tablesaws, routers, and sanders

[fozzybear]

what options do yall think are important when purchasing any or all of the above????

im doing fretwork right now but hope to in the future get into intarsia, plus the possibility of getting in to cabinetry or small furniture making sounds interesting......

[Dragon]

I have all of the abaove and I think they are very important to my everyday woodworking.
1. tablesaw: I purcase large pieces and it is easy to cut down to smaller pieces with the tablesaw. I do have a fine blade, not a rough cut one. That way it makes the edge nicer.

2. router: a must for many reasons. I make keyholes in the back for hanging. when making your own frames you can give plain wood a nice edge finish.

3. I have a stationary belt sander and I would not do without it. Also have a palm one which I use less often but still use it enough to justify the price of it.

Diane

[Dragon]

These do not have to be the most expensive tools around. Buy one with a good warranty. Frills on tools are not necessary.
My tablesaws (yes I have two) are from Canadian Tire with a three year warranty on them. One is a small portable one that I use in the kitchen for smaller cuttings.
Router and table came also from CT with same 3 year warranty and it cost $79 for both as a package.

Diane

[Old Forester]

I did it the other way around. I made furniture as a hobby for 30 years and just recently became fascinated with scroll saw art. I also think you don't need the most expensive tools available, but I would buy the best I could afford, especially because you are thinking of furniture making.

For a table saw, I would recommend a belt drive saw with at least a 3/4 hp motor. I would get a cast iron table w/ cast iron wings (side extentions). I have an old Craftsman with an upgraded fence. I bought a Vega fence which I really like, but Beissemier (sp?) is considered the best. The fence is critical on a tablesaw. I use a lot of oak and I find if I keep a sharp blade (high quality) and watch my feed rate, the 3/4 hp is adequate. (Sears rates this saw at 1 1/2 peak hp) But if I were just buying a new saw, and could afford it, I would have a larger motor.

I have three routers. For many years, I did all my routing work with an old 11/2 hp sears router. About 10 years ago I bought a 3hp DeWalt plunge router which is a sweet machine. I just recently bought a sears 2hp router with a fixed and a plunge base. This machine is made by Bosch. It can be used in a router table and has a fine tuning system that can be operated from above the table. I bought this router on sale at sears for $199. If I could only have one router, this would be the one I would keep.

Like Diane, I have a stationary belt/disc sander and would not want to be without it. Mine is an old Jet 6x48 belt and 9'' disc. I also have three hand sanders, a Makita palm sander and two Bosch hand held orbital sanders. I would not want to do woodworking with out them. For a few years now, I have been wanting to purchase an oscillating spindle sander. Because of my interest in intasia, I am looking at the Jet buffer (1725rpm) with pneumatic drum attachements.

Hope this helps some.

[Gill]

Price is an obvious consideration .

Of all the tools you mention, the one that I'd really hate to be without is a router. Make sure you get one from a reputable manufacturer with good dust extraction, easy cutter bit removal and a soft-start motor. Some routers come with a 'dead-man's switch' nowadays - I prefer the old style where you can take your hands away and it keeps running.

Don't be tempted to buy a cheap collection of router cutter bits. They may look like good value but you want something that isn't going to snap when it's spinning at high speed.

A fence is a very useful accessory for a router, as are trammel bars, straight edges and collars.

Gill

[workin for wood]

I say spend all your cash on the best tablesaw with the most frills you can afford. You need good quality when it comes to a big powerhouse tool like that. Cast Iron, lots of weight, as much power as you can get. Be sure it is a continuous duty motor, not that sears induction style motor. If the motor says 1 1/2 hp peak induction, well that's the power it puts out before the lights go out. It is probably only 3/4 hp when doing regular work. The continuous duty is the industrial style motor which is rated at what it works at and is meant to run 24/7/365 days a year. Power is important when running your rails and styles for your cabinets, and for just normal ripping of lumber. The fence is extremely important. You need beismeyer or a beismeyer wannabe, hopefully one that locks at the front and at the back. You need an easy adjuster bolt for the bottom housing to tweak the arbor to be parrallel with the fence. The fence is to be completely parallel, not wider at the back of the blade, not wider at the front of the blade. You also need a good quality splitter, an aftermarket, not the junk you get with the saw. The splitter and kickback should not be removed from the saw, that's what saves you're life. You will need some bostick for the table top for preventing rust and to create friction. If you still have some cash, a sliding table to mount on the side of the saw for handling those sheets of plywood. You need a set of rollers behind the saw, or a home-made outfeed table to support the long sheets of plywood and longer boards too.

I have alot of routers, but I can do about %60 of anything a router can do on a tablesaw. I can make trim and moldings for pictureframes on the saw that you wouldn't dare attempt on a router. But I still recommend having a router of course for cutting circles, and for plunge operations. I have to agree with Gill though, far as if you are going to get a router, go soft start and variable speed with good quality bits.

I use a cheap 6x48 stationary belt sander for intarsias. you need big, but nothing too fancy for that. I also have the Jet oscilating spindle sander, the delta 18" drum sander and a couple palm sanders, random orbit sanders and flap sanders. For cabinets, just a random orbit sander will suffice.

[Bill Wilson]

I agree that of those tools, the table saw is the foundation of most woodworking shops, so get the best you can. That doesn't mean you have to spend thousands of $$. I would say look for a TS with a good fence, large table top (cast iron is best, but stamped steel extension wings are OK) and plenty of power (don't need a 5 hp Uni, but Jeff's advice is good).

I would stay away from the benchtop saws. You can get a good contractor saw or take a look at the hybrid table saws out there. Some of the better jobsite saws have gotten good reviews, but unless portability is important shop space is at a premium, I would still lean toward the contractor, hybrid or even a used cabinet saw.

As for routers, for versatility I would definitely go with one of the combo kits that all the major manufacturers offer. Features like soft start, variable speed, 1/4" and 1/2" cullets, at least a 2.25hp motor, with the fixed and plunge bases are really nice. If you intend to mount a router to a table, that may change your requirements a bit, depending on what you want to do with it, but for most routing any of the kits from the big players will serve you well. For hand held router work, consider a laminate trimmer like the Bosch Colt. They're great for small jobs.

Sanders are a pretty wide category. I have a couple random orbit sanders that take care of most of my surface sanding needs. I also have a Ridgid oscillating spindle sander that I love and wouldn't want to be without. A platform belt sander, with disc sander is a nice tool, especially for intarsia. There are sanders for just about every application, just check the Grizzly catalog, so I would start out with the basics and work into others as projects and budget dictate.

[lucky788scroller]

what options do yall think are important when purchasing any or all of the above????

im doing fretwork right now but hope to in the future get into intarsia, plus the possibility of getting in to cabinetry or small furniture making sounds interesting......
__________________

Well, these are opinions of course.. Tablesaw. I would say much like a scrollsaw, the more mass to it the less vibration you will have. I would steer clear of any direct drive saw, and at least 3/4hp as someone mentioned is fine for a hobby woodworker. If your going to be using it a lot, a larger motor and in 220V would be beneficial.The motor should be a capacitor start motor.Left tilt is much more user friendly in my opinion as well. Your fence system is very important, theres nothing fun about measuring the fence at the front and the back over and over to get it set where you want it (most guys/gals with craftsman contractor saws know exactly what I mean). I will install a vega fence on one of my craftsman tablesaws as soon as the 4H woodworking rush is over.I got the new fence from Santa Claus and havent put it on yet.Your blade choice is critical as well.Thin kerf will make cutting much easier than using a standard kerf blade. Freud makes a really good blades, and so does Forrest.Cast iron wings are definatly a plus, and, if you plan on mounting a router under a wing , MLCS sells a cast iron table extension designed to hold a router,which is what I wish I would have bought instead of my router table.
Routers... that would depend, as handheld and table mounted i have differing opinions. For handheld,a variable speed with soft start, dual collets for 1/4 and 1/2 inch bits, and handles you can really grip and balance the router with.Look for one with a good system for fine adjusting . If its a table mounted router, I would go with a single speed router with soft start, and above table adjustments, wether its in the router base, or mounted in a router raiser. Same goes for the collets, one that takes 1/4 and 1/2 inch shanks. HP is important, especially running some of the larger profiling bits and raised panel bits.The reason I suggest a single speed router in a table, is because for $25 you can get a good router speed control to plug the router into, and that can be mounted where its user friendly, instead of having to contort yourself under the table when you want to speed up or slow it down.
Sanders cover a large area, so Im unsure what your thinking about. For thichness sanding, the performax 16/32 is a priceless tool to me. I have a pnuematic drum sander and flapwheel that I love for intarsia shaping, but its more tool than i need. My spindle sander is nothing fancy, noisy, pretty cheap to buy, but has served its purpose for me. When I buy a belt/disc sander, I wont buy anything smaller than a 6 X 48 inch belt, and a 12 inch disc. I researched them a couple years ago,but havent purchased one yet. for handheld sanders,get a random orbit sander with some sort of dust collection on it. No matter which brand, none of them have much of a system to capture the dust thats very effective, but its needed.Variable speed is real handy.One important thing with a random orbit sander...pick it up, and hold it in your hand a while. Weight here can be your enemy. I have a Bosch ROS and I love everything about it except its weight, its way to heavy. From what I remember, the porter cable model rates at the top of most tool tests. And, lastly,sandpaper.. Dont buy the 100 sheet packs on ebay that they sell for $3 (or whatever it is)with the korean or chinese writing on the back, you will be very disappointed. Buy quality sandpapers, it pays off real fast, especially when its wrapped around a wood block, and its YOUR arm that is powering it!
I hope some of that helps, again, its my opinions, not a scientific study. Dale