Replies

1. 
   MBerger | Feb 08, 2007 05:08am | #1

   Hi Ben,

   Microwave some popcorn and relax for my long answer.

   In my opinion, a good tablesaw is one of the most important tools in the shop. A bad one is one of the most useless tools in the shop. So you are correct, save you're money until your ready to invest in something that can be tuned up properly and cut through hardwood lumber without bogging down. The good news is that the pricepoint on tablesaws that meet these criteria has come down considerably. You can purchase a contractor-style tablesaw for about $700, and there are a few well-made portable saws for about $500 (the ridgid ts2400ls comes to mind) that will suffice, especially if you soup it up with an outfeed table and spend time tuning it up.

   That said, you can also make precision straight cuts with a well-tuned circular saw and a straight edge, and that might be a good solution as you get started building up a shop. Some manufacturers, including Festool, even sell high-end circular saws designed just for this task.

   You're friend is right. A bandsaw is not going to be a replacement for a tablesaw. The table is small and it leaves a rough edge. That said, it is great for many other tasks, such as cutting curves and making rough rip cuts.

   In my opinion, a compound miter saw is an excellent purchase, and great for making crosscuts. Some people don't consider these good for finish crosscuts, but I have found that they will get you very close to, if not, perfect.

   You left out a planer and jointer. These are also important tools because working lumber that isn't flat or square will only be a frustrating experience, and buying presurfaced lumber usually isn't a good idea, since it is rarely straight and square. There are alternative methods for jointing and planing, but at some point you are going to have to break down and buy these.

   Finally, I encourage you to pursue your interest in hand tools. If you learn to use planes, handsaws, and chisels properly, you will find that they will become indespensible tools. For example, if you do only purchase a bandsaw for ripping, a handplane can make that edge square and flat. And a block plane used in conjunction with a shooting board can fine tune a miter to a perfect 45 degrees.

   Everything I mentioned above is detailed to some degree in articles and videos on this site. So as you approach each one, search around and read up on the subject. Take it one step at a time and only buy tools as you need them. Also, don't be affraid to buy tools used. With a little TLC they can be as good as new.

   Finally, if you have $5,000 to spare, check out the article (link below) which describes the ideal hobby woodshop. I suspect you don't have that kind of cash to spend (I know I don't), but it will at least give you something to aim for.

   http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/Workshop/WorkshopPDF.aspx?id=27575

   Good luck, and keep the questions coming.

   Matt Berger
   Fine Woodworking

1. 
   bft | Feb 09, 2007 09:30am | #2

   Matt, I truly appreciate the time and effort you have given in your reply. I know my question was a long one, and I'm sure questions about tools are not as fun to answer as ones about challenging woodworking projects, so I really am grateful.
   I guess I will eventually break down and buy a tablesaw. Right now I am not sure where I will be living this fall, so I will have to wait (it will probably be a small, cramped apartment in a yet to be determined metropolis---beginning another round of education). I am thinking about a bowsaw and a few planes (scrub, jack, jointer) that will get me started...Then maybe I'll be able to graduate to a machine. (Or maybe that nifty circular saw from FestTool that you mentioned).
   Thanks again for the help.Ben

1. 
   KWL | Feb 15, 2007 09:17am | #3

   Ben,
   Let me weigh in, if you will, as I was in the same boat you are in. I apologize for the length and diatribe but you hit on a favorite topic of mine. I currently have a shop full of all the standard power tools that I've collected over 15 years, at every chance that I saw a really good deal, that is, a fair or better quality tool for a good price. When you can, buy as much quality as you can afford and save up to afford something better before you do buy. But, all of that doesn't matter a bit. And I want to strongly encourage you to follow some manner of what I am about to tell you as it will bring you many, many benefits that may not be immediately apparent. The only power tools I had when I first started woodworking was a circular saw and a power drill. My first woodworking projects were all accomplished with hand tools. I used the circular saw to rough cut all of the lumber. I thought then, that, if they made amazingly beautiful furniture until 100 years ago solely with hand tools, surely I could turn out a usable table or chest.To be sure, all of my hand tools were the best I could afford but were, by no means, the most expensive or even in the moderately expensive category. They were the best of the "journeymen" quality that was available. The most expensive was easily the jointer plane at about $130, I think. Also, I collected them as I went, buying them as I could; I didn't start out with all of them, I used whatever would do the job until I could get the right tool. For instance, a common, but good quality, handsaw stood in until I collected the japanese and other better quality or more appropriate handsaws. By the way, Quality is important, showing off isn't. What that means is that a decent to good quality tool might not start out perfect but it will allow you to tune it up to get the performance you'll need. What you don't lay out in cash you can make up for in sweat equity. Bad quality tools stay bad no matter how much effort you put into them. And while "very best" quality tools typically don't need much, if any, tuning out of the box they do require maintenance just like every other tool and you'll need to know how to do it in order to keep enjoying a good working tool, that edge doesn't last forever, on any tool. Finally, spending money for that showy cocobolo handle doesn't translate to better project outcomes or better woodworking. What's good enough quality and when should I stop spending to get enough? I don't know that I can answer that for anyone, buying the wrong tool is the best way to really understand and learn what you need to understand. If you could afford to buy a bad quality tool and a great quality tool and use them both at really important tasks of your project you'd understand pretty quickly. The good news is that nowadays if you do happen to buy a bad tool, you can probably sell it on eBay and get at least some of your money back. For me it seems that the price has to hurt at least a little bit, sometimes more than I want, to get a level of quality that I can enjoy having and using as a tool in my shop. And, believe me, good quality tools are a lot of fun and continue being a lot of fun, and don't let you down like poor quality always will, at the worst time. In any case, the hand tools I eventually had were: a good Japanese Dozuki and a Ryoba saw(dovetails, tenons, fine tuning), a Japanese marking knife(the score is where you rest the saw to cut or the chisel to shear), a Record #7 jointer(square and parallel) and Record smoother plane(from rough to "in the ballpark"), a good engineer's square(right angles, plumb, and square), a brass-backed hand saw(dovetails, rabbets, dadoes, tenons), a carpenter's square, a mortise gauge(a luxury really), a marking gauge, tape measure, bench chisels(set of 5), and eventually, mortising chisels(set of 3), water stones, a scraper set(faster and a better finish than sandpaper), and a couple of accurate layout tools such as a straight ruler and angle square, some pipe clamps, some wooden hand screw clamps, and, importantly, every issue of Fine Woodworking (the knowledge of others and inspiration) that I could find and an investment in Tage Frid's Teaching Woodworking series; the three books were a seriously contemplated investment and well worth it. From these I made my cutting jigs, shooting board, bench hook, setup jigs(dovetail angle guide, mortise guides, etc...), Winding sticks(really neat technique to get parallel and straight) and built my first projects. What projects? Well, first and foremost was a workbench, and that was straight out of Tage Frid's book One. The vises of that workbench had to wait until I could afford them but I did eventually get them, pipe clamps and jigs stood in until I could. In the meantime, I built a small cherry side table, a simple cherry coffee table, a small cherry library step ladder, a small card table, a chair to go with the table, another 3 chairs, a small cabinet of panel frame construction, then about 10 more of various sizes and shapes, an art table I saw in FW, a living room Morris-style chair, shaker style dresser in cherry, a bookcase, another low and long bookcase, an adirondack chair, a large table, a bunch of jigs and templates along the way and an assembly table at some point also. There were a bunch of prototypes in poplar (when poplar was cheap) that I gave away as well. I always worked everything out in poplar first and then built the project in the finish wood, poplar is an excellent working wood. In any case, essentially any project I had an interest in I could build with those tools and they all came out great(the latter ones more so than the former). The main point? It's not uniquely mine, you'll see it in many articles and posts. It is, that it was the learning and the doing, the working out of what was needed to build those basic joints, surfaces, dadoes, tenons, mortises, dovetail after dovetail, etc..., and the practicing of the usage of those tools, and the working out of the techniques necessary to get the project done, that makes you a woodworker and a better woodworker. Don't think you can't do woodworking or that you're behind the eight ball because you don't have a lot of power tools, pick up a hand plane and flatten a board and you'll go further in your woodworking then ripping hundreds of planks on a tablesaw. And that's not romantic nonsense, try it and you'll see it's just plain good sense. Get to know your materials and the techniques, their strengths and weaknesses, the reason dovetails are the way they are, why tenons and mortises are built the way they are, etc..., versus the power ratings of a 3hp tool and you'll be ahead of the game. Without exaggeration, every task I now work with my "power tools" I recognize the benefits of starting out in that vein first. It's just a good exercise and discipline that reaps rewards in all aspects of your craft. And, truth be told, I'm still pretty sure I can build a single table, chair or maybe a chest faster with hand tools than with power tools. If I had to build 3 tables and 3 chairs though, well, then power tools win hands down(so to speak). You won't, and shouldn't, restrict yourself like a "purist" to only hand tools. Eventually you'll save up and get power tools added to your arsenal. And for good reason, they're definitely a help, but don't cheat yourself out of a very important learning experience by thinking it's all about power tools, because in fact, it is just the opposite. Hand tools first then power tools.

   Good Luck