Neanderbuddies

[Scott Quesnelle]

Was thinking last night about my tool collection. Largely I am a neander shop.

Got planes, handsaws, pole lathe, bench.

But I do have some neanderbuddies.. those things that take cords.. Most are not for actual woodworking, but for metal working or other tasks related to woodworking.

I got a bench grinder, a shop made clone of the LV sharpener, a drill press (for metal its great) and just bought a 16" Delta three wheel bandsaw.

So my question to you all is what would you consider to be the basic set of electron burning machines in a neander shop. My list is bench grinder, bandsaw, planer.

Bench grinder is handy for initial work on blades and chisels. Its good for when you start making your own edge tools and for buffing up brass and other decorative parts on planes.

Planer is handy for dealing with the job of rough dimensioning lumber. Not always fun to scrub plane 70 bdft of lumber.

Bandsaw - Its not nearly as noisy or dangerous as its circular brother. Good for rip cuts and also for small pieces.

[Tim Sproul]

yeah....a bandsaw and thickness planer are what I'd give up last.

I'd be fine without the power jointer. The tablesaw is really nice but it is quite feasible to rip saw and then edge joint a board parallel....especially if you keep a bandsaw around.

[Manny Hernandez]

I guess it would depend on what types of things you like to make.
The neanderbuddies I would hang on to would be my Festool stuff for cutting sheet goods, bandsaw, planer, jointer and a couple routers.
I'm pretty sure I could like without my tablesaw.

Oh shoot! I forgot one of the most life changing neanderbuddies of all MY MAKITA IMPACT DRIVER! In a fire that's what I'd run back in to save.

[Chris Padilla]

...I'd run back in your house and grab the Holtey and then claim how I risked my life and that it is mine now and blah, blah, blah

Since I'm an electron burner, I'm not sure I would do well without my table saw. I only just purchased a bandsaw (MiniMax 20") so I haven't yet grown dependent on that piece of equipment.

I have to tell you guys something, though: I have this plane I got for free by ordering like a $100 worth of crap from some company one time. It is a #4 jack plane (whatever that means) and it saved my arse the other day:

I am putting together a maple EC and have some maple plywood I'm putting together for the carcass. Well, I guess it isn't great stuff or something for A-1 (finding voids and such) but the darn stuff isn't the same thickness sheet to sheet! I'm fussy about my dados and spend time getting just the right fit. It turned out that most of my dados were undersized and so I looked for about an hour for this plane I had. I clampd the shelf/structure support piece on my bench, adjusted the plane, and began slicing off nice wisps of shavings. Damn, that was kinda fun! Unclamped the board, and it fit in the dado very, very nicely. Wow!

Is this a good or bad thing?

[Manny Hernandez]

Give it some time. After you get used to that Minimax 20 incher the tablesaw will transform into a project assembly bench.
Actually I do use the tablesaw as a cutoff saw for when I want close to perfect 90 degree cuts. I have a sled set up on it fulltime. Although it's convenient I can live without it. A nice sharp ryoba saw with benchhook and miter plane works just fine.

[Dave Anderson NH]

I use my bandsaw more than any other power tool in the shop. Not only for curved work, but for resawing and ripping stock. Far safer than a tablesaw for the rippiing. My bench grinders also get a heavy workout for turning tools and rough shaping chisel and plane bevels. I also do so much turning of tool handles that my lathe is indispensable to me.

Looking at the other side of things, the least used tools are my jointer, my routers, and my biscuit joiner. I still can't figure out why I bought the biscuit joiner a few years ago.

[Steve Wargo]

My Laguna 16HD, a 1920's American Diamond Machine Co. Wood Lathe, and a DW735 Thickness planer. While I do own a cordless drill, and a circular saw and a router (just purchased about 2 months ago) I could live without them. If I could afford an apprentice I could live without the thickness planer. But by far my Bandsaw is used the most. I never cut joinery with it, but resaw and rip and rough crosscut a ton with it.

[Matthew Springer]

In the micro shop, I have room for only one piece of actual electron burning machinery, so I'm going to actually get rid of my TS sometime soon and replace it with a bandsaw/planer combo. When i was first getting into this a year or two ago, I ended up getting the TS, but wish now I'd gone the bandsaw/planer route. I've always hated routers and I'm disliking table saws more.

For me, the Neander/Bandsaw/planer tool trio form the safest, most enjoyable (at least to me) "tooling set". Since I do alot of electronics work, I'd be lost without my drill press, though.

-Matthew

[Chris Padilla]

Matthew,

I've never seen a bandsaw/planer combo...who makes such a machine? Only Shopsmith comes to mind but they have a lot more than that on board.

[Steve Beadle]

Matthew,

I've never seen a bandsaw/planer combo...who makes such a machine? Only Shopsmith comes to mind but they have a lot more than that on board.

You just sparked an image of a combo tool gone crazy! Someone should draw a cartoon of a machine that is bandsaw/planer/router table/and--I don't know--how about a cream separator? Something Wil E. Coyote would order from Acme!
Oh, well, it's Friday night, and I needed a chuckle!

Steve

[Matthew Springer]

Hmmm, A bandsaw planer combo, that would be handy. Kinda like a electric cheese slicer on steroids. Talk about a solution in search of a problem.

-Matthew

[Chris Padilla]

Well, you mentioned it, Matthew! I'm just curious about this device...if it exists!

[Scott Quesnelle]

Manny mention of cutting sheet goods brings to mind the question of how much sheet goods do most of you use in your projects?

I personally don't use much but that is because I don't enjoy working them with neander tools. They are better suited to milling than other forms of woodworking.

Dave - Biscuit Joiner.. perhaps its a case of keeping up with the Nahms..

Do any of you have treadle lathes or do you consider it just too much work? I like my pole lathe but want something with continuous not reciprocating motion.

Scott

[Rick Strawser]

I have a one car garag...eh, shop. strictly hobby, main interest will be Windsor chairs, but will also be doing some turning.

But, sometime, I will need shop cabinets, tool chests, bench (short list project), and SWMBO has mentioned garden bench and potting bench,... you get the idea.

I have a fairly good start with hand tools, planes, hand saws and such. The power side is the lathe and a grinder.

I have yet to buy a tablesaw, would not break my heart if I never did, but is that realistic? Can it all be done with a band saw?

What size? Is 14" too small? What are most of you gents using? (size/type)? Words of wisdom greatly appreciated.

[Manny Hernandez]

Scott,
Seems like I'm always using sheetgoods for something or other. Like substrate for veneering, jigs, fixtures, etc. Some require accurate cuts, some don't. I guess it's not neander work, but some of the jigs and fixtures are used for neander work. Like the "bird's beak" I made for handsawing marquetry pieces.

Rick,
In my case I originally bought a large bandsaw to saw my own veneers and resawing larger stock for bookmatching, etc. I soon found that I could use it in place of the tablesaw for things like ripping. As far as size, that would be based on what you plan to do. I bought the 24" Agazzani because of the resaw capacity I wanted/needed. (On a side note, I installed Carter guides and increased the resaw capacity by about 1") I'm 99.9% sure I can get rid of my tablesaw and not miss it. But, again, that's based on the things that I like to make.