Main > Woodworking
Building a woodshop....recommended tools
RickDIII:
Love my dewalt and porter cable tools.
Xiaou2:
I personally do not like nails... I recomend skipping the air nalier... unless you are in too much a hurry.
I prefer to use long coarse thread screws. That way, if you ever have to dis-assemble something, or decide to take it appart and want to re-use the wood.. its easy to do. Nails can go in crooked, hard to get back out without damage to the boards..ect. Screws will hold better anyway, and the structures build will have less play and wobble. And.. screws are re-usable : ) unlike bent nails.
A great table saw with a long table extention will be the best investment for the shop. Theres many times when you need to cut something - and the table isnt long enough to have the guide in place. I had to build my own.. but its far from perfect. If I had to do it again.. Id get a better longer table.
A new tool I just got and love.. is a metal cutting bandsaw from Harbor Freight.
Its very quiet (unlike an 'only for wood' bandsaw), and cuts metal like butter :)
(simular to a slow moving hacksaw blade - without the manual effort :) Much better than using those cutoff wheels. Can cut wood too.. but I think its a little slow and limited in this regaurd. (unless maybe if you changed the band-blade type)
Ohh and another favorite of mine, is the all might Drill Press. At first.. I started out with a small 9" I believe.. but I kept running into problems with the shallow depth.
I finally bought a floor standing Radial Drill Press from H.F. for like
$189 +tax. The thing is wicked! Something like 23" depth possible via a sliding head unit. Also, the head can tilt to 90 degrees! Great to use it like that with a polishing or sanding wheel. Well worth the extra cash. These things can do much more than a typical hand drill - such as use a circle cutter device. Also just having such accurately drilled holes can be very important - esp when cutting holes in metal, where you want near perfect accuracy.
a simular model: http://www.atm-workshop.com/radial-drill.html
I also Highly recomend the use of a Dust Collector. HF sells a 2hp one for a good price. They also have a hose kit for like 50$ too. I hooked mine to the underside of my tablesaw (with a special nearly airtight undercariage I made)- to create a downdraft effect - and also have a 'Y-splitter' that goes to the sander. Either tube can be opened or closed for more suction power to either of them.
It was amazing how much dust was in the air after cutting some MDF.. and now with the collector on, theres almost no dust at all.
I use a corded drill for many projects... but a year ago bought a black and decker 14volt cordless. The thing has a removable head - and under it, lies a quick change adapter. Great for drilling a hole.. realese the head, then drive the screw all without having to change the bits every time. Even came with 2 batteries : ) I use that drill more than the corded one now. :) But, the more drills the merrier :)
HaRuMaN:
I have a Ryobi router as well as table saw, and I am very happy with both of them...
nostrebor:
I will go on the list of folks that do not reccomend Ryobi cordless tools. A cordless tool that will see plenty of use (drill) should demand some $$. Bosch, Dewalt, Makita, etc.
The Corded tools work great, and generally do quite well in tool round-ups in the WW magazines.
Crazy Cooter:
--- Quote from: RickDIII on November 15, 2005, 09:27:02 pm ---...remember Harbor Freight for things like clamps, squares, etc. i.e. Bar clamps at HD or Lowes might be $20-$30. When they go on sale at HF I pick em up for $2-$5.
--- End quote ---
Like right now:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=38183
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=6985
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