If you could ...

start all over again in this hobby / business / trade, what mistakes did you make the first time around that you'd skip on the second go around?

I'm kind of looking for arrows pointing to where the land mines are.

I think I'd skip HF for my mainstay tools EXCEPT where I had carefully specced the exact tool I needed to buy and HF had a tool that EXACTLY met that spec or exceeded it. I just bought a Milwaukee 5625-29 router and it's a real eye-opener. Can't get anything like this at HF.

I also think I'd downplay my willingness to do custom work and put more effort into building inventory to sell from.

And I'd also give more thought to cost tracking so I'd be collecting needed data from day one.

I find that I have a LOT of pen blanks cut from unremarkable wood. Skip that ... anything that isn't eye candy is firewood.

I've got others ... but I'd like to hear from you.

Bill

Reply to
Bill
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It's easy to say that I would have not purchased a small Craftsman table saw 7 years ago, and instead saved up for a really nice table saw. Then again, 7 years ago I had no idea that I'd be so into woodworking years down the road - so maybe that $200 saw shouldn't be considered a mistake.

Here's one though: We decided that buying rough cut lumber beat the pants off of dealing with the garbage available at HD/Lowes, and purchased a 6" Jet jointer and a planer. A year and a half later, I'm wishing that we'd gone with an 8" jointer, with longer tables. (Why does it seem like most of the boards we end up with are 6.5 or 7 inches wide?!?!)

Mike

Reply to
Mike

And when you have that 8" jointer, it's remarkable how many nice boards are wider than that. Now, if only I'd have bought that 15" Northfield....

It never ends.

Back the what the OP said, I'm not sure (as a hobbyist) I would have done anything different. Maybe I could have avoided a few turkeys masquerading as tools, but for the most part it's been a learning experience. An education costs money. No way around that.

BTW, in the beginning, all my tools were Craftsman. Not all were bad. The floor standing ones were good, the hand held ones (power) were/are uniformly bad. In every case they provided a learning experience. Not only in how to use it but also what to look for in a better example of it's kind.

Reply to
George Max

That's easy. When I built my shop (hobby), I would have made it twice as large and immediately installed a 60 amp subpanel.

Frank

Reply to
Frank Boettcher

And I bet if you had built twice as big, you'd still wish you had more room. :)

Reply to
efgh

My first shop was 480 sq.ft. Second one is 1060 sq.ft. Wish I had 2500. :-(

Max

Reply to
Max

Instruction. If I had it to do over again, I'd get lots of expert instruction from day one. It's too hard to try to discover everything about woodturning on your own. Getting started right can save years and years of mistakes and frustration. Musicians take lessons, athletes have coaches, why would we as woodturners want to give up the advantage of instruction and learn the hard way? I know it's fun to tinker and figure things out for ourselves, but it's called "learning the hard way" for a reason. Woodturning should be fun. How many beginners experience catches or are afraid of their skew? How fun is that? And learn from true experts - they won't start you down the wrong path like some less-than-experts who only think they know what they are doing. Learn to be versatile. Learn many ways to make a cut, mount a blank, apply a finish, or anything else we do. Then you can choose the most ideal method for each particular instance and not do everything the same way because it's the only way you know. Knowledge is the key to fun and success in woodturning. Books, videos, demonstrations, and symposiums are all sources of woodturning knowledge, but private instruction is *BY FAR* the best way to mastery. Do yourself a favor, treat yourself to some lessons, and maximize the fun and satisfaction from your time spent at the lathe.

-mike paulson, fort collins, co

Reply to
Mike Paulson

While I have not yet had any private instruction, I did just recently view my first video (Woodturning: Fundamentals of Sharpening) from AAW. It was a good thing to see skilled hands performing this essential skill.

I'll take that back ... I took a class at Woodcraft in using the router. In that case (and having been an instructor myself) I don't think I got my money's worth. But there are any number of individuals (including a couple I know locally) who I'd like to learn from. Although I'll agree that the education I might get from it would be more than worth the expense, traveling somewhere in order to pay a high tuition for a week or even a weekend, just isn't possible for me just yet.

I had high hopes for that router class, but the joints I made (using the instructors jigs) were better than the ones he made using the same jigs. Printed material for the class consisted of Shop Notes photocopies and he touched on too many topics to actually teach any of them ... finally ending the class a half-hour early so some of the guys could go watch some game or other.

Even so, I'll be keeping an eye out for a local class from a better instructor.

Good tip.

Thanks, Bill

Reply to
Bill

Read this, by Mike Dunbar:

Read #5 over and over... Read it again before applyign a finish.

To relate it to my own experience, money spent on hands-on instruction and books related to woodworking, finishing, and sharpening, has returned a far better profit than most of the "time and labor saving" gadgets I purchased as a beginner.

Luckily, much of the crap was easily sold on eBay.

Reply to
B A R R Y

Same reason that if you had the 8" your boards would be 8.5" wide.

Reply to
Scratch Ankle

For me, it's a hobby. So I have that slant. The rest of your post sounds like a business so I'm not sure I can help. But fwiw:

I'd avoid benchtop tools entirely.

I'd find grizzly first (rather than after buying the tools), go there to check things out in person (which I still haven't done), then not be a delta snob. Now that I have several delta and several grizzly tools, I'm kicking myself for not finding griz sooner.

I'd always buy the best tools I could afford even if it meant getting one good tool instead of two medeocre ones.

I'd give more thought to (pricey) hand tools up front rather than buying the cheap ones, skipping all that useless info about sharpening, then passing judgement on hand tools as too hard to use. :-)

I'd start out on smaller projects first rather than aiming big up front.

I'd give a lot more thought to where the shop is and how nice it is to be there. I'm getting sick of sharing the garage with all the bikes and lawn equipment and putting up with the cold weather. We're getting ready to move. As soon as we're in the new place, i'm building a dedicated shop. SWMBO is on board already. :-)

I'd start out with more disposable income. :-)

Yeah, i'd skip HF for almost everything except the really cheap odd-ball stuff. I might buy a bench grinder or a vice from them for example, but never anything that I would need or expect to be accurate.

The down side here is that you may get bored with what you're making. The upside is that you'll nail the process and get really efficient. You'll also have all the jigs and patterns figured out.

This is just good business sense.

Maybe you could come up with a jig that would let you crank them out in seconds rather than hand-turning each one. Then you could sell them as discount models.

brian

Reply to
brianlanning

Ha! This is exactly why I started with a riser block when I bought my

14" bandsaw. It wasn't because I wanted to resaw 12" boards. It was because I wanted to resaw 7" boards.

After the delta benchtop jointer mistake, I jumped right to the 8" grizzly dj-20 clone.

I can't believe I actually had foresight for a change. :-)

brian

Reply to
brianlanning

So how big would you make it to start? I'm in a three car garage now that I share with a motorcade of bycicles and a lot of yard equipment. So really, it's like 2.5 instead of 3. For me, I feel like it's not enough space. And considering that I'd like a separate finishing room and a separate room for the DC and compressor, what should I aim for?

4-car garage size? Should I make the steel building taller so I can build up inside?

Agreed. I went with the 100, not for the extra juice, but for the extra breaker positions. The flexability of a subpanel makes a big difference. And the 100 would allow a 3-phase converter if I really go off the deep end.

brian

Reply to
brianlanning

My current is just under 400 sq.ft., dedicated only to woodworking. I did a layout that works for me at 1000 sq.ft. and was planning to move and build same. Katrina changed those plans, so I am now contemplating staying put and doubling the current to 800 feet which is all I can get on the lot without removing some very established native trees (that provide great shade for the shop).

The 1000 ft layout included a finishing booth, but with swing away walls. I'm not sure I can get that in the 800 ft layout but going to try, however both have separate rooms or actually closets for an air compressor and a cyclone dust collector.

What I need most is a separate assembly table. I currently use my extension and outfeed tables for assembly. Not the best.

That was my biggest mistake. When I started I only ran one 120V circuit from the house main and split it to two circuits in the shop. I had no 220V tools. When I added them I ran another circuit to handle them, again from the house main. Worked OK, I'm normally a one man shop. But with an air compressor and dust collector kicking on on demand I'll need more. Plus I like to edge joint/trim leaving both tools running while I do so, sometimes with a friend doing one of the operations. So when I add on I'll pull wire for a 60 amp sub. and scrap the other two circuits. About the same amount of work to run the sub as to run each of those individual circuits.

Frank

Reply to
Frank Boettcher

I agree with you about HF, but not about custom work. What fun is building inventory? It is the challenge of doing something I haven't done before that is enjoyable.

Reply to
Tim

"Bill" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

What subject did you instruct/teach?

Reply to
Henry St.Pierre

Not a mistake at all. I did the same thing, not knowing if I had the talent to do reasonably decent woodwork; turns out I can do OK. I used that saw for two years and gave it away and bought a Delta contractors saw.

I do regret buying that Craftsman router though. I've not bought a cheap tool since so it was a lesson learned.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Jeez, guys. What are you all building in your shops? Passenger jets? I've got 1050 sq ft that I share with a small bathroom, washer, dryer, chest freezer, water heater, and furnace- and there's a stairwell right in the middle of it. To tell you the truth, it's enough space to do most projects in, even with a reasonably complete compliment of full-sized tools that are *not* on mobile bases, and the lathes even have their own room to boot (part of the 1050 sq ft) It's not like I need room to dance in the shop. Might need to use the shed or garage for a short time if I was making a full set of kitchen cabinets, but that's about it. Ditto for the electrical- even with seperate breakers for each major machine, I haven't needed a subpanel yet.

Just have to wonder if the shop really needs to be bigger in a lot of cases, or if it just needs a little rearranging.

Reply to
Prometheus

Ditto for the electrical- even with seperate

The issue in my case is distance from the house main panel to the point of use in the shop. About 150' of wire per circuit. Much better to run one large wire set and avoid multiples and the voltage drops associated with long runs. It would have been better, more cost effective to start with the sub panel, and certainly less labor crawling through the attic every time I need a new circuit.

1000 OK. 800 probably OK. 400 all the rearranging in the world isn't going to get me there.

Frank

Reply to
Frank Boettcher

We haven't bought the lot yet, so the shop plans (and long term plans for a couple other extra buildings) are definitly factored in to the house shopping.

That's interesting. I was thinking that I would try to seal the finishing room in an attempt to keep out as much dust as possible. The swing away walls will make that tough. On the other hand, you'd get that space for other purposes if you need it. There's also the problem of getting big pieces in and out of the finishing room.

Separate the compressor and DC? I had planned to put them in the same room. It seems a waste to devote an entire room to just the compressor no matter how big it is, but it would probably help the air filter and longevity of the compressor.

I agree. My table saw is integrated into a cabinet with the outfeed table and side tables. I'm always worried about dropping glue on the cast iron under the workpiece and not catching it before it rusts. It would be nice to have a big table with a surface that would make glue pop off and a hand crank to raise and lower it. I don't have the space now though.

Over-do the conduit diameter even though it will cost a lot more. It will make pulling the wire *a lot* easier (damhikt). Buy the separate big radius curves or bend your own rather than those small 90 degree fittings. Also, if you cut your own conduit, buy that expensive reamer thing that reburs the insides of the pipe ends. Otherwise when you pull the wires, it will rip the insulation and make the pull harder to do.

Other people here have recommended separate 120 circuits for tools vs lights. The reasoning is that if a power tool trips a circuit breaker, the lights won't go out. I agree with this completely. Especially since my TS is back on 120 now. I'm far more likely to trip the breaker. So that's two 120 lines. I also bought an 80 gal upright compressor that runs on 240. That one gets it's own breaker. Same for the DC. So that's three 240 breakers. We're up to eight positions which I think is the limit for 60 amp boxes. I'm considering adding an electric heater to the shop. I would probably put that on it's own 240 circuit also.

For the OP, I would also give a lot of thought to, and spare no expense for, dust collection from the start. It's always been an after-thought for me. In the new building, I'm planning to have an elevated wood floor with removable plywood panels and 2x6 or 2x8 sleepers on the concrete slab. This will allow me to run the DC and electric through the floor. With a steel building, you can make the eve height whatever you want so the loss of headroom would be a non-issue. I also plan on running separate small diameter pipe for high velocity dust collection shop-vac style. Then I'd install either one of those GUV things or a home central vac type thing in the DC room. Oneida (iirc) makes this mini cyclone for shop vacs now. I'd use that also.

brian

Reply to
brianlanning

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