Game Changing Tools

[shed9]

Possibly contentious....

Biggest game changer for me was buying better quality tools. I got stuck in a rut of compromising on quality, conflating tools with similar purpose as being similar in capability. The cost hurts initially but I have yet to regret purchasing the best I can afford at the time. I appreciate someone will retort with the usual comment that it's the end user and not the tool that counts but lesser and poor quality tools will always impact that overall equation.

 

[Noggsy]

David, I don’t think that is contentious. Not to me at least. Buying a well-made tool of any kind has definitely moved me on.

For me, it was buying the Quangsheng number 7 plane. It was expensive (for me, at that time) and it was the first new plane I’d bought. Years later it is still a tool I use pretty much every time I plane anything and the clean, unadorned way it it is made and set up showed me what I was aiming for with my other planes. Definitely a game-changer mentally. I genuinely love that plane and I think I’d keep it over any other tool.

 

[glenfield2]

A Makita compound mitre saw. I’ve always been pretty rubbish at hand sawing (still am TBH) so woodworking was pretty low on my DIY skills list but this gave me the confidence to do major jobs on house renovations and refit a completely burnt out canal boat into something others thought impressive.
subsequently joined by a router, track saw and Dewalt table saw.
So sad as it may seem to some of you power tools made me a woodworker.

 

[Notters]

I spent my apprenticeship & early working life with hand tools so the advent of battery powered tools has been a massive game changer particularly when I think of the hours spent putting screws in with a Yankee screwdrive.

As has been said the track saw made a huge difference as did the domino when they came alone. Another big breakthrough was the first dust deputy cyclone, it must be 11 or 12 years since I got my first one & it really did change my view on dust collection.

The latest game changer for me at least has been the spiral carbide tipped planer block, it really is a time saver leaving a planed surface so much better than any traditional planer block I’ve used.

Finally I really love Veritas’s PMV11 not a huge game changer but I wouldn’t want to go back to ordinary chisel & plane blades.

All you battery powered tool fans remember there is an additional cost. Battery's use lithium and cobalt both rare earth materials and they finish up in toxic landfill.!

 

[kinverkid]

In the forty years that I've been a hobbyist wood worker there have been a few game changers. My first hammer drill, first hand held circular saw, first router. Then my first love was a wood lathe. Then naturally came my second love and the real game changer - a bandsaw. The first one was a small Delta bench top model which my brother-in-law still has and uses. In 2001 I bought a larger Record floor standing one and has to be the most used power tool I have. My latest buy which surprised me how much I like it is a Glubot. I think I must have had a tenner burning a hole in my pocket at the Makers Central exhibition two years ago and bought one (less than a tenner). No more shaking Fairy Liquid type bottles to get the glue out. Simple thing for a simple mind.

 

[Lonsdale73]

A Festool Domino certainly helped me however I'd have to include the Incra LS Positioner for my router table. Neither of them cheap for the hobbyist I am the ease of use and, with the Incra, the ability to make accurate and repeatable cuts time after time improved consistency and boosted confidence to tackle ever more complex tasks.

 

[recipio]

Norm Abraham.....
If I'd never watched the New Yankee Workshop I would not be doing what I'm doing now....I sold my beloved zx7r and bought a table saw.....that was a game changer for me...

Same here. I was starting out and in need of a table saw when Norm's programmes went out. I imported a DeWalt 746 with a sliding table so I could run dado blades on it. Since then I have added lots of accessories like flat ground 1/4 inch blades , a 'Magic Moulder ' set ( cuts profiles ) and the Rockler mitre fold dado set ( cuts a mitre joint in one pass ). They only made the saw for a few years in the 1990's and it was a transition between site saws and full size sheet saws. I think it a shame that saws with a 5/8 inch arbour are so difficult to find as they are very versatile for amateurs anyway. Best purchase I ever made.

 

[Spectric]

Hi all

There is another side to having things off the shelf that some may call game changers and that is inovation and solving problems. Looking through many books, Mr Maskery's videos and Mr Seftons videos the thing that stands out is the inovation and thought process in making jigs to perform a particular task or achieve repetion. If we all just look at buying off the shelf then we may loose this fundamental ability that has driven woodworking for so many years and in so many ways is part of the fun, maybe not so much for those who are doing it for the cash.

 

[thetyreman]

the humble square awl was a game changer for me.

 

[space.dandy]

The Japanese Ryoba saw. The first precise, clean joint I ever made. All my push saws are at the bottom of the drawer.

List them in For Sale? I‘m looking for good secondhand saws. Just saying’...

 

[Benchwayze]

Probably my Startrite 351 bandsaw. I bought it because it would allow me to resaw timber and, more importantly, cut my own veneers; thicker and workable with planes. Still wouldn't be without it.

John

 

[aebersold]

Interesting question and most revealing posts in that the game changers are different for most of us depending on where you start from, what you make, the space you have and the budget available. I think the biggest game changers for me have been you tube videos, this forum and a visit to the Barnsley workshop where I realised (even though I thought I worked to close tolerances) wasn’t even scratching the surface ! Still learning the meaning of perspective !

 

[Popey]

For me it's my sharpening method.

Understanding what sharp is and being able to quickly produce it with repeatable results.

Nothing has moved my results forward more.

This. For me, the game changers in this regard are my Veritas Mk II honing guide system and my Tormek T4.
Another game changer was when it dawned on me that I didn't need a tablesaw or mitresaw. Both machines took up a lot of space and made an awful lot of dust and noise. When I sold my Evolution tools I put the money towards a 10" bandsaw and some hand tools. I've since upgraded the bandsaw and haven't looked back.

 

[Ttrees]

A hand plane was the biggest game changer for me, and nothing has come close since.
I had an easy start working on a pretty flat bench from the get go.
I'd say as a "package" the hand plane and flat bench can't be beaten if your working with hand tools.
Making sure the bench is actually flat is important if you want to get good with the plane.

Straight edges actually as long as the bench, which are surfaced on both edges and parallel in height.
This means one can flip them over or around and any spooning error will be doubled, if they happen to move.

An old style angle poise lamp with a 7.5" shade is the business for shining light underneath,
A good photo of how easily one can spot flat or not.

Tom

 

[BHwoodworking]

cordless kit. i have a cordless mitre saw, and was working on site yesterday, and the sparky shut off the plugs, and i was able to carry on fraiming, while the others were kicking their heals, waiting for the sparky to turn power back on.

 

[Spectric]

Hi all

Just thought about something that was really a gamechanger, the pozidrive / Torx headed screw that replaced the traditional slotted head screws, how many can remember having to drive slotted headed screws in with a yankee screwdriver? Nails were so popular then!

 

[paulrbarnard]

Hi all

Just thought about something that was really a gamechanger, the pozidrive / Torx headed screw that replaced the traditional slotted head screws, how many can remember having to drive slotted headed screws in with a yankee screwdriver? Nails were so popular then!

The Canadians will point out that the Robertson square head is even better...

 

[Spectric]

Perhaps thats why Kreg pocket hole screws have that square drive, good but the drivers do round off the corners.

 

[artie]

Hi all

Just thought about something that was really a gamechanger, the pozidrive / Torx headed screw that replaced the traditional slotted head screws, how many can remember having to drive slotted headed screws in with a yankee screwdriver? Nails were so popular then!

That was a big changer that I has all but forgot about.

 

[OldDave]

Game changing tools for me so far.
1) Set of Japanese saws.
2) Pockethole jig.

I suspect (and hope) that the bandsaw is going to be game changing but unfortunately, it’s not yet arrived.