My shop doesn’t have near as many tools as others, but what I have suits me fine (so far).
Significant non-Fes tools:
Craftsman hybrid cabinet saw - Great machine. Runs and cuts VERY precisely. One of my MFT 1080's is the outfeed table. The CT33 w/boom arm is on the end and it can reach to my customized blade guard for topside dust collection (when cutting MFT and the like).
Delta drill press – Old school cast iron HEAVY monster. No matter how much pressure is exerted on the table, it doesn’t flex in the least. Bought it reconditioned by a local machinist (and I’m still eyeing a Bridgeport J-head with 3 power feeds he has for sale).
Dewalt 733 planer – Actually, I have 2 of them (got the second one recently as a spare because I like it so much and no other portable planer today has resharpenable knives). They work great, but ear protection is a must. Takes about 10 minutes to sharpen a set of knives on my Makita wet grinder.
Powermatic PM15 planer/molder – I use this for hardwood over 8” wide (which is rare for me). 5 real hp. A great hogging machine and soon to become a dedicated molder.
Powermatic 6” belt / 12” disc sander – Still have this in my basement shop. Haven’t found a place for it yet in my new shop (garage).
Jet 20” band saw – Great saw. Everything is heavy duty on it except the table trunions (cast zinc). Tends to flex when I’m trying to cut an 80lb chuck of wood. Used primarily for cutting bowl blanks.
3hp Cyclone DC – Actually, it’s in a separate shed built mostly to house that and my compressor, but also a supplemental tool storage area (I keep all my construction tools out there). At 9'+ high, it won't fit in my shop. 6” PVC pipes connect the two buildings. During the summer, I vent the DC straight thru the floor of the shed. The cyclone is so efficient that no noticeable dust can be seen. In the winter, I pipe it back into the shop where it goes into a custom made two-canister HEPA filter box. Every machine has 6” drops which branches to TWO 4” hoses, both of which connect to the machine. If there's only one port on the machine, the other branch is left open to keep the total CFM up and not to choke off the DC. After emptying the 55 gallon drum countless times, the filters are barely dusty.
Oneway 2436 lathe– The center point of my shop...well, actually woodturning takes up ½ my shop. No other equipment is allowed to cross the midpoint line onto the turning side. Two reasons: 1) Wet shavings do bad things to bare cast iron, and 2) I like a lot of room around the lathe and NEED it for shavings (one day can produce over 100 gallons of shavings). When I turn, there is *NO* place in the whole garage that doesn’t get hit with shavings (yes, I sling them 20’ off the tool). To combat this, I have two 10’ long roll-up plastic shades that I use to separate the lathe side from the flat side. This contains the mess to one half of my shop. On that side there are only 3 items on the floor...the 2436 lathe, the 1224 lathe (on wheels) and my grinder station (again, on wheels). This makes cleanup real easy.
Oneway 1224 lathe– My small production lathe and gets the most use.
Central Vac/Cyclone – This is by far my most used item. Originally, I had a ShopVac mounted on a 55 gallon drum. Sure, it held a lot of debris, but the filter would clog quickly and I’d loose suction. So I installed a cyclone separator (the full size, not the little vac model) powered by my ShopVac. Attached it a 25 foot 2 ½” DC hose on the end of which is a vac wand and remote switch. Now, I just take the hose length off the hook where is hangs and can vac the shop instantly. The cyclone grabs 99% of the debris and dust so the ShopVac filter stays clean. The ShopVac (a quiet model, not a screamer) is up in the loft, so what noise it does produce is muffled.
Oh yea…the vac wand fits my Ridgid 12” miter saw so it also doubles as a DC for that tool. My Dewalt 12” miter saw is used for outside construction, since dust collection on that is a lost cause (tiny 1 1/2” port).
- Pete
Opps...forgot one.
BenchDog router table cabinet with Jessem Excel lift/top and Incra LS fence/positioner, powered by PC 7518.
Significant non-Fes tools:
Craftsman hybrid cabinet saw - Great machine. Runs and cuts VERY precisely. One of my MFT 1080's is the outfeed table. The CT33 w/boom arm is on the end and it can reach to my customized blade guard for topside dust collection (when cutting MFT and the like).
Delta drill press – Old school cast iron HEAVY monster. No matter how much pressure is exerted on the table, it doesn’t flex in the least. Bought it reconditioned by a local machinist (and I’m still eyeing a Bridgeport J-head with 3 power feeds he has for sale).
Dewalt 733 planer – Actually, I have 2 of them (got the second one recently as a spare because I like it so much and no other portable planer today has resharpenable knives). They work great, but ear protection is a must. Takes about 10 minutes to sharpen a set of knives on my Makita wet grinder.
Powermatic PM15 planer/molder – I use this for hardwood over 8” wide (which is rare for me). 5 real hp. A great hogging machine and soon to become a dedicated molder.
Powermatic 6” belt / 12” disc sander – Still have this in my basement shop. Haven’t found a place for it yet in my new shop (garage).
Jet 20” band saw – Great saw. Everything is heavy duty on it except the table trunions (cast zinc). Tends to flex when I’m trying to cut an 80lb chuck of wood. Used primarily for cutting bowl blanks.
3hp Cyclone DC – Actually, it’s in a separate shed built mostly to house that and my compressor, but also a supplemental tool storage area (I keep all my construction tools out there). At 9'+ high, it won't fit in my shop. 6” PVC pipes connect the two buildings. During the summer, I vent the DC straight thru the floor of the shed. The cyclone is so efficient that no noticeable dust can be seen. In the winter, I pipe it back into the shop where it goes into a custom made two-canister HEPA filter box. Every machine has 6” drops which branches to TWO 4” hoses, both of which connect to the machine. If there's only one port on the machine, the other branch is left open to keep the total CFM up and not to choke off the DC. After emptying the 55 gallon drum countless times, the filters are barely dusty.
Oneway 2436 lathe– The center point of my shop...well, actually woodturning takes up ½ my shop. No other equipment is allowed to cross the midpoint line onto the turning side. Two reasons: 1) Wet shavings do bad things to bare cast iron, and 2) I like a lot of room around the lathe and NEED it for shavings (one day can produce over 100 gallons of shavings). When I turn, there is *NO* place in the whole garage that doesn’t get hit with shavings (yes, I sling them 20’ off the tool). To combat this, I have two 10’ long roll-up plastic shades that I use to separate the lathe side from the flat side. This contains the mess to one half of my shop. On that side there are only 3 items on the floor...the 2436 lathe, the 1224 lathe (on wheels) and my grinder station (again, on wheels). This makes cleanup real easy.
Oneway 1224 lathe– My small production lathe and gets the most use.
Central Vac/Cyclone – This is by far my most used item. Originally, I had a ShopVac mounted on a 55 gallon drum. Sure, it held a lot of debris, but the filter would clog quickly and I’d loose suction. So I installed a cyclone separator (the full size, not the little vac model) powered by my ShopVac. Attached it a 25 foot 2 ½” DC hose on the end of which is a vac wand and remote switch. Now, I just take the hose length off the hook where is hangs and can vac the shop instantly. The cyclone grabs 99% of the debris and dust so the ShopVac filter stays clean. The ShopVac (a quiet model, not a screamer) is up in the loft, so what noise it does produce is muffled.
Oh yea…the vac wand fits my Ridgid 12” miter saw so it also doubles as a DC for that tool. My Dewalt 12” miter saw is used for outside construction, since dust collection on that is a lost cause (tiny 1 1/2” port).
- Pete
Opps...forgot one.
BenchDog router table cabinet with Jessem Excel lift/top and Incra LS fence/positioner, powered by PC 7518.
