Question for you blended woodworkers out there

[Jeff Ranck]

I hope I'm not going to get booed of the stage for this one, but I have a question for you blended woodworkers out there. What machines do you use most? Which would you be willing to part with (or already have parted with)?

Since I am overseas on a temporary job assignment and all I can do is mentally reorganize my shop (and live vicariously through you guys) I've been wondering what stuff I should consider dumping to make room for some things that are going to come in due to my growing interest in hand tools. Will my table saw (which I current use *a lot*) be replaced by my bandsaw (which I currently use a lot less)? Should I get rid of that lunch box planer and small jointer and replace it with a combination machine for stock prep? Dump the router table and try to take the plunge into moulding planes (a scary thought since I can't hardly sharpen a straight blade let alone some curved profile thing)?

Just looking for what folks that do burn a few electrons tend to use.

[Eric Brown]

One of the best things a person can do is think before act. If you are in this forum you are probably also reconsidering how you use your power tools. You probably won't get a definitive answers to your question either. After all...... it depends.

If you are doing a lot of repetitive work, power tools are the most productive.

I use them when I need speed. Like I use a bandsaw instead of hand ripping boards.
But crosscuts I use a handsaw. It's faster. Unless there are a bunch the same size.

I use a table saw sometimes. Router and drill press too. Sander sometimes. (Less and less though).

I prefer handtools for all the joinery and finish surfaces. I brings me pleasure to do so.

Of all my power tools, the bandsaw is the most necessary. It can resaw lumber and I can purchase the wood cheaper because of that fact. It also reduces any color match issues.

One thing for sure, I would not like to work solely with power tools probably ever again.
Handtools are just so much better and more fun, even if sometimes more work.


Just my thoughts. Eric

[george wilson]

At my age,I would not get rid of ANY of my machines. As a guitar maker,my most used machine for years was my bandsaw. That would be different for different craftsmen,though.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Man, I wish I had power tools to get rid of!

Honestly, unless it's a money or space issue, hang onto them as long as it allows - my experience is the moment you get rid of something (I finally sold my router after not using it for a long long while) the day after you'll think of a reason you need it. . .

[John Coloccia]

I could probably live without everything but a bandsaw, but I wouldn't want to. For furniture work, and fir the guitar building that I do, I would list the table saw as the most expendable. I rarely need to have two edges that are straight and parallel, though it's convenient. I really don't enjoy jointing and thicknessing by hand so the jointed and planer stays. I have a combo 12" unit but would buy a separate jointer and lunchbox planer if I had it to do again. I don't like how much the settings on my jointer drift. It's not bad but it's noticeable and it bothers me.

The cuts off my bandsaw are good enough that they clean up with a few passes of a sharp plane, and sometimes just some light scraping.

[Jerome Hanby]

Prepare for more boos. One thing you might consider is a used Shopsmith. For less than $1000 you can get a good unit with band saw and jointer attachments. I'm not a fan of using one as a table saw, but the other modes suit me fine. Coupled with the table saw you already have and a lunch box planer, you have the power tools to do almost anything. If you eventually decide you want to get full blown machines, you can always convert a Shopsmith into a fantastic sanding station and use it to power shop made gadgets (like a drum sander).

[Zach Dillinger]

Booo!!! Just kidding...

Let me answer from a different perspective. Once upon a time I had a few machines in my shop. I did have a table saw, planer, jointer, and bandsaw. I have since removed all of these tools and no longer use them. The only one I miss, now and then, is my bandsaw.

[Andrew Gibson]

I definitely am a mixed woodworker... I at this point would not give up my bandsaw, and I would have a hard time giving up my table saw... I would definitely get rid of my lunch box and 6" jointer if it meant a 12" or 16" combo... I have thought about the way I work when resawing material and I would not loose much time with a combo machine, though if space and the tools were available I would love to have an aircraft carrier sized jointer and a separate planer to match.

I think it also requires a thought into what you build and want to build in the future, and what materials you want to use, rough sawn stock, resawn stock to boockmatch, do you want to make chairs... block front chests... instruments. How fast do you want to get stuff done...

[Christopher Charles]

Which combo machine do you have? I'm curious because I'm considering upgrading to one from a lunchbox-small jointer.

Thanks,
Chris C.

[Christopher Charles]

I'll echo what most have said--I wouldn't get rid of too much unless you have a real space need. Right now if I were to get rid of anything to make space/upgrade, I'd upgrade to the JP combo (also from a lunchbox and small planer) and probably sell my scms (though it gets lots of use for house projects). Even the Schwarz still has his table saw after all...

Cheers,
Chris C.

[Jason Coen]

I have, and use almost daily, a TS, BS, 12" J/P, drill press, oscillating belt/spindle sander, Festool Kapex, and a Festool MFT with a TS55. The only one I'd even consider getting rid of would be the sander. Everything else would stay.

I don't have a router table, but don't really see the need for one just yet. That may change in the future, but I'm pretty pleased with my machine setup and don't plan on adding or removing anything for quite some time.

Though I may wind up with a small lathe...

[Jim Belair]

Never had a tablesaw and probably never will. As others have said, bandsaw would be hard to do without , although I did plenty of projects before I bought it.

[Mark Engel]

The least used tool for me was the jointer. I couldn't find a single thing that a jointer did that couldn't be done as well or better by some other means.

Most used? Probably the bandsaw. I would give up my tablesaw before I let them take my bandsaw away.

Just FYI, I am in no way a neander. I would plug in my Stanley #8 if it had a cord.

[Jeff Ranck]

Thanks for all the info! I think when I get home, the table saw takes a place agains the wall, the bench takes a more central position, I'm going to look into combo machines (don't know anyting about them) and I'm going to learn to use my bandsaw more for rough stock prep. I've never tried it for ripping as I use my table saw for that. The bandsaw is mostly a mystery to me unless I'm trying to do something curvy. When I was a kid a million years ago, the shop teacher let us use the table saw, but wouldn't let us use the bandsaw because it was *too dangerous*. Weird thinking about that knowing what I know now. So I grew up learning how cuts on a table saw go together to make a project instead of a bandsaw.

The handtools are definately going to be part of my first project - a bed I need to finish for my son and daughter in law. Now if I can only figure out how to cut big honking mortises by hand . . .

[Jim Matthews]

I wouldn't dump the lunchbox planer. It does lots of things well for such a small footprint.
You might extend the range of the device with a helical head replacing the current knives.

Table saws are for big sheets of plywood... there's nothing they do that can't be replaced by a circular saw on a track, bandsaw or handsaw in my shop.
I don't care for tools that dictate the way I approach a project. That, and I detest the noise they make.

As to cutting the mortises by hand, consider building with laminations. Cecil Braeden's Rock Solid workbench (http://www.finewoodworking.com/Workshop/WorkshopArticle.aspx?id=29507) shown in FWW handled large through mortises this way.
Gary Knox Bennet does so, with large tables. This video (http://www.finewoodworking.com/SkillsAndTechniques/SkillsAndTechniquesArticle.aspx?id=34051) briefly explains around 5:10. This technique was an eye opener for me, and should readily translate into bedframes.

Keep your head down, Jeff.

Best regards from The Other US coast,
Jim
wpt, ma

[Joe Cunningham]

I have a shop smith and I only use with the bandsaw attachment and very occasionally as a drill press, otherwise it holds a bench top. Where I get my stock they will surface plane both sides at once through a huge planer and it comes out pretty darn flat, but if I got another power tool, I'd get a planer. It would be nice to be able to use for guitar fingerboards, and for doing some barn shopping.

{edit}I see no need for a combo machine, seems like a waste of money. You have a lunchbox planer, I'd sell the jointer first, then maybe the table saw, though it sounds like you use it a lot. I'd consider living not using the table saw for a while and seeing if you like working without it. If not, keep it and enjoy your woodworking. The wood doesn't much care how you cut it.

[Shawn Pixley]

I am a blended woodworker. I'd dump the router, the jointer (actually have already) and the planer easily. I may be odd, but I prefer the table saw to the bandsaw. I'd prefer to have both. I do most joinery by hand.

[Tri Hoang]

If I can only keep one power tool. it would be the band saw. A small router would be a distant second. Table saw, jointer, planer are last.

[Dhananjay Nayakankuppam]

About the only powered stuff that gets some use is the bandsaw. The jointer and drill seems to be getting less and less. The router sees hardly any use. Partly, I don't do production work, which appears to be where most machines become logical to use (i.e., easier, faster etc). For most one-off things, handtools appear to go as fast as, if not faster. The bandsaw is probably the most important one for me because resawing and ripping are physically demanding, but more than that makes me mentally less alert. I prefer the hand drill over the corded variety - but the corded variety has many other uses (general things around the house, when more power is required etc). The jointer certainly sees less use - I find jointing by hand quicker and less frustrating. Partly, all of this reflects the fact that I do not have skills with machines. By skills, I am referring to that sixth sense you develop - e.g., you know the saw is cutting straight. I think there is a similar concept in the machine world - some combination of the sound of the motor, the feel of the workpiece etc. I don't have that - so, I actually find the powered jointer more frustrating to use. It is also a diminutive one - really meant for smaller boards - doesn't have a huge infeed and outfeed table etc.

Cheers, DJ

[Roger Myers]

I have a full shop of power tools but use hand tools for a great deal of the work, and in some projects 100%. Power tools used most often for stock prep but always followed by hand planes and scrapers. The one power tool I would part with last would be the bandsaw. For ripping and resawing it is my go to tool. The others I could do more easily without.
Roger

[Mike Holbrook]

Schwarz has an interesting entry in his Blog regarding ditching a bunch of his power tools. He says it frightened him but he honestly does not miss them. Schwarz, of course, does make money writing articles largely on hand tools and their use so he may have more reason to change than the rest of us.
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/report-card-6-months-without-a-chop-saw

I am in the same situation, trying to balance my interest in power vs hand tools. I actually have a good amount of space but it is starting to get filled up and I have been considering making another bench, sawbench...for hand tools, so space starts becoming an issue at some point. The other consideration, is where to spend ones money. I have less trouble spending money on hand tools than power tools. The power tools frequently cost more, take more space and require more in terms of looking after, maintaining.....I read a comment somewhere in which a hand tool user expressed his view that hand tools last basically indefinitely where the power tools are constantly needing repair, replacement...My router has gotten old hanging in its old table (one of the original commercial Freud tables). It no longer plunges and just needs to be replaced. So I started researching routers & router tables....ouch! A couple or three Lee Valley or Lie-Nielsen (router, plow...) planes would save me money, space, be quieter & usable more of the time. I like the fact that I can actually do something in my shop with hand tools in a random 30 minuet time that I find I have. With power tools things end up in projects that require more planing, set up...well at least I find this to be true for me which is why I have been slipping down the slope. For me the big attraction is the ability to do more woodworking without ending up in a month long planing, prep phase. Maybe it is just me but, I find I am doing more and liking what I am doing more.

[Dale Cruea]

I am just getting into hand tools. I have found that my jointer and planer could go.
I can sharpen a plane iron faster and cheaper than I can change blades in either machine and they always have a nick in them anyway.
I use basically hand plane now but I am hoping to get into hand saws and sharpening.
Table saw and band saw I would keep along with my drill press.
Mostly I use a router now. I rarely use it hand held. Mostly under my table.
Hand work seems to keep me slowed down and I make less mistakes.
When I get to using power tools I go like I am killing snakes.
I just like the feel of hand tools against wood. Like the way you can see the wood take shape.

[Von Bickley]

I don't get rid of tools. I worked too hard to get them. I have tools that I might not replace if they tear up, but when tools come to my shop, they stay.......

[Jerome Hanby]

Well said. Exactly the same here with the possible exception of selling old tools I upgrade (has never happened, but it could <g>)


I don't get rid of tools. I worked too hard to get them. I have tools that I might not replace if they tear up, but when tools come to my shop, they stay.......

[Jeff Ranck]

I don't get rid of tools. I worked too hard to get them. I have tools that I might not replace if they tear up, but when tools come to my shop, they stay.......

That is where I will start, but as I reorganize my shop, I may need some extra space, so something may need to go. For now this is more of a mental exercise for me (given my shop is half way around the world) and I love hearing how others think about these type of things.

Jeff.