David’s Shop Inventory

Shop Tour - Submitted by David from Texas
Added on October 18, 2009

My shop is a work in progress but its constantly developing so I guess that’s good. I share space with lawn & garden, bicycles, camping gear, a canoe, and of course, a LARGE BBQ smoker and a couple of smaller grills.

My major equipment list won’t impress many, but it works well for me so I guess that’s all that counts. The folks who can build fine furniture with a circular saw and a cutting guide without a doubt get TONS of respect from me. My entire shop was/is put together with “bang for the buck” a primary concern. Since this is just a hobby and not my living, not a single woodworking tool I own is what anyone would consider the top of the line, (As opposed to the Snap On stuff I bought when I was a mechanic years ago) it is all VERY effective, and does exactly what I want.

The list:
Ryobi BT3100-1 fully loaded up with wide table, router accessory, Shark Guard, custom dust collection improvements, etc. I am working on a wide table top to fill the space between the rails and provide a miter slot for the router accessory table. Primary blade is a Freud Diablo 40T general purpose blade. Also have 24T ripping and 80T Diablo blades. Dado stack is an Oshlun SDS-0630. The saw was used and I got it and all the goodies for it cheap. The blades were on sale (I try to never pay full price for anything). The lumber for the wide table legs was Hurricane Ike debris and the table top was scrap ply from the shop.

-Black & Decker Firestorm FS1000L compound miter saw and Firestorm folding miter saw stand. As lousy as the Firestorm router is, it amazes me how well this CMS and stand works. While missing some features of its Yellow cousins, accuracy wise, it is right there with the DeWalt. I have it fitted with an 80T Freud Diablo crosscutting blade. LOVE it. The CMS was on clearance, the Diablo blade I paid full price for, but it was reasonable.

Central Machinery #32208 4 speed wood cutting bandsaw with riser block, micro adjustable roller bearing blade guides, Craftsman band saw fence and a variety of Timberwolf blades. 1/2″ 3TPI lives on it most of the time. Another HF gem. Again, sale and coupon. A shop built dust collection chute that will tie into the 4″ line, and mostly surround the blade and lower blade guide. A Grizzly GO555 tension release modification is on the way too. I have mine mounted up on a Central Machinery universal mobile base which keeps it easy to move on that rare occasion. This in turn keeps me from getting a hernia.

– Old Skil 14 amp circular saw. (Circa 1993). Assortment of blades including plywood blades, Hardi blades etc. I have this all housed in a heavy ballistics nylon tool bag for organizational sanity purposes.

– Ryobi variable speed reciprocating saw with an assortment of the decent Bi-Metal blades from Milwaukee.

– Old Skil jig saw. Not the best saw, but fitted with some decent Bosch blades, it cuts acceptably for a jig saw. This was a WalMart special back when I was in college, and WalMart was proud to be selling “Made in America”.

– 2 @ Hitachi KM12VC routers, 1 fixed base in the router wing on the table saw. Got both of them on DEEP sale. The second one was an Amazon lightning sale at $99.00.

– Black and Decker Firestorm plunge router. Unreliable non-standard pile of junk. I messed up and paid for this. This is one of those tools that has me wondering what I was thinking.

Wide assortment of router bits and accessories including MLCS 66pc 1/2” shank bit set, mitered frame raised panel bit set, Rabbeting bit set, and Skil 30 piece 1/4″ shank bit set. I also have a few Freud, Amana, and Rockler specialty profile bits in there. I cant say enough good about the MLCS bits and the service from the company though. I wish all WW companies treated their customers this well.

Northern Tool 16 speed floor model drill press. Basically the same thing as the Central Machinery #43378 but with Burgundy and black paint. This is fitted with a Grizzly drill press table, Rockler DP accessory tray, and Rockler DP chuck key retractor thingamajig. The Grizzly table is great for the $$, but it leaves a LOT to be desired. Specifically the table material is melamine coated MDF, and it receives the mounting clamps with simple wood screws. Not exactly a good recipe. I plan on redoing this soon with a combination MDF, tempered hardboard, sanded plywood, SYP trim, and Rockler T-track. Too many other irons in the fire for now, and this works fine. The DP was a CraigsList special that was dirt cheap, the table came from a fellow member of BT3Central.

– Craftsman 3/8″ VSR corded drill with case. Not sure of the model. I got this after I burned up an old B&D my dad gave me. Ive probably had it for 20 years now.

– Ryobi 3/8″ VSR clutch driver drill with cord. I had the Craftsman dedicated to a Vermont American drill press jig for the longest time. I got the Ryobi because it didnt overdrive screws. A deep sale Father’s Day kind of thing as I recall”¦ Love this drill. Not as powerful as the Craftsman, but I haven’t blown out any screws with it yet either.

Central Machinery #34706 lathe with shop built tool shelf and ballast box/shelf. Wood River Chuck, Benjamins Best lathe tools. The shop built tool shelf has holes that SNUGLY hold the tools without cases like the knockout bar, faceplate, spanners, etc. I know Harbor Freight gets a lot of flack, but this thing is a total gem. Been a hoot learning on it, and have no plans to sell it even if/when I upgrade to a bigger/better lathe. Its cheap enough I will pass it on to a woodworking friend or relative that wants to start turning. I got this lathe on sale and combined that with the HF 20% off coupon. The turning tools and chuck were also on sale. The ballast box is really no box though, I just have a couple of bags of concrete on the plywood shelf to hold it down.

Central Machinery #97869 2HP Dust collector fitted with Wynn 35A cartridge filter. Plumbing is 4″ (Yeah I know, but 6″ is out of my price range for now). Blast gates are Lee Valley Self Cleaning models. Unfortunately the plumbing for my DC system is scattered throughout the floor of my shop right now. This is one of the in-progress pieces of the shop. Sale and coupon again (see a trend?) and sale on the plumbing fittings and blast gates. For the time being, I am dragging a single long hose to each tool as needed. Sorry I dont have a better picture of it. It is crammed into a back corner of the shop. I have to roll out the toolbox to get to it to change out the lower bag.

Shop built Thien Cyclone pre separator based on plastic 55 gallon drum. I whipped this up in about two hours with lots of distractions. It could be better, but overall, I am happy with it. All I would redo is the baffle, and it works great so who cares? Not like anyone sees inside my dust bin right?

-Ridgid 12 gallon wet/dry vac plumbed to a Thien Baffle equipped trash can separator. Currently this rig is set up using a Shop Vac Sawdust Collection System. One of my shop projects is to migrate as much as I can off the vac, and onto the DC. The vac and separator can are stacked using a shop built cyclone stacker, which was built using debris lumber that was in my yard after Hurricane Ike. This thing works stupendously well. You can almost get by without a real dust collector. Almost, but not quite.

– Cheapo Lasko 20″ box fan with a 3M Filtrete allergen filter duct taped as an air dust cleaner. I am praying it works right, the 4″ hose to my DC slipped out of its clamp while I was cutting some MDF in the shop tonight!

Ryobi AP1301 13″ planer. A great little planer for the money. Knife changes are easy. Very little snipe when used right. This one was a Valentines Day gift from my lovely bride on our first married Valentines Day. I cherish this tool!

Sunhill Machinery SM-150B 6” Bench top Jointer. This appears to be discontinued now. Too bad, this is a nice little benchtop unit. A great piece of gear for a small shop! The same jointer is sold under the Wilton name and is colored gray & blue instead of blue. I got this on the $99.00 sale. I am waiting for a Harbor Freight sale and 20% off coupons to add the stand and mobile base.

Ridgid EB4424 Oscillating belt/spindle sander. Sale again. Fathers Day deal at Home Depot last year. A LOT of folks love these things, and for good reason! They do exactly what they are supposed to do!

Shop built clamp hangers with a dozen each 6, 12, 24, and 36 inch bar clamps (mostly HF, but a few Jorgensons), plus spring clamps, corner clamps, cargo straps with shop built corners, and a few, but not enough hand screws. All those clamps….On sale!

-Ryobi Corner Cat detail sander, Skil Random orbit sander, Ryobi Biscuit Joiner, Ryobi 6″ buffer, and a Ryobi 6″ bench grinder.

On top of this I have and use most all of the obligatory bits, blades, hand tools, personal protective equipment, storage bins etc. that I need. What I don’t have I add as need be, and as money makes itself available.

Heating and cooling in the coastal Texas environment is a bit tricky in this currently uninsulated space. For heat, a standard 1600 watt oil filled electric radiator keeps the shop in the 70s on the rare occasions that the overnight lows dip below freezing. Cooling right now is simply blowing air conditioned air from the house into the shop with a box fan, and working as fast as I can so I can get back inside before I fry my skull off.

I was well on my way to getting approval, and breaking ground on a 12 – 8 foot wall mini barn for a workshop when the economic downturn hit too close to home. So for now I make do, cramped in the garage along with the lawn and garden tools, bicycles, camping gear, and other misc junk.

Several space saving, or at least space maximizing projects are under way. Most of them designed as skill builder projects. A proper woodworking workbench is being built that will double as an outfeed table, and storage for bench top power tools.The existing formerly automotive workbench is getting modified to have uprights on the wall side legs that will support a top tier shelf. The lower shelf will hold the remaining bench top power tools. Those bench top power tools are to be mounted on 3/4″ sanded ply bases, which in turn get clamped to the workbench when needed to be used. I am also in the process of building cabinets to house the plastic small parts cabinets in my shop, as well as hold my measuring and marking tools, router bit cabinets, and other small woodworking items. Lockable cabinets will be built to hold chemical stuff that I do not want youngsters getting into. I am considering replacing the existing shelving system with lockable shop built cabinets for neatness, and juvenile safety sake.

I put off building a workshop and enjoying woodworking during a lousy, uh, prior domestic situation. I have since been blessed with the best wife in the world and she has actually not only allowed, but encouraged me to pursue woodworking.

Upcoming improvements to the shop that are not listed above:
-60 amp sub panel run to the garage; dedicated circuit to the Table saw; a dedicated circuit to the dust collection; and the remainder going to everything else. Lighting will stay on the current 20 amp circuit. Addition of two more 4 foot lighting fixtures, and a few magnetic task lights will help finish up the electrical.
– Spray in foam insulation in the ceiling and walls, and finish insulating the doors.
– Air Conditioning improvements.
– Small non WW stuff that can be put in totes and stored in the attic are on their way.
– Get the canoe and canoe related stuff into storage elsewhere.

Discussion

Joe Corda October 18, 2009 1:52 pm

Dave,

Nice setup!
I completely understand the statement .. “this is just a hobby and not my living”. I currently live by the same mantra.

I did want to get your input about your HF dust collector. Currently I have a coupon for $140 for HF Model 97869 (2HP) collector and was considering it. I quickly looked it over at a local HF store and it seemed to be built solid, but I was wonder if it’s real noisy when running Cant really fire it up in the store :-0

Again… Great job with setting up your Shop!
Take care
Joe

Reply
- dbhost October 18, 2009 2:48 pm
  
  The 97869 is great, and reasonably quiet as far as a giant air moving machine is concerned. Not sure what to equate it to… It is one of the quietest power tools I own. Quieter even than the drill press.
  
  I keep hitting on the point of making sure I let folks know of the weak point of this DC, and that is the 5 micron filter bag. If you are going to duct your stuff outdoors it’s fine, but if you will share your breathing space with that DC, get a better filter. I added the Wynn for a GOOD reason…
  
  Since I submitted my shop I have actually added on a little bit by adding a Central Pneumatic compressor, and nailers. I don’t recall if I listed it, but I have one of those Arrow electric brad nailers that would just NOT set nails even close to flush, always left 1-1/4″ nails about 1/4″ proud. Had to follow up the nailer with a hammer. What good is that? I must admit, I am somewhat concerned about the compressor since their compressors rarely get good reviews, but so far it is working great!
  
  LOML has been keeping me hopping with building holiday decorations for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas…. The poor jigsaw is getting a serious workout!
  
  I actually had a reason for submitting my shop. I have gotten this far along even with my lovely bride out of work (she came to the marriage with some student loan debt we are still paying on). I wanted to show folks that a nice shop didn’t neccesarily have to be equipped with the best brands.
  
  Would I love to upgrade to SawStop, Delta, Powermatic, Festool etc?
  
  Do I need to even answer that question? Of course I would like to… But I don’t need to…. So far I have the stool, blanket chest, spice rack, deck box, thwart box (for my canoe), countless toy cars and trucks for the nephews, brothers in law, and one car crazy niece, just to start listing the projects out of the shop.
  
  Well, back to the shop to try to get through a stand for the DC. I want to lift it up, to keep the compressor underneath it…
  
  Reply
emmrys October 18, 2009 2:39 pm

I enjoyed your shop tour. It seems we have similar shop accommodations. Sharing with garbage can, car, rakes, fertilizer and general household storage. I particularly resonated with this comment: “Cooling right now is simply blowing air conditioned air from the house into the shop with a box fan, and working as fast as I can so I can get back inside before I fry my skull offâ

Reply
Mark Williams October 18, 2009 3:06 pm

David,
Thanks for sharing. I was glad to hear about the firestorm plunge router. I have almost bought it a few times but resisted. I picked up an old Ryobi fixed base for 20.00 from a pawn shop last week. It is easy to use and I am learning. However I am saving for a combo set. I think the bosch. I almost bought the firestorm for 20.00 at the same pawn shop……

Reply
Jim Jones October 18, 2009 4:49 pm

Congratulations on a productive shop and I like your attitude.

I am not a Festool owner and probably never will be — especially now that Marc doesn’t have the monthly Festool drawing. Can’t justify the price.

I had a BT3100 table saw for 6 years and made some nice things with it. Replaced it last year with a Steel City (their 1.5HP hybrid 37650) and love it. Sold the BT3100 on CraigsList for $165. Only paid $300 new.

I have a 3 piece combo Ryobi router (standard, plunge, and D-handle). Still use it for all hand-held routing. For table mount, last year I added a Triton 2 1/2 HP which I mounted to a shop-built router table. It is great because it has the above table adjustment for less than the price of most add-on above table adjusters.

And there are more tales where those came from, but the point is that there are lots of good stuff to be done with bargain tools.

I must admit though, I’ve been drooling a lot lately over Lie-Nielsen planes. Now if there were monthly drawing for their planes… :-)

Reply
- dbhost October 18, 2009 7:28 pm
  
  Yeah, on the BT, I really like the saw. It has its own wierdness. But it works so darned well I don’t see a need yet to upgrade… I got mine used, with a full load of accessories from a fellow up toward Waco. I originally had a Ryobi BTS21 and while it worked okay, it lacked in areas that ticked me off… Sold that to a college friend of mine that abuses the heck out of table saws. He hasn’t killed it yet.
  
  Reply
Tom Buhl October 18, 2009 8:34 pm

Thanks for sharing. Isn’t it nice to have a wife who appreciates and encourages your activity? In our shop my wife enjoys having access to good tools when she wants to build something for her garden. What kind of woodworking have you been doing? Is it going in a particular direction? Have a blast, it is all good.

Reply
- Dave H October 19, 2009 6:39 am
  
  I’ve been catching up on a lot of lost years. So far out of the shop, I have had mostly small projects come out. A footstool for my wife (She is not exactly tall, and we have a pretty tall, pillow topped mattress bed), a deck box, countless small wooden toys, shelving, cutting boards, spindle turnings like candlestick holders and such… My biggest project so far is my modified version of the Fine Woodworking Sturdy Workbench from the Get Started video series. There have been a bunch of others, just pulling a brain blank right now…
  
  I am aiming at furniture projects in the long run. I really want to build a big Mexican rustic china hutch…
  
  Reply
Dean October 18, 2009 10:17 pm

Great shop David! You have good functionality and as long as your getting acceptable accuracy, you’ve done very well. As a new woodworker I’m in the accumulating stage, and have about 1/2 the hand and power hand tools I need. These are all used garage sale or hand me down tools.

My next phase will be the larger power tools. Reading through your description is very helpful to me since I realize that like you I won’t be buying high end tools. I can’t even afford them in my dreams! But thanks to people like you who are demonstrating that decent woodworking can be done on the cheap, people like me are being encouraged to push on.

Thanks much, Dean

Reply
Rob October 19, 2009 5:56 am

Here, here from another BT3100 veteran. I got four good years out of mine and learned an enormous amount on that saw. One warning, though, mine died when the worm gears seized up. That seems to be the Achilles’ heel of any saw that has a single wheel for both height and bevel. Be gentle with that part and it’ll serve beautifully.

Likewise, the planer looks quite familiar (got mine on sale, too) and I like the in- and out-tables you built for it. Looks like a good use for the stamped metal stand and casters I saved when I junked my BT3100.

Reply
Dave H October 19, 2009 8:47 am

Sorry to hear your BT died… The worm gear is sensitive to sawdust buildup, and if jammed, can usually be cleaned, and dry lubed and returned to like new service. (mine was). I think you are right though, I see this with other single handwheel saws all the time.

The belly pan dust collection really does a nice job keeping the worm gear clean and moving freely…

Reply
Aggie83 October 19, 2009 1:39 pm

I noticed on the community page that you built the FWW workbench and that you mentioned that it was ‘modified’. What modifcations did you make to the original plan?

Reply
- dbhost October 19, 2009 7:44 pm
  
  Not sure why it didn’t go through when I updated. But here goes…
  
  The bench top is 72″ where the plan calls for 62″. I needed the additional overhang.
  
  The lower shelf is not using the upper slot that the plan calls for. I have not done it yet, but I am planning on adding a cleat that will put the lower shelf flush with the top of the lower rails instead of placing the shelf on top. This only buys 3/4″ space, but it also buys a much improved appearance.
  
  Reply
  - Aggie83 October 20, 2009 6:55 am
    
    I assumed that they planned to attach the lower shelf with the same type of table fasteners that they used for the top.
    
    I plan on making the same bench, also with a long top, but am considering making hte base slightly more narrow (with a short strecher length of 15″ instead of 17″) in order to get an additional inch of overhand on each side.
    
    Alternatively, more side overhand could be achieved by making the top wider (which requires an additional sheet of top material) or adding edging to the top.
    
    Any thoughts?
    
    Reply
    - Dave H October 20, 2009 8:28 am
      
      I thought about edging the top. Decided not to do it. Couldn’t really see any advantage to the additional overhang. Maybe for clamping. Hasn’t been a problem the way I have it set up though.
Dave H October 20, 2009 8:33 am

For those interested. There is some lag time from the time a shop is submitted, to when it gets published. I have a more up to date shop tour, with a good number of changes on Lumberjocks. http://lumberjocks.com/dbhost/workshop

I am particularly happy with the results I have been coming up with lately.

Reply
Tom H December 15, 2009 11:56 am

A nice setup for an inexpensive table saw that makes it very versatile.

Reply
Steve February 2, 2010 1:10 pm

Nice set up and nice philosophy on equipping your shop. I go with a similar style of buying used for cheap. The economic down turn has been a big help in my shop upturn. I too have a two car garage that had a lot of camping, mountain biking, gardening, etc. equipment. My solution was to build 10×12 shed (largest size without a permit here) to store the other stuff, in fact shed II is in the works for this spring as I want the entire garage dedicated to woodworking. Your shop inspired me to think about submitting my someday soon. Thanks!

Reply
- Dave H February 24, 2010 2:17 pm
  
  Glad to be of some inspiration! Since I submitted my shop, both the shop, and my woodworking skills have continued to evolve, through the completion of several great projects, and several on the bench right now… This economic downturn has in a way slowed me down shop wise as the income has been hit, but it also has sped me up as deals on new, and used gear are MUCH easier to come by now as compared to 2 years ago…
  
  The shed would be great, and it is in the planning stages. Depending on what I end up being able to afford, and talk my HOA into allowing, either the shop stays put, or goes into the shed… Either way, the garage has a shop function still as I also work on cars as well…
  
  Reply
Kevin Ross October 27, 2010 9:46 am

Love the clamp rack!!! Simple but effective!!!

Reply
Jimmy July 26, 2013 2:07 pm

David, that is one hell of a hobby! Nice shop, I love it.

Reply

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David’s Shop Inventory

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