Advice for tools for joinery

[Just4Fun]

Writing from the perspective of a former hobbyist now part-time professional my machine tool priorities are always about the ability to quickly and fairly accurately dimension materials.

It is interesting that you and I have quite different priorities but our conclusions are very similar. I work almost exclusively with hand tools but if I were to aquire machine tools they would certainly be for use at the start of projects to dimension materials. That is the part of the process that I regard as relatively boring hard work and I am inherently lazy.

However in today's world time is limited. Hobbyists usually have other things to do for a living and professionals need to earn a living in an industrialized era.

I do this as a hobby. Obviously I have limited time available for woodwork but that is not what might tempt me towards power tools. For you, machines saving time is most important. For me the attraction of machines would be to save effort and maximise interest. The time it takes me to make something is rarely a consideration for me. I don't often make a thing because I need that thing, I make it to enjoy making it, so taking longer to make it is not a problem.

 

[heimlaga]

Your time cost analysis is either extremely poor, skewed by perceived sales benefits or the output of your shop is unusually limited.

The 2 highlighted tools have places in the highest end furniture. Pocket holes have been used in furniture probably since soon after screws were first invented. Loose tenons for a similar or even longer time. Few professionals will not find the money saved in time by using either machine to have paid for them very quickly.

Of course you maybe producing items where neither can, or should, be used. Alternatively your sales may depend on belief by your customers that neither of these should be used

I cut the pocket holes I need with a chisel or sometimes even with an axe. They turn out ugly but who cares on an invisible backside. There are other ways to put parts together without loose tennons. Money for investments has always been an extreme issue and if I had spent the money on that type of tools I would have an undersized planer/thicknesser forcing me to dimension a significant part of the timber by hand using hand planes which would take significantly more time than chopping out a few pocket holes by hand or cutting a few tennons on the spindle moulder.


Lack of money for investments has always been a serious issue for me so everything is put together on a shoestring. This certainly reduces my output and cuts into my hourly rate but on the other hand every euro I earn is mine after the government and theworkshop landlord have had their share. There are no loans and no interest to be paid on the machinery nor tools nor the car nor anything so the net result is not that bad even with a comparatively low hourly rate. Now I am collecting materials to cobble together a workshop on our own land on a shoestring budget to get away from the need to pay even this low rent for a crumbling wreck of a workshop.

 

[hlvd]

I cut the pocket holes I need with a chisel or sometimes even with an axe. They turn out ugly but who cares on an invisible backside. There are other ways to put parts together without loose tennons. Money for investments has always been an extreme issue and if I had spent the money on that type of tools I would have an undersized planer/thicknesser forcing me to dimension a significant part of the timber by hand using hand planes which would take significantly more time than chopping out a few pocket holes by hand or cutting a few tennons on the spindle moulder.


Lack of money for investments has always been a serious issue for me so everything is put together on a shoestring. This certainly reduces my output and cuts into my hourly rate but on the other hand every euro I earn is mine after the government and theworkshop landlord have had their share. There are no loans and no interest to be paid on the machinery nor tools nor the car nor anything so the net result is not that bad even with a comparatively low hourly rate. Now I am collecting materials to cobble together a workshop on our own land on a shoestring budget to get away from the need to pay even this low rent for a crumbling wreck of a workshop.

This is way off topic and nothing to do with the OP's question.

 

[Tcrowe]

So I followed the advice and got a couple of clamps in lidl yesterday.... Ha