The $4K Wood Shop

[Just Wondering]

Ditto that. I had a Crapsman TS and upgraded to a Delta. I thought the Crapsman was adequate until I got the Delta. The difference was simply astonishing.

[Lew Hodgett]

round out my budding shop. I have a budget of about $4K, and the entries below add up to about $3K. The rest will go on odds and ends, lumber, and anything that I may have missed.

My shop is half of a two-car garage. I already have a table saw and miter saw (both poor quality), a decent router, and some small hand tools, including a decent 4-set of Irwin chisels and a few Avant planes.

---------------------------------- Right now you have a heady feeling.

Keep the money in the bank for a while and just ponder your navel.

After that, proceed with caution.

A one car garage is going to limit you, without a good utilization game plan.

The most useful tool will be your table saw.

The most important part of the table saw is the fence.

First thing I would do is replace your existing T/S.

Budget around $1,500 by the time you include a good set of blades and an 8" Freud dado set.

Budget around $500 for a decent bench top planer.

Budget around $600 for a good table mount router (I like Milwaukee

5625) along with the materials to build a good router station and a few high quality bits.

Budget at least $400 for clamps.

At this point sit tight, buy some 1/2" & 3/4" birch ply and build a few jigs.

After about 6 months, you will have figured out a way to acquire the rights to the other half of the garage and what additional tools you need.

Floor mounted drill press, jointer and certainly hand tools such as sanders, drills, jig saw, replace existing miter saw, etc.

Other items will be determined by what you learn along the way.

Above all, take time to enjoy the process.

Have fun.

Lew

[dpb]

RicodJour wrote: ...

So are the luggage carts at the various terminals. Nothing worse than trying to control one of them bastardly things going down a ramp w/ the four bloody wheels all trying to go a different direction simultaneously...

Different but certainly not better (or as fit for purpose)...

--

[dpb]

The solution to both is to build the caster assembly to pivot w/ a lever arm...

[Bill]

Be sure to "take inventory" and double check that your electrical and/or lighting configuration is adequate for your plans. For instance, is 220v power available/desirable for your next table saw? Personally, I've been working on these things as I collect tools. I can repost or try to provide links to some detailed suggestions I received if you are interested.

Bill

[dpb]

I'd suggest the first thing is as a couple of others have done--slow down on the spending spree!!!

First, unless you're getting into this for a profit or other reason, what's the hurry other than gratification of spending a wad of money in the pocket?

If there really isn't a pressing time need, I'd also second the suggestion (particularly if you're in a reasonably sizable population center) to just watch for sale items in estate sales, yard sales, craig's list, etc., etc, etc., ... , as well as go check out the pawn shops and similar. Value is to be had there that may exceed quality of what you're looking at now for less expenditure. Cost is some effort and time...

Also, I'd suggest the first place I'd start as well would be to either replace or at least upgrade the TS--it's the workhouse of almost all cabinet work unless you're going to be primarily hand work (and, if that's the case, I'd suggest the investment would be better served in higher-quality hand tools instead of machines).

I'll also concur w/ one and disagree w/ one -- if cabinet work is your plan and you have any intention of using other than already surfaced solid lumber (and I can't imagine anything else, personally), then definitely imo the largest jointer you can fit into the space is well worth it. Again, that's my usage; at least one other poster always disagrees and disparages same tool... :)

Again, I'd also emphasize that the shop area you're speaking of isn't very big you'll find when/if all the stuff you've listed were to show up--do some serious planning on work station, work flow, etc., etc., etc., or you'll have a roomful of tools and nowhere to work. Don't overlook the need for assembly and intermediate work space as well in that layout. Every board that goes thru the planer has to start on one side and end up on the other. If it's a pile of rough lumber being prepared, that's a need for a stack on each side and room for the cart to bring the stack back from the outfeed end to the infeed for the next pass. Which of course, illustrates that there ought to be room for two carts to hold the stack so don't have to unload the one and pile it somewhere so can return it to the outfeed side...

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[Josepi]

Where does one get those semi-angled wheels that set down when you lift the other end of the workbench / table?

This would avoid flat tires, rolling problems and mechanisms to lower the wheels.

Larry Blanchard wrote:

[-MIKE-]

[Puckdropper]

" [e-mail]" wrote in news:63416361-70d4-4d46- [e-mail]:

Before you spend any money, figure out what you can fit in the space. You'll be much happier with less that works together rather than more that's constantly in the way. Sketchup is an invaluable tool for this, especially with the use of the 3D library.

Here's a tip: figure out how much feed/outfeed room your tools need and mark it off. No tool can intrude into that space, but other feed/outfeed areas can (and should) share the space. I put my planer and jointer at a right angle to the table saw so they could share the same outfeed space.

Like others have suggested, I'd upgrade the table saw first. Next, I'd get a good crosscut style of saw, either a CMS or RAS. That takes care of 90% of the cutting in my shop. If your existing table saw still cuts square enough and is in a little portable box, you may want to keep it and use it for those times when you need to make another cut and have the good saw set up for another option.

Puckdropper

[Larry W]

Hey, you wanted a jointer, you bought a jointer. You don't have to justify it to us. :)

[knuttle]

I don't know what mine is but it is "square". I have used it for years setting up the table say to cut the miters on picture frames, where you have 8 cuts in the 4 corners.

[knuttle]

For the original poster. You said you have an older table saw, but you gave no details.

Don't confuse the comments on the recent Craftsman table saws with the

10" Craftsman saws of the 50's and 60's. If you do it is like comparing a Walmart special to a Delta.

If you have a 50's or 60's table saw it will serve your purpose and probably have less plastic than the current expensive saws.

I have a 1968 10" Craftsman table saw that I inherited. My father inlaw was going to a lot of woodworking and bought the best they had. I aligned it once, and have not had to make any adjustments since.

Do have to keep a good coat of wax on the cast iron top, but it looks like new.

[Leon]

Did you know that shopping carts in European supermarkets (and Borg equivalents) have four swivel casters? I couldn't count how many times have I've ohad to lift the fookin' back of the cart to move it out of the way of someone going by. The four swivels allow you to just push it in any direction. We certainly lag behind in some areas.

R

While 4 swivel wheels is ok for moving out of the way when parked I absolutely hate the 4 swivel carts then actually trying to go some where with one. They tend to go where they want to go rather than where you want them to go.

[RicodJour]

Hmmm, you're one of those guys who drives between the lines on the road, ain't ya? Where's the creativity and challenge in that? ;)

R

[cHips]

Interested persons are triangulating.

cHips

[-MIKE-]

I think you wooshed me... I have no clue what you're talking about.

[Steve Turner]

I think this guy is to Josepi what Dennis is to Rob...

[-MIKE-]

Hmmm.... ok. But maybe if Dennis had his own Dennis. :-)

[Lobby Dosser]

Got a problem with that one drawer, doncha ... :)

[cHips]

mkay... that, together with your response to Steve, tells me we best 'talk'.

------>chips @hushmail.com

... anytime ;-)