Oh, I know it is a progressive kind of thing. If you look into my mechanics set, I have everything ranging the gamut from the cheapo Taiwan stuff, to Snap On. I know the value of good tools. I also know that with a lot of tools, the name on the label isn't always a good indicator of quality of funtion. My Snap On Metric Deep well sockets for example, do not grip fasteners nearly as well as the set of Craftsmans I bought to replace them.
You are right about that B&D saw. I looked at a 12 incher that Ryobi makes (I like Ryobi stuff mostly) and was not impressed with it for the price. I do not see a need right now for me to be miter cutting any large stock. Having said that, I know how these things go. In about 5 or so years, I am going to be wishing I had bought a bigger saw...
Generally speaking, for the budget I had to work with, I am very pleased with my shop. It does not cut into my household budget beyond what paying a cheap contractor to do just the fence repair would charge, and if I get good enough, maybe I can figure out how to build custom interior trim pieces for my truck and my wife's car. Not all of the gear is new, the Table Saw, Miter Saw, Miter saw stand, shop vac (replaced a burnt up one) the B&D router, and the Skil Router bits are all new, and all on sale, or bought with a 10% off coupon. The rest of the stuff I have had for years, and it is holding up well. I got the second router because I was getting sick and tired of taking my Ryobi on and off the router table every single time I had to run a profile on a piece that was stationary.
My small project this week, is going to be finished tonight, and I wish I had taken some before photos. I got a Skil 30 piece carbide router bit set with a damaged case from the local Lowes at a huge discount. The acrylic display panel, and the wood strips that hold it in were busted out. I took it apart, fitted some new strips by hand with a back saw and some small clamps, and got the replacement acrylic from Ace Hardware. I have not test fit the acrylic, it is a couple MM too tall, but there was plenty of slop built into this joint, it SHOULD be okay, but I may have to sand the high edge down a little.
I know this might sound odd, but I think I am going to remove the stickers that Skil uses as place identifiers, remove the felt, strip it, stain and seal the entire thing in a darker stain, Possibly add a couple of keyhole hangers to the back (but I don't think the material is thick enough) and hang it on my shop wall.
Oh, and yes, that is a Snap On Tools 75th anniversary wall clock. I wish I had kept the calendar and coffee cup as well!
Thanks for your comments and all. I will keep the Pics of your shop thread updated as I get the setup closer to finalized. I still have some equipment I want, but I have not found out which ones I want. They must be best bang for the buck.
Those items are...
#1. Benchtop lathe with extension bed. Build my own mini bench for the lathe.
#2. Band Saw. Something with a decent opening size.
#4. Benchtop planer. Minimum 12", but the bigger the better.
#5. Spindle Sander. I have never seen one in the stores, but remember these from High School wood shop. Man I loved how easy those were to work.
#6. And this one I am picking up soon. Belt Sander. The orbital is fine, but not aggressive enough for some of the stuff I am doing.
#7. Shop lights. I only have two, and it is too dark in there. I want to run electrical boxes to just above the lights, ceiling mount the fixtures, and hard wire them in. I want at least 4 more. 2 directly over the bench, and 2 each side going down the garage bays.
#8. This is something I will have to build, but a storage cabinet for my portable tools.
#9. Another item I want to build. Router cabinet. I would like to take the table top, wiring, etc... from the Wolfcraft, and build up a nice cabinet. I like the layout of Norm Abrams Deluxe Router Cabinet, but I want something with a more, uh, rustic look. I will probably take his design and modify it to include Mexican Rustic motifs such as the recessed panel doors, hammered iron hardware, etc...
#10. A silly thing to not have in a garage workshop is a peg board. And I am missing one. That has to change. I am going to move my storage bins, and the small parts cabinet to mount that.
