Re: Top 10 Tools

[Wanderer]

I bought a copy of the New Woodworking magazine yesterday for the

> sheer hell of it. It has a feature article about the top 10 tools that > Alan Withey (woodworker) couldn't live without. Herewith: > 1) Tablesaw > 2) Chopsaw > 3) Lathe > 4) Thicknesser > 5) Planer > 6) Sander > 7) Bandsaw > 8) Router > 9) Dado set > 10) Smart tool digital level > I'm not sure I agree with the above, though I don't class myself as a > "serious" woodworker. I don't have a table saw (but I do have a radial > saw), lathe, thicknesser, planer, or digital level. > I'd maybe come out with the following ordered list: > 1) Radial arm saw with accessories > 2) Band saw > 3) Chop saw > 4) Router > 5) Vertical drill > 6) Sander > Anyone else?

Hmm, Tenon saw, a Diston panel saw, hammer, chisels, square, straight edge, decent ruler?

[Dave Plowman]

Why do you need a chop saw if you have a radial arm one?

[Dave Plowman]

Solder/desolder station, cutters, screwdriver. ;-)

[Fred]

Mousemat?

[PoP]

Haven't needed one of those since I invested in a Microsoft optical mouse. Those things are the bees knees, and I mean that in all seriousness if you haven't actually tried one.

With my trusty optical mouse I can navigate on just about any surface very reliably. When I'm using my notebook I can even navigate using my thigh as the mouse mat - doesn't need to be a flat surface!

Highly recommend an optical mouse for anyone who hasn't tried one! And they don't suffer from furry balls either!

PoP

[PoP]

I often have the radial arm tooled up in a different combination (I have all the optional extras like dado head, sander, etc). Not very convenient if I want to chop a couple of lengths of rough sawn timber and then go back to whatever I was doing on the radial arm.

Besides which, radial arm saws tend to be a little inaccurate, unless you spent a whole lot of time setting them up before each cut (and even then they may not be accurate). Whereas a good chop saw can repeat a cut again and again.

PoP

[nightjar]

This reminds me of the enquiry I made a while back, about essential tools for a simple house maintenance tool kit. I ended up with about 50 tools, only one, the drill, being powered.

Colin Bignell

[usenet]

I long ago left mice and have used a trackball for years (a Kensington one). Much more natural to use for me anyway. I use an optical mouse at work but still prefer the trackball.

[RichardS]

I think that the problem is the shiny surface of the formica - they don't cope well on shiny surfaces.

Works perfectly on my (unfinished - never _did_ get round to doing that job) MDF desk top.

cheers Richard

-- Richard Sampson

email me at richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk

[Dave Plowman]

My 'workstation' is black ash, and an optical mouse won't work on this at all. Besides, a mat is easy to clean and protects the surface.

[Dave Plowman]

Right. You must have a large workshop - I'd need to physically change the radial arm saw for the cutoff one if the timber was of any length.

The only experience I've personally had was with an industrial 3 phase DeWalt radial arm, and that was very good indeed - but then probably anything was by my standards of hand cutting. ;-)

[Wanderer]

Yes, it was rather the point I was making in another branch of this thread. Seems like typical Yankee overkill with the powered tools.....

[PoP]

Just a double width garage, one side used for the car, the other the workshop (when the car is out during the day I set up a collapsible workbench though.

I suspect the industrial saw might be made to more exacting standards than the job sold for the home market, though I've had mine for some

25 years now and it's one of those tools that has "well made" all over it.

PoP

[druid]

I find a radial much better than a chop saw, I have two Dewalt Radials built in to a long bench with long fence and cut off stops along one side of my workshop, (before anyone comments, I obtained the second Dewalt from a friend who sold me his entire workshop kit and having two does come in handy!) IMHO I reckon that the Dewalt is more accurate and safer to use than a chop saw (FWIW I do have a small chop saw which I hardly ever use) I certainly don't need to set the radial up before each cut, I find that once it is set up correctly it stays that way until I hit a knot or it jams and this sometimes puts it out of square.

For cutting mitres and angles I have made a jig which offers the wood to the saw at an angle rather than altering the saw angle and disrupting my 90deg cut off accuracy.

I bought my First Dewalt 20 years ago and it has been worth every penny, I use it almost every day.

John.

[Slugsie]

Yup. I've often wondered what sort of stuff old Norm would produce if he was stripped of most of his power-tools, and reduced to the level of 'enthusiastic amateur on a low budget' type kit. :)