Just Wanted to Say Hello

[littlebhuddha]

I am returning to woodworking after a couple of decades. My experience is basically a year of wood shop in high school and a year at Palomar College in San Marcos, Ca. I recently moved to Dickson, Tn from San Diego. What a relief! The Wife isn't too crazy about the change of venue but she's getting used to it. I've managed to talk her into letting me spend $5000 to get a workshop set up in the garage. Actually talking here out of the money was easier than talking her into parking in the driveway. So far I've built two saw horses and two basic workbenches. I would love to hear anybody's advice on the best way to spend the money. I would need about $50k to get what I want but that isn't going to happen any time soon. So I have to make my choices carefully. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and God bless.

 

[TracyP]

Welcome to NCWW. Great to have you here!!

 

[DaveO]

Welcome Jim, I am glad you could join us. From a former TN guy it's good to see you here. I think that you will find a lot of advice on how to spend money on tools around here. We have several that have a full blown case of WGD (Wood Guy Disease) and buy tools that they rarely use. But for real advice it would help to know what kind of wood working you are interested in and in what fashion you would like to do it. I have a fully functional shop and I probably have far less than 5K in machinery and tools. But I am not making a living from it, so nothing is high production sized.
What do you have, and what do you think you need???

I look forward to your input in the forums and hopefully seeing some pictures of your shop once it's fully equipped.
See you around!!

Dave

 

[Canuck]

Welcome to the site, Jim!:eusa_danc:eusa_danc

I look forward to seeing some photo's of your new shop build-out. Lot's of fun and invaluable information here, just for the asking.

Enjoy, post often and ny all means, stay safe!

Wayne

 

[littlebhuddha]

Thanks, Dave. The woodworking I want to do is furniture making(bookcases and built-ins for the basement), cabinets for the kitchen, outdoor furniture and some special heirloom pieces for my kids and grandchildren. The only tool I have now is a Dewalt 12" miter saw. The first machines I'm getting will be a table saw, jointer, router and planer. I'm just not sure what to put the most money into. Should I put the most money into a tablesaw and just get by with cheaper other machines or should I just go with a smaller tablesaw and sink the money into a good jointer and planer. I m going to be spending $3k this weekend for the first round of purchases and another $2k at the end of the month.

 

[ScottM]

Welcome Jim. I am glad you found us. If you can wait a bit I would check craigslist for your tool needs. There are some great deals out there if you watch and wait. I would also check your local pawn shops. In this economy a lot of folks are down sizing.

 

[gator]

Welcome to the site Jim.

Do you really have to buy this weekend? For that money, and with a little patience, you could get some good bargains on the used market.

In fact, and I can't recall the name, there used to be a company in Nashville that sold refurbished and scratch/dent woodworking equipment at good prices.

But back to the original statement. A little patience and a continuing watch on sites like craigslist will get you some good bargains.

George

 

[PChristy]

Welcome Jim- glad to have you with us from the west side of the Apps:icon_thum

 

[PChristy]

Jim I don't know how far you are from this but this is a pretty good deal

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/f77/grizzly-1800-sylva-23722/

 

[froglips]

Welcome to the site! If you want, send me your money and I can spend it for you

While its not conventional, the biggest jointer you can afford is key. Since you wanna go power tools, the wider/longer the jointer, the more you can do with wider stock. At least 8", more if you can stomach the costs.

A decent tablesaw isn't that expensive.

Shopping is fun

Jim

 

[woodArtz]

Welcome Jim! Great to have you with us. As for the tools... you need to spend most of the money on a lathe. After that, you won't want to do any of that flat work anyway :gar-Bi.

 

[Partman]

Welcome to the site. Glad to have you join. :icon_thum

Danny

 

[Trent Mason]

Welcome to the site Jim. :eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap You, like many of us, have to work with a limited budget. I would suggest buying what you need on a project-by-project basis. This will help you get reaquainted with the tools that you're familiar with and get used to the ones you have yet to try. I look forward to your input in the forums and seeing some pictures of your shop/work. :icon_thum

 

[davejones]

Welcome littlebhuddha!

I moved here from SD about 3 years ago, and haven't looked back yet! This is a good place to be and you will find that this site is usually your best resource for solving woodworking dilemmas (and sometimes non-woodworking ones). :icon_thum

With your budget, I think you'll be able to find a nice table saw, jointer and planer. Lots of knowledgeable people here willing to give reviews and opinions on equipment too.


Dave

 

[sapwood]

Welcome to NCWWer, Jim!
Look forward to hearing about you shop progress :icon_thum

Roger

 

[McRabbet]

Welcome to the sawdust pile, Jim. Glad you found us and joined up -- I'd suggest the Sylva stuff, too -- I have several Grizzly tools (including a 10" cabinet saw) and love them, so I doubt you'd go wrong. You'll just need to get some mobile bases. We look forward to you input and pictures of your stuff.