Setting up a workshop

[martynl70]

I'm thinking about setting up a workshop in my garage to do hobby woodworking projects. I'm looking to develop my skills and make things such as jewellery boxes, nice looking shelves for ornaments, wood framed mirrors, small pieces of furniture etc. I have in mind to purchase a band saw, planer thicknesser, disk sander, dust extracter, pedestal drill. I already have a range of handtools and power tools built up over the years, including circular saw, routers and table, sanders, power drills, jigsaw etc. I'd appreciate advice on what brands to buy, I'm looking at a budget of £1k - £1.5K, but can stagger purchases to stretch the budget higher. Obviously I don't want to buy cheap and have to replace in a short time frame but neither would I spend £5K on these items. I've watched a number of videos of Record Power items e.g. BS250 and BS300 and they "sound" good to me.

The ability to move things around in the space I have is also a consideration so I have considered bench mounted items to make life easier and the workspace less cluttered. Any advice appreciated.

 

[MikeJhn]

You may want to look at this thread: starting-a-garage-workshop-t98936.html

Mike

 

[marcros]

welcome to the forum.

I would advise that you dont do what many of us have done, and buy too much equipment. Space is one of the best things that you can have in a workshop!

start with a single project. Plan out how you would make it, ideally using the tools that you have already got. Think twice before you buy anything, because it is supprising how much of your £1000 will be needed for essentials such as clamps.

Take the jewellery box (i like these as projects)
What timber will you use and how will you buy it- sawn or planed?
ready planed costs more money, but is it better to spend a bit more than to have to buy the means to do it yourself at this stage. Do you already have the means to plane it by hand? Is this a skill that interests you etc.
Alternatives may be to use birch ply and veneer it, which is an option. decisions, decisions.
what joints are you going to do. Mitres will creep into your mind at some point, but they can be a pain to do well. The disc sander is one way of doing it, but a cheaper way is a home made shooting board. An alternative is to use your router table and cut an alternative joint- some form of rebate for example. This looks equally as good when done to the recipient, and it is only a fellow woodworker that would bother commenting.

A bandsaw and a planer thicknesser are useful bits of kit, but are not essentials by any means. Even if you bought a bandsaw, at some point it will be too small for the job that you need at that time (always the case), and you can soon blow a lot of money on brand new, but not very good kit.

I dont know what tools you have, but you could probably get started with "nice looking shelves" and jewellery boxes without that much further investment. If you dont have one though, start with making a decent workbench.

 

[PAC1]

I tend to agree with Marcos, you do not need those machines for those projects. For instance how would a band saw help you make a jewellery box or shelves? Save the money and buy more wood. Maybe a shop vac for the power tools, if you do not have one.

 

[woodbrains]

I tend to agree with Marcos, you do not need those machines for those projects. For instance how would a band saw help you make a jewellery box or shelves? Save the money and buy more wood. Maybe a shop vac for the power tools, if you do not have one.

Hello,

How would a bandsaw not be essential for making jewellery boxes? Small boxes need thin stock, resawing from thicker stock is absolutely necessary. And what about curvy things, although bandsaw boxes have no appeal for me, some people like them :roll: curved things open up a whole new world of possibilities. Ripping timber to width, safest and most convenient on a bandsaw. I think a bandsaw is about the most useful workshop machine and probably should be the first on the list.

Mike.

 

[PAC1]

I tend to agree with Marcos, you do not need those machines for those projects. For instance how would a band saw help you make a jewellery box or shelves? Save the money and buy more wood. Maybe a shop vac for the power tools, if you do not have one.

Hello,

How would a bandsaw not be essential for making jewellery boxes? Small boxes need thin stock, resawing from thicker stock is absolutely necessary. And what about curvy things, although bandsaw boxes have no appeal for me, some people like them :roll: curved things open up a whole new world of possibilities. Ripping timber to width, safest and most convenient on a bandsaw. I think a bandsaw is about the most useful workshop machine and probably should be the first on the list.

Mike.

Mike I do not disagree with anything you say after the first sentence as I have made many boxes without my bandsaw getting anywhere near them. In the days when I did not have a bandsaw I used to rip stock with a thing called a handsaw. I entirely agree that if you have a bandsaw there are lots of possibilities and I do not see the excitement of bandsaw boxes either.
My point was it is not absolutely necessary nor essential to have a bandsaw to make a box or a shelf.

 

[undergroundhunter]

I am a hobbyist and the only machine I have is a bandsaw, the rest I do with hand tools. If you decided to go the handtool route you could get a very good bandsaw for a lot less than £1000 and spend the rest on wood. Personally I get a lot of satisfaction from making things by hand instead of just feeding a machine. This https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/stickley-side-table-t99317.html was made entirely by hand, I used my bandsaw to resaw the wood to rough size but every surface is hand planed and the joints were all cut by hand.

Matt

 

[woodbrains]

I tend to agree with Marcos, you do not need those machines for those projects. For instance how would a band saw help you make a jewellery box or shelves? Save the money and buy more wood. Maybe a shop vac for the power tools, if you do not have one.

Hello,

How would a bandsaw not be essential for making jewellery boxes? Small boxes need thin stock, resawing from thicker stock is absolutely necessary. And what about curvy things, although bandsaw boxes have no appeal for me, some people like them :roll: curved things open up a whole new world of possibilities. Ripping timber to width, safest and most convenient on a bandsaw. I think a bandsaw is about the most useful workshop machine and probably should be the first on the list.

Mike.

Mike I do not disagree with anything you say after the first sentence as I have made many boxes without my bandsaw getting anywhere near them. In the days when I did not have a bandsaw I used to rip stock with a thing called a handsaw. I entirely agree that if you have a bandsaw there are lots of possibilities and I do not see the excitement of bandsaw boxes either.
My point was it is not absolutely necessary nor essential to have a bandsaw to make a box or a shelf.

Hello,

Of course anything and everything can be made with hand tools alone, I just don't want to keep writing that disclaimer every time I reply. If the OP wants a hand tool only shop, then fair enough. But bandsaws in this day and age are so affordable, I would certainly have one over deep ripping kiln dried hardwood with a handsaw any day of the week.

Mike.

 

[undergroundhunter]

I've done deep ripping (9") with a handsaw and I can assure you it's really no fun, hence the bandage purchase.

Matr

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

I would not get a Record Power BS 250, as they are not worth the space in the workshop IMO. You can definitely do anything with hand tools, as efficiently and more quietly than one of those. If you do decide on a bandsaw, get the biggest you can afford, you will always increase your demands of a bandsaw, the more advance and adventurous your projects become, so you don't want to outgrow the saw in a few years and have to get another. I don't know anyone who wishes they got a smaller bandsaw.

Mike.

 

[woodbrains]

:

I've done deep ripping (9") with a handsaw and I can assure you it's really no fun, hence the bandage purchase.

Matr

I hope your injury is healed nicely by now! :lol:

Mike.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Hello,

I would not get a Record Power BS 250, as they are not worth the space in the workshop IMO. You can definitely do anything with hand tools, as efficiently and more quietly than one of those. If you do decide on a bandsaw, get the biggest you can afford, you will always increase your demands of a bandsaw, the more advance and adventurous your projects become, so you don't want to outgrow the saw in a few years and have to get another. I don't know anyone who wishes they got a smaller bandsaw.

Mike.

As mike said. Get a bigger one and put it on castors.

 

[undergroundhunter]

:

I've done deep ripping (9") with a handsaw and I can assure you it's really no fun, hence the bandage purchase.

Matr

I hope your injury is healed nicely by now! :lol:

Mike.

I only has a 6tpi rip at the time as well but being ambidextrous helped .

I agree always buy a bigger bandsaw than you think you will need mine is a BS400 but i nearly went for the BS350, I'm defiantly glad I went for the 16" in the end though.


Matt

 

[custard]

I'm thinking about setting up a workshop in my garage to do hobby woodworking projects. I'm looking to develop my skills and make things such as jewellery boxes, nice looking shelves for ornaments, wood framed mirrors, small pieces of furniture etc. I have in mind to purchase a band saw, planer thicknesser, disk sander, dust extracter, pedestal drill. I already have a range of handtools and power tools built up over the years, including circular saw, routers and table, sanders, power drills, jigsaw etc. I'd appreciate advice on what brands to buy, I'm looking at a budget of £1k - £1.5K, but can stagger purchases to stretch the budget higher. Obviously I don't want to buy cheap and have to replace in a short time frame but neither would I spend £5K on these items. I've watched a number of videos of Record Power items e.g. BS250 and BS300 and they "sound" good to me.

The ability to move things around in the space I have is also a consideration so I have considered bench mounted items to make life easier and the workspace less cluttered. Any advice appreciated.

I predict great things for you Martyn! You've set a clear budget, detailed how much space you have, and most importantly of all you have an exact list of your target projects. Most people who want to get into woodworking are convinced they want and need to be able to make everything from sailing boats to grandfather clocks, and all in 6' x 8' shed!

You've listed five tools but you'll struggle to acquire them all for £1500. A bandsaw is an excellent place to start and if you need to stretch your budget as far as it'll go then don't abandon the Record 250. I once worked in a professional furniture making workshop that had a massive industrial bandsaw and a BS250 set up with a 1/4" blade for smaller stuff. If there was a queue waiting for the giant bandsaw we'd all just use the BS250 instead. By and large it got the job done, and believe me we were stretching it's capabilities with far bigger bits of wood than are to be found on your project list!

Good luck!

 

[heimlaga]

Aye. With that attitude you are set up to go far in the field of woodworking.

Marketing attempts to lure beginners into a habit of buying a specialized chineese gadget for every need just because they are cheap and claimed to be indispensible for ordinary people who lack the mythical skill.
Reality is that lots of people never develop the skills they were predisponed for and ultimately quit working wood convinced of their own unability just because they bought too cheap tools and machines and never learned to shapen and to maintain their tools properly.

Our ancestors built ocean going viking ships with just a dozen or so basic tools. A few centuries later they built beautiful wooden farm houses and churches that are still as sound as the day they were finished using only what we would call a very basic set of tools.
Up here were hardly any guilds and not very much in the way of formal apprenticeships and journeyman years. Yet a farmer-logger-cabinetmaker-joiner-wheelwright-shoemaker could make wonders in the old days. Though many of them had only a little more training than an advanced hobbyist in our times. Just because they had a few good quality tools and tried their best and had the opportunity to watch more experienced collegues working and to ask questions.

In your situation I suggest that you shorten your list of machines. Focus on a good planer/thicknesser and either a good bandsaw or a good table saw. Leave the disc sander and drill until later.

 

[owsnap]

At the moment I have 35m2 of garage and some extra room+ storage outside , so plenty of space for just about anything I would want, but the only big tools I have are planer/thicknesser and a 305mm mitre saw.
I would love to have a bandsaw/table saw but... the reality is I can make do with other stuff and that stuff costs a lot of money and takes a lot of space and I rarely ever have the need for them.
Yes I would want them.. but do I really really need that stuff? Nop...

I rarely work with sheetgoods, but when I do -I find a 10euro sharp irwin handsaw does the job as precise and as good as a table saw yet takes up no space whatsoever.
Bandsaw? Sure I would love it, but I can make do with a good Jigsaw I already have and is more versatile.

The thing is, If I were in UK and I would have the access to all the good 2nd hand used machines I would have them as well, but a good New machine costs a lot and I can just make do with other tools...
Except a P/T and a good large Mitre saw with a good blade!

 

[DennisCA]

Finland is a pretty good place for 2nd hand machines. I have a 60cm bandsaw in cast iron and I paid 200 euros for it. All my larger machines are 2nd hand. I just keep a lookout at the 2nd hand sites. For the bandsaw I made a wanted ad and a guy from baltic yachts called me and had some old stuff he wanted to get rid of.