Justifying A Major Tool Purchase

[Zachary Hoyt]

If you're just jointing the edge of boards you can do a lot with a 6" jointer. I got mine for $50 on Craigslist. I also have a $400 15" mid-80s Taiwan-made 4 post planer that I found on Craigslist. They're not the best tools, but for a volume of wood like when I had 100 1x6x8 pine to plane the 15" planer is a lot better than my little DeWalt 733, and the little jointer is good for some things. You can do a lot with skip planing, though it has a lot of limitations too.
Zach

[Rod Sheridan]

Julie, skip the second set of cutters until you need them, it will be years from now.

Go for it, times too precious to waste on drudge.

If you're still licensed go do some electrical work for a week and put the money toward the J/P, that week of work will be made up in a month when you save all that jointing and planning time........Rod.

[Greg Parrish]

Wanna buy my DW735 with Shelix head? I want a hammer combo unit myself.

I could probably bring it to you in the next week or so if your in Orlando or Tampa area. LOL

[Julie Moriarty]

If you're still licensed go do some electrical work for a week and put the money toward the J/P, that week of work will be made up in a month when you save all that jointing and planning time........Rod.

All my neighbors know I'm an electrician. They have seen the panel change I did, conduit I've installed, many have come to me for help on little things and I've told them all if they have any electrical work to call me and maybe I can do it for less. One neighbor is doing a major renovation, two have built new houses but not one has talked to me about possibly doing the work. A couple of guys in my local moved down here. One I talked to said we can't get a license in Florida because they first require you work for four years for a contractor. In Illinois I'm a master electrician. Here I'm bupkis.

Wanna buy my DW735 with Shelix head? I want a hammer combo unit myself.

I could probably bring it to you in the next week or so if your in Orlando or Tampa area. LOL

You could send yours back to Dewalt, too, and they could put it next to mine. All I've heard from them so far is two letters that came in the mail yesterday. Both were UPS stickers and instructions for sending the planer back. I sent it a week ago and they got it two days later.

[Albert Lee]

Doing my best to keep the "I WANT IT!" out of this debate, here's the facts:

I've been able to deal with not having a power jointer and using a benchtop planer because the supplier back in Chicago did mill work and the wood in stock was planed. Since moving to Florida, that's changed.

Supplier #1 doesn't have any power tools, not even a Skil saw. And their prices are outrageous. Supplier #2 doesn't have a jointer but will plane wood for 40 cents a square foot. All the wood they have in stock is right off the mill's bandsaw, not even skip planed. But what they sell is always thicker than sized. Example - 4/4 I bought recently was 1-1/16" to 1-1/8" thick. To take that to 3/4" I start by resawing ~3/16" off. That leaves me with thin stock I would not have had if I had them plane it and I'm already putting some of that to use.

I spend 25 or more hours per week in the workshop. And since moving here I've been working the planer pretty hard. I replaced my old one with a Dewalt 735, thinking it would handle the workload better. I was wrong. It can't even handle what the old one could. Plus it won't lock the depth and it keeps tripping the overload. Right now Dewalt service has it. I have no idea what they will come back with. In the meantime I've been wondering if I need to rethink things.

My options:

1) Use what I have and incorporate the drum sander to do the planing the benchtop can't.

2) Start buying the cabinets or furniture I need and cut back on woodworking and find something else to keep me busy.

3) Find $5K and buy a planer/jointer that can handle the workload.

And I'm not sure if I came here to be convinced I need a planer/jointer or I want to be talked out of it.

Comments welcomed.

Hi Julie

You have come to a woodworking community for help... I think our ideas will be biased towards quality machinery that you can keep, use and possibly resale if you dont like it.

here are some facts from your post:
1. you spend 25 hours in you workshop - this is a lot if woodworking is not your primary income.
2. You used to have the stock milled to your size, now this has changed and unless you find a supplier who can do the mill work. otherwise you are stuck.

therefore I think you deserve a quality JP combo. a $5k budget can get you a very nice machine that you will be happy with.

Drum sander - I end up with a proper 43 inch SCM wide belt sander. with drum sander you will be changing the sand belt more often than changing the diaper on a baby if you use it frequently.

JP combo - a quality JP combo will increase your efficiency - your 25 hours may drop down to 20 or less depends on what you do, I use my JP combo more often than anything else. that was after 3-4 years of owning a 16" wide Robland with Tersa blade so I recently upgraded to Felder AD951. I dont really know if it is because wide JP are so useful thats why I use it a lot or what I make require a lot of work on JP combo thats why I work a lot with my JP combo. either way, a wide JP combo is super versatile.

[Peter Kelly]

https://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/tls/d/hammer-table-saw-c3-31/6630465201.html

Been on CL for a few months. Needs a good home!

[Glen Gunderson]

One thing that has helped me justify larger tool purchases is reminding myself that the value doesn't disappear as soon as you buy the tool. If you buy a $4K jointer/planer, it's not like that $4K is gone forever like if you spent it on a vacation or something like that. If you change your mind in a few years or want to upgrade later, you've still got thousands of dollars of value in it that you can recoup. With used tools this is even more of a factor. If you get a good deal on used machinery you can often end up using it for years and then selling it for about what you paid.

Also, the older I get the more it gets knocked into my head that life is too short to spend time doing things you don't really enjoy. Milling wood and sanding can get kind of old, so I was happy to invest in machinery that makes that faster, more accurate, and less frustrating, even if it was hard to justify strictly in terms of time and money savings.

[Matt Day]

The DW735 is a plastic toy in my opinion. At minimum get a 4 post planer. Watch for 12” jointers on sale used. Got my Northfield LD for about $800. Spending $5 on a combo seems crazy with the prices of used out there (at least in the mid west). But, I enjoy buying used machinery and going to auctions, some people don’t like it or don’t have the time or don’t want to move/fix up and old machine.

[Larry Frank]

My DW735 is a great toy and I use it a lot for thinner wood and making final cuts on wood. I also have a 3 hp Jet planner and use it for more production type work. There is a use for both. Because many of the larger planers use a serrated infeed roll, you have to take off a larger cut to clear the marks.

I do not think criticizing everyone who uses a DW735 and saying their tool is a toy is very useful. Could I rebuild a piece of old iron...yes. But for me it is not the best use of my time.

[Phil Mueller]

Well, it sounds to me as though your woodworking hobby has turned into work. You’re pressuring yourself to get bathrooms, entertainment centers, tables, and whatever else done. The craft has become a job. And because it’s become work, you’re frustrated that the tools you have are just not working fast enough.

I figure you can either bite the bullet, buy the tools you want, get the projects done, and probably enjoy the process more, or take a deep breath, take the pressure off, and take some pleasure in moving at a slower pace.

Does seem to me though, from the perspective of getting that second thumbs up, that if you priced out all the cabinets and furniture you want for your home, you’d be well over $5k.

[Matt Day]

I didn’t mean to offend anyone with my DW735 comment, and I apologize if i did. I know they are popular and a great choice for a lot of folks. Just saying that compared to a bigger cast iron planer it’s hard to compare.

[Mark Rainey]

Well, it sounds to me as though your woodworking hobby has turned into work. You’re pressuring yourself to get bathrooms, entertainment centers, tables, and whatever else done. The craft has become a job. And because it’s become work, you’re frustrated that the tools you have are just not working fast enough.

I figure you can either bite the bullet, buy the tools you want, get the projects done, and probably enjoy the process more, or take a deep breath, take the pressure off, and take some pleasure in moving at a slower pace.

Does seem to me though, from the perspective of getting that second thumbs up, that if you priced out all the cabinets and furniture you want for your home, you’d be well over $5k.

. Good points Phil. You raise some deeper issues we all face. The high end bicycle we just have to have. The best vacation... Julie, woodworking is a great hobby. Our relationships are more important. We need balance. And we all know woodworking tools can be a bottomless pit. As Phil said, take a deep breath, enjoy the shavings coming off that hand plane while listening to some good music and do not rush.

[John TenEyck]

I see used equipment for great prices all the time from folks in FL who get too old to use them anymore. Seems to me you should be able to find a good jointer and planer or J/P combo down there for a lot less than a new one if money is what's holding you back. Personally, I almost always buy used because you get more value for your $'s, but I understand the allure of shiny new paint, too. If space is a huge issue look for a 10" Inca J/P. I had one for more than 25 years and made a house full of projects with it. It looks like a toy but it did everything I ever needed. They typically sell for less than $750. I like my MiniMax more, but it takes up substantially more space, too. Good luck no matter what you decide.

John

[Julie Moriarty]

Well, it sounds to me as though your woodworking hobby has turned into work. You’re pressuring yourself to get bathrooms, entertainment centers, tables, and whatever else done. The craft has become a job. And because it’s become work, you’re frustrated that the tools you have are just not working fast enough.

I figure you can either bite the bullet, buy the tools you want, get the projects done, and probably enjoy the process more, or take a deep breath, take the pressure off, and take some pleasure in moving at a slower pace.

Does seem to me though, from the perspective of getting that second thumbs up, that if you priced out all the cabinets and furniture you want for your home, you’d be well over $5k.

It is very much like a job, Phil. The only difference is I get to take breaks when I want to. My frustration comes when, at the end of the day, it looks like I got nothing done. (My boss (me) is a taskmaster! ) All I have for a day's work today is a stack of milled pieces and a barrel full of shavings. I spent most of the day hand planing.

You're right about the cost of cabinets. I priced out the cabinets we need for the bathrooms and laundry and gasped! Maybe that JP price isn't so bad.

[Matt Mattingley]

Julie, buy a nice jointer/planer and be done with it.

You've worked all your life, you deserve something that takes the drudge out of jointing and planning.

I'm on my second Hammer A3-31, buy the one with the Silent Power cutter and the digital height gauge.

You'll save so much time it will amaze you, and having a 12 inch wide jointer is fantastic...............Regards, Rod.

Rod, you joined the silent cutterhead group? Welcome, it is a nice head. Sometimes I wish I had the coin and space for the three knife silent cutterhead in the 16 inch.

We always want bigger and better. But I am very happy with my A3-31 silent cutter! My only complaint is I wish they could handle more CFM on dust collection.