Power tool list?

[razorsharptokill]

If you were building a wood shop for bow building what power tools (brand and type) would you stock it with first?

[sulphur]

table top belt sander, 14" bandsaw,  10" table saw, drill press (small), spindle sander (optional but nice), air compressor (you won't know how bad you needed it till you have one), shop vac.  thats really the basics only.  i hesitate to give brand names, looks for the best deals before you buy.  lots of research and shopping around will pay off.

[sulphur]

Thanks for your service to our country BTW

[Russell S.]

bench Belt sander (as big as you can afford, wish mine was bigger)  Bandsaw, i have a 12 but would prefer a nice 14" (there is several good brands)  
I find uses for my "Lam grinder" every day, it trues, parallels and mine was made from spare parts, 2 bearings and a few cheep pulleys, its not a necessity but i love it.   not a power tool but dont forget the Japanese draw saw, 4 way rasp and thumb plane.  they get a lot of use around here.  I also would not give up my mouse style sander,  i would like a profile sander.  table top drill press and grinding drums for it.  

The most important power tool i have and the only thing i could not do with out is my two RIGID shop vacs...  I have two that's right, both with hepa filters that clog quickly but completely eliminate dust.  Its really nice to grind with one vac hooked up to the grinder then clean up the boards and area with the other,  the first is guaranteed to be clogged.  At work we are very hard on vaccums,  Rigid's are the only ones that ever hold up.  plus they have big hoses plus they Suck like a champ. they cost alot compaired to all the other small shop vacs and you need the 5hp motor but it is worth it.

[kennym]

I would list about the same as sulphur with addition of dust collection system.

Buy the heaviest,best you can afford,you won't regret that!!

[shikari]

I would suggest a dremel as well.

[Dano]

Jim, just drive over to Grizzly with your check book    

[Russell S.]

dano found out there is a grizzly up the road from me...  its sooo tempting.

[Dano]

I'd be in big trouble if there was a Grizzly close to me as well. I've been real happy with my Grizz tools, they have great customer service too, and when you call them they can speak English.    Thats a good thing cause I can't speak Chinese.

[spider1]

yeah, if I had a Grizzly dealer up the road, the Mrs would prolly own the house, lol!

I don't have the best equipped shop around, in fact it's pretty poorly done. If I had room, money and a Grizzly dealer down the road, I would have, in this order of importance,

a dust collection system

14" bandsaw

belt/disc bench sander

drill press (floor model, with guts)

10" tablesaw

a good bench grinder

air compressor

jointer

a shop planer would be nice too

a drum sander

I've also started dreaming about a good edge sander...and a bigger house, LOL!

[razorsharptokill]

I'm looking at a Lelands portable wooden shop. They have a 14 x 30 for around 7K I believe. That's delivered, set and leveled with loft ceiling. They look pretty solid. Anyone seen them? I have a dealer about two miles from me and went and looked at them.

I'd like to set it up right(the 1st time). Right now I have to use my Father inlaws shop (10 miles away) he has a lot of the basics.

I have a 30 gal compressor, table top drill press, bench grinder, small shop vac, and a vise.

[Russell S.]

i have a wish list picked out for the first time i make it to grizzly, maybe the next time i get a bonus i will head up there.  the wish list is something like this:

11x26 bench top lathe and plenty of bit steel

9X24 mill (because wouldn't it be nice to square risers with a mill,well that's not the only reason)  with a face mill (already have end mill sets)  

14" band saw

spindle sander

6X48 belt sander

6" jointer

about 5 1/2HP-1HP motors because i could make every other tool i wanted with the above..

[bmgarto]

A cheap way to get started is to put a belt sander in a vice upside down. It makes a table top. I use the heck out of my belt sander. Also you can put an electric drill in the vice with a drum sander. This is great for shaping risers.

[Jerry Gille]

In building laminated bows, I use a chainsaw (Stihl Farm Boss) to cut down trees, thickness sander to grind out lams (12 inch grizzly - I do not recommend this machine either) a bandsaw - (16 inch grizzly), a 10 inch table saw (delta), a drum sander (grizzly), 48 inch belt sander (craftsman) and an air compressor (cheap Campbell H. jobbie).  I sometimes square wood up on a joiner and sometimes use a planer to thickness wood (both models are grizzly).  Oh and a delta dust collection machine - a small one that I move from machine to machine.

I'm not particularly fond of my 16 inch grizzly bandsaw and absolutely hate the grizzly baby drum sander.  The drum sander breaks down often due to a cheap nylon gear tied into a steel worm drive.  Even had the worm drive itself break in half one day.  I'm going to buy a small performax drum sander as a replacement this summer hopefully.

You can probably due without most of these tools, expecially if you buy lams.  But the bandsaw, the oscillating drum sander and the belt sander are real, real handy in how I make bows.

[NEW GUY]

A trip to Grizzly is a dangerous thing  

[GREG IN MALAD]

I would not be without a drum sander, I have a delta x18 which I wouldnt buy again     A performax is a better machine. A dust collector is also a must.

[Swissbow]

At this time of the year I wouldn't mind a good dust collector. I don't have one, so I have to work outside for all the sanding work. A temperatures below zero  ( °C ) this is not very funny. A good belt sander is also a very handy tool. Besides that the only power tool I use is a jigsaw.

[James Oertel]

everything "sulphur" said plus the best lighting i could get and a dust collection system    

[dan rothrock]

I have been building furniture for quite some time and have most tools neccesary for bow building.  I actually built bows long before the furniture thing and could get by with next to nothing.  One thing that really stands out in my shop is a 1929 24" Tannewitz bandsaw that weighs in at 1100 lbs. lol.  I got this monster at an auction with an extra motor that in itself weighs over 200 lbs. It passes the nickel test, and if I don't hit the brake on it, it will continue to coast for 20 minutes.  I can rip whole logs on this thing, it's amazing piece of machinery. I've been to a lot of wood working shows and did my fair amount of research.  I have come to several conclusions with Grizzly. One: Just because one particular machine performs well doesn't mean all products are equal. Two: Some contracts go by strict guidelines for grizzly (ISO 9000) and other Chinese contractors sell by bid to grizzly with their logo on it and that's it.  Definatly do research on each product your looking at.  They do have fantastic jointers and bandsaws for the money.  Don't forget to look in the paper for auctions having woodworking equipment in them.

[rbbhunt]

Jim,
I have a Grizzley band saw and a Jet drum sander among other tools.  If you want to check them out, come on over.  Cam (Vanilla Gorilla) knows where I live.