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There are as many theories on buying tools as there are tools, and they range from the Normite to the Neander. Normite is a reference to The New Yankee Workshop's host, Norm Abram, and his impressive, and growing, collection of power woodworking tools and equipment. Neander is a reference to the word 'Neanderthal', which, in the woodworking community means a predilection for hand tools, especially antiques. An often misunderstood and much misused phrase seems the best way to describe my approach to tool acquisition: common sense.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines common sense using words like "sound" and "prudent". However, it also uses the words "unreflective" and "unsophisticated". Without getting into a debate over why I think the word "usophisticated" does not belong, I will say that I don't know how sound or prudent any decision can be without reflection. It's just one definition. The key element of my disagreement with Merriam-Webster, the reference to reflection, is the first place any sound and prudent tool purchase should start.
Think about your needs before you buy. Do your skills fit the purchase? Does your style of woodworking fit the purchase? Does your shop fit the purchase? Ask yourself a lot of questions. Why not? I doesn't cost anything to think. Think about what your needs are now, and what they may be a few years down the road. Then, try to tailor your acquisitions to your projected needs. Be honest with yourself about your preferences and skill level. Do you prefer to use hand tools? Do you feel more comfortable letting the power company do the work? Are you unsure? There we find the purpose of this article; to give you something to think about when you are considering that first, or next, tool purchase.
This article is a compilation of several essays I have written on the subject and, if printed out, would be several pages long. I know the internet surfing public is looking for something more concise so to help out I have broken the article into the following sections. Please feel free to read through the entire article, or follow the links below. Each section has links pointing back to this sub-menu.
The Two Big Questions [menu]
Some of the most frequently asked questions include "What tools do I need", or "do I need a table saw", or "how big a jointer should I get?" In actuality each woodworker's tool and machine needs can, and usually are, vastly different. It all depends on how you answer two main questions.
What do you want to make? [menu] The tools you'll need depend on what you want to make. Different projects require different processes. How must the stock be prepared? Once prepared, what joinery will be needed? What shaping operations will be required to bring the parts to their final shape? Then you have to sand and finish the item. All of these things must be considered as well as the woodworker's individual tastes. For example, are you a machinery user primarily, or a hand tool user, or some combination of both. How complex or simple are the projects to be made?
If you are a complete newbie, consider building your inventory based on the types of projects you are planning to do. If you want to work wood, you must have a reason. There must be something you are itching to build. And, you probably realize that whatever that thing is, you might have to build a few smaller projects first to gain the skill required for whatever it is you want to make. Thus, make a list of projects, including some smaller ones, working up to the one that really sparks your interest. Collect the plans, and order them being sure to rank them honestly as to skill level and tool requirements. Then buy what you need for the first project and begin. Keep collecting tools as you go through the list and eventually you will have what you need. Remember though, you don't need a Unisaw, and Laguna resaw, and a boat load of other huge, expensive tools to do most work. You can build an entire kitchen full of cabinets with a circular saw, a cheap router, drill, sander, and a bag of assorted hand tools.
What are you going to make it out of? [menu] Your choices are rough lumber, pre-dressed lumber of some description, or some kind of composite material like plywood or MDF. Different areas of woodworking have different stock preparation requirements and this affects tool purchases.
So what does this mean? I'll use five examples to illustrate this. Let's consider whirly gigs and other artsy crafty kind of items that you might find at craft sales unfinished or tole painted. For our purposes here I'll just lump them all under the term whirly gigs to save time and bandwidth. Let us also consider turning, carving, cabinet making and furniture making.
Whirly Gigs [menu] A person who makes whirly gigs may or may not buy rough lumber, but most I know do not. It isn't necessary. Most whirly gigs are made from softwoods which are easily found S4S, or completely dressed, at any lumber store or home center. Using pre-dressed lumber saves a lot of time and effort and milling stock 4 square isn't really a requirement for this type of woodworking. Thus, a jointer and a thickness planer are not really necessary but a scroll saw or bandsaw are a must. A tablesaw may be used for ripping and crosscutting stock, but S4S softwoods are available in a variety of widths and a chop saw or a back saw and mitre box will cross cut well. All of these tasks can, of course, be performed equally well with hand tools or machinery. A whirly gig maker that prefers hand tools probably would have little need for a No. 7 jointer plane but may have a No. 3 smoother. A brace and bit set may be important but certainly a good ripsaw and crosscut saw are. A fretsaw is another necessity. While whirly gigs require little or no stock preparation, shaping and sanding parts is vital. This is the only type of woodworking I can think of where I may find a use for a stationary belt/disk sander. That is one tool that I always thought was a waste of money for me, personally.
Turning [menu] A turner can buy pre-dressed turning blanks or may use rough lumber and may break it down with either a bandsaw or a tablesaw. However, milling stock 4 square is unecessary and therefore a jointer is not needed. A thickness planer may not be necessary either depending on the preference of the individual. Obviously a good lathe is indispensible. If the turner makes bowls, a chainsaw is an excellent investment but what cabinet maker needs one of those? All shaping and finishing is done on the lathe so the tools required are restricted to a lathe and whatever you need to break down the stock to rough size.
Carving [menu] The carver may want a thickness planer, or a smoothing plane, to smooth rough lumber for carving signs, or may simply prefer a chainsaw and a drawknife to clean up logs to be carved. The sign carver can buy predressed lumber and do away completely with any aspect of stock preparation. Carvers need to go one step further if carving something like signs where a number of boards will need to be joined into a panel. For this a thickness planer may be desired to keep the boards consistent, and a jointer, power or hand, would be required to make edges ready for gluing. Carvers who make other projects probably just need something to break down the stock as the gouges, and other hand held tools, do the rest of the work. I only carve signs so far so I am not completely familiar with the needs of all carvers.
Cabinet Making [menu] The key to success in professional cabinet making is to reduce the overhead, maintenance, and time spent on the job. Most cabinet makers I know now buy S2S1E, or surfaced 2 sides and one edge, lumber so they don't require thickness planers and jointers. However a widebelt sander and a moulding machine or shaper may be necessary. A cabinet maker uses both composites and solid wood. The composites will need to be broken down and cut to size cleanly, a job usually given to the table saw. Face frames and other parts are made from solid wood which, as I said, many cabinet shops buy pre-dressed now. That way you can use the table saw to rip to width and a chop saw, or the table saw, to cut to length. Fastening and finishing tools are required to finish the job.
Furniture Making [menu] On the other hand, a furniture maker requires tools that can take rough lumber and make it smooth, straight, and with all sides at 90 degrees to each other so a jointer and thickness planer are necessary. A jointer plane and smoother and some winding sticks are possible purchases if you prefer hand tools. The accuracy provided by using precisely milled wood is a pre-requisite for tight fitting joints. Most furniture makers use some composites but rely mainly on rough lumber which they can mill to precise sizes as required by the piece. Pre-dressed lumber could also be used but the problem is that it was not dressed in your shop. When trying to cut precision pieces you need as much control as is reasonable over wood movement due to moisture content. The only way to do this is to dress the lumber yourself but only after it has sat in your shop for a couple of weeks, and as long as you use it right away.
The Virtues of Neandertude [menu]
Machines are a recent invention. Until recently, all woodwork was done with a small collection of hand tools. In some places in this world it still is. Every machine you can buy has an equally capable counterpart in the hand tool realm. Most people considering getting into woodworking go immediately to Sears and start picking out a table saw, but that is the last place I would start. Regardless of the number of machines you have in your workshop, you will always need some hand tools, and that is where I would start.
Whatever woodworking you get into you will need things like a hammer, some chisels, files, a measuring device, a square of some description, at least one hand saw - even if it is one of those cheezy Stanley toolbox saws - nail sets, a scribe or marking knife, and so on. The brace and bit is sort of on the outs, unless you are a real galoot, so I would stick to a power drill - preferably corded. You get more power that way. I could get into a list of powered and non-powered hand tools here but that is not my purpose so I will cut it short. Besides hand tools, there are other gizmos and gadgets to attract the woodworker's attention.
Something also to think about is that there are a lot of fancy, expensive jigs out there for special joints. You can even make jigs yourself, and should, under the right circumstances. Those people who are uninitiated in the world of hand tools, because they are new to woodworking or have been more Normite than Neander, do not realize that with a little practice, many procedures are simply faster and easier with hand tools. Frank Klausz can do hand dovetailed drawers in under twenty minutes. For the record, it takes me a lot longer. But if you had a desk with a couple of drawers to make, it would be a lot easier and quicker to hand dovetail them than spend the time setting up a Leigh dovetail jig, which also costs several hundreds of dollars to buy. In the end you can bask in the glow of old-world craftsmanship as you tell of the feat of unrestrained Neandertude you have engaged in. Don't get me wrong, if I was a contractor and was making a wall unit with 50 drawers in it, I would get the Leigh. I haven't had to do that as yet so I don't have one myself.
Buy The Best You Can Afford [menu]
You should also buy the best tools you can afford. I don't mean the best tools that are available. I don't want to take food out of Tom Lie-Neilsen's mouth, but if you need a shoulder plane you don't necessarily nned to pay several hundred for a Lie-Neilsen No. 73 (although I do have one of those and I love it like a child). Go to a flea market and find an old Stanley to fix up. Their planes from around 1900 to the 1940's were amongst the best quality planes ever made.
As for power tools and machines, there are many manufacturers of every level of quality out there. Check them all out and make sure that you make the best decision for your situation. For example, I was in the market for a jointer in the late 1980's and I was fairly short of cash. I shopped around all of the tool stores in my area at the time and decided upon a Taiwanese knockoff of an old Rockwell design. There were several Taiwanese jointers available and I chose the best one as I could afford to pay a bit more for it, but couldn't afford a brand name. That jointer gave me excellent service until this year when I decided that it took too much effort for me to keep in adjustment (I had been shimming it for years) so I gave it to someone on the rec.woodworking newsgroup and bought myself a Powermatic.
And that brings to mind another consideration; you may need, or want, to upgrade/replace your machines at a later date. Maybe you won't. If you want a table saw you will never have to replace, buy a Unisaw. If you can get by with a Sears contractor saw for now, perhaps that is the best decision.
There are several levels of machines available on the market from the cheap Taiwanese knockoffs to top of the line professional machinery. Don't buy cheap if you don't have to, but don't break the bank either. It is better to own fewer, better quality machines, than to have every type of machine under the sun, but all crap.
Buying Machinery [menu]
I believe that your basic machinery, in order of acquisition, should be; bandsaw, jointer, thickness planer, tablesaw, drill press, and lathe. Anything else can be accomplished with handheld power tools for a fraction of the price. I would also add an air compressor should you wish to get into nailers and such, but that should only happen after you learn to nail by hand. You might also consider some kind of machine to mitigate the dust and chip problem. I have not placed that on the list because the point at which you acquire it is up to you and your needs.
Unless you are a Rockefeller, the order of acquisition os going to be important and the following is based upon my experience, and especially my belief that any boards you put into a project should be milled straight and square before joining together. More on milling a board four-square here. The bandsaw is the most useful tool in the shop. Whether straight or curved it cuts effortlessly and with little danger, comparative to the tablesaw. It must be of good quality so that you reduce the blade's tendency to wander, and so the guides are accurate. Consider a 14 inch bandsaw with at least 3/4 horsepower and belt drive. My preference is the Delta or the Jet, but the Delata has heavier castings and better guides. It costs more too.
You can get by with a bandsaw and hand tools for most any job, but if you want to speed up your four-square stock preparation, the jointer and thickness planer come next. I do not advocate buying anything less than a 6" jointer as the quality and mass are not there. However, I would not buy anything larger either. From the 6", the price skyrockets and all for an extra 2" and a longer table, which is not necessarily advantageous. I recommend a good quality 6" jointer based on the old dovetailed design. My preference was the Jet, but if you really want a good one, for extra money you can buy the General. In the end I bought the Powermatic 54A because of the longer beds, which are more importatnt than the width of the cutters, and it was heavier, had better castings, and a better fit and finish. As for thickness planers, stick with the portable 12" planers. I prefer the Makita, because I have had excellent luck with mine, but the Delta and DeWalt are also supposed to be excellent.
If you want to increase you speed and accuracy even more, you can get a tablesaw. Again get the best you can afford. The Jet contractor's saw is supposed to be very good. The Delta contractor's saws with the Unifence are good, and I know that from experience. If you want to take the next step up, you can get a cabinet saw. I have a Unisaw with a 50" Biesemeyer commercial fence. It is the ultimate, as far as I am concerned. I make all manner of joints on it in addition to the regular ripping and crosscutting duties. I would move the tablesaw further up to number one on the list if you are planning on using mostly sheet goods, like plywood and MDF. A bandsaw can't quite compete when it comes to handling full sheets of plywood.
From my information, and note here that I could be wrong, most every drill press in the world is made in Taiwan now. In fact, the Delta presses and made in the same factory as my Taiwanese knockoff. Look around and save yourself some money here. The Taiwanese knockoff I have is just like the Delta except for the top cover, and identical in quality. It works as well as any I have tried. It isn't hard to tell. Visually inspect them and get the best deals you can. Remember, that a drill press does more than just drill holes. It can be used for all manners of angled joinery, it can be fitted with a mortising attachment to drill square holes, and you can use it with drum sanders. It is a very versatile tool.
Lastly, if you wish to get into turning furniture parts you can buy a lathe. I worked wood for many years before I had one so you can do without one for a longs time if you have to. They are fun though. For my money, the only lathe on the market is the Jet 1236. If you start researching it you will find that there are a few lathes in around the $500 mark, which is what I wanted to spend, but the rest are all well into the thousands of dollars. With the possible exception of the Grizzly, none of the others can match the Jet quality. I didn't want anything more expensive because I don't run a turning shop here. I just want to make some furniture with turned pieces and play around with it. If you just want to make pens and small projects, look into those new midi-lathes that Delta and Jet are putting out. They look really nice and are reasonably priced.
How Much Tool Is Too Much? [menu]
Spend enough time reading the threads on rec.woodworking and you may come to believe that a 30 inch thickness planer is only for 98 pound weaklings and wannabes. Okay, so I am exaggerating, but sometimes I think that people spend more time talking about working wood than working it. Take for example the 6" versus 8" jointer debate. As with the garbage printed in your latest tool catalog, everyone says that bigger is better. This is a complete crock! There is absolutely nothing you can do with an 8 inch jointer that you can't do with a 6 inch jointer.
Bigger isn't necessarily better. Bigger tools are harder to move, more expensive, more costly and harder to maintain, take up more floor space, and generally do not provide the value per pound that smaller machines do. Let's go back to my thickness planer example. The smallest thickness planers are the 12 - 13 inch variety. A quality small planer, like the new Delta 13 inch at around $450, will provide stalwart service at an excellent value. 15 inch planers start at around $2000. Do you really need to pay 4 times the price for only 2 more inches of capacity? In addition, a 15 inch planer will require an investment of floor space where the smaller unit can be stored in a cabinet if desired. I don't advocate larger tools because, unless you are in a production shop, you can change your work habits to suit the smaller ones.
Similarly,a perfectly acceptable 6 inch jointer can be had for $400 to $600. The cheapest 8" jointer is around $800, but the rest are well over $1000. Are you really willing to pay two or three times the price for two lousy inches? A 6 inch wide board is less prone to cupping than an 8 inch board, and if you have to glue that panel up anyway, who cares what size of boards went into it? For the difference in the tool price you can buy a lot of lumber.
Smallest isn't necessarily the best. The smallest unit isn't your best value either. You can buy 4 inch and 6 inch benchtop jointers but that doesn't mean you want to. I wouldn't even waste time looking at these machines. The bed length is far too short to be of use for most woodworking tasks and usually the outfeed table is fixed, not adjustable. Everything needs to be adjustable, especially with jointers. To buy one of these machines means you have now placed limits on yourself. The same goes for tablesaws. Unless you are very restricted on budget and get a really good deal, I never recommend any saw with a blade smaller than 10", a top that isn't cast iron, or a direct drive motor. Anything else you can live with or work around.
Remember to use your common sense. Buy the best you can afford, and that includes portable power tools. Check out the reviews in the woodworking magazines or do a search of the rec.woodworking archives using Google Groups. Remember that bigger is not necessarily better. Also, there is more than one way to skin a cat, or whatever that old expression is. You can do many woodworking procedures on more than one machine, so buy the one that best completes or adds to your shop's capabilities.
My goal here is not to tell you what to buy or give you a shopping list. Every woodworker's needs will vary. There is no one way to do things and do them correctly. The ways are as different and numerous as the woodworkers who use them. There is no one perfect shop layout or list of tools either. Woodworking forums, web sites and newsgroups are full of discussions on the perfect shop but that is all bunk. Your perfect shop is the one that will allow you to produce what you want to efficiently and enjoyably. Woodworking is supposed to be fun and it should be productive. The best advice I can give is; find a way of doing things that works for you and stick with it. Woodworking has been around for thousands of years. New tricks and gimmicks that are developed this year, or in the next, will not change the basic craft so why look for the newest, best and latest. Woodworkers are tool hogs by nature but you don't need to break the bank to buy every toy in existence. If you get the job done to your satisfaction that is all that matters.
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