slim Posted April 12, 2011 Report Share Posted April 12, 2011 I am a 28 year old contractor (10 yrs. experience) and for the past 5 years have been doing small furniture projects and am generally self taught. For the past 8 months or so i have been trying to learn more on building furniture the RIGHT way and I have slowly began to set myself up a shop. I still am running all hand held tools and get my wood processed at local dealer. Planer, jointer, router table, dust collection, band saw, ALL still have to be purchased. Since i dont have means of buying them all at once [2 kids....one on the way ] could someone help prioritize these for me? Thanks a lot !! James (SLOWER LOWER DELAWARE) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNehlsEnd Posted April 12, 2011 Report Share Posted April 12, 2011 Hi James, you mean there is a right way. LOL My advice would be to buy what you need and work up from there. A table saw or router table can aid you in jointing. You can even use a router to thickness stock with a jig. Hand planes are fairly reasonable and can be gotten at yard sales as well as the stores. A table saw will do a lot of tasks such as doing some re saw work, Cross cutting and ripping, dadoes, tenons, box joints and miters. A lot depends on what kind of projects you want to do as to the tools you may want . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slim Posted April 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 Ok Thanks Greg....I guess there really isnt a right way . I DO have a table saw. I made a larger deck for it and a detachable out feed. Also have a few jigs that run on the mitre slide. Because of all the uses i have heard for them, I am guessing that a router table might be the next thing to buy (been using hand held all along). I think there are even ways to build your own....I may have to look more into that. Thanks again. Anyone else throw me a bone? -James (diggin out a splinter) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usacomp2k3 Posted April 13, 2011 Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 I would definitely keep your eyes out at garage sales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sac Posted April 13, 2011 Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 If you want to start surfacing and prepping your own materials, I would say that you should first get a planer and a dust collector. I say both, because the planer is just plain messy of you dont have a DC. You can use a planer sled to get you first face flat, then flip it over to get the other side flat. Then you could use a straight edge and a router to joint your first edge, then take it to your TS to get you second edge. Wah-lah, S4S.. You could use a hand plane to clean up and saw blade marks. It is more work than having a jointer and a planer, but it is a place to start. Bandsaws are nice, but there are ways to get things done without them. ROuter tables are nice, but I would recommend making one. They are great skill builders, and not to complicated to make either. I would however recommend getting a lift plate (personal preference). I think that the Rockler lift plate is a good value plate. You can make or buy a fence, just depends on how many fancy things you want it to do. There are plans for those all over the internet.. Good luck with you purchases and make sure that you let us know what it is that you do.. Good Luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slim Posted April 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 Thanks everyone for the info! Be sure to keep ya posted ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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