Basic All Around Tools?

[pghmyn]

I want to eventually have my own shop. Currently I work in my father's basement shop with his tool collection. Slowly, I have been adding to my collection with what money I can spare. I bought a corded drill, TS 55, chisels, and some tools that have been given to me when my grandfather passed (hammers, drill bits, some clamps, etc).

When I get my own space, my first purchases will be what I consider to be the "Big Three"
1) Table Saw
2) Planer
3) Jointer

In my eyes, I want the best of the best to last many years to come. But there is some variance - in necessary. I am not obliged to used tools, but I have to thoroughly test them first.

What do you think those three tools should cost? New or used. Also, what other tools are an absolute necessity?

 

[guitar_ed]

Hi,

Your question is pretty open ended, and you don't provide enough information to really answer the question.  So, let me propose a few questions for you. 

120 or 240 volt? 

How large a space? 

What kind of stuff do you plan on doing? 

What's your budget?

Transportable or stationary?

edg

 

[pghmyn]

Hi,

Your question is pretty open ended, and you don't provide enough information to really answer the question.  So, let me propose a few questions for you. 

120 or 240 volt? 

How large a space? 

What kind of stuff do you plan on doing? 

What's your budget?

Transportable or stationary?

edg

This isn't something I am getting any time soon. Just like to see what you guys would consider to be basic necessity of tools for a basic shop. If you had to start from scratch, what would be your choices?

 

[Alan m]

i would look at hammer or felder type machines. they will last you a lifetime  in a hobby set up.

some people never need a planer thicknesser as they dont use real timber.
get a euro style  tables saw with the sliding carrage if you can. i have one  and love it. i dont (cant in the too small of a shed) but find the carrage very handy.

 

[adubeau]

My advice is start with at least a cabinet saw skip the contractor saw bit... waste of money... there is a lot to choose from and the European style saws are nice...

As far as a planer and joiner goes... depends on where you plan on buying real timber or buying fake stuff... rough cut from a saw mill or already finished from a Borg/lumber yard.Additional milling maybe required and you can straight edge on a TS with a jig or with a router table... However planing or thicknessing there are a couple of ways to do it.... hand held planner , router jig (ugh) or a hand plane...

If you decide to get the joiner and planner be sure to get the Byrd head when you purchase them, that what I did they may cost a little more and make less noise... For these I recommend at least 15" on the planer  and 8" on the joiner -  You can consider a combo joiner/planer machine to save space and money... Your going to need a dust collector so I would consider this as an accessory to  the big 3..

Good luck...

 

[Jaybolishes]

This may be obvious, but I'd be doing nightly searches on Craigslist.  Great tools at a great price only come to you when you are actively searching daily,  getting lucky by only searching once a week or month is rare. You say you want best of the best, but that doesn't come cheap.  Quality can be produced without spending on the best.   I bought a ridged 6 inch joiner 6 years ago and it makes quality results at a reasonable price. Im ready to upgrade, but it has served me well.  I bought a grizzly 15" spiral head planer and it has planed all the rough sawn flooring I put in my two story  house and many many projects.  Great planer and I can't say enough, it literally planed thousands and thousands of wood I milled and dried off my sawmill.  Delta makes a great cabinet saw, love mine, make sure you get casters or rolling bases on your equipment, it's a must in shops with limited space.  If I didn't produce my own wood, I think the thickness planer would be at the bottom of the list.  If you want best of the best, these things I've mentioned may not be that, but I couldn't afford the best when I started.  Now I am in better shape monetarily, hence my festool addiction.

 

[MrToolJunkie]

Some good advice.  I might opt for a nice band saw in lieu of the table saw to start, especially working with solid lumber.  It would supplement the TS55 you already own and give you additional capabilities.  Others will disagree and it really come down to what kinds of projects you build.  I use mostly my Festools now and have not turned on my cabinet saw in over a year.

Scot

 

[JPF Woodworking]

Looking back over more than 30 years of woodworking I have always relied on the "big three" (jointer, planner and TS). I was lucky enough to invest in Powermatic way back when and I have never regretted these purchases. When we built our two car garage which was going to also serve as my shop I rolled the purchase price of these three machines into the construction costs. I think the garage (24' X 26') and the tools ran about 12K.

However, if I was going to do it all over again I would think long and hard about matching my work to the tools I bought. For example, I currently rely on my TS for cutting dados and rabbits. I have always cut these basic joints on my TS but if i had the opportunity and $$ I would change over to using routers mounted on tracks. The dust collection and repeatability would probably out-match what I can do on the TS.

I probably would still own a TS and I really like my Powermatic but I would look very closely at a sliding table TS as well as the Saw-Stop mechanism.

The bottom line here, IMHO, is plan for versatility, flexibility and mobility (and don't overlook SAFETY) when designing your shop and purchasing your equipment. These three factors is what makes  Festool so appealing. I also think that you can "justify" the price is the longevity of these tools. Wouldn't it be nice to leave your (Festools) to your grandchildren someday.

Best of luck!

John

 

[pghmyn]

I was looking at the JET 12" planer/jointer combo for $2,200 USD. For that price, I thought it wasn't entirely bad. A 12" powermatic jointer alone is over $4,000. The only downfall here is that the planer is only 12" wide.

I've convinced my fiancé that a shop is in my future when we buy out first home. My plan is to move somewhere with a good sized space. Either a basement, garage, or property. If I spend $5,000 - $6,000 on some startup tools, I could probably make that money back in a year or so with the amount of projects I could produce.

 

[live4ever]

You could certainly dive right in with a 12" J/P such as the Jet or the Hammer A3-31 (more $$).  A decent tablesaw will also cost at least $1k, but given your taste, you'll probably end up spending more for a cabinet saw.

I've gotten by with a 6" jointer (Ridgid) and a 13" "benchtop" planer (DW735) as my milling machines, with a 3hp cabinet saw (and of course other tools/Festools but we're talking about TS/J/P here).  Realistically, I've been able to do everything I've needed with those machines, and my desire to upgrade to a larger jointer is based simply on the very rare times I've wanted to joint wider than 6".  My desire to upgrade to a stationary planer is based simply on the desire for a quieter, smoother machine.  I can keep doing what I want to do with these machines until I'm able to upgrade.  I don't NEED to, I just WANT to.  Point is, you can spend much less than the $2500+ of 12" J/P at the get-go so you can accumulate other important tools and shop necessities.  I'm all for buying the best you can afford right away, but I know if I had maxed out my tool budget when I got started to get a 12" J/P I wouldn't have been able to initially afford many of my current tools that have come in handy from the get-go (drill press, oscillating sander, Festools, etc.). 

It also might be useful to point out that you should factor in the cost of accessories into your tool budget.  It's easy to overlook the cost of a hundred here or a hundred there, but those things add up, such as miter gauges, blades, clamps, etc.  Also, you'll be spending a decent amount in getting your new space to "workshop" standards - electrical/lighting, storage/shelving, etc. 

That all being said, if *I* were looking to buy a TS, a J, and a P TODAY, I'd go with a 3hp Sawstop (or Unisaw if you're antiSS) and a Hammer A3-31 + helical head.  That's about $7,500.  Outfitting a new workshop with those two tools and other necessities, you're looking at around $10k.

 

[pghmyn]

I have all the tools I could possibly need at my fathers house, and I have the ability to use them whenever I please. This works very strongly in my favor. He has a bench top planer and a bench top jointer. Those are very portable, and I could swing by his house, pick them up for a weekend, get all my planing and jointing done.

Since I have those options, I would probably splurge on a nice cabinet saw first. Then work my way through other tools. I should have plenty of hand me down tools like clamps, sanders, drill press, etc. those will be replaced eventually. I haven't gone through what my grandfather left for me yet.

 

[NoBreyner]

A table saw is invaluable as a starter power tool.  My basics include

One Cordless Drill- I can probably get by with a corded one, but I doubt I can do without a drill entirely
Table Saw- The most used power tool in my garage and invaluable.  I have made it even more valuable by building a table sled, miter sled and tenon jig for it.
Drill Press- perfectly vertical holes, mortices, repeatability, the use of bits that can't be easily used on a drill and a built in depth stop.
Router-  Can perform many of your joinery needs and profiles too.  I have used the router with Table saw to make a router table which makes my router a much more versatile tool.

 

[semenza]

I was looking at the JET 12" planer/jointer combo for $2,200 USD. For that price, I thought it wasn't entirely bad. A 12" powermatic jointer alone is over $4,000. The only downfall here is that the planer is only 12" wide.
I've convinced my fiancé that a shop is in my future when we buy out first home. My plan is to move somewhere with a good sized space. Either a basement, garage, or property. If I spend $5,000 - $6,000 on some startup tools, I could probably make that money back in a year or so with the amount of projects I could produce.

A 12" planer really isn't that bad. Unless you are  buying old lumber lots, using reclaimed, or planing after glue ups.... there just aren't that many boards more than 12" anymore.  Not that more than 12 wouldn't be nice  or useful, but I would say it is a big necessity.

Seth

 

[jmarkflesher]

Just to make it more difficult for you go on the Felder site. Click on show price and follow instructions. Some of the discontinued products are 3-4 thousand off. I'm was looking at the (951 pro ??? not discontinued) with attachments is about $48,000.00. Maybe under the tree.

 

[pghmyn]

Just to make it more difficult for you go on the Felder site. Click on show price and follow instructions. Some of the discontinued products are 3-4 thousand off. I'm was looking at the (951 pro ??? not discontinued) with attachments is about $48,000.00. Maybe under the tree.

Sounds like a winner, to me.