Which First Workshop Machine?

[xraymtb]

Hi

A bit of a newbie question this but...

What would people recommend as the first woodworking machine (i.e. bandsaw, table saw, planer etc.)?

I already have the normal range of hand tools and power tools but have decided to try and speed things up/make it easier by getting some workshop machines. I imagine the main roles I would be looking to do at first is simple cutting to length/resizing, cutting tenons and mitres, and possibly cutting curves if appropriate. Also my budget is limited at the moment so I am only looking at one machine in the £200-250 range at present.

Thanks in advance

 

[GCR]

Mike

My first machine was a bandsaw - and I have never regretted it. There is quite a lot of information on saws in your price range on this forum, try a search.

Bob

 

[beech1948]

Hi,
If you buy rough sawn wood and prepare yourself then your first buy must be a planer thicknesser. After all starting with square stock is an essential need.

If you buy ready prepared stock then I think a bandsaw would be better than a P/T.

Leave the tablesaw until you really must have one as its best at long rips/crosscuts.

regards
alan

 

[pobo]

just setting up my first workshop and bought a bandsaw first, no regrets.

next planning on some hand planes [-o< . and p/t when i can afford it.

have no great experience, but find the bandsaw really versatile, cuts tenions, small mitres and most resizing. but buy the best you can afford, its the sort of thing you don't want to be replacing. also it worth buying a hand full of extra blades of differing sizes and tpi.

also make shore you set it up correctly, just reset mine up the other day, runs loads better.

i just got a Jet JWBS-14 couple of months ago for about £500 and it is one of my best buys.

anyway just my opinion

good luck with what ever you decide

 

[seaco]

Get a bandsaw first very useful tool and when you can afford it a good table saw, if you were to spend £250 on a tablesaw you would soon regret it, the TS is the heart of nearly all workshops...


PS welcome to the site... :wink:

 

[motownmartin]

I Bought the Table Saw first, but having done that I found the Bandsaw to be the most versatile but not the most accurate, which ever way you go you will probably have wished you took the other route :?

 

[mr]

Drill press, on the basis that making neat repeatable and accurately placed holes at accurate sizes is technically harder to do than any form of sawing or stock preparation. It wasn't my first machine but it was the (only) one that earned it's keep.
On re reading the original question it appears that what the OP is really asking is whether a bandsaw should take priority over a table saw which makes my answer rather irrelevant - plus ca change eh.

Cheers Mike.

 

[ByronBlack]

TS over a BS for me, but a BS is an essential tool eventually.

 

[Taffy Turner]

Another vote for the bandsaw here! Of all the power tools in my workshop, the bandsaw is most versatile, and therefore the one that gets used most (obviously except for my lathe, but that is a specialist tool so I discounted it for the purpose of this discussion).

Regards

Gary

 

[Slim]

My tablesaw is used quite extensively in every single project whereas my bandsaw isn't. However, although not as accurate, the bandsaw can do pretty much everything a tablesaw can do, and more. Eg. resawing and cutting curves.

For your budget, I would look at this or one of its clones. Go any cheaper and IMO its a waste of money.

Oh, and welcome to the forum Mike

 

[Corset]

Think I have to say planer thicknesser, It saves so much work. I always by rough sawn and planing it all by hand was enjoyable but crippling. Its much easier to cut stuff by hand when the starting stock is square.
Plus the cost is soon saved when you think how much cheaper rough sawn timber is over planed timber. Spread this over a few projects and its a big saver. Plus it is quite boring getting everthing square, its much nicer just to finish it with a hand plane.
Personally i use my table saw more than my bandsaw, as except for cutting veneers i could have used my jigsaw in a alot of cases. Plus being able to cut things with a nice clean edge is nice. In addition you can cross cut on a table saw if you have the right set up.
But i think its very dependent on how you work.
(actually thats no help at all sorry)
:roll:
So i am going to say planer thicknesser then table saw then bandsaw.
Owen

 

[AndyBoyd]

I'm swaying towards a table saw with a planer thicknesser as a close second

 

[Paul.J]

First thing i bought was a dust extractor,followed by a bandsaw,drill press,table saw,lathe,etc,etc,etc.......................
Paul.J.

 

[Pete Robinson]

Got to go with the table saw on this one, it is the heart of my workshop and is the most used machine I have, yes, band saw is good but limited by the sizes it can cut! At the end of the day, every machine has its place and you need them all, but If I could have only one, well, it would be the table saw!!

 

[seaco]

I agree if the money situation was better a TS would be my first choice but at £250 your going to regret it in the end...

 

[xraymtb]

Thanks for all the replies...

Based on the general consensus here of bandsaw first, I looked around and managed to find a second hand Rexon BS-10SA bandsaw in really good condition for £70. Figured now I can save the other £180 until I can add a bit more and get a planer thicknesser or table saw that I won't regret wasting money on in the long term.

 

[Calpol]

I'm in the same situation as you with setting up a workshop so don't really have an opinion on first machine, but what I wanted to say was maybe look for second hand stuff. The £250 will obviously get you better kit if you don't mind it being a bit scuffed

 

[Rich]

I first started off with a bandsaw bs300, never looked back, so versatile and safe to use, then I purchased a table saw, never used one before but watched Norm lots of times, the T/S I bought was a Maclaren from B/Q and cost £150.00, what intrigued me was the round orifice in the right hand side of the table, when I contacted B/Q at Eastleigh, they said the unit was so new to the UK THEY HAD NO INFORMATION ON IT, and said to call back in a couple of weeks,(talk about health and safety!) luckily being an engineer I could see that the orifice was for an inverted router, when I called B/Q and suggested this to them they came clean and said "yes this is what the orifice is for but could not endorse it because the T/S was not CE cleared for router use" this did not deter me and I have a very useful T/S cum router table and use it all the time, I needed a meatier T/S for building my workshop so I then purchased a Metabo TKS315 which served me well for a while, my latest purchase from APTC is the TS200 for £278.00, a superb piece of equipment, easy to set up and very accurate, the sliding carriage is a cinch to set up and use and so "comfortable" the only criticism I have is with the double bevel mitre gauge,I found that the inside casting face contacted the indicator arrow screw head before the 45 degree angle pointer was reached, so I had to drill out and file a recess to accomodate the screwhead and it's ok now.I wish you well in your endeavours and would advise you not to get downhearted when things dont go right, you will find great satisfactionwhen you finally get it right, I'm still trying (weekends only) and things get better when the equipment gets better. All the best, Rich.

 

[Streepips]

I would suggest a Radial Arm saw, an old Dewalt can be had cheap enough within budget but avoid a 125 or any other fold up model. The models larger than the 125 are a good all round robust tool. These are generally bullet proof if you spend time finding out how they are inteded to work and the maintenance required and tolerances can be taken up by adjustment with all but the most drastic of wear and tear. This will let you crosscut, mitre, bevel mitre, dimension ( to a degree). Has a spindle take of at the rear for a horizontal drill stand, you can * with due attention to limitations* rip, even rough out mouldings to hand/ power tool finish. Just use plenty of featherboards for anti kickback and clamping
I have squared up waney edged board with a guide rail pinned on the piece to run against the table edge, you can also hang a router via manufactirers attachment for overhead routing , and for non square/curved work Jigsaws are cheap enough now until you can afford a bandsaw. Timber can also be squared sized, and brought to a fine finish with a decent blade in the RAS, just needing a sharp hand plane or even just sandpaper and block to finish.
If it has to be just the one machine to begin with, its probably the most versatile
Speaking from experience.
Good luck !

 

[gatesmr2]

My first bit of shinny new kit was a TS

Ok not a great one just ryobi but if you want to build anything i,ve found that at some stage i use my TS
Yes it,s big noisy and suppose it,s more dangerous than a BS but with a bit of time on set up you get the same cut time after time.
I have just put the groove in for some draws 8 in total for the ply base took me about 5 to 10 mins to set it up and less than 5 to cut them all

Marty