tool gloat

[Jason Boushard]

Hi guys I have been installing kitchen and bathroom cabinets as a helper for a while with my buddy well he told me to go buy my own tools so I can move into an installer/manager position. SO the wife went and bought me a bunch of the tools I need since military got 10% off at home D. She got me a Ryobi table saw only the small one but its the lightest so thats good for when I have to carry this thing around a Right angle drill a roto zip, ryobi jigsaw, Hammer, small air compressor, flashlight that takes the tool batterys, and a bunch of little odds and ends. this is a big pay hike for me and thats good my morgage was killing me (property taxes have doubbled since I bought my house). hopefully the new job will help supply the new shop :) Dad has a jointer for me but its in ILL and I have to wait untill christmas before I am home on leave from the navy. I will send pics as soon as I can stuck on the floating bathtub tonight.

[Randal Stevenson]

Be prepared to upgrade your tools. I would take back the Ryobi jigsaw, and since it was HD, look at the Bosch (much better and available from them).
You might also look at one of the guided circular saw systems discussed here (not trying to start a war, but they both might allow uses the tablesaw wouldn't).
Your gonna start looking into handplanes at some point to (replacing cabinets in old houses with imperfect plaster walls, etc).

Good luck and have fun in the new posistion (less work if your having fun).

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Jason,
Randal has a good point. Try to buy better quality tools if you can afford it. Even if you stop doing carpentry professionally, decent power tools will stay with you a long, long time. Brands like Porter Cable, Milwaukee, Makita, Bosch, and Dewalt are very common in the trade.

An important tool for cabinetry is the portable belt sander (3 x 21). Although hand planes are nice, a belt sander will allow you to scribe and shape filler pieces and moldings. A portable 10" tablesaw is another important tool, as well as a miter saw on a collapsing stand.

As far as your property taxes doubling, I can't help you there. However, I know your pain. After all, I do live in New Jersey where we only lease our homes from the City and State. :)

-Jeff :)

[Jason Boushard]

I went with what my buddy uses ryobi has done well for him so thats what I bought. I have a miter saw and I bought a 10" ryobi table saw (its the lightest one out there so thats why I bought that one.) I also have a dewalt impact driver and a dewalt cordless circular saw. I am lucky in the fact that 90% of our instals are new or fully remodled homes we did to a tear out and install last weekend though. I am gong to get the stand for the miter saw after the checks for the first couple of jobs comes in.

[Steve Clardy]

67422




:d :d :d :d :d

[Jason White]

You should be looking at good-quality used tools on Craigslist (www.craigslist.com (http://www.craigslist.com)) and in the "classified" section of this website.

JW


Be prepared to upgrade your tools. I would take back the Ryobi jigsaw, and since it was HD, look at the Bosch (much better and available from them).
You might also look at one of the guided circular saw systems discussed here (not trying to start a war, but they both might allow uses the tablesaw wouldn't).
Your gonna start looking into handplanes at some point to (replacing cabinets in old houses with imperfect plaster walls, etc).

Good luck and have fun in the new posistion (less work if your having fun).

[Dave Ray]

Jason, what ever you do.... take good care of your wife.... take her out to dinner, flowers, show... the whole deal. Anybody who goes out and buys you tools is some one you want to take special care of. But when that some one is your wife.... WOW, man you did good.

[Jason Boushard]

she has bought me almost every tool I have right now including my rikon lathe and DP. She gets whatever she wants belive me.

[Matt Bickford]

When does the new job start? It sounds like you're pretty happy. We should all be so excited about our jobs. Congratulations! I'm happy when my wife lets me buy a single new tool. I can't imagine what it would be like if she bought me all of that at once. Good luck with your taxes, hopefully they stay the same (or at least similar) for a few years.

[Jason Boushard]

Steve you come stand my mid watch on the ship and I will go take pics lol. I got duty today so as soon as I get off work tomorrow I will take pics of the tools. Matt the new job starts in about 2 weeks, I work for him as a helper but I am going to start going by myself. so my day is going to be get up at 0340 got to the navy get off at 2pm drive out to the site and strat instaling at 3 then work untill 9-10 pm at night. I will work weekends too pretty much all day long.

[Daniel Mercuro]

Congrats on your new stuff but a word of caution: HD tools can be heartbreakers! I have bitter experience with the Orange monster.I once had to return a Makita screwgun three times in less than two weeks. First the charger didn't work right out of the box,then the clutch failed,then it simply died! These were three different kits,not the same one each time.Another time, my Hilte gun drive pin seized(my helper failed to clean it after dropping it in wet crete)so I scramled to HD and got a cheap Remington gun to salvage the day. Got to the job loaded it up and - no bang! The gun lacked a firing pin! I could go on but you get the picture.Anyhow good luck in your new position,may all your installations "look like they grew there"!

[Jason Boushard]

I just want to say thanks for you guys looking out for me but due to finaces being what they are at the moment I am stuck with the HD tools. I will upgrade as I wear stuff out. I am going to take the jigsaw back and swap it out for the bosch jig saw since its only 25 bucks more.

[Jason Boushard]

well guys theres the pics took forever to figure out how to get them resized I am off to bed

[Ed Falis]

Well, all I'm going to say is "good luck in your new venture, Jason"!

[Mike Cutler]

Nice gloat Jason. The tools should start you off well. I have looked at that Ryobi in HD specifically for working in the house. I have two full sized tablesaws in the shop, but going in and out a zillion times is a pain. Most interior work is on soft material so the Ryobi should be fine for making final adjustments.

You may want to consider a small shop vac. The cleaner you can keep your work area the more productive you'll be. It's also very professional looking to the eyes of the client, and will help you down the line woth word of mouth comissions.

Good luck. I seems as if we all had part time jobs when we were in the Navy (78-84).;)

[Jason Boushard]

yea most of the stuff we cut is small so I should be fine. I am going to get the little battery powered shop vac Ryobi has but will have to lug around my 5 gallon rigid shop vac for now. The owners big thing is leave it nicer than when you got there which I don't mind its part of the reason when the other installers are sitting at home we are backed up with installs. I was going to return the jigsaw and go with the Bosch but I just don't have the funds for it right now. We don't use them that much anyway. Living in va Beach on just my Navy income is tough so hopefully this helps out.

[Phil Thien]

I was going to return the jigsaw and go with the Bosch but I just don't have the funds for it right now.

Jason, I am going to tell you something and some of the guys will probably yell at me for this. But I think you're better-off buying the same stuff your boss did. At least at first. There can be a million reasons why your boss purchased what he did (availability of supplies, concern over higher replacement cost if stolen, etc.). In time you may want something better. By that point you will be your bosses right-hand man and you'll be able to charge it to HIS account.

[Daniel Mercuro]

Jason, I work for a custom yacht builder where basically every employee is issued a jigsaw,and that jigsaw is a Bosch(don't know the model # offhand).I also use the same one at home.As far as tablesaws go,I agree that a light, portable model is fine.I used the same tiny eight inch Makita for fifteen years of interior trim work and cabinet installatons.One more thing about jigsaws: you may not use it every day, but clean,runout-free scribe cut is what you need when you need it.

[Jason Boushard]

well guys I put some stuff that was taking up space on craigs list and got the money for the small shop vac and the small air compressor wife was going to get the compressor for me but we ran out of cash. that will save tons of space in the van. Boss says I start next week so that should help too

[Michael Schwartz]

The Ryobi stuff isn't bad and you can save a heck of alot of money with it. Ryobi is much better than black and decker or skill.


I have the Ryobi cordless jigsaw and while it is nowhere near as smooth as a dewalt or bosch, it gets the job done, and it is a pretty solid tool. I have to say it is 20 times better than my corded skill that cost 20 bucks.

The Ryobi tablesaws are pretty good for the price. Just keep in mind that they are ment to be set up and adjusted by the end user.

You should look into a guide system for a circular saw for breaking down plywood. I would reccomenend the EZ smart system, but the Fesstool is also pretty nice. If the EZ or Fesstool is out of your price range a shop made guide is best, as long as you reference things off a good strait piece, are better than the cheaper guide systems, cost next to nothing to make, and as long as your saws base plate is nice and parrelel to the blade will leave a decent cut. If it is out slightly you could experiment by shimming it.

[John Lucas]

Good luck. I seems as if we all had part time jobs when we were in the Navy (78-84).;)


I did not have PTjobs when in the Navy (59 - 63). I would go to the woodshop that they maintained for woodworkers inthe fleet. There we could try and learn on any of their tools and they had it all.

[Jason Boushard]

well thanks for the advice guys just went and got the Bosch jig saw. Its tons better than the ryobi. just wanted to say thanks and the wife says sleep on the couch just kidding.

[Peter Stahl]

Good luck with your new job Jason. You're a very ambitious young man. Are you going to be in the Navy for much longer. I'm amazed how much of a 9 to 5 type of a job it is now. My daughter is in and can't wait to get out, 5 years with about 1-1/2 to go. I work with a guy who was doing kitchens and He started with the basics like you.