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+-- Thread: Nice to have nice tools. (/showthread.php?tid=7328487)
RE: Nice to have nice tools. - Arlin Eastman - 03-07-2017
(03-06-2017, 07:02 PM)Gary G™ Wrote: Maybe the blade is running backwards to the feed??
Good grief do you think that could happen
I did it once but ever since then I made sure with all my blades.
RE: Nice to have nice tools. - toolmiser - 03-07-2017
Sometimes and not always it's about priorities. I have decent tools (at least for me), but I don't smoke, drink a lot, golf, gamble, etc (I'm pretty boring). I enjoy my tools more than some other things. I'm not saying the others are wrong, but this is my choice. Also a lot of my larger machines are older, probably purchased at least second hand, so I've rehabbed them rather than purchased new. I get more enjoyment out of a good garage sale find than purchasing new.
RE: Nice to have nice tools. - Kansas City Fireslayer - 03-07-2017
I know I posted the "life is short buy good tools" comment earlier but I'd like to add to that. I'm finally at a point where I have more free money than free time. Actually I'm blessed to have a good amount of both. When I started woodworking I had very little spare income but a huge desire to build a shop full of good tools on the cheap...so I could build good furniture.
I remember building my first bench by pounding out chiseled mortises on the concrete basement floor. Today I'll pay more out for tools or wood than those days.
Nonetheless, where there's a will there's a way and I found many great old tools for dirt cheap with my desire to hunt them down.
For any new woodworker on a tight income, good tools and cheap wood can be found but you need to go find them. That's where more time than money comes into play...
RE: Nice to have nice tools. - Stockwell - 03-08-2017
Actually, Right woodworking tool will produce better work. I recommended all of woodworkers to select the right tool for their woodworking work.
RE: Nice to have nice tools. - RobertM - 03-08-2017
When I first started doing woodworking on my own I was using my dads old 1950's 8" craftsman table saw, measure in front of the blade then behind the blade to get a good cut. I did this for a long time and it worked. Then I got my own contractor saw and it was alright but I still wasn't really all that happy with it. Then I got a Powermatic 66 5hp and I've been in love with it ever since. I've since changed my way of thinking instead of buying something to get me by I save my money till I can get what I really want. I find this actually saves me money and a lot of frustration. It's taken me a lot of years to get what I wanted but now I'm very pleased with the tools I have.
The only down side is now I can't blame the tool when I screw up.
Robertm
RE: Nice to have nice tools. - Steve N - 03-08-2017
(03-08-2017, 01:11 PM)RobertM Wrote: I save my money till I can get what I really want. I find this actually saves me money and a lot of frustration.
I used to flip tools for part of my income, actually a LOT of tools, and I know what you are saying is true. I saw it every day some guy wanted a TS, would by a junker to start, swap several times, and finally buy a good saw. Generally they would lose their shirt on all the trades, and the good saw would cost a lot more than the few dollars more if they just waited. Take that scenario, and add a BS, Jointer, Planer, Sander, DC, etc etc etc, and they ended up buying several shops full of tools. Doesn't matter if you are talking good older tools, or retail new.
RE: Nice to have nice tools. - Ninefingers_grapes - 03-10-2017
I learned this about good tools 30 or more years ago.I saved zero dollars by buying lesser quality tools, and then finally replacing them with the 'ONES" I wanted.
It tough now that I am older, I see new stuff I would like to have, but do not necessarily need, and, I am full up in my basement shop.
Back problems have limited my output. I want to build a small box, but my work-space is filled with local wood (curly PA Maple) purchased to make two fire-place cab's.
Such is old retired living!!
RE: Nice to have nice tools. - Steve N - 03-10-2017
Yeah but you don't have to drag yourself out of bed every morning to drive in crazy traffic.
RE: Nice to have nice tools. - sawdust703 - 03-10-2017
It's true that alot of us have wood shops set up with older equipment. At one time, I had enough money to get the bills paid, & put some in a savings account. Now if I'm able to get all the bills covered, & buy groceries, I'm darn lucky. My health put me out of the truckin' business 5 years ago. But we had most of our tools bought & paid for before my health went. Now, I save a few dollars each month, & some from a project I might get lucky enough to sell, & just wait til I get over the amount I need for the tool(s) I'm wanting, or lumber.
When I first started getting into woodworking, I bought one tool at a time because I wasn't sure what I wanted, or needed. Bein' in the trucking business all my life, I'd never been around wood working, or any of the equipment involved. I spent alot of time reading, researching, & learning the machines. The joys of livin' in your truck, I could read the books I checked out from the library when my day was over & didn't have to do deal with the truckstop trash.
I take alot of pride in being self taught. I don't get myself in a tight very often. I don't work fast enough anymore, & I spend more time at the scroll saw & am slowly learning the lathe. I've been scrolling 20+ years now, & own 5 saws + a shop full of other toys. My back & my bride won't let me do anything heavy anymore, but my scroll saws enjoy my company. I think a fella has to decide what kind of woodworking he wants to do, & start buyin' tools that pertain to that area. It's always good to hear from others, & how they started, too.