If You Had to Choose One Power Tool

[TexasTrad]

If you had to choose  only one power tool to use in building a take down recurve which would it be?

Band saw

Drill Press with drum sander bit

Belt sander

other??

[Bjorn]

Band saw

[Kanga]

It would be a toss up between the bandsaw and belt sander.

[Hermann From Bavaria]

band saw

[ProArcher]

Well I am only on my 3rd build. I have a belt sander at home, but I have a band saw at my parent's house 20 miles away. I do have a Craftsman 10" table top band saw at home but the blade will not stay on. I also have a drill press (table top model), but no drum sander. So far if I had to say one power tool. It would be the 12" power planer I borrow from my dad. Both the bows I have built most of the work was done with a wood chisels and spoke shave. I can do most of what I do with them, but the planer is an absolute for getting the thickness right for me.

[Tom Leemans]

CNC mill

[DCM]

Drill press can do everything you will be required to do, although not as quickly, but the others cannot.  If you stipulate a jig and hand drill for boring the limb mounts, then the sander.  Band saw is near useless for glass work.  I have all three and only use the bandsaw to rough cut the riser, and it (glass) dulls the blade within 2".  And I could as easily do with hand tools as it ain't precision work anyway.  I use the sander for all the limb profiling, riser shaping, ect.

If I could only have 1 tool in the shop it would be the belt sander.

[TexasTrad]

Thanks for all of the replies.  I think I will be using a jig and hand drill for the limb mounts.  

Question about using a belt sander:  what is the best system for collecting all of the dust.  Do you wear a mask?  Since I will be doing this in my garage I want to make sure I do what I can to minimize the mess and  avoid breathing in all of the dust (especially the fiberglass)

[ProArcher]

With some creativity and a good shop vac and PVC you could have a dust collector that works well.

[Kanga]

I used a shop vac with collector bag but even then I had to take the filter out and clean it every 30 minutes or so.

Now I have a real dust collector with a 5 micron bag and no dust escapes.
It draws 914 cubic feet per min.

I still wear a resperator tho when working with exotic woods, glass and boo one can never be too careful.



I picked it up at Harbor Freight for $100 and another $25 for the 5 micron bag.

[DCM]

Wear a mask!

My shop is a garage, 16' door on one end, 10' on the other.  I open it up and run a fan on high, as well as wearing a mask.  Then I blow it out with a leaf blower when I'm done.  It's the dust that settles everywhere that you then stir up later, when not wearing your mask, that will get you in the long run.

[TexasTrad]

Thanks for all of the replies.

[scrub-buster]

Favorite power tool?  I have to go with the chainsaw.  Osage is hard to chop.  Also, holding a loud chainsaw surrounded by trees is a pretty good feeling.

[snag]

Horizontal 5" belt sander. I could taper shafts with it and a jig and do a lot of the shaping of bows on it.  Still have to have a band saw..."bet you can't have just one!"  

[oldgun]

For collecting dust, build a box from plywood open front and back, install a electric fan inside and close both ends with a funace filter, keeps the dust down really well! It's all I use in the house and contains the dust very well.

[Dano]

If I was starting over and had to choose, It would have to be a good band saw, I could get by for a month or so.  

[JEFF B]

bandsaw

[TexasTrad]

Thanks for all of the replies.  It sounds like I need a bandsaw and a combo belt/drum sander.

I hope I don't end up with as many tools as I have bows.  javascript:void(0)