... search for "cyclone" and "dust collection", and you will find alot of arguements about this. none of which need to be reiterated here). You will find that you really need this for the first time when you start running a planer.
---The above is the minimum, from here on down, you might not find them important for quite awhile.
6. Drill press
7. 16-18" BS (depending on your basement steps). Buy a good one; my favorite tool (but I would still get the TS first).
8. Stationary sanders.... my choices are a 12" disc and an edge sander (my Grizzly G0563 is great), but YMMV.
9. CUT (compact utility tractor)... forklift attachment makes moving machinery easy ;>

[Matt Sollars]

i really appreciate all of the advice guys.
through reading all o the posts, i've started to head to the camp that says the following:

1. buy used when possible.
2. spend about half on machines...for now...use the rest wisely to get started.

#1 is sound advice, but the more i look, the more i realize i can't tell a good old tool from a bad old tool.
which brings me to #2.

#2 If i were to cut the budget in half....and look for:
Table Saw
Planer
Jointer
What recommendations do you all have for these?? specifics on these three.

i'll pick up a random orbit sander and router, etc....also.....but this is just for those three machines.

thanks guys.
matt

sidenote. my uncle has about 1100 acres in southern missouri (tons of cedar down there). if you cut a tree down....how long from initial cut down.....to dried enough for woodworking (8%-12% or whatever it is)

[Jim O'Dell]

I think you are wise to consider spending 1/2 now on core items, and have money to get things you need as you need.
Sounds like you want or feel you need the Table saw. I have a contractor saw, and it works well for now, but I want a Cabinet saw bad. For the TS, I'd vote for the Griz 1023. Get the one with the cast iron router table and you'll have 2 tools in one to start with. When you feel you need a different set up for the router table later, the CI one will still work great for the extension table. 1200.00 shipped
Sounds like you will be working with raw wood. Jointer and planer will be a must. Find the best deal you can for these. Lots of people like the Griz 4090 8". Usually priced around 942.00 shipped. That wouldn't leave much room for a planer except for a lunchbox unit. Lots of people like the DeWalts and the Delta. I got the Delta unit on a great sale at Lowes a few years back. Never been plugged in. I'm building a mobile cabinet for it now. Those three items will put you at 2500.00. Note, I don't own any of the Griz tools at this point. My suggestions are from what I've read from owners who are happy with them. I am considering a 1023 myself if something used doesn't appear around the time I'm ready to upgrade. And there is nothing wrong with other brands for these items. Griz just seems to offer a lot of bang for the buck, and a good rep on their newer tools.


One thing I will add is to get some good set up tools. No matter what you spend on the core tools, they won't be worth squat if you can't set them up right. You need to get a good dial indicator and a good set up square, minimum. I just recently purchased these, and setting up the equipment right is all the difference in the world.

Good luck! Watch the Craigs list, Ebay for tools in your area you can go look at, the classifieds here and on other wood forums. If you purchase in the near future, many people are getting some nice rebates from Microsoft for using the buy now option on qualified purchases. If inclined, look at some government auctions in your area. I know there were some here in TX recently. Houston and San Antonio. Schools that were getting rid of some woodworking equipment. Might find a good deal there. And keep an eye out in the local paper even. Like you, I'm not real comfortable purchasing used, in case I miss something that is a problem. If you can make friends with a local woodworker that has an eye for these things, he/she might be willing to help if you find something interesting. Jim.

[Art Mulder]

#2 If i were to cut the budget in half....and look for:
Table Saw
Planer
Jointer
What recommendations do you all have for these?? specifics on these three.
...
sidenote. my uncle has about 1100 acres in southern missouri (tons of cedar down there). if you cut a tree down....how long from initial cut down.....to dried enough for woodworking (8%-12% or whatever it is)

Sorry, Matt, but I disagree. If you're going to be WW'ing in your basement, then I think you are going to need a DC right away. Especially, if you are putting the planer down there. I used to keep my (portable) Planer in the garage and use it only out on the driveway before I had a DC. No way I'd use a planer indoors, in my house, without a good DC hooked up to it.


The standard answer on air-dried lumber (piled outside) is 1 year for each inch of thickness. Dunno if that is different for cedar or not. You can speed that up by piling it inside, using a dehumidifier and blowing a fan on the stack. Either way you'll want to add a Moisture Meter to your shopping list.

[Ron Bontz]

Ah yes if you are using rough cut lumber especially. I used s3s lumber for probably 12 years or so before I was able to purchase a jointer. I would rip the lumber almost to the width I needed then pass it through the planner with very light passes to get any cup out. (Delta DC 380) I also rarely glued up boards more than about 6" wide. Before I had a planner I would also use a 6"x6" x 24" sanding block on glued up tops. ( A little bit of Neanderthal work) Didn't have any money in those days and lived in a tar paper shack. Still don't have any money and live in a slightly bigger tar paper shack but I have lots more tools.

[Ron Bontz]

Well Matt, asking about specific brands is a loaded question with lots of opinions. Make no mistake though. Without a dust collector and air cleaner you will have fine dust every where. Upstairs and down.
As far as the rest of the tools I think these days it's a tougher choice. I don't really own any but I think Grizzly has come a very long way in the last 10 years. Otherwise I think Jim had some excellent points. Some of the best craftsman I have ever met know how to use those hand tools well. I have my own book case in my shop full of wood working and construction books. You might consider asking the guys in the "Neanderthal" section about hand tools for starters. Power tools are impressive. But don't make the craftsman. Best of luck.

[Jason White]

1. Festool plunge-cut saw
2. contractor-type tablesaw or used cabinet saw
3. all Festool sanders and CT22 or larger dust collector
4. Bosch, DeWalt or Festool plunge routers
5. Bench Dog cast-iron router table insert (for the tablesaw)
6. Lie Nielsen low angle block plane
7. Hitachi, Bosch or Festool miter saw (a slider)

I've been near woodworking for a long time and thoroughly enjoy it myself.
I am a new homeowner...with a large basement. I'm also going to be selling a motorcycle soon....approx. value: $5000.00.

So, without sounding abrasive, avoiding all of the 'life lesson' type responses...

what would you spend the money on?
i'm looking for specifics....

brand and model of table saw......brand and model of jointer.....brand and model of planer.....etc.

i have quite a few of the necessary hand tools....clamps....portables (circ. saw, jigsaw, etc.


so....set up a basement shop with $5000 budget.

thanks for the suggestions ahead of time guys.

matt sollars

[Peter Quadarella]

Well, I can't help you with the table saw because I don't have one, but when thinking about a planer and jointer, I thought about 2 different ways to go. I came close to getting the jointer planer combo from Jet. But in the end I decided to go the cheaper router for now and get just a Ridgid planer and for jointing I use either a sled with my planer or some hand planes which I purchased.

[Eric Larsen]

My $5000 list:

Buy used whenever possible, but know how to spot a lemon or bring someone who can.

1) A late-model Bosch jigsaw ($100 used). You'll be amazed how often you reach for this tool once you have one.
1a) A decent 14" bandsaw with riser block ($400 new). If you know in your heart you will never resaw lumber, you can skip this.
2) Jointer -- at least 8", 220v, 3hp+. There is no such thing as "too big" here. ($750 used)
3) 13"+ floor-standing planer. ($400 used) 15" or 20" would be better. A planer/jointer combo would save space and $$$ at the expense of increased setup time for every project you make.
4) About $500 worth of bessey/jet/etc clamps. I usually reach for the 18" and 36" clamps. But I have four 6' Bessey bar clamps that have paid for themselves 100 times over.
5) Just about any dust collection system -- preferably the kind you attach a 30-gallon metal trash can inline as a chip collector ($200 used).
6) A really good router and bits matched to whatever it is you're building ($400 or so)
7) If you don't have them: eye, ear and lung protection.
8) A really good fire extinguisher if you don't have one on each floor of your house already.

Total: $2,750 -- and if you scour craigslist, you can do even better than that. I found all of the above plus a cabinet saw for about $2500, but it took me 6 months, and most of the tools needed repairs.

Spend the rest on wood, sandpaper and finishing supplies. Wood should be your largest purchase. Build a workbench first. That will give you an idea of what other tools you'll want to buy.