What tools for a small home shop?

sharp21

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I am going to be building a small wood working shop next summer & want to start start getting some tools in place to put in it! What should I be looking to get first? My only woodworking tool I have right now is a jigsaw....

I'm going to start with a kit but would eventually like to be re-sawing my own wood & build right from scratch.

S.
 
Most folks that provide uke kits also provide recommended tool lists.
http://www.hanalima.com/tooltips.shtml
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Kits/Ukulele_Kits/Tenor_Ukulele_Kit.html?tab=Instructions#details
Also recommend the Pete Howlett video series and the Dave G (Waverly) videos for more advanced tool recommendations on YouTube.
http://petehowlettukulele.co.uk/
http://www.wsukes.com/plans.html
My advice is; instead of building a work shop, build a uke kit. The rest will follow. There are some fine ukes being built on kitchen tables. (not a recommendation but you see my point).
 
Wood shop or Luthier shop?

If it is just a wood shop, then check out Popularwoodworking.com. They have a section called "I Can Do That" which includes a guide to setting up shop. The guide and tool list was developed mostly by Chris Schwartz who is one of the best woodworkers in the states.

A couple of tips to give you as you get started:
- Try to master hand tools first. It will make it easier to use power tools later.
- Don't run out and buy a table saw first thing. You will not buy what you need and will be unhappy (and probably hurt) later.
- When you do buy tools, spend money. Cheap tools are cheap for a reason.
- Lastly: Buy good wood. It ruins a project from the get go if you buy ugly wood that is hard to work with.

~DB

P.S.: Another good site with lots of support and a great community is Lumberjocks.com.
 
I've got a reasonable bit of space now, with a nice bench & whatnot, but we are going to be moving to a new place next summer. It doesn't have a shop so I'll be building one.

It will be a general workshop, slightly slanted to lutherie. I checked out that popularwoodworking article. Pretty interesting! I've also been researching small shops built into a 10x20 foot space. I'll be using it for general household woodworking & repairs, & for building ukes! I'd like to get it laid out nice & compact but very workable.

Good advice on the table saw; that was the first one I was looking at getting!

I'm going to start building from kits though right away. Start accumulating the small hand tools needed. I've got a Grizzly kit on the way & will move to a StewMac after that.

S.
 
Yeah, I think mine is something like 15x17 with low ceilings (7'5") and I build some pretty big stuff.

Let us know how it all comes together!

~DB
 
Yeah, I think mine is something like 15x17 with low ceilings (7'5") and I build some pretty big stuff.

Let us know how it all comes together!

~DB

Thats still 55 sq/ft bigger than I was planning! I just figured I would tack another 10 feet onto the end of the garage, hence the 10x20...

I tried that search but it didn't return any results... But I checked out your website & really like the night shots!

S.
 
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My advice is to put everything you can on wheels. That way they can be moved aside when not in use. Make sure the casters have brakes on them. My wheeled equipment includes one table saw, two bandsaws, a spindle sander, a belt sander, a drum sander, two air compressors, dust collector and one large rolling work table. Even my tall work stools are on wheels. My drill press is fixed as well as two large work benches. I have dust collection ports spaced about every eight feet around the shop that will accept any tool I choose to plug into.
I like an open feeling in my shop so I installed two eight foot wide bay doors at either end of one wall that opens out to a 40' X 8' deck. I live in an area where the weather is pleasant most of the time so I am able to do some of the rough work outside if I wish. I can wheel the bandsaw or drum sander out onto the deck to handle large boards.
You mentioned wanting to do general woodworking as well. The deck is a good place to work with sheet goods, plywood and such and good for spraying furniture etc.
 
I just finished reading the eBook from Popular Woodworking & it was pretty interesting. I AM going to put everything on a rolling base & I think I will build each of those bases myself. I want to construct everything in the shop, from the workbench, to the cabinets, to the jigs, to the ukes!

By the time I'm done setting it up I should be well practiced
S.
 
Beware of TAS...I got it so bad that I have no more room left in the workshop:mad:..and I sometimes have to work outside..to get away from the clutter..it's time I had a Sale of "Not really needed but come in handy " Tools:D
 
1. Bandsaw. Cant live without it. If you have the room and the money get a large 2 wheel version. They do take up a chunk of room but my shop is only 3 meters by 2 meters and it gets in the way sometimes, but I love it.
2. Next would be a fixed belt sander.
3. Japanese saw (fine tooth) Just so easy to use once you get used to it and so accurate.
4. Set of good wood chisels and learn how to sharpen them.

I can be persuaded to alter the order of my list but not the bandsaw as No. 1.
 
Haven't read through all of the posts but, knowing what I know now I wish I had taken advice given on countless forums and picked up a 14 inch or better bandsaw instead of a 12. The 12" Delta I have is ok for sopanos and maybe concerts but I'm gonna have trouble with tenors. Two other things I wouldn't want to do without, a thickness sander and youtube videos and pages and pages of information dealing with the possible dangers and safety procedures of power tools. Also, all the youtube videos and websites on lutherie and ukulele building. Kathy's site is great. I read and stored about a gig of lutherie info over the years, the net is a virtual luthier's school today. A lot of these cats could make a few bucks selling their knowledge but they give it freely, that's a good sign things are gonna be.... alright...
Start buying clamps now.
I got an older but barely used craftsman benchtop belt sander I absolutely love it for shaping stuff, especially bracing, picked it up for a song.
Nice scrapers are excellent for certain jobs.
Fret crowning file is a must have, along with nut slotting files.
Japanese saw is pretty much a must have.
Stewmac or LMI fret slotting saw blad and templates are wonderful to have.
Router and table and some sort of binding router jig with a trim router ( I made my own for like 30 bucks using drawer slides, including a harbor freght trim router and it works perfect).
Block plane, mini planes, nice chisels (don't have but one but will probably add many), spokeshave... there's a rasp from Lowe's it's about 7 inches long, double sided flat and convex with both fine and course... I love that thing for shaping soprano necks... n stuff. Probably move to a spokeshave in the future but I dunno.
Man I could be here all night. Visit Kathy's site.
 
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I've been all over Kathy's site. Her updated shop build is actually what got me thinking about how to set up my next one!

What kind of workbench is everyone using? Does it have a shoulder & end vice, or any interesting features? I'll be scratch building one & am thinking of building it & the rolling tool stands at complementary heights so that I can but them up to the end of the bench & it will be level with the work surface. Good for ripping long pieces on the chop saw for example, or having room to work around the bandsaw. A full size bandsaw!

A thickness sander is different than a planer correct? What about using the Luthiers Friend for thickness sanding?

S.
 
The Luthier's Friend is fine for thicknessing small parts but you'll need a way to thickness larger panels like tops and backs. You'll find folks here who use everything from handplanes to handheld belt sanders...commercially made drum sanders that cost thousands of dollars (see Performax for an example) to shop-built drum sanders that cost very little (see Timbuck's excellent post on his build of a cheap but excellent sander). I resaw my own wood on an old Delta 14" bandsaw with riser block (original 1/4 horse Delta motor...it shouldn't handle what I feed it, but it does) work it down to near final thickness with a Wagner Safe-T-Plane in my drill press (it seems that folks either love or hate the Safe-T-Plane...I love it and get great results) and then sand to final thickness with a shop-built drum sander that I made to mount on my Shopsmith (again...another machine that folks seem to love or hate). The great thing that you will find about this adventure you are on is that there are many ways to build and get good results. Study what others are doing and find your own way.
 
I will say that getting good bandsaw would be a better decision if you are to build ukes than a table saw. The TS will give you some more flexibility in what you build, but that are a pain in the backside to cut book-matched parts. Plus, the band saw has a good learning curve and is fairly forgiving to your fingers (compared the the table saw).

Make sure if/when you get one that you have a good resaw capacity. Resawing is when you take a board and cut it in half thick-wise. Meaning you take a 1" board and cut it to 1/2". Anything less than a 7" resaw capacity is not adequate (I would go bigger and shoot for at least 10").

~DB
 
What do you think about THIS bandsaw? Price okay? Big enough?
S.
 
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