Basic Power Tools For Your Workshop

From DIYinfo.org

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Trivia To Contemplate

A quality, fully-faceted round brilliant diamond has at least 58 facets. These are important for the maximum sparkle and brilliance of the stone. A Polaroid emulsion transfer is an image made by "cooking" a Polaroid in hot water until the image separates from its paper backing. The emulsion of the image can then be placed on practically any surface. A love seat is a wide chair. It was first made to seat a woman and the wide skirt of her dress. Later, the love seat (also called courting seat) was made with two sections, often in an S-shape. In this way, a young couple could sit together, but not too closely. A nanosecond is one billionth of a second. Brontology is the study of thunder. The athletes from Iceland took 25 hours in the air to arrive in Sydney, Australia, for the 27th Olympic Games in September 2000. Developed in Egypt about 5,000 years ago, the greyhound breed was known before the ninth century in England, where it was bred by aristocrats to hunt such small game as hares. Today, the dog is widely used in racing. Once you've pulled the trigger, it's probably too late to take a breath and count to ten. By the end of the Civil War, between one-third and one-half of all U.S. paper currency in circulation was counterfeit. This served as the catalyst behind the creation of the U.S. Secret Service. On July 5, 1865, the Secret Service was created under the U.S. Treasury Department. In less than a decade, counterfeiting was sharply reduced. It seems to biologists that, unlike their humpback whale relatives whose underwater song evolves from year to year, killer whales retain individual dialects unchanged over long periods, possibly even for life.

A guide to building your workshop’s tool collection.

New woodworkers often ask which power tools they should purchase to equip their growing workshop. There’s really no definite answer, as the list of required tools changes based upon the projects they attempt to build. First though, I would like to discuss tool quality and why it might not be worth purchasing the best tools. When you go to the store to buy a power tool you are going to see a wide range of manufacturers and prices. Generally the more expensive the tool the better the quality. Better quality tools have better parts, design features, and tighter manufacturing tolerances. They also generally perform better when in use. I usually buy the best tool that I can afford, but I also use my tool quite a bit and demand a lot from them. If you are just starting out and can only invest a limited amount of money in setting up your workshop, I wouldn’t buy the best. There are some exceptions to this rule but generally if this is going to be a weekend hobby and you’re not working with the tools constantly there probably isn’t a need for the best tools. I would still look for a quality tool at a reasonable price and would probably shy away from the rock bottom priced off-brand tools.

With the tools listed below you should be able to tackle any number of different projects.

Drill

I would start with a good quality corded drill with a screwdriver and hammer attachment, you can use it to accomplish a number of different tasks. I wouldn’t start off with a cordless drill. They are more convenient but are also quite a bit more expensive for a high torque unit that can match the power of an electric drill.

Circular Saw

You can use a circular saw to trimming and perform basic cuts not only on timber, but also other materials such as concrete, fiber board and metal just by attaching the appropriate blades. Read more about what to look for when buying a circular saw

Finishing Sander

This type of sander generally uses a ¼ piece of sandpaper and is used for finish sanding. It’s great for smoothing out a surface for painting or finishing. You can also use it to round over edges on some of your projects.

Belt Sander

Belt sanders are great for rapidly smoothing timber as well as shaping parts and objects.

Jig Saw

A hand held jig saw is great for cutting curves and rough outlines. If you plan to build anything with a curve in it, then this is a must have tool.

Table Saw

The table saw is one tool I wouldn’t skimp on. There are many small inexpensive table saws out there but unfortunately they are under-powered and don’t work very well. It is important that you purchase a table saw with a good powerful motor. Otherwise the blade will tend to stall when ripping wood and even burn some of your work. Equally important is that the fence is of a decent length and locks down tight without movement.

Router

Just like a table saw I wouldn’t skimp on a router. A router is a tool that’s used to cut a profile into the edge of a piece of wood. (The profile on the edge of your dining room table was probably cut by a router.) They can also be used to cut mouldings and special profiles. When used with a "pilot bit" the router can be used to trim plastic laminate and cut parts from a template. Routers are available in plunge and fixed versions. The plunge router is spring loaded on its base and can be pushed down into a workpiece for special cuts. The other factor in router is the bit size. They are generally available in ¼ and ½" . This refers to the size of the router bit it will hold. If you plan to work your way up into larger projects you will need ½" bits. I made the mistake of purchasing a ¼" router when I first started and later had to buy a ½" in order to use many of the larger router bits I wanted. My recommendations are to buy a ½" plunge router with a decent amount of power. Also be sure to purchase top quality carbide tipped router bits. Inexpensive router bits tend to be made with lower quality materials and ground to less precise tolerances. Read more about what to look for when buying a router

Band Saw

You can use a band saw for a number of projects. It’s extremely useful for cutting shapes and curves.

You can also use a bandsaw for re-sawing timber and cutting boards from logs.

Compound Miter Saw

You can perform compound miter cuts on a table saw but this tool is a lot easier to use.

Lathe

More important than the quality of the lathe is the quality of the turning tools you use. I spent about $150 on my lathe and about $200 on my first set of turning tools.

Biscuit Joiner

A biscuit joiner is an excellent tool for joining together pieces of wood. The tool cuts a small slot in each side of a joint and a biscuit is inserted and glued in place to hold the parts together. A biscuit joiner can really speed up assembly of a project.

Drill Press

A drill press is great for drilling consistent holes in wood, however the limited depth makes them less useful for woodworking than metalworking. The best uses for a drill press are when you are working with small parts.