Post-fire tool recommendations?

[Tom Hammond]

Hi all.

My wife and I decided earlier this year that, after 35 years in the same house, it was time to make a move to our "retirement home." We found a house at auction in Hartville, Ohio right down the road from Hartville Hardware. It was built in 1850, has 2400 sf, 1.1 acres ... and got it for $28,600. And it is worth every penny... but to say it was a bargain would be a stretch. It is in truly run-down condition. I was thinking during the auction that the lot was worth 40,000 but it would take that to raze the house and haul it away, so the property was really worth nothing. After we close, I'll post some pictures to show you what I mean.

We had a complicating event in that about a month ago when a local storage unit building burned down... and, of course, it was the building in which I had rented a space and was storing my tools while we began staging the house for an anticipated listing this spring. I lost everything except my table saw, jointer and a tabletop drill press. My shaper, planer, air compressor and guns, lathe, radial arm saw, band saw, scroll saw... and so many other things that I am just sick about. So, I'd like to get some advice on new products available on the market today... what your preferences are, where to source and how much I should spend on certain items.

What I need to replace right away as we get into this project are:

12" (or wider maybe) planer.
14" band saw
Air compressor and guns
Shaper
Oscillating spindle sander
Wide-board drum sander (24" should do)

I am going to buy rough sawn lumber and mill all my own woodwork throughout the house, with the style being early 20th century arts-and-crafts. I'll be gluing up my own doors and even the window sashes (all need replaced). Everything will be in quartersawn white oak... except the window sashes and jambs, of course. So, though I probably don't need professional, commercial tools, I certainly need tools that are better than hobby-level woodworking tools... ones that will last me the rest of my life. I mostly had Delta, Porter Cable and the like. THANKS for any help!!

[Jim Becker]

I'm very sad to learn of your loss from that fire. Horrible thing to happen. Hopefully your insurance took care of you fairly.

One recommendation I'll make is to consider a wide jointer/planer combo machine as an alternative to just buying a planer. You'll find that to be very useful as you take your rough lumber and mill it true...flattening boards, including wider boards, can really change the quality of your builds in my experience. And having wide for both face jointing and thicknessing in one machine saves space. Changeover on this machines is quick and easy. This kind of machine is also going to better handle the heavier work that you anticipate, too.

For your air compressor, try to invest in something capable...something like the IR GarageMate if you can't swing a 60 gallon unit. For guns, I'm liking Grex these days, but also have enjoyed my Senco guns.

[Cary Falk]

I have the Grizzly G0453Z 15" planer, G1026 3hp shaper, and the G1071 spindle sander. I am happy with all 3.The fence on the shaper is nothing to write home about but I haven't seen anything much better that wasn't 3-4x the price. For a sander I would say Supermax all the way. I am upgrading from a Grizzly 18/36 open sander to a Supermax 25/50. It should be here in a couple of days. There is not many companys left to buy from. Delta is all but dead. Powermatic, Jet , and Laguna are overpriced in my opinion. Rikon or Grizzly would be my choice for a bandsaw. I have a 60 gallon Kobalt compressor that I am happy with along with some older Porter Cable nailers. Not too thrilled with Porter Cable as of late. I would probably go with Hitachi.

[Marty Schlosser]

You may wish to help us out a bit by telling us how large the shop is, and what electrical you have available. For instance, Jim recommended a dual purpose jointer/planer, but it's widely considered that if you have the space for two separate machines, you'll be able to work more efficiently. You should also consider purchasing used commercial grade machines. For the difference in price between them and new machines you'll usually get much higher quality... but they may require 3 phase power and fairly high voltage. That's why I suggested you tell us what your electrical situation is.

With all the milling you're planning to do, you should consider a molding machine such as a Williams & Hussey. I used mine to mill all the crown moulding, window and door trim and baseboards from solid poplar and was really happy with the results. The same goes for my Oneida cyclone dust collector, as you'll be generating a lot of wood chips and dust.

327126

327128

[Kent Adams]

It would be helpful to know you budget. It's like asking "what sports car should I buy" without knowing how much your budget is. :)

[Tom Hammond]

Kent:

Hmmmm.... well, I guess to start out, I'd like to get the planer, shaper and cutters, and drum sander for... $5000?

To the previous question, during this initial project, I'm probably only going to have access to standard home electrical system. So, I'd probably have to stick to single phase on everything. I suppose I could wire up 240 but I can't make that call yet as we are still waiting to close and I need a closer look.

[John Goodin]

I have a friend who lost everything in the Bastrop wildfires a couple of years ago. He jokes that his shop is easier to clean since he has only bought tools that he actually uses. My recommendations for planer is the Dewalt 735, any of the California air tools compressors based on your size needs. Most are only 60 db and Home Depot always has them on sale online. I have also had good luck with porter cable nail guns. If the budget allows a festool domino maybe helpful for the doors. On second thought a planer with spiral cutting head maybe in order as well since you are going with rough sawn.

[Jim Dwight]

I don't know exactly what you should do but I will tell you what I have my eye on in these categories. Mine is hobby use although my old house (50 years) needs a bunch of work too but I just buy moldings.

I am not looking or a planner but my little Ryobi lunch box, the original AP-10, is giving good service. I like that it has knives that can be sharpened. It takes a few minutes but I have a good sharpener and it doesn't need it often. The DeWalt gets good reviews of the lunch box type.

I have a combination of Bostitch, Porter Cable, Rigid, and Harbor Freight pneumatic nailers. I think the Rigid and Bostitch are a little better but I think the HF are excellent values and they give me good service. My next compressor is likely to come from there too, probably one of the upright units but possibly just a little pancake. Since I quit trying to spray with the compressor (got a turbine) I don't need a lot of air.

I have no real interest in a shaper so I don't know. Maybe a Grizzly.

When I add a bandsaw to my current shop it will probably be the Grizzly 14 inch with the riser. It gets good reviews and I think Grizzly is a good way to go for "heavy iron" type tools as long as their design if good - as it seems to be for the bandsaws.

I think I would get the little Rigid oscillating sander. The design looks light weight but the reviews are good. I like the fact it also has a belt sanding option.

No real interest in a wide belt sander so no comment there.

[Justin Ludwig]

Porter cable sells a combo pack of a pancake compressor with 18g, 16g, and 1/4" stapler for a hard to price. Post-xmas and prices may be even better. My PC guns have had 100k+ fasteners shot thru them over 3 years and just keep going. The safety devices are encroaching, so I removed them, but the newer models may be better?

Start eyeballing CL and auction sites, you should be able to grab a 14" delta BS for $200-400. A used shaper and planer for around $500+ each (gonna be 220v). Look at Grizzly for an OSS or combo OSS-belt-disc sander. A new Grizzly 15" spiral head planer is ideal for home hobbyists and there are quite a few of us here that are happy with ours.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Tom,
I have a compressor you're more than welcome to.
It's an older Coleman 2 HP class machine. It puts out 6.XX CFM @ 90 psi, so it has plenty of air for running any guns you can hook to it

It's yours for the asking. I can't vouch for how much life it has left in it. It's an older oiless that I've had for a number of years.
You can't tell by looking at it though. It's older, but, it has really low hours on it.
I use it as my job site compressor. It's onsite right now.
I have a replacement for it so I'm not sacrificing anything.

Anything else you need, I'm just up the road in Stow.

[John Sanford]

I will second the suggestion to go with the Rigid OSS/Belt Sander. I've been putting mine through light duty (and multiple moves) for more than 10 years, it's a peach.

I'm going to go in a slightly different direction on the compressor. Why? What do you need a compressor for? You're almost certainly going to be using a cordless drill, why not go cordless for your nailing? Now, the flip side is, cordless nailers seem to be limited to framing, finish and brad, no (to my knowledge) roofing nailers, staplers, or pinners. The advantage to going cordless is, of course, no noisy compressor and no hoses to drag. The disadvantages are higher initial cost and more limited selection of tools. Just something to consider.

For Bandsaw, I'd look at one of the Laguna 14" units, or the Rikon. The welded steel frames will give you superior resaw performance than a classic Delta style 14" with riser. That, or go with a larger used unit.