Power Tools In Your Shop

[pigpendesigns]

Which power tools do you feel you just have to have in your shop? Scroll Saw? Band Saw? Miter Saw? Sander? I'm setting my shop and working on what power tools I may need. Thanks!

[Robert Cahill]

Speaking strickly for myself the first is a scroll saw but I do a lot of fret work etc. not just carving, my second would be a drill press mine finally quit after only 22 years and I am lost with out it. Third is a bench top band saw. Bench top for me because of funding and space. table saw and sanding machines would follow .

[SlowMover]

I use my band saw and drill press a lot, and use the belt sander frequently (to smooth out blanks for attaching arms). I would love to add: a combo belt and disc sander (a drum sander would be great...will probably get a mandrel for the drill for a drum), a power honer, and a sharpening machine.

I also use the dremel (actually a Black and Decker rotary too, Wal-Mart, $15) a lot....mainly again for sanding but also for drilling small holes in carvings and for miscellaneous odds and ends. I would love someday to have a more powerful and adjustable/controllable rotary tool.

If you consider a woodburner a power tool, I have a Colewood Detailer I got this summer, I like it a lot and feel it adds to the finish of my carvings.

If I ever got all the tools I have on my wish list, I would have to build a shop..something that unfortunately is out of my budget. Will have to stick to what I can do/have in the living room and a corner of the garage.

hope you get your shop equipped just like you have it pictured in your mind.

[kitaye]

I use my bandsaw all the time for cutting blanks. I use my drill press for making nice round holes. I use my dremel for making smaller holes and slots. That is pretty much my power tool list.

[Big Barn]

I've got a scroll saw, compound miter, table top table saw, combo disc/belt sander & a broken drill press plus a router table (I don't use too often). I also have a Dremmel & one of those drill presses you clamp in a hand drill (I got for $7 at a yard sale) until I replace the drill press.

[woodshed]

Air filters (2) are just as important to me as any cutting tools. Everything in my shop starts on the radial arm saw to get the length needed. Then, band saw, drill press, belt sander get used on everything. Jig saw and chop saw sometimes, and a reciprocating power carver is a must to me if it is going to be 6" tall or more. Scroll saw gets very little use, but nice when needed. That's just me....it all depends on what you want to do, really.

[Soggy]

I think most of us if we are completely honest will admit that there's a big difference in what we need and what we would like to have .Having said that here's what I find that I use most frequently. 10" craftsman bandsaw, sand-o-flex, wood burner, cordless drill.
Soggy

[SeaLeveler]

10" band saw(wish it was a 14),1x42 belt/8" disc sander,scroll saw are what I use mostly in that order.
Tony

[telecarver]

For machinery, I have a jointer for laminating blanks, a bandsaw for cutting out blanks, a stationary disc sander for flattening additional laminations, a table saw, a sliding compound miter saw and a drill press. I use them all regularly. Whether you need all of them depends on the type of work you plan to do. In addition, I have pretty much all of the hand held power tools you can imagine. I use all of them regularly also.

[Dileon]

Must have in shop are bandsaw, sanders, miter saw, and my Tomz .Then I have whole bunch of hand held tools.