Shop Setup – Stationary Power Tools

In this article we are going to talk about the big guns; the tools you see on all the TV shows and all the photos of “serious” carpentry shops. I’m going to go through the list of stationary power tools that I think make up a basic workshop. Again, if you’re just starting out in woodworking and aren’t sure exactly what kind of woodworking you want to do, don’t go out and empty your savings account by buying all these tools. The best advice I received when I started woodworking was, “buy tools as you need them.” Tool companies do a great job of making you think you couldn’t build anything without their latest and greatest tool. Talk to other woodworkers, join a woodworking guild in your area, visit online woodworking discussion groups (rec.woodworking is the best known), and see what others are saying about the tools you’re considering buying.

All of the power tools I’m about to mention have less expensive tools that will do the same job. So why do we need these larger, more expensive stationary power tools? Speed, durability and repeatable accuracy. Stationary power tools are designed to do certain tasks faster, they’re designed to do the same task over and over again, and they’re designed to cut wood with the same precision on the first piece you send through as on the last piece. . Let’s take a look at our list.

Table Saws: The first machine you will probably want to invest in is a table saw. The table saw is the centerpiece of most shops. If you plan on building cabinets, furniture, doing home repairs and remodeling, building instruments, architectural woodworking, boat building, etc., this will be your workhorse. Buy the best you can afford. You need one that has a flat table surface, a fence that is parallel to the blade, that can accept a 3/4″ socket blade, and the axis that the blade goes on must be parallel to the miter gauge slot. (or at least be adjustable.) The amount the fence can move away from the blade will determine the size of the piece of wood the saw can cut.If you plan on cutting a lot of laminated products (plywood), get at least one 50″ guide.

There are three main types of table saws: benchtop, contractor-style, and cabinet-style. Bench saws are naturally not stationary tools, but I wanted to include them on this list because they have come a long way in recent years. These saws used to be small and somewhat dangerous to use. Various manufacturers have made it more robust, safer, more portable, with greater cutting capacity than ever before. That said, I’d still caution against buying one of these saws as a stationary tool in your shop. However, if you need something that you can take with you to the job site, this is the way to go.

Contractor’s saws are stationary tools. They usually have an open base with the motor hanging out the back. Unlike bench saws, contractor saws are belt-driven, so they are fairly quiet. All of the best ones have the things I mentioned above to look for in a quality table saw. I didn’t mention this in my list of table saw types at the beginning, but some manufacturers have developed “hybrid” saws that have attributes of both contractor saws and our next style, the cabinet saw. The price difference between a hybrid saw and a cabinet saw isn’t much, so I’d buy a contractor or go ahead and make the jump to a cabinet saw. A cabinet saw is the “Big Daddy” of table saws. They are heavier which reduces vibration, the trunnions are more robust, they are wired for 220 volts, the base is enclosed which gives good dust collection and they have more powerful motors (usually 3-5 horsepower). ) for cutting through thick, tough woods. Most professionals and hobbyists who work with thick pieces of hardwood opt for the
cabinet saw

Thickness Planer: A thickness planer does exactly what its name says, it cuts a piece
of wood to the desired thickness. Most rough cut lumber comes from the sawmill, which means the thickness generally varies along its entire length. If you buy a 4/4″ (1″) board at the mill and need the final thickness to be 3/4″, you will have to use a hand planer or the thickness planer to get there. Hand plans will do work, but if you have multiple boards for thickness, you’ll appreciate how quickly and accurately thickness planes can get the job done.Thickness planers come in portable or stationary machines.Hundreds of pounds!Most Many hobbyists and professionals opt for portable planers. Most of these planers have a 12″ capacity, which is usually enough for most pieces of wood you will encounter. A good planer will have a flat table that is adjustable, an easy-to-read depth scale, easy blade access and changing, and good dust collection. Tea
Stationary thickness planers offer all of these features while being heavier, more robust and offering greater
width capacity, from 15″ and up.

Carpenter: Joining pieces of wood is easier and much more predictable if it is
with straight and flat wood. Many people assume they don’t need an edger if they have a thickness planer. What they don’t understand is that a thickness planer doesn’t flatten a board, it just gives it a uniform thickness. If you run a bowed board through a thickness planer, you will get a bowed board when it comes out. The assembler first flattens the board on one side. It does this by having two flat tables, one on each side of a rotating blade. The table is pushed onto the blade that is set to remove a certain amount, say 1/32″. The other table on the opposite side of the blade is set 1/32″ lower to compensate for the amount of material removed in our example. . By doing this, you get a flat surface.

Edger size is the most important question to answer when deciding which one to buy. A 6″ jointer is the smallest size jointer that would probably be useful if you plan on building furniture. What you need to consider is what width of boards I typically deal with when building projects. If you like most 6″ a 10″ is normal. So let’s go out and buy a 10″ edger, shall we? If you have the money, the answer is YES! Just realize that for every 2″ you go up
capacity above 6″ increases the price of the edger by approximately $1000.00 (you may want to get a paper bag to breathe in before reading on).

So buy the largest you can afford, 6 to 8″ is what most end up buying just for the price. A good edger will have a completely flat table, a fence that slides easily, and has stops at 90 and 45 degrees and have good dust control.

Drill Press: Sure a hand drill can drill a hole, but a drill press can drill it square to an edge or surface or at precise angles. Larger bits are also better used in a drill press because you can change the speed to a lower setting. You can also use a wider variety of accessories on a drill press, such as a hollow chisel mortiser, a cookie cutter, and even sand curved edges. Drill presses come in bench models and floor models. Floor models will have much more capacity, but you may not need it. Even if you don’t need the extra capacity, the versatility of floor models makes them attractive to many woodworkers. A good drill press will have a flat, square table with the chuck and will be able to tilt up to 45 degrees. It should have variable speed and be able to accept 1/2″ size bits.

Compound Miter Saw – A compound miter saw excels at crosscutting boards lengthwise. If a
The table saw can also do this, but it’s difficult with long boards. Plus, with a fence setup on each side of a miter saw, you can quickly, easily, and accurately cut boards into different lengths, all without a tape measure. A miter saw also excels at mitering boards up to 45 degrees and beveling boards. Sliding compound miter saws can also increase a miter saw’s cutting capacity by several inches, so if you’re cutting a lot of wide boards over 8″, you may want to look into one of these. They usually come in 8″. 10″ and 12″ sizes refer to
to the sheet size you use. Naturally, the larger the blade, the more wide boards it can cut.

A good compound miter saw will have a flat table that is perpendicular to the blade when set at 90 degrees and will be adjustable for times when it may go out of square. It should have a degree scale that is easy to read and have stops at 90, 45, and 22.5 degrees. It should also be able to tilt at 45 degrees to cut bevels and compound cuts.

Bandsaw: Arguably, the bandsaw is only second in versatility to the router in the woodworking shop. These are just some of the things the band saw can do: cutting curves and circular parts, cutting small logs into wood, cutting round blanks to turn on the lathe, resaw thick planks into thinner boards combined with books and cut thin slices to come. In my opinion (and it’s worth what you’re paying for it) with so much versatility you want to buy a good saw, just like with the table saw, don’t skimp here. Band saws are sized based on the clearance between the blade and the back of the saw (referred to as the “throat”). So if a band saw is said to be 14″, that means it can cut through a 14″ board without hitting the back of the saw. The thickness of a board that you can cut is determined by the gap between the table and the upper blade guide. If you plan to use your saw for resawing wood, you need more clearance between the table and the upper fence. Some saws can have a “lifter” added which can increase their resaw capacity from 6 to 12″.

There are so many different shapes and sizes on the market now that it can be overwhelming deciding which band saw to buy. My advice is don’t jump in and buy one if you are new to
woodworking Decide what you like to build first. This will determine more than anything what size saw to buy. If you have general furniture in your future, I suggest you get a 14″ band saw. You can go back and add a 6″ riser if you need the extra capacity. As I said earlier, ask other woodworkers what they use, like and dislike, search the rec.woodworking archives to see what others are saying about a saw you’re looking to buy. By doing a little research in advance, buyers are more likely to regret it.

That’s my list of essential stationary power tools. This is not an exhaustive list. But by getting started with these tools, along with our list of hand tools and power hand tools, you’re setting yourself up to be able to build just about anything you want.