Hello all.
I'm a keen amateur/hobby woodworker living in Devon. We moved here 18 years ago partly to find space for a better workshop but it then took 15 years to happen. I do a lot of rough carpentry around the farm - doors and frames, window frames etc. mainly in oak. I also make furniture - beds, tables, bedside cabinets to a slightly less rough finish, and smaller projects like boxes.
My grandfather was a joiner/cabinetmaker and I'm lucky enough to have inherited some of his hand tools to which my father added a small Elu combination saw/router table to which I've added a Triton workbench, Shecppach PT and Electra-Beckum BAS315 bandsaw, a Charnwood morticer, dust extractor and a Record pillar drill . I love having the machinery to resaw and plane up the bulk of the timber but get more pleasure from working with hand tools - I can feel my grandfather's and father's hands on the handles and feel them looking over my shoulder (not always approvingly!).
So the plan was(is) to upgrade the machinery now I have a bigger (36 sq m) and insulated workshop, but I have to admit to dithering - every time I think I've made a decision another option pops up, and the more confused I become!
I started out planning to buy a table saw, but the EB bandsaw has a number of issues so I might be better spending the money on a better bandsaw. I've seen there are lots of helpful threads on choosing machinery so I'm going to work my way through them and see what comes up.
Looking forward to benefiting from the wide knowledge base represented on the forum.
I'm a keen amateur/hobby woodworker living in Devon. We moved here 18 years ago partly to find space for a better workshop but it then took 15 years to happen. I do a lot of rough carpentry around the farm - doors and frames, window frames etc. mainly in oak. I also make furniture - beds, tables, bedside cabinets to a slightly less rough finish, and smaller projects like boxes.
My grandfather was a joiner/cabinetmaker and I'm lucky enough to have inherited some of his hand tools to which my father added a small Elu combination saw/router table to which I've added a Triton workbench, Shecppach PT and Electra-Beckum BAS315 bandsaw, a Charnwood morticer, dust extractor and a Record pillar drill . I love having the machinery to resaw and plane up the bulk of the timber but get more pleasure from working with hand tools - I can feel my grandfather's and father's hands on the handles and feel them looking over my shoulder (not always approvingly!).
So the plan was(is) to upgrade the machinery now I have a bigger (36 sq m) and insulated workshop, but I have to admit to dithering - every time I think I've made a decision another option pops up, and the more confused I become!
I started out planning to buy a table saw, but the EB bandsaw has a number of issues so I might be better spending the money on a better bandsaw. I've seen there are lots of helpful threads on choosing machinery so I'm going to work my way through them and see what comes up.
Looking forward to benefiting from the wide knowledge base represented on the forum.
. With a maternal grandfather who was a joiner and my dads brother a coach builder ….I guess I have some wood genes in me.
