Your thoughts please

[dhall]

Here's the deal. I do no wood working at the moment, but I am working toward a small shop for a hobby. I am 48 and disabled. I have time but limited energy. I need something productive to do that I can work on in spurts throughout the day. I hope to make small projects for family & friends as well as selling at the flea market.

I have a 20x20 building I am cleaning out to use for a wood shop. I currently have a few cheap tools that I will need to learn. I have a Ryobi BT3000 table saw, a cheap 10" miter saw, a Delta band saw and a scroll saw. If things go well I will replace these with higher quality stuff over time. I want to buy one piece of decent equipment now that along with what I have, will allow me to make small uncomplicated projects to start with. I am thinking a mini lathe or a router system at around 600-700 bucks. Which of the two would you suggest 1st for my situation. TIA.

[Vic]

A small router/router table set-up would be a good addition.

[Xaromir]

Yes a router is a very versatile tool you can do a lot with it if you take your time,

it sure is something no shop should be missing and it can make work easier.

But a lathe also seems to be a good idea,

It seems to be quite nice and rewarding work that doesn't seem to take forever,

but you are a bit limited by what you can do with it.

There is a guy on youtube called Carl Jacobson, you should watch his videos

if you want to get into turning.

I'm sure it's a very enjoyable hobby, but be aware of the fact that those tools also cost money,

it's not only the lathe, but i guess that's one of the reasons why you ask,

that's also what keeps me back.

http://www.youtube.com/user/haydenHD

[PaulMarcel]

I'm with Xaromir. You have limited time and energy; if turning intrigues you, I think you will enjoy that the most. One tool, some accessories, some turning tools and you are set. For non-turning projects, regardless of hand-tool, hybrid, or power-tool user, you have more to buy and master. Plus, limited on time... chuck a turning blank, turn on, go. Hour later you have something. Note that I don't turn (yet). I'm waiting until I get more of my cabinet work done before going there in case I get hooked and forget cabinet work. There's a turners forum on this one where you could ask for more help; in fact, there are a couple threads all ready about lathe choice and tools.

[PaulMarcel]

Don' t know where you are located, Darryl but there's another thread in the turning subforum about free wood... might be a good start.

[Frank Speyerer]

The advantage to a lathe is that you can begin a project from a rough-cut piece of wood and completed the finished piece using only one machine. Rude Osolnik style weed pots is a good starting project.

[dhall]

Thanks for the replies & suggestions. After watching enough woodworking videos to make my head explode, I think a lathe will be my first attempt at woodworking. I'll try to find a good used one on CL and maybe get some tooling & a chuck in the deal, but I got to say, it would be nice to find a sweet deal on a used Kreg table system with a router.

Thanks again.

[iSawitFirst]

You'll need sharpening stones or a slow-speed grinder and sharpening jig.

And you will be sharpening.

[timmahoney34]

Don't forget about marquetry projects. You don't need alot of tools, you can sit at a scroll saw instead of standing, the material (veneer) isn't heavy and it leads to other adventures in woodworking. I have an unused lath in my shop just taking up space. I did enjoy turning when I was in that phase of my woodworking interests.

[PaulMarcel]

So where are you at, Tim? Maybe someone will make you an offer for the deadweight lathe (like me )

[Vic]

So where are you at, Tim? Maybe someone will make you an offer for the deadweight lathe (like me )

Don't go to the dark side, Paul. I can't buy a lathe for at least a few more years. I've got way too of an addictive personality. I really want to get good at building.

[BillN]

I've got just the thing for you. Several years ago I went to a flea market / farmers market place and this guy was selling puzzles and kids names he had cut out of quarter inch plywood with a scroll saw (I think he was using Baltic Birch or some other high quality ply). I asked him about it and what he does is cut the letters out in one continuous cut and he retains the board the letters came from. He carefully sands the letters and makes sure they fit back in where they came from. Then he carefully paints the letters in different colors. finally, he glues the board with the empty spaces to another board and creates a puzzle from the kid's name. Grandparents flock to this guy for him to make one of these name puzzles for their grandkids - yes, I had him make one for my granddaughter. He takes orders if he doesn't ahve them on hand and ships within a week. He gets about $20.00 apiece for these name puzzles and I doubt he has $3.00 of materials in the job. I just went back to the flea market and he now has an inside stall so he must be doing something right. He also offers other varieties of puzzles, alphabet puzzles, etc. Every winter he spends several months in Florida and comes back to NY in the good weather. It's the perfect match between production and woodworking. Depending on your disabiltiy, this might be the right idea.

[dhall]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm in brain overload, but it don't take much