Power tools:

I hate to be a pest, one more question though. What would be the minimum power tool requirement a woodworker should have to make simple type furniture e.g.. footstool , bookcase, bench etc? I like to get expert advice before I start any project. Wood is very expensive to just turn into sawdust.

Sal

Reply to
sal
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That's kind of a subjective question. Power tools could mean drill, circular saw, router, etc. I consider all those types of tools as a minimum because you could build all your examples with them. And so, I'd think of them as everybody already owning them.

For me, the minimum power tool (big iron) would be a table saw, a contractor's table saw as a minimum and a cabinet saw as a preferred choice.

Reply to
Dave

The minimum would be zero. Roy Underhill gets the job(s) done with just hand (and foot) tools. The other end of the spectrum is Norm Abram who seems to abhor any hand tool if he can possibly use a power tool. Art

Reply to
Artemus

Expect to get all sorts of answers from no power tools to a fully equipped shop costing tens of thousands of dollars.

How much money to you have? Set a budget and then set your priorities. I started out with a cheap (less than $200) Craftsman table saw. It has shortcomings, but I was able to build a lot of nice little things. After a couple of years, I figured I'd be sticking with the hobby and bought a Delta Contractor saw.

As I needed tools and had the money, I bought for a specific project, not because there is any sequence to equip a shop. . Drill press, small compressor and brad nailer, ROS sander, etc. It took me about five years to get a good shop with router tables, bandsaw, planer, etc. While all that stuff is nice to have, I still had fun and made a lot of projects without.

People built their own houses and furniture for centuries before electricity was invented. Hand saws, brace and bit, scrapers, planes . . . it just took longer

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

"sal" wrote in news:Zw6dr.24353$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe15.iad:

We're happy to spend your money for you. :-)

You can do quite a bit with just a circular saw and sander. Get a good circular saw and a great sander. The Bosch 1297DK is a good place to start with a sander.

A table saw would be a good next purchase, between the two saws you can handle almost any cut. Avoid cheap table saws, an inexpensive one will run around $400 new.

A compound miter saw or Radio Alarm Saw would be a good third power saw purchase. They make cross cutting easy, and allow repeatable cuts to specific lengths.

You'll need a good battery-powered screwdriver and impact driver. I like the Makita sets. Most come with multiple batteries, and the better ones come with "smart" chargers that stop charging when the battery is charged. (This feature will save your batteries!) Other tools such as circular saws are available that use the same batteries as the screwdriver kits, so you can have multiple tools and only one set of batteries to keep track of.

Minimizing waste is a process of planning, not tools. You'll find that conditions will require you to waste a bit of wood here or there. You may have to cut around a knot or rough cut something and trim to final size. Wood scraps do burn well, so use them to heat the shop or cook a hot dog.

Puckdropper

Reply to
Puckdropper

For most, making sawdust is the goal.

A birdhouse, curtain valence, chess board, or a laminate floor is just a fringe benefit.

Does you wife knit? If so, I ask you what do you do with 83 afghans and 52 baby blankets?

Same idea.

Reply to
HeyBub

As for me, I am just looking for an excuse to use my hammer! ; )

Reply to
Bill

Unlike a lot of people I'd put a jointer and a planer right after a table saw. The difference in price between S4S and rough hardwood will pay for them in short order if you spend much time at the hobby. And a bandsaw for resawing ranks high for the same reasons of wood cost.

I'd put a brad nailer way at the bottom unless I was doing finish carpentry instead of WW. Or trying to emulate Nahm :-).

Reply to
Larry Blanchard

My wife donates them to Meals on Wheels.

Reply to
Larry Blanchard

Power tools don't make a woodworker. All you need is the desire and a few simple hand tools. If you think all you have to do is run out and buy a bunch of power tools you are in for an expensive surprise.

I started out with the usual assortment of hand tools and an old used electric drill. My first major power tool was a radial arm saw. I bought it about forty years ago and built my rec room. Over the years I have added to my tool collection and done a lot of woodworking. It was the knowledge I gained over the years that made me a woodworker, not the tools. The tools only made the work easier.

I've got a work room now that Norm would appreciate. It's in a house that I designed and built myself. All the power tools in the would could not have built that house. I built it. I could have done it with the original assortment of hand tools I had when I was in my early twenties. All the power did was to cut the build time down.

You asked for advice, here it is. The internet is just an amusing waste of time. Turn off your computer and go build something. If you don't like how it turned out build it again.

Waste of wood? That would be nothing compared to the value of the time you have already wasted asking for advice that is essentially useless to you.

LdB

Reply to
LdB

Thanks for the input members I really got a good cross section of Idea's much appreciated. For those of you curious about my location it is 49*53'0"N/97*10'0"W

Reply to
sal

Mostly agree ... especially when those asking for advice have no idea of the level of competence/experience of the responders; nor, because they had to ask in the first place, do they have the experience to separate good advice from bad.

Bottom line ... you can indeed learn on Usenet, including much about woodworking, but you have to take much of the proffered advice with a grain of salt until you can recognize those you can trust on most issues.

Reply to
Swingman

Fascinating! What portion of our society eats them, pray tell?

-- "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Did you observe any bad advice proffered?

Reply to
Bill

Larry Jaques wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Storytellers. They need raw material to spin their yarns.

Puckdropper

Reply to
Puckdropper

OK, you had your joke. But believe me the shut-ins are grateful. Linda's been donating afghans for years, as have some other women she knows, and MOW has *never* said they had enough.

It's also a good place to donate jigsaw puzzles, books, etc..

Reply to
Larry Blanchard

No, it Heats them! And, these are people who may not be able to afford to crank up the thermostat!

Reply to
Bill

I think it's wonderful, but I just hadda do it.

I had no idea they'd accept articles like that. I have tons of books for them if they need 'em.

-- "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." Attributed to Thomas Jefferson, but Massah Ed, he doan tink it so.

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Yeah, people out there are telling folks to -stain- perfectly good and innocent wood, fer pity's sake.

What's not good to some can be excellent to others, and vice versa. It's called a difference of opinion, Mikey. Differences in ability to explain things can make a difference to the OP, too. they might not understand the 'good' advice yet immediately grasp the 'mediocre'. Hearing all the different forms of advice is good for the OP. It lets them start understanding the various levels people are coming from. The pineywood hacker will give different advice than the veteran hardwood woodworker or a veneer god. It's all good.

-- "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." Attributed to Thomas Jefferson, but Massah Ed, he doan tink it so.

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Ge Sal, you are going to get a ton of answers.

Decide for yourself what tools you will need.

Look at what you want to build and determine which tools will be needed. That is not complicated.

Do you need to cut wood, get a saw. Do yo need holes, get a drill...

Do not go out and randomly buy a list of tools with out knowing if you will actually need them.

Reply to
Leon

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