Newbie.

[Czar]

Hello,

Firstly I must confess, I currently do not own any power woodworking tools some of my friends think I'm way behind the times, bit of a dinosaur when it comes to woodworking, I'm neither a joner, carpenter or indeed work in any of the construction trades, I am a Motorsport Engineer.

All my woodworking experience has come from DIY around the house and garden, learning as I go, all my woodworking tools are traditional hand tools, the only power tool I use when woodworking, is the use of my trusty pillar drill, everything else is done by hand.

Earlier this year, when moving Granite cobble sets into my garden, I sustained muscle damage to my left arm, seems I can't do at 48 years of age, what I could 20 years ago.

My friends have been telling me for years, to stop using hand tools, and drag myself into the 21st century, and purchase modern tools, making my life easier, that said, I'm a perfectionist and time to complete a job is not important.

With the damage to my left arm muscle and ageing eyesight, maybe it's time to invest in a few power tools to make life easier, having spent much of this week researching power tools, the main names that keep coming up, are of course Festool, Axminster, Jet, Hammer/Felder and the usual construction site names, Dewalt, Makita, Milwaukee etc etc etc.

As I don't work in the construction industry, I can rule out any of the battery tools, all my work is DIY around the home/garden, and if I'm going to invest in power tools, then I want proper workshop tools, I have the room to house them, so here is a list of what I would like to start with.

Table saw/cabinet saw (sliding possibly)

Planer/thicknesser

Mitre saw

Dust extraction

Router and table to match

I think that might do for now, any recommendations will be very gratefully received, oh about the Mitre saw, it seems the Festool Kapex 120 might be the one, a company here in the UK, FFX have it for sale at £818 is this a good price ?

Many thanks.

 

[woodbrains]

Hello and welcome.

If you are not going to work on site and will get a tablesaw, you might find a miter saw a bit redundant. Depending on what you are intending to do, I would swap mitre saw for a bandsaw on the list. I only got a mitre saw, when I started home renovations and needed cross cuts done in a house, it never comes into my workshop(shed now) where TS, bandsaw and planer/thicknesses and hand tools will do everything you could want. That said, the Festool mitre saw is excellent if you want one as well!

Mike.

 

[PAC1]

How much room do you have? And how much do you want to spend? Festool and Felder are good but not cheap

 

[pike]

Hi,

You might want to look at track saws too, especially if you think you may work with sheet materials. I'm currently seeing how I get on with a track saw (Festool TS55) and a bandsaw (no tablesaw for now).

Carl.

 

[n0legs]

Welcome along Czar.
My advice would be don't drag yourself too far into the 21st century if you can still manage some hand tools.
I'm only a hobbyist myself, but I'm enjoying more and more the projects I work on than those I made, if you see my meaning.

Would be interested to hear from which motorsport you're from, with your screen name I'm wondering maybe back of the field F1 :lol:

 

[Sheffield Tony]

Earlier this year, when moving Granite cobble sets into my garden, I sustained muscle damage to my left arm, seems I can't do at 48 years of age, what I could 20 years ago.

My friends have been telling me for years, to stop using hand tools, and drag myself into the 21st century, and purchase modern tools, making my life easier, that said, I'm a perfectionist and time to complete a job is not important.

With the damage to my left arm muscle and ageing eyesight, maybe it's time to invest in a few power tools to make life easier

I have to agree with n0legs. Don't listen to all that your friends say, not everything 21st century is better ! I find myself being drawn slowly in quite the opposite direction for the sheer pleasure of hand work with simple tools. I don't know how bad your injury affects you or whether it will mend, but it occured through manual handling, not woodwork. Even with power tools you wont escape manual handling. And I'm not sure eyesight problems are any less of an issue with power tools.

But - 48 is too young to stop doing things ! I paused to reflect whether I was expecting too much of myself when I broke my wrist ice skating a couple of years ago, but decided I'm still not ready to start growing up yet, much less growing old ! I can still run and climb mountains, so I can still find the energy to thickness stock with hand planes. There's a lot of life left in us 48 year olds yet.

 

[John15]

Welcome,

I'm a hobbyist and am with nolegs and tony on hand tools. I use a t/p and table saw for dimensioning lumber and for the rest of the project I use hand tools where possible.

John

 

[finish_that]

Aside from the total change of practice - and the associated changes in relationship with what
you do with the wood - notes ref machines.


Table saw/cabinet saw (sliding possibly)
- seriously consider a track saw and/or MFT , this + the Mitre saw will do most of the work
the fixed table saw will do + safer (IMHO)

+ Bandsaw - add to list - takes up little space - can do a lot - potentially has more capacity
in terms of stock that can be cut than any other power tool. Whilst relatively safe and not too noisy.

Planer/thicknesser
- consider how much you will use this - by thinking about what timber you will use

Mitre saw
- well worth having for price/performance if well setup with decent blade .
- if you can afford Festool then go ahead

Dust extraction
-Will need this to suit the tools - a massive subject on its own

Router and table to match
- suit engineers - think carefully about what you would use it for.
- Dust extraction needs to be perfect

+ Really flat benches/tables for your projects
+ Storage for all the extra stuff that will come with each machine