Decisions, decisions, decisions .......

[stuartpaul]

I'm in the fortunate position of being able to upgrade some machinery. I have a reasonable but basic setup. Living close to Axminster nearly all my stuff comes from them!!

Table saw BTS10PP, a Perform jointer planner and a CT344 thicknesser are probably my mainstays.

The upgrade money (approx £800) will only fund one decent new machine so the question is should it be a new saw or a bigger planner?

The BTS10 is reasonably competent and has good capacity if a little on the noisy side. The jointer suffers from too small a table but for most of my work is OK (ish). The thicknesser is great and does a brilliant job.

Am I better off sticking with the saw and getting a bigger jointer for final truing or go for a bigger saw and just use the planner for cleaning up?

I'm a little worried that a big saw will eat into available workshop space but then so will a bigger planner (although less so).

Any views, hints or tips most welcome!!

 

[Aragorn]

Got space for a bandsaw?
If not, throw the table saw in the bin..... :wink: OK, not very helpful! (or is it :twisted: )

This all depends on what kind of work you are doing/plan to do. Perhaps a little more detail is needed.
Personally I dislike surface planers with small tables. It makes it hard to work big heavy wood, which I often use. I prefer the setup of a decent bandsaw, long bed/wide capacity surface planer and a thicknesser.

 

[Anonymous]

Think Aragorn's got a point a nice bandsaw is just something i wish i had at the moment , ideal for ripping those 2" thick boards down to 1" with much less waste and safer than any other method + too many other uses to list .A band saw is probably the most versatile machine in a workshop i recon and its gonna be my next purchase

 

[tx2man]

Have you looked at the new SIP saw(review in GWW),
at £499 it seems quite reasonable and would leave you £300.
Maybe something s/h?

TX

 

[Alf]

Hmm, I was going to say bandsaw too, but I thought I'd only get groaned at. :roll: It all depends on what you're proposing to do, really. I suppose, between the two, I'd opt for the bigger jointer, except I wouldn't 'cos I'd get a P/T. Helpful? Probably not, but if you will ask... :wink:

Cheers, Alf

 

[stuartpaul]

Thanks for the helpful responses. I do have a reasonable sized bandsaw (from Axminster!!) but truth be told it doesn't get a lot of use. Partly due to workshop space (it's on wheels and a pain to move around) and partly because I've always found bandsaws rather inaccurate. This could of course be my set up skills rather then the machine. For example, I wouldn't dream of ripping stock (say 2" down to 2 x 1") as I know I'd end up wasting more wood!!

I do a real mixture of work from aspirations of furniture making with quite expensive timber to bog standard framework with good old 2 x 1 for the DIY of house restoration. Future emphasis will be on the furniture side as this is what I really enjoy.

This will hopefully be me last big buy (don't tell the wife!!) as I simply don't have workshop space. The second hand route is one I'm going to seriously consider.

 

[Chris Knight]

stuartpaul,

It grieves me to say it but I wouldn't buy anything on the basis of what you have told us. (This from the most impulsive, compulsive toolbuyer in history!)

I suggest you make some stuff and then decide what is really needed. You will find that needs change as skills develop and as interests change (DAMHIKT). You say your workshop is small (it would be useful to know just how small we are talking about) and from personal experience I can tell you that space soon becomes the number one requirement, exceeding in value any possible tool purchase.

 

[Alf]

<gasp>Golly, Chris, I'm glad I was sitting down... :shock:

stuart, or maybe paul :wink: , what you want to do is tune up that bandsaw PDQ. Dunno which one it is, but unless it's a real pile of poo you should be able to get a whole lot more accuracy than it sounds like you are. Expend some of that budget on your bandsaw in the form of some decent blades for a start, and possibly a book. After that you can almost certainly cross the table saw off your list for a start... :wink:

Cheers, Alf

 

[stuartpaul]

Workshop space is currently 12'6" x 8'6" but with benching down two sides floor space is reduced to about 10 x 6. This is shortly to be expanded to 10 x 11 with some storage space outside (dust extractor etc.).

Bandsaw is the perform CCBB, - still running on the blade it came with although in my defense (your honour) it's only really done rough cutting to date. Can you define what you mean by decent blades? (e.g. make etc.).

 

[Alf]

Ah, if those of you who know the words would like to join in the chorus... :wink:

Throw away the blade that comes with your bandsaw as soon as you get it and get in touch with the likes of:

DureEdge
21 Station Road
Woodley
Stockport
SK6 1HN
Tel : 08702-252337
Fax : 0161-430-8008

instead. Have an rough idea of what tasks you want to do (ripping, resawing, tight curves etc) tell the nice bloke on the end of the phone and he'll advise you on suitable tpis and widths. No affiliation; other blade manufacturers are in existance etc.

Cheers, Alf

 

[Chris Knight]

<gasp>Golly, Chris, I'm glad I was sitting down... :shock:

I know - sometimes I think I have shot my bolt.. :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

stuartpaul wrote

For example, I wouldn't dream of ripping stock (say 2" down to 2 x 1") as I know I'd end up wasting more wood!!

Thats the whole idea of doing it on a bandsaw less waste , i am sure i am not the only one that converts stock to suit. As it does bring down costs of projects .