I don't have as much shop space any more, as my shop now has to share duties with a garage.
So between a bandsaw, jointer, planer, RAS, table saw, and circular saw, what tools can be combined to cover the basic operations we need to do? Crosscut, rip, and maybe resaw. I'm not sure I trust my RAS to rip, it's missing important pieces like the anti-kickback pawls.
Puckdropper
I was just talking about this on Hobby Machinist in a thread titled Least Used Machines.
I tend to agree with what Bob posted with regard to the pecking order of your tool disposal.
OTOH, if you really like your RAS, you have two options if you wish to keep it. First, obviously, is to find the missing parts to re-enable the anti-kickback mechanism. The second is to Jerry-rig an auxiliary fence, used solely for ripping operations on the RAS and equip it with these anti-kickback rollers. Board Buddies by trade name.
OR
Or just use the RAS for cross cutting panels, for which it is an excellent tool.
Keep the TS (or use the bandsaw) for ripping.
Those board buddies look like they'd work nicely. The RAS is my most accurate tool, I'm sure it will give me accurate rips as well as crosscuts.
When ripping, do people add a temporary work surface as well as fence? When cutting to different lengths, the RAS blade will make shallow grooves in the table, I just want to keep my table in great shape for as long as possible.
Puckdropper
If everything is on mobile bases you may not need to scale down. I used to have a washer and dry er, my wife's car, water heater, compressor, large TS, Large BS, jointer, router table, dust collector,
15" planer, 22-44 Drum sander, Oscillating spindle sander, 12"Disk sander, 2 full sized tool chests, Drill Press, Trash bin, Lathe, Large fire proof 4 drawer file cabinet and a lot of Festool stuff. Oh and a 5'long work bench. Lots of cabinets and drawers. That was in a two car garage.[snip]
They do work quite well. I bought mine to use with my cabinet saw which I bought used. It was missing the guard and anti-kickback device. It was also old and so had no riving knife.
Board Buddies mounted to the fence work very well.
My RAS is an old Craftsman (one of the models recalled for the lack of a proper anti-kickback device). Define proper! I never had a problem with it and always set the provided guard and kickback protection as designed and while I experienced my share of kickbacks, the device always nipped it in the bud and the board and saw would lock up. No harm, no foul.
That's a great saw if you take the time to adjust it properly. Mine stays true and once tweaked, the only time I bother to check it or readjust is if I suffer one of the aforementioned "attempted" kickbacks.
Outfitted with Freud's best 10" rip blade, I ran a number of 12' 2 x
10's through it for a project. Didn't need the cut to be "planer smooth" but that's what I got. I could have glued up any of those boards just as if they'd come through planer.Yes, you will get a gully in your top but I've never had a problem with it. It still cross cuts quite well and, of course, the gully doesn't even enter into the picture when you're ripping.
If it bothers you (and remember you're going to get a lot of grooves in the table if you do angled cross cuts, just tack a piece of ¼" plywood to the top. When it gets too ugly, replace it and the underlying table will be pristine.
Before you get rid of anything, review ways you can mobilize your work shop. I have seen garage workshops that are quite well equipped, but because of the design the garage is capable of taking all of the wood working equipment plus the cars.
Think of placing things on wheels" My workbench and table saw are on wheels. When not in use they fit compactly along the Wall. When in use the equipment arrangement can be adjusted so that I have the most convenient work space.
Think multiple bases for different pieces of equipment. While these are
not large pieces, I my vice, grinder, hand miter box, bolted to a 2 X. When I need the vice I pull it off the shelf and clamp it to my workbench. Same with other tools on basis of this type
I have seen some work areas where larger tools are carouseled so as you need the tool you rotate it into position, and use it.
Elevate: Some items that are traditionally floor mounted can be fixed so
they go up above something else rather than beside something.
I have seen a video where some put all of thier benches, racks, and tools on wheels. When not in use evey thing fit aganst the wall. When needed the tools, racks, and cabinets could be rolled into the best ergonnomic positions
You can hava a lot of tools if you think outside of the traditional box.
Lose the RAS and table saw, get a track saw. Lose the jointer as it is not needed much unless you use rough cut lumber. Planer is cool but probably can get by w/o it. A lot depends on what you do in your shop. Seems you would know best since it is your shop and presumably has been in use by you.
Ask Roy Underhill and he'd tell you you don't need any of that crap. Myself, I'd not give up one tool just to put a damned car in my garage.
On 9/13/2019 2:08 PM, Keith Nuttle wrote: > On 9/13/2019 12:22 PM, Bob La Londe wrote: >> On 9/13/2019 8:54 AM, Puckdropper wrote: >>> I don't have as much shop space any more, as my shop now has to share >>> duties with a garage. >>> >>> So between a bandsaw, jointer, planer, RAS, table saw, and circular saw, >>> what tools can be combined to cover the basic operations we need to do? >>> Crosscut, rip, and maybe resaw. I'm not sure I trust my RAS to rip, >>> it's missing important pieces like the anti-kickback pawls. >>> >>> Puckdropper >>> >> >> I was just talking about this on Hobby Machinist in a thread titled Least Used Machines.
If I did single projects from start to finish I could see the utility in that. Now admittedly I do mostly metal working, but mine is a working shop. At any given time I have 20 projects of my own and 30-40 customer jobs on the projects board. Every machine I use has to be accessible right now or it slows me down. If I had to move machines to get to machines it would slow me down more than not having a machine I rarely use and can use another machine for. That being said I am a big believer in having more machines to get more work done. Even if I only use it once in a while if its set up for a particular job it makes me more efficient. If I have the space I won't sell a machine that I use even if only occasionally. For example I have 4 drill presses. One is used as most are. For whatever size hole I need to wallow in the next piece of stock, two are semi permanently setup with automatic tapping heads, and one is in the garage wood shop on the house so my wife and son aren't tempted to come out to the shop and change the setup on one of the working drill presses. For me the space for those drill presses and having them IMMEDIATELY available is more valuable than the space used by my RAS. Even if the RAS is on wheels (which it is) and I put it behind those drill presses it costs me productive time to move it out and use it, then move it back to make sure those drill presses are accessible when I need them.
I am not saying a shop on wheels is a bad idea. I can see very much how it would be useful to somebody trying to have a full wood shop in a two car garage and still have room for the wife to park her car, so she doesn't have your tools hauled away when you are at work. I am just saying that its not always the best solution. For me I could buy a lot of end mills for the used value of the RAS.
It doesn't help that I retired from contracting the end of 2016 and still have tons of supplies on the "shelf." I need to sell a lot of that off, but that takes time too.
Ultimately PuckDropper has to decide what is going to work the best for him. Your alternative of a shop on wheels may well be the best answer, but for me it would drive me crazy.
I do like some of the flip top machine stands. Where you have say a thickness planer and a drum sander on one stand and you flip the top to raise up whichever machine you need. Doesn't work so well for a drill press that stands 5-6 feet tall, but it does make room for it. I saw one setup on Youtube where the guy had several pieces of equipment in a very large work table that could be turned up or turned down to leave the table top flat. Even his table saw was part of that setup. If somebody worked with a lot of sheet goods that would be an extremely space efficient setup in spite of its large size.
Good point. Right now, I've got the tools stored where they've been safe for many years so I'm just trying to keep things out of the garage in the short term so I can make it a nice space to work. The fewer things out there, the better!
Puckdropper
.. not in answer to your question - but f w i w : A long time ago, and for ~ 10 years, my Craftsman 10 inch radial arm saw was the only shop machine I owned. I had no problem ripping full 2 inch softwood and hardwood. .. no anti kickback - just a lot of care & consideration when pushng it through. and a decent blade. I'm not saying that it's a good choice for you to keep - and it's not a good choice for ripping - but it can be done.
circular saw ? not sure why that is in your list of shop machines ? If there is a seniors woodworking center available - you might consider a membership - for the big professional shop machines - with big professional dust collection -
- and concentrate on nice little "hand tools" for home .. ie: router table ; table top belt sander < sharpener ! > John T.
Why does it have to be a *seniors* woodworking center?
Having just the RAS out there means less stuff to work around when it comes time to turn the garage into a nice working space. Learning how to rip on the RAS safely will help keep the stuff in there to a minimum.
I'm hoping not to need to do a lot of ripping, but I know projects will require it. Right now, getting a few home projects done is priority number one. The garage will be done later.
Most tools get used less when a similar stationary tool is purchased. Circular saws get used more.
I wonder if there's a usable space around here? We've got a big college, so maybe? It's worth a look.
Puckdropper
~ $ 100. per year membership. ... and no young assholes. ... nuff said ? John t.
A lot of young assholes grow up to be senior assholes.
$100 seems awfully low unless the membership is large, making for a crowded workshop. Subsidized, perhaps? Nothing like that near me. $40/month at our local Makerspace.
Young woodworkers can learn a lot from senior woodworkers. That's good for both the young and the senior woodworker.
Besides, an shared woodworking shop doesn't sound like a place where "young assholes" hang out.
You a member over off Sydney Street?(old twin city automoitive building) I was when they were over on Roger for a few years. Thinking about re-joining
...snip...
...snip...
You talked me into it. I've been trying to decide how to get my vice out of the way, so I just unbolted it from the workbench and bolted it to a portable base.
15 minutes later I needed to use it. It was nice to work in the middle of the bench instead of in a crowded corner like I had been.My table saw with the router table extension and my band saw are on wheels.
My planer is on wheels too, but not in the shop. No room. That lives in the garage. Not the best situation, but it's not my most used tool.
Bob La Londe on Sat, 14 Sep 2019 08:13:11 -0700 typed in rec.woodworking the following:
The situation you are in is different than the situation he is in. Hobbyists rarely find themselves needing to be ultra efficient in space and tool usage. As I said while watching the mill make the prototype: "If I was going into production, I'd do it differently."* There are a number of skills I would like to have, which I could no doubt "pick up" if I did them forty hours a week. But I do not have those 40 hours, so dedicating space to have the drafting / lettering table, lathe/mill, turning machine, book binding frame, plough plane and press, etc, etc, and so on, isn't a flying option. And that is before I get to the non-material crafts. (Anyone know of a "teach yourself to write Slavonic" textbook/ course?)
tschus pyotr
*I recall an essay from the early 1990's: the author was a professional furniture maker, who wrote that the finest furniture was made by his neighbor, the accountant. Because _he_ did not have to sell something to make the rent, he could spend all the time needed to make it "perfect". From choosing the wood, to the final finishing. I'm with him, there are a lot of things I've made which never got "properly finished" because I needed something now, not next week. But I digress.
I'm half way through the transition. There is a lot of "I need to get this out where I can see it, so I can figure out where it goes." I.e., rack, cabinet, resale, or dump.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.