Pointers on "required" shop tools

[Derekkest]

I am a hobbyist woodworker. I mostly make toys for my daughter and any other child, Intarsia, some boxes, turn vases etc. The usual hobby stuff....But I want to do more and I want to give some furniture a crack.

So I am asking what else do I need? I have the following, just want some pointers as to what other "stand out" tools I am missing?

Jet Lathe

Bandsaw

Drill Press

Table Saw

Chop Saw

Scroll Saw

Router/Router table

Thanks

[Renzo]

Derekkest I hope you have some sort of Dust Collection for all those tools!

And as Sac may tell you, he likes his new 12" Jointer.

[Vic]

Some hand tools for refining what you can accomplish with the power tools. Think of the power tools as your very own apprentice. The hand tools are what will take your work to a higher, more artistic level.

[Derekkest]

Some hand tools for refining what you can accomplish with the power tools. Think of the power tools as your very own apprentice. The hand tools are what will take your work to a higher, more artistic level.

The hand tools I pretty much have set. Although, after watching a few vids, I am thinking a scraper would be an interesting addition to my tools. As far as the dust system, yup yup....Nothing beats a shopvac and a plumbers nightmare of PVC.

[PaulMarcel]

Hand tools may be nice. This will be more fun:

Seriously, though, there can be so many suggestions simply because we don't know what you want to do that you can't do now with that already impressive list.

So what have you worked on lately that made you think another tool would make it easier? or what do you want to start doing but don't think you have the right tooling?

For me, it would be easy: I have no lathe so if I said 'turning'.. duh.

I love the straight-pipe headers on that chainsaw, though.

[Beechwood Chip]

My advice: Don't buy tools because they are on some list. Build projects, and buy tools one at a time when you have a specific project that would really benefit from that specific tool. You want to avoid buying a tool and then having it sit unused. You want to buy a tool, set it up, and immediately use it for the project it was purchased for. That way you "bond" with each tool, and it has a place in your personal skill set and the way you approach projects.

[Dave]

When i was working on houses all hand held power tools was what i needed. For whatever reason i started building outdoor furniture, then interior finishes and now more refined projects. For each stage i needed different tools.

Start working/playing. Don't worry about what you have or don't have. Plan your projects and get what you need for each project, pretty soon you will have a shop full of tools.

Derekkest - probably the first two things i would get off your list are the jigsaw and router. They are the cheapest, very useful and can be used in place of some of the larger tools.

[muddlermike]

it seems you have the compliment of power tools except for a jointer and planer. Since you've been doing small projects, the wood cost probably doesn't seem too bad, but once you get into furniture sized projects the cost of wood grows considerably per project. buying rough stock and milling it is a significantly cheaper option once you get beyond the cost of the tools. I would start with a planer since there are tablesaw, router, and planer sled options for jointing that can get you by until you get the jointer.

[went_postal]

it seems you have the compliment of power tools except for a jointer and planer. Since you've been doing small projects, the wood cost probably doesn't seem too bad, but once you get into furniture sized projects the cost of wood grows considerably per project. buying rough stock and milling it is a significantly cheaper option once you get beyond the cost of the tools. I would start with a planer since there are tablesaw, router, and planer sled options for jointing that can get you by until you get the jointer.

Yeah... the jointer/planer was the only thing I saw missing as well.

My first furniture project all I had was my Table Saw, hand scroll saw, 13" planer, 6.5" jointer, and a crappy tabletop drill press. everything else was hand power. Necessity is the mother of invention. =)

I know when I first did mortise and tenons everyone kept telling me about how I either needed a dedicated mortising machine or the attachment for the drill press. Nope... a decent set of forstner bits from Northern Tool, a hammer, and a chisel is all it took. Worked out pretty well too. Could it have been better with other tools? maybe... faster for sure but not so sure about "better."

The jointer and the planer paid for themselves after about 3 or 4 projects. Not paying a lumberyard to waste a ton of wood when they do their S4S is NICE. I have also discovered the wonders of resawing my own stuff... just wish I had a bigger bandsaw for that.

[PaulDerrico]

Derekkest, you have more tools than I do, and I'm building furniture already. I do about two or three pieces a month (hobby worker) that range in size from small lamps to full bookshelves/hutches. What really kills me is the amount I spend in lumber. I need to upgrade my table saw, but the next thing on my list is a jointer/planer setup. The amount of money I save by milling my own lumber will validate the cost of those items.

Also, if you're getting into furniture, start buying as many clamps as you can!!! I've gotten into the habit of picking up one or two clamps every time I hit the store (nothing short of 24"). You can never have too many clamps, but, I've had more times than I'd like to mention where I don't have enough! Pipe clamps are the way to go if you're on a budget, and you can make them any length.

Good luck with your future endeavours!

=paul

[Lawrence Brown]

As the others have said, other than maybe a jointer and planer, you're pretty much to the point where your tool buying decisions should be based on your projects rather than anyone else's list. The best way to proceed is probably just to decide on the next thing you want to make and then figure out what you need to complete the job.

Notice I say "need". I personally started falling into the trap of justifying every impulse purchase by saying "I 'need' this...". (Craigslist is an evil, wonderful thing!)

The fact is, there are usually several ways of accomplishing a particular task, so I eventually learned to start a project, then not allow myself to buy anything until I could truthfully say "there's no way I can complete this without this...", or "my work would be significantly better or easier/faster if I had this...".

That second one is the real gotcha. I can always say "it would be so much easier to do this with that Festool whatchamathingie or that awesome Lie-nelson fancy dohickie", but for the price, can I get pretty much the same results by just tuning up my old hand-me-down Stanley plane a bit better?

I think the most important thing is to form some kind of plan and stick with it. I'm actually to the point where I finally had to say "My habit has to start paying for itself. I can only purchase new stuff with the profits from the projects." Yeah, we'll see how that works out...

[georgewoodie]

You have very good list of equipment.

In addition to the jointer and planer already noted by others, I would add some sort of sanding machine to take drudgery out of your work.

also, I have a Dremel rotary tool with a cable drive that I find very useful for small sanding and grinding. For example, I have just made 4 periscopes for a friend's children. I carved their initial into each one and used a fine bit with my Dremel to clean the edges of the carving.

Woodie

[Derekkest]

Thank you for all the responses!! I never thought about a joiner/Planer and you are absolutely right!!! Most of the toys I make are cut up on the bandsaw and squarness is required, but not to the extent furniture would be. I do have a belt sander with the rotary part to it also. I say rotary part cause it kinda sucks, but i do use the rest of the machine all the time.

What I have to get out of my head is when I was a tool and die maker.....How nice it would be to dial in on a bridgeport and fly cut something within a few thousands of an inch!!!

[Derekkest]

So I took your advice and bought my first planer today. WOW does that make life easier!!! I bought a Dewalt three blade planer Dewalt Planer.

Any tips or tricks for the planer?

[Chester]

What I have to get out of my head is when I was a tool and die maker.....How nice it would be to dial in on a bridgeport and fly cut something within a few thousands of an inch!!!

[went_postal]

So I took your advice and bought my first planer today. WOW does that make life easier!!! I bought a Dewalt three blade planer Dewalt Planer.

Any tips or tricks for the planer?

Not sure about the dewalt but I know my Ridgid need a hell of a lot of tweaking to loose the snipe on the ends of the boards. The instructions should have information on how to align the feed tables properly... take their advice to heart! =) Ever since I aligned my feed tables properly the snipe is all but gone.

[samhell]

The hand tools I pretty much have set. Although, after watching a few vids, I am thinking a scraper would be an interesting addition to my tools. As far as the dust system, yup yup....Nothing beats a shopvac and a plumbers nightmare of PVC.

No scraper? I think a set is what, like 10 bucks? Highly recommended. Its one of those things you don't think about until you have them and always find yourself using them to finish or smooth things. Amazingly simple and useful pieces of metal.

Shopvacs work ok... but they are very annoyingly loud and don't seem to pick up as much stuff as a real dust collector. I have a 3hp shopvac and it worked well for awhile as long as I used hearing protection... picked up the small Rockler dust collector... wow what a difference! Much quieter and picks up way more woodchips/dust.