Tools and machines for my workshop?

[silz]

I thought that instead of writing more threads on choosing A vs B I'd rather just go ahead and ask for advice on one larger single thread.

I currently have a decent single garage workshop but would like to take it a bit to next level as I'd like to be working with more sawn/dried hardwood boards but i'm not sure how much my budget will allow for this.

Early on a couple of years ago i started with the cheapest of the cheapest i could find -- Ozito and have been thoroughly disappointed at how useless most of their stuff are. I would've been better of just doing nothing as the only thing I was able to produce with these was very expensive firewood.

This year after finally getting a garage I started investing in Makita and some Axminster Craft tools which i found excellent!

This has sort of given me the mindset that I'm better of just biting the bullet and cry just once when paying a hefty price tag for a decent tool.

Spreadsheet of tools i've already had for a while and I'm happy with

Spreadsheet of what I plan on getting

Main stuff:

Planer/thicknesser that doesn't sound like satanic screeching, i understand this limits me to waiting 2 months for the iTech 260s or three weeks for the AT260SPT and hoping I can get everything square myself. I could also upgrade to the JET JPT 310HH which seems significantly better than both but that would blow over half of my budget just there.

Bandsaw -- For this one i'm almost completely lost, apart from larger cutting capacity I have no idea what to look for. I've looked at Axminster's Trade series, Laguna, Charnwood, etc. and it didn't get any less confusing.

Router -- I understand that a proper router table setup will run me up to £2k easily, not counting bits. For my use case & experience though I don't expect to be using a router table too much so a custom-built one with a basic top should be sufficient as a starter. I do intend to do quite a bit of template-based finishing and based on that it seems like the Festool OF1400 1/2" with an ultimate spiral combination bit should do the job.

Bobbin Sander - I haven't used one in the past but it seems like this would be excellent for finishing up projects with a lot of curves. I find it a bit tricky achieving this with just the random orbit sander.

Festool Domino 500 -- I think i'd mostly be using the smaller dominos which the 700XL can't do, from what I've seen so far even if they'd be the exact same price I'd be better off with the 500. No flexibility here unless I find a good used version.

I'll also need to upgrade my garage's sockets to add a 16A and a 32A braker as the current one is only 16A which I'm waiting for quotes on and hoping that it's not going to be terribly expensive.

Any advice around the choices/potential alternatives or just ways to bring the overall cost down is greatly appreciated as I have little practical experience with the above beyond digital research.

EDIT: Apologies for the confusion, wanted to clear things up:

I'm not looking for <what do i need to buy to get started with woodworking>. I'm by no means 'good' at this but I have been consistently woodworking for 2+ years now. It's just that this year was the first time I had the opportunity to get a proper home workshop.

I'm asking for advice around specific brands & models as I don't know a lot of them in the UK and it seems like there could be better options out there that I don't know about. (for example I just herd of iTech for the very first time this week)

 

[Steve Maskery]

Wow.
Each to his own. of course, but I'm not sure that you are approaching this in the same way that I would. IIUYC you are asking what machines you need. I think you should start with, "What do I want to achieve with my woodwork?"
I have everything on your list, and a lot more besides, but I have built my workshop up over 40-odd years. The first tools I bought were hand tools. The first machines were a Nu-tools drill press and a little dewalt bandsaw. A small (but rolls-royce quality) MOF96 came next.
I bought as I could afford. Still do, but at nowhere near the same rate.
My Dad was a cabinet maker. He told me to buy one tool a week. I didn't matter whether it was a screwdriver or a tableasw, buy a tool. In those days there were proper tool shops. Four at least in Nottingham. Mibro. Poole's Tools (later Poolwood). Black's. Hopkinson's. Dad was paid weekly, so it made semse. Get paid, buy a tool. Make it a priority. But BUY AS YOU NEED.
Only when you have an idea of what you want to make will you get an idea of what you need.
And 2k for a RT? No you don't.
S

 

[silz]

@Steve Maskery

Thank you for your reply -- i was perhaps not clear enough, I know what kind of tools I want and need, I was saying I haven't specifically used those models of those machines myself in person. Not that <kind> of tool although perhaps the bandsaw itself is that special one which I haven't used a proper one enough to know what to want from it.

I'm not originally from the UK and the brands/models available here are mostly new to me as there's a lot of companies rebranding variations of what are virtually chinese/taiwanese products. It seems that every other week I discover a new uk brand of tools that I could consider.

Yeah I agree you don't <need> a 2k RT and that it's overkill for most people. Based on my experience on other forums i was half expecting people to keep telling me to 'wait for more money and buy the <much more expensive version> of that and that is the reason why I mentioned that.

 

[MikeG.]

Steve and Trevanion have got this about right. Learn your skills with a small collection of tools, and when you reach the limits of what you can do with them you'll have a clearer idea of what you need next. Spend your money on wood, not tools. I saw a good video this afternoon by a boatbuilder giving a workshop tour. Right at the end he said something quite profound. Let's see if I can find it....



Go to 31 minutes if you don't want to watch the whole thing.

As for a router table costing £2K..........that's just nuts. Neither of mine have cost a penny, all made from scraps, and they're every bit as functional as anything you can buy. You don't seem to have any handtools at all, nor are planning to buy any. Surely that can't be right.

 

[silz]

@MikeG. Thank you for your message and really appreciate that you took the time! Also, apologies for the confusion, i have definitely not been super clear.

I do have plenty of hand tools (chisels, saws, various hand planes, hand-drill, etc.) I just didn't think they were relevant to add in that context. And to be fair most of them I've grabbed as used off of gumtree/facebook marketplace before we moved into the new place with the garage.

I'm not looking for tools to 'get started with woodworking' i'm looking to upgrade my setup to be able to work more accurately with sawn + dried (no space to dry myself) hardwood boards. I know the kind of tools that I want & need although I can't pretend I'm an expert.

I don't plan on getting more hand-tools as speed-of-built is still a relevant factor to what I'm building.

I didn't mean 2k for the router table itself, but a router table setup with Router + extraction + cast iron top + base + accessories.

I will update my original post to clear things up. Thank you!

 

[Trevanion]

I didn't mean 2k for the router table itself, but a router table setup with Router + extraction + cast iron top + base + accessories.

For £2000 you could have a very decent spindle moulder set-up instead, but that really all depends on what you're actually making.

 

[PAC1]

Tell us what sort of things you want to make over the next year. We can the give some advice

 

[Hornbeam]

Perhaps I've been doing this woodworking thing wrong. I dont see a single good quality hand tool on any of your list
It does depend upon what you want to make but I would certainly suggest you need a decent set of quality chisels, a couple of bench plane, a rebate plane, a couple of hand saws and good quality marking out tools. If buying new thats probably best part of £1k
Think very carefully about how much space you have you could end up with a garage full of tools and nowhere to work
Ian

 

[Steve Maskery]

OK, Sebastian, that is clearer (but I still think you are a tad bonkers ). (That's OK I am a tad bonkers, too, just in different ways )

This is what I have and would have again if I were starting from scratch.

RT. Buy Norm Abram's plan for his Deluxe Router table. Any Brimarc dealer. It will cost you a few quid for the plans and a sheet and a half of top-quality baltic birch plywood.. His table is The Biz. Then buy my plans for a fence (cos my fence is better than his. But Ah, I've not got round to publishing them yet. Been on the TUIT list for far too may years).

Bandsaw. I have the big Scheppach. 5-4. I don't think it is made any more. You might get a 5-2 (two-speed rather than four-speed, I've never changed the speed at all). Great machine, but serious footprint. If I were starting again I'd buy a second-hand Startrite. There is a place in Nottingham, whose name escapes me for the moment, which specialises in quality second-hand machines. Dalton's, that's them. Good outfit.

Tablesaw. I have the Xcalibur from Woodford, sadly no longer available. It's a trad Delta clone. Built like a tank, but old-fashioned design.
Today I would look at the Bosch. My brother has it and it is very good in many ways.

SCMS. I have the Bosch 12" jobbie. Superb.

Drill press. I have Lulu. A Meddings machine built in 1964 (or whatever year it was that Lulu had a hit with "Shout!"). Carp pulley technology, but the quill and the business end are a joy to use. (I see the Unacceptable Language Filter is still in operation )

Power tools. I have a fair bit of Festool stuff, all of it excellent. But I also have cheap & cheerful stuff, which I use just as much. Katsu routers, Aldi drills, Lidl shopvac, etc.

If anything else comes to mind, I'll add.
S

 

[topchippyles]

I use einhell a fair bit and the 18v impact driver is excellent quality.

 

[johnnyb]

fundamental things are planer thicknesser saw both table and crosscut. once your timbers the right size flat and square. everything's becomes easier

 

[AJB Temple]

Hmmm. What you need to spend money on, IMO, is good wood. Spend time on skill building. If your workshop is really a single garage then I suspect you need to cut back massively on machinery. I've been making stuff for 30 years and still find that hand tools, a good tracks, a cheap router table, can do a lot. I find a bandsaw useful but not really essential. I can afford what I want, but almost all of the Festool gear I have (Domino, planer, etc) is second hand from "tool collectors". My PT was second hand (£250), pillar drill (Fobco £200 and bomb proof + no quill movement), likewise lathe and table saw. Good tools are very tough so buying excellent brands used is generally pretty safe.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Ah yes, a Planer/Thicknesser. I have a Kity 637. Excellent as far as it goes and has done me sterling fo many, many years. I wish it had longer beds (mine are 600mm in and out), so that's OK for lengths up to, say, 1.6m. But if I am trying to true timber up to 2.4m then that is a bit short and I struggle.

 

[Fitzroy]

gosh, you made me go and do a quick tool inventory and tot up, was scared i'd spent way more than i thought. phew luckily not.

I expect our approaches are very different in some ways and similar in others. I do not buy garbage cheap tools as they are a false economy, we see eye to eye there. However I think there’s value to be had buying secondhand and that’s where most of my machines are from.

I‘be found heavy machines to be less screechy but a PT is always noisy when actively cutting, even a spiral one. There are a number of YouTube videos on them showing this. You’ll need ear defenders anyhow.

If you want to work from sawn stock then a good PT is IMHO priceless. Since getting a decent bandsaw I barely use my tablesaw and in a small shop I’d pick a bandsaw and ditch the tablesaw.

Fitz.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Bandsaw v. Tablesaw.
I have both. I use both, I love both, I'm glad I have both. But if a gun was put to my head to choose just one, it would be the bandsaw.

 

[AJB Temple]

Bandsaw v. Tablesaw.
I have both. I use both, I love both, I'm glad I have both. But if a gun was put to my head to choose just one, it would be the bandsaw.

Me too. Tracksaw / circular saw will do most things a table saw can do. Band saw is hard to replicate without a lot of manual effort.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Track saw, I forgot about that. Best way to handle sheet goods, short of having an Altendorf

 

[silz]

@Trevanion

I use the router table setup that i have (1/4" 18v makita trimmer with the 40gbp insert plate & all else built of birch plywood by me) mostly for box joints/dovetails (using a jig)/rabbets/half-lap. I can see the appeal of a 'full blown' setup like in this list (totaling 2000+ gbp) in order to get more accurate/repeatable results without effort. But I agreed right from the get go that it isn't something I'd benefit spending so much of my budget on although I still have <some> routing needs.

@PAC1

Although not exclusively, the upgrades listed is to allow me to make nicer interior pieces such as dining tables, coffe tables, bedsides, bedframes, benches, chairs & credenza-like furniture out of hardwoods. Although out of those, my immediate focus will be towards the benches, bedsides pieces and the dining table.

I'm looking for a decent turnaround time with repeatable & accurate results although I'm trying to manage my expections around there. I've built these before but only out of pine & plywood, not out of pricier hardwoods as I wasn't confident enough to make the jump from cheap wood.

@Hornbeam

Thank you, i appreciate the advice! I do currently own the handtools you have listed and I'm happy with what I've got on that side of things. However they're not practical enough for me for what I wish to build next. Although a single garage it is somewhat larger than a standard one, I've carefully planned and built custom storage to make the most out of the little space I have and after the addition of a planer/thicknesser + bigger bandsaw I'll probably max out my space, but there's definitely space left to add those two.

@Steve Maskery

Thank you for getting back to me with such a detailed response, I guess I am a tad bit more bonkers than initially thought!

So everything in the first link is stuff I already have and used for a while and to be honest I'm quite happy with most of them for the stuff I needed done!

I seem to use the pillar drill for building jigs & workshop furniture more than anything and the Bosch PBD40 has done a great job for me so far. On the table-saw side, although only an 8" saw the Axminster Craft table saw has handled everything i've managed to throw at it, although only after I've increased its capacity with a custom mini-bench around it.

I am however not too happy about the router table I've built so far so will definitely look at those plans & guide to build a better one!

I've had some squaring issues with the Erbauer tracksaw but I suspect the main issue was with the way the sheets were pre-cut by the mill as I had used their cutting service to get them down to 1.6m to 1.m to be able to transport them myself, since then I've decided to just have them deliver full sheets. I've definitely used it enough to want a more smoother festool track saw but I can't get myself justifying the 500gbp spend!

 

[Steve Maskery]

If you (perhaps that should read "When you) go down the tracksaw route, you will need three things:
My setting gauge and length guage on an MFT -
A cutting table. The Tiddles had a great idea and then a few of us played about with it a bit. Superb result.
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/sore-hoarses-mkii-now-with-added-plans.44761/

 

[silz]

@Fitzroy

Thank you for the message & time! I'm wearing noise-cancelling headphones and can't hear a thing most of the time, I'm mostly worried about the neighbours as they'll really be able to tell the difference even when working with the garage door closed. I'm trying to build some mobile noise-screens out of scraps to position strategically to help reduce the noise so even if it's just ~5-10db, it will make a difference as the scale is after all logarhitmic.

If it weren't for the noise, I'd buy the AX Craft for 850 quid and call it a day!

I'm a bit put off from buying used tools as I'm not confident I'd be able to figure out if there's anything wrong with them + the hassle of the transport. The price reduction for a used item doesn't seem worth the tradeoff on items I've seen so far.

I find the table saw quite useful for cross-cuts (with a custom sled and bench around the saw) as I do not have a decent mitre saw. I feel like I'd want one with trenching and shadowlight if I were to upgrade from my 35gbp ozito and then I'd have to dedicate some part of the workshop to it.

Do you mind sharing what Bandsow and PT you have & how they worked out so far? Are you happy with them?