Setting Up a new Shop

[Tim Boothe]

Hi all,

First post here. Like so many others before me, new to the craft and looking to set up shop. I've worked construction since I was old enough to crawl and carry a hammer at the same time, understood that woodworking is a far cry from my previous experience. If someone gave me a measurement to the 1/16 my reply was "Dude, I'm not building a piano here, 1/8's are close enough..." Well, now I'm "building piano's".

First off what I'm looking to build: Built in bookcases/shelves, computer desks/work areas, stand alone bookcases and at some point a fine dining room table and a set of chairs. I will be doing this work in my own home, once I'm done I'd like to continue on and see about making some money doing the same type of work. I will not be doing this as a hobby, would like to set myself up to make income with these tools eventually.

Space: I've got a 3 car garage, absolutely must keep one open for break downs and regular maintenance, so looking at 1 and 1/2 garages that can be used. Would like to keep most everything on a mobile base. Power considerations aren't that big of a deal, can install 220 wherever needed.

I'm looking to start out with the following:

A good table saw I figure is a must; looking at the Grizzly G1023RL.


A good jointer: looking at the Grizzly G0490X (like the idea of the spiral head, don't want to spend time setting up and sharpening blades)


A good planer: Not sure what to do here. Would I be fine with a bench top like the Grizzly G0505 or better off with a stand alone deal like the G0453 PX or the G1037Z. Keeping in mind the blades, would I be better off with the G0505 with an upgraded cutter head or even the G1037Z with an upgraded cutter head?


A good 14" band saw: looking at the Grizzly G0555CP or LX. I'd love to be able to spend a little less here, just haven't had time to research which saws have favorable reviews for less cost, opinions here welcomed.


A good drill press: looking at the Grizzly G7945 or G7946, like the radial capability. Again would like to spend as little as possible here keeping the radial capability, just haven't had time to look around and would like opinions on other brands.


A good dust removal system. As stated earlier, 1 and 1/12 garages, would only be running one machine at a time, would like to keep unit as portable as possible, thinking something in the 1 1/2-2 HP range would suffice, need advice on size and brands.


A good router and basic table. Haven't looked at these at all. Looking for advice on brands.


At some point once I'm done with the bookcase/shelves would like to get a Mortiser for the furniture/ table builds, but that is a little down the road.


I'm signed up at several other forums and am planning on reposting this to get as much advice as possible. So if you see this exact same post on other forums, it's me looking for as many opinions as possible.

Ya'll please bear with me as I will be asking tons of newbie questions here shortly as I move ahead with this.

Thank you for your replies

[Joe Jensen]

Welcome to the hobby. You may well realize this, but in cabinetry perfectly square is everything. As you build your machinery collection first think about the materials you will be using. If you are using a lot of hardwoods I recommend buying rough sawn. If you can have each cut piece of a project perfectly flat and straight everything goes together great, little clamping pressure required. Most surfaced lumber is really just thicknessed so both sides are smooth and it's consistent thickness. Instead I buy rough sawn. I then cut the pieces I need slightly oversized. Then I surface one face flat on the jointer. Then use planer to make the thickness consistent and to smooth the other face. Then joint one edge. Then rip to width, then cut one end square, then cut to length. With this approach boards really go together well. I also don't prep more than I will glue up in a day as wood moves and what was flat when prepping may be a bit twisted or warped in a week. If you glue them up flat they stay flatter too.

I think you will find you need a lot of clamps. I have like 36 bar clamps is many lengths and I still wish I had more.

[Jim O'Dell]

Good info by Joe. I will emphasize the need for clamps. Lots of them!!! If you are doing case work, a good assortment of parallel clamps would be a good idea. Watch for sales, haven't been as often the last couple of years, and watch the Deals and Discounts forum below...someone usually posts the sales there. Jim.

[Andrew Joiner]

First off what I'm looking to build: Built in bookcases/shelves, computer desks/work areas, stand alone bookcases and at some point a fine dining room table and a set of chairs. I will be doing this work in my own home, once I'm done I'd like to continue on and see about making some money doing the same type of work. I will not be doing this as a hobby, would like to set myself up to make income with these tools eventually.



A good table saw I figure is a must; looking at the Grizzly G1023RL.

Hi Tim,
Great questions. I did jobs in my home shop at night while I worked at a big millwork shop by day from 1970 to 1972. Went full time with my own shop in 1973 when I bid on a big job and got it.
To me the big answers will come when you decide what type construction is most profitable.
What are your sources for materials? Can you can get decent dry rough lumber at a fair price?
When you have to guarantee your work, kiln dried graded hardwood from a supplier that delivers may be a better choice. It was for me. I barely used my jointer and planer. Time is money and S3S lumber was a more efficient choice. If it wasn't straight or within grade it got sent back to the yard.

Very little of the profitable work I had was" fine woodworking". Maybe 20% of the jobs. On bookcases I'd bid them 2 ways furniture quality and cabinet quality.

To make money in my one person shop a vertical panel saw got used a lot. So did my tablesaw. I had a Safety Speed Cut and a Powermatic 66. Now in my hobby shop I have the Shop Fox version of the Grizzly G1023RL.

It's a good idea to start out small and work up. Building stuff for yourself will help you figure out a lot. I'd say keep it simple and low cost for now. When you bid on your first big job if it's 50 Birch plywood bookcases you'll need different tools than if it's 50 Maloof style chairs.

Good luck!

[Sam Layton]

Hi Tim,

Welcome to the Creek. Sounds like you need most everything. You may consider buying used. You can find some quality tools on Craig's List for good prices. Like others have said, the type of tools you need depends on what you are going to build. The types of tools you mentioned, you will most likely need in most builds. I like working with rough lumber, so a jointer and planer are a must.

You said you did not know what type of router table you want. You can't go wrong building your own router table. That will also give you experience, and allow you to find those small fractional measurements on your tape that you could not fine doing construction... Actually, the router table would be a good first project.

As far as brands of routers. I like Bosch, Milwaukee, and Dewalt. Again the type of router depends on what you are going to do with it. In my router table I have a Porter Cable 3 hp that I like a lot. I have about 10 hand held routers. I keep a couple of dedicated trim routers with round over bits for quick use. No set up time... You will acquire routers as you go along.

Good luck, Sam

[scott spencer]

I like your list of tools so far, with the exception of the G0505 planer. I'm not sure what advantage that one has over other portables, but with that said, a good cast iron stationary planer with an induction motor is going to be considerably heavier duty than a portable. Cutter quality and setup will largely determine the end performance of any of them, so buy good blades and bits, and take your time setting them up properly.

[Bryan Cramer]

Also always check Craigslist for good used deals. You never know what shows up! It will save $$$$.

[Jim Andrew]

My first thought is that you are considering a dust system that you will need to upgrade right away. My cyclone is 2 hp and I would consider it minimum. Personally I would not go less than an 8" jointer, and might as well get one with helical cutterhead. And my GO453 px planer is great. Anything less will be needed to be upgraded. The great thing is they have a built in mobile base and move about easily. And they only need a 20 amp breaker.

[Kumar Vemaganti]

I am a beginning woodworker as well, so I have many of the same questions as you. Thanks for posting this. I will be eagerly watching the responses.

Regards.

[Mike Heidrick]

Assuming you have 220 in the shop (if not do that before getting started)...


Id buy a tablesaw (just buy the PCS sawstop and trust me on it, charge the diff if you have too and pay it off before interest), a 17"-20" drill press used off craigslist and some good drill bits (even the 30 piece pilot point dewalt set is fine), a two base router kit like a milwaukee or porter cable or dewalt (fixed base for router table and the plunge for above table work) - try to buy used, a couple round overs (1/8 and 1/4), an upcut 1/4" spiral straight bit, and some 1/2" shank flush trim router bits, a used vise for a work bench like the Jorgensen or Wilton or old us made quick open, a Kreg Jig K4 and a couple kreg right angle kreg clamps, 4 parallel clamps (2 24" and 2 40" - jorgensen or bessie or jet). Next you will want a dust collector as the next tools (jointer planer)will create mega dust - 3hp cycolne may last you the rest of your days but even a HF 2hp with a Wynn filter upgrade would be a good start vs nothing. Buy your wood finished until you can get an 8" jointer and 15" planer helical. Then get a bandsaw - 14" min and I say go straight to a Griz 17" or 19". If you follow this you may never have to upgrade the tools.

[Tim Boothe]

Awesome, awesome advice folks. I can't thank you folks enough for the input. Really gives me plenty of direction on things to look into and consider. Very easy to go off on a mental tangent trying to lay this out. Thanks again, be ready for plenty of newbie questions here shortly....

[Kevin Guarnotta]

Hey Tim,

I've got a 3 car garage as well, that I've been slowly improving over the last 5 or so years. With some major work on it in the last year or so. I also use mine for auto maintenance.
Here are some things I am doing with my shop.

Almost all my tools are on wheels including Table saw, jointer, router table, band saw, sliding compound miter saw, one mobile work bench, and one mobile sanding station). The table saw is basically in the middle bay, along with the sheetgoods rack. When I need to pull a vehicle in for work-everything slides to one of the side bays. Originally I had thought of the vehicles going in one of the side bays, but due to the narrow size of my garage-it was difficult to get in and out of the vehicle, and hard to fully open the doors. With the vehicle int he middle bay, you can easily open all the doors fully.

If I can figure out a way to show my shop layout on here I will. It is an evolving layout, with me constantly revising and analyzing what I have, what I may get in the future, and how to make it most enjoyable to work.

[Gary Radice]

I agree with Jim that you should seriously consider a larger dust collection system, one that is not portable, like a Clearvue or Oneida cyclone. These and the ducting that goes with them aren't cheap, but having one in place makes woodworking much more enjoyable, and healthier. Also, since you'll be using your garage for other purposes, it will help keep the rest of the garage clean.
After that, I'm a fan of buying used Delta or Powermatic machines from the 50's and 60's and fixing them up, but I realize that isn't for everyone, and not everyone lives where used machines are readily available.

[Cary Falk]

Tim,
I work out of a 3 cary garage as well. I have to bring 2 cars in every night so everything is on wheels. I have the G1023RL and love it. I have the Shop Fox W1741 which is the same as the G0490. I put a Byrd head in it and couldn't be happier. I started out with a Delta benchtop planer. It was so loud that I hated it. I ended up with a G0453Z and love it. It is so quiet( relatively speaking) Dust collection I started out with a Jet 1100 off of CL. It worked out great and upgraded to a Jet 3hp 1883 because it was only $50 more out of pocket. I eventually got tired of cleaning the filters so I moved to a Grizzly 3hp cyclone. Each will do one tool at a time just fine. I say build you own router table. I don't like 14" CI bandsaws. I prefer steel frames but teh 555 gets great reviews. I do some resawing though. None of Grizzly's drill presses stand out to me. I like a 6" quill travel. I have a 17" Steel City. Cary