All of my big tools, including the BS & DP are on mobile bases.  The DP does not get moved much, but I can move it when I need to.

I also use a lot of pallet wood.  I am not sure what you mean by shaping it before putting it on the table saw.  If you do any resawing (or plan to); I think a bench top model would be pretty limited here.

Cal

@clhyer

By shaping I guess I mean resaw. Also I hate tipping my table saw blade off of 90* for bevel cuts. I'm hopeful that a BS will allow easier lengthwise bevels.

 

Also I think the BS would be better for cutting finger close cuts.

13 minutes ago, ACR_SCOUT said:

I'm hopeful that a BS will allow easier lengthwise bevels.

 

Also I think the BS would be better for cutting finger close cuts.

no...

not evenly nor smoothly on the bevels..

plan ''B'' would be a hand plane...

 

Finger close????

Edited December 25, 20169 yr by Stick486

Now we are getting a bit closer to knowing what your use of the tools is, we can give some better advise perhaps.

If you want to rip the boards with a bevel, use the table saw.  Buy yourself a Wixey so that you get the angle you want and can go back to 0* easily.  I bought one of these and it took my woodworking up a notch, or maybe two.

 

Another alternative to the table saw would be a router, router table and chamfer bit, but you are somewhat limited to thickness here.

Finger close -   Push blocks are easy and cheap to make...

Keep in mind here, some advise is worth what you pay for it!

 

http://www.tigersupplies.com/Products/Wixey-Digital-Angle-Gauge__WIXWR300.aspx?gclid=CKK_uc-ujtECFZq6wAodAKQP-Q

 

 

Edited December 25, 20169 yr by clhyer

On 12/24/2016 at 0:33 PM, ACR_SCOUT said:

 

.  However, I cannot cut a straight hole with a forstner drill bit. I have thought about one of those drill attachments that act like a small drill press.  Also, I do not have much floor space so I need to be careful what I get.

The attachment MAY work OK with small forstner bits, but nothing over 1"max.

John

What tools do you have now?   How do you use them?   And what projects are in your immediate and long term future?

20 minutes ago, kmealy said:

What tools do you have now?   How do you use them?   And what projects are in your immediate and long term future?

 

I have table saw, chop saw (I hardly use), router and table, and that's pretty much it. I've outfitted the TS with all kinds of jigs.

Next big thing will be a bookcase for my office. But I use a lot of pallet wood.

I'd be tempted to go with a planer next.  

 

Band saws are good for cutting curves and resawing.   A sabre saw will cut curves and if you don't mind loosing 3/16" a table saw will resaw up to about 6"

 

A drill press will drill holes and with accessories can spindle sand.    So can a portable drill.  You can get some fixtures to drill straight holes and have depth stops.  With a doweling jig, you can drill same and make mortises to clean out with a chisel.

 

A planer will do something it would take a long time to do with a hand plane.

 

Since you are working with pallet wood, you will have a lot of rough and uneven stuff.   You can joint the edge with your router or table saw.

Edited December 27, 20169 yr by kmealy

@kmealy

I tried the router jointing but it did not go so well. I have made a jig to get a straight cut so I can get a parallel cut on the other side. It would be nice to get the cups out of the boards. I suppose a bench top planer would be good.

 

For the record, I cannot cut a straight line with a saber saw with a straight edge. I haven't figured it out but I am pondering making a saber saw table so I can feed the wood versus feeding the saw to the wood.

Since you are using pallet wood a lot, you are dealing with varying thicknesses of wood and likely boards with cupping, as well as pieces that have not been planed. I think a bench top planer would be a big help to get you going. I'm strictly a hobbiest, and I've been using my old RYobi 10" thickness planer for probably 15 years. While snipe had been a problem with my little planer, I've found that I can plane shorter pieces 10" up to about 30" without snipe. If I want to plane longer lengths, I can add to the length of the in feed table and the out feed table to eliminate snipe. Most planers today are 12" or wider, but you can probably find a good 10" for under $50.00. My Ryobi has performed well for several years without ever needing repairs, Just blade changes. 

I made a single unit jointing fence for my router table which works well. If you need instructions for building one, let us know here.

Since you're space is very limited, I'd seriously consider a bench top drill press.

Don't ask how I did it. I have the same thing posted twice. Can someone delete the copy. I would try but then we might have two copies. I'm practicing to get my dumb-dumb license. At the rate I'm going it won't be long.

 

Preston

On 12/26/2016 at 10:00 PM, ACR_SCOUT said:

 

I have table saw, chop saw (I hardly use), router and table, and that's pretty much it. I've outfitted the TS with all kinds of jigs.

Next big thing will be a bookcase for my office. But I use a lot of pallet wood.

 

For this type of project you have what you need already. Do you need more? Maybe, maybe not! A BS and a DP will make life easier, but there are other suitable ways to get there. Sounds like someone hit the nail on the head for the planer. Uniform thickness (or as close as you can get it) is just about a must. However, planing and jointing go hand in hand. You need to learn to use your router and the table saw to get that done or pop for a jointer. As for the cupping, you can always look to your hand planes to fix this. You don't need a planer.

 

People are lazy by nature...most will fiddle with the set-up on a power tool just to save some time/labor. I can fix something with a hand tool before you get the machine dialed in. Learn to "pick your battles".

59 minutes ago, schnewj said:

People are lazy by nature...most will fiddle with the set-up on a power tool just to save some time/labor. I can fix something with a hand tool before you get the machine dialed in. Learn to "pick your battles".

 

I have no problem working with hand tools. I just don't have the experience nor do I have the extra cash to be messing up on good lumber.

 

4 hours ago, ACR_SCOUT said:

 

I have no problem working with hand tools. I just don't have the experience nor do I have the extra cash to be messing up on good lumber.

 

 

Understand! Experience comes with use and repetition. Practice on junk wood. You wouldn't practice making dovetails in an expensive piece of wood, would you? Nope, didn't think you would! You would use scraps and trash that isn't good for anything but practice. Just play around and you'll find out what works, what doesn't, and learn how to get desired results.

 

Your hooked on the sharpening and that is the first step. Dull blade will just cause you frustration and pain. Get it sharp and then practice using it...plane, chisel, whatever.

FWIW, Wood Magazine is working on a series of "Ideal workshop" on an installment (buy as you go).    If I read it correctly, the recommend a planer, then jointer, before either drill press or bandsaw.   But again, it really depends on what type of projects you do.

 

http://www.woodmagazine.com/workshop/idea-shop-6/idea-shop-6-paycheck-26-dust-collection-and-whats-next?hid=b0b455ea13e71c23a3fc22b044c0be06fb838bd1&utm_source=wdm-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wood_weeklyupdate_122916&did=114371-20161229

Every one has their opinion,I guess. I totally disagree with getting a planer. I have one sitting here I only use  once or twiice a year. I went for 35 years or more with only a table saw(first tool I bought, and a drill press. You can do so much with a drill press besides drill holes. You can use it for spindle sanding with different sizes of small drums and mandrels, I even did small turning on it,as I didn't have a lathe.I didn't use rough sawn lumber so didn't need a planer. I used a hand held belt sander, hand planes and scrapers to smooth wood. Portable planers didn't show up til the 80's anyway before that they were stationary.

Herb

Edited December 30, 20169 yr by Dadio

3 hours ago, Dadio said:

Every one has their opinion,I guess. I totally disagree with getting a planer. 

Herb, The thickness planer has been a time saver and a money saver for me. Most of my wood is bought rough sawn.  I will admit that  my drill press saw a lot of use long before I had the planer. As for the jointer, I had the Jet 6" for a while but because of my limited space, it had to go. I've been able to flatten boards using the thickness planer and I do my edge jointing on the router table. For a non professional woodworker starting out, I think the jointer is a pricey luxury.

Edited December 30, 20169 yr by It Was Al B

I think I am leaning towards a DP because I also have some boat renovations to do this winter that will required some nice hold to buck aluminum rivets. Although the local woodcraft has a bench top bandsaw on sale for $219 (Nikon I think).

The next thing to haunt me will be dust collection. 

It comes to a question. Which one do I buy and which one do I not buy. Can one or the other live without the other. Sometimes you may need both to complete a project, get both.

 

Problem solved

2 minutes ago, steamshovel said:

It comes to a question. Which one do I buy and which one do I not buy. Can one or the other live without the other. Sometimes you may need both to complete a project, get both.

 

Problem solved

Yep...