Joe’s Garage Shop

Shop Tour - Submitted by Joe from Agawam, MA
Added on March 28, 2013

My junked up, low budget garage shop! I’ve only been woodworking for about 10 months but have acquired a decent amount of tools. The structure is 20 x 20, about 70 years old and still needs a lot of cleaning up from the mess the previous owners left behind. As far as equipment, I would say I have “the best of the worst.” Just about everything I own I would recommend to anyone starting out on a tight budget like myself.

Tablesaw – Ridgid R4512 with a built in router table using a Jessum router plate, and about a dozen blades, many sleds and a few leecraft aftermarket inserts
Drill Press – HF 38144 16 speed floor drill press with the HF drill press table
Lathe – HF 65345 10×18 benchtop lathe. HF HSS 8 piece turning tool set, Easy Wood tools Rougher and Finisher
HF 8” Grinder with shop made wolverine style jig
Planer – Craftsman 21758 12 1/2” lunchbox planer
Bandsaw – Craftsman BAS350 14” (Rikon 10-320 clone), Rikon fence with resaw bar, Carter 5 bearing upper and lower guides
Edge/spindle sander – Ridgid Eb4424
Jointer – Craftsman 21789

Routers: Craftsman professional 27680 (x2), Porter Cable 7518 (table), Ridgid R2401 laminate/trim router. Most of my bits are Whiteside with a few Freud quadracut mixed in
Miter saw – old (~10 years) Craftsman 10” CMS (next up for replacement)
Scroll saw – Porter cable 93926 with stand
Power hand tools: Ryobi circular saw; vintage Black and Decker worm drive 8” circular saw; Skil jig saw; Bosch 4” grinder; Milwaukee Magnum corded drill; Milwaukee M12 Fuel impact driver; Milwaukee M12 Fuel Drill/driver; Craftsman C3 Drill/driver; Deremel 4200 rotary tool, Dremel Trio, Dremel multi-max oscillating tool; HF cordless Lithium ion cordless oscillating tool (awesome!); Ryobi ROS; and Dewalt D26453K ROS

Hand Tools: Windsor Design no33 plane; Stanley type 13 #7 jointer; Various vintage rasps and files; Woodriver 6 piece bench chisels

Sharpening: scary sharp for establishing new edges or working out nicks, Norton 1k, 4k, and 8k waterstones for general touch up and honing

Clamps: About 40 Pittsburgh bar clamps ranging from 6” to 4 feet; a few Jorgensen Cabinet masters; some Jorgensen HD bar clamps; and various C clamps and quick grip clamps

I am in the process of building a proper work bench, I just need warmer temps!

Discussion

jlaviolette March 28, 2013 6:43 pm

Like the intro says this really is the best of the worst! As my skills have progressed from zero experience to where I am today, I do see some limitations in a few of the tools. Surprisingly the stuff from Harbor Freight is not on the list! I have not intentions of ever upgrading my drill press or grinder. I did upgrade my lathe to get some extra swing, but I went with the Harbor Freight 34706 (12×33). I also love that bandsaw and would highly recommend it. You cannot touch that price in a brand new 14″ bandsaw with an 8″ resaw height.

The R4512 is going on craigslist soon for a proper cabinet saw (SawStop or PM2000, jury is still out), and my planer will need to be retired. It’s a great planer, but has seen 7 long years of heavy use before it even entered my shop. I may replace it with the same exact one since it performs very well and I have a lot of knives.

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- Adam Muhle March 29, 2013 8:50 pm
  
  While shopping for a planer, take a look at the Dewalt 735. It’s pretty much the long reighing champ of lunchbox planers.
  
  Reply
Jonathan March 28, 2013 6:43 pm

As long as it gets the job done, who cares what brand name is on the tool? As long as he is happy and is having fun and enjoying the hobby, that is all that matters. :)

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cessnapilotbarry March 28, 2013 6:52 pm

A solid shop!

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james March 28, 2013 7:03 pm

not a bad shop Joe, its a pretty decent size, cant complain about that :) , i particularly like the table saw set up, looks like a nice saw too.

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Eric R March 28, 2013 7:08 pm

Bet some mighty cool projects come outta there !

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Andy Davis March 28, 2013 7:36 pm

Love the table saw and router table set up you have. Would love to see some more pics as I’m hoping to set up my garage as a workshop and you’ve sparked my interest with what you’ve done.

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- jlaviolette March 29, 2013 5:45 am
  
  There are instructions in the manual with the dimensions to fill the space in the R4512, and it comes with screws/washers to secure it. I simply routed out a space for the insert. I added some T tracks for a proper fence. The R4512 fence worked ok with an auxiliary fence in the t track slots, but I wanted a dust collection port in the fence so I made a separate one for the router table
  
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Joel March 29, 2013 6:46 am

nice shop, great job making do with what you have

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Tom Buhl March 29, 2013 12:35 pm

Welcome to WWWW [wonderful world of woodworking] and the enormous opportunity it presents to purchase more tools…and do not forget to budget for wood…yes, we all love wood.
Your shop looks like a good place to spend some time…at least when weather is acceptable.

Reply
- jlaviolette March 30, 2013 11:49 am
  
  I am fortunate enough to have a saw mill about 5 miles away and I get really good prices on maple, cherry, ash, butternut, and white oak (curly cherry is $4/bf). I also have a hardwood outlet the next town over where I get Mahogany, sapele, walnut ,etc for pretty decent prices. I can walk to my local woodcraft and that store actually has a huge lumber room filled with exotic hardwoods. Their prices aren’t the best, but I will pay a little extra to be able to select my own pieces.
  
  Reply
  - Tim Frangioso March 31, 2013 2:14 pm
    
    Hey jlaviolette,
    
    I live in your area please let me know which saw mill and hardwood outlet you are talking about. I would love to use them. Woodcraft is all so expensive but the wood quality is top notch.
    
    -Tim
    
    Reply
    - jlaviolette April 1, 2013 9:43 am
      
      http://www.cwghardwoodoutlet.com/. It’s in Endfield CT. Their prices aren’t stellar, but I would say they are fair. The only “issue” I have is the pieces are all in the 14 foot range. I like to work with 8′ pieces more. With the projects I make there tends to be a lot of waste with really long boards (even with careful planning), and I end up with a lot of boxes after :). Also the wood they get is thinner than I am used to for the advertised thickness. After planing all the roughness off on a 4/4 board, you are going to end up at 3/4″. They plane and rip an edge for free if you require (S3S)
      
      When I get lumber from Oleksak lumber (Westfield MA), I can get a clean 1″ or at the very least 15/16″ out of a 4/4 board. There is a price list on the website (http://www.oleksaklumber.com/) but he is very generous in your favor with the BF count, and if you by a decent quantity you can get a discount. Do not expect fantastic service and tons of help though. The people are nice, but it is a mill; not a retail location. If you need your stuff planed, it’s an extra .25/bf, and you may be waiting around for a while if the mill is in operation. Overall it is a great place though.
    - Jimmy K April 7, 2013 7:30 pm
      
      I didn’t know there was a big wood whisperer following in the Northeast! I’m in Bristol/Manchester. Hello everyone in CT and MA.
James March 29, 2013 6:01 pm

Joe , I have the 4512 as well. I’ve had it for about a year and a half now and my main complaint with it is how difficult it was to get the trunnion lined up to the miter slots (literally takes me over an hour everytime, the first being closer to the 4 hour range,) it also doesn’t seem to hold very long. I also replaced the fence, but besides those I thought it was a pretty solid saw especially sub 1200$ range. I’m not questioning the upgrade, as you are moving into a whole new class with the sawstop or the powermatic, but just wondering what your complaints are and maybe it will help others choosing a budget tablesaw.

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- jlaviolette March 30, 2013 6:28 am
  
  A lot of the older saws were defective. The arbor goes out of alignment with height changes. Fortunately my saw is not one of them and has stayed true after the initial alignment. I used a dial indicator to measure. To align the blade I loosened all but one trunion bolt and set the alignment with a bar clamp. It keeps things in place when re-tightening the trunion bolts.
  My major issue is the fence. The fence itself is actually awesome. But the rails SUCK. They are split and held together with a set screw bar. They sag over time causing the fence to become out of parallel and out of square. I could upgrade the fence, but I could also use a lot more power. I work with a lot of 8/4 hardwoods. With very careful blade selection (I have about a dozen higher end blades) it makes acceptable cuts, but if you get some heavily interlocked grain or wood with even a little bit of stress – forget it. Dust collection in this saw is simply a polite suggestion.
  
  Also, this is probably just a personal preference, but the R4512 (and it’s craftsman cousin) is TALL for a table saw. I am on the short side. I more standard height cabinet saw is much more comfortable for me to work form.
  
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Adam Muhle March 29, 2013 8:48 pm

Sporting the M12 FUEL line already…nice!

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- jlaviolette March 30, 2013 6:35 am
  
  I am a huge fan of Milwaukee. I have two of the magnum corded drills. One is over 20 years old and was used in a production machine shop daily. My dad gave it to me when he retired. It will snap your wrist off before it gives up. The M12 Fuel line is really nice. They are very compact, but VERY powerful and packed with cool features. (They aren’t for the budget friendly though) I picked up the M12 Fuel sawzall also. While there isn’t much place for it in a woodshop, I find a lot of uses elsewhere.
  
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mike bruce March 30, 2013 3:08 am

i agree with adam the dewalt planer is a workhorse for me . it has held up great. . finally a shop thats as messy as mine. what is it with these guys on here with clean shops. whats that!!! means their not doing too much in there. lol. my shop has been clean two days , the day i move it in and the day i move it to a new building . have a great weekend

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Thomas G. Kaiser March 30, 2013 7:27 am

What a great place for a shop. You are off to a good start. Don’t sweat working on you shop, because you are going to find that about 50 to 58% of your jobs will be the shop. Shops are fun to work on because they are your place and they change with you. I’m making a cabinet and in the process I made a shelf for a sander , upgrade a sled, and relocated a tool placement all just to make the shops flow better. So have fun with it…….. oh I make things too.

Thomas

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Frank April 2, 2013 9:15 pm

Is the router table suspended between the fence rails, or is it supported at the bottom? I couldn’t tell from looking at the pictures. I have a Powermatic 64A, the contractor saw. I bought it for the price and size. I would love a cabinet saw but don’t really have the space. I think also, after buying it and using it for a while, I should have bought the Sawstop Contractor saw. I have used Sawstops before, 1st generation model cabinet and contractor, and I just wish I hadn’t been cheap. I don’t hate my saw, but after using it a while and comparing the features to other, more high end saws, there are features missing that I didn’t even think of before using the saw and finding that they are really nice to have. I like the idea of the router table built into the saw, and I am interested in knowing more details about yours.

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steve desmond April 5, 2013 2:43 pm

Hey Joe I grew up in Agawam (Feeding Hills) I’m in Southamtpon now. Nice little shop you got there. Also checked out you facebook page, nice work. I’ve bought wood from Olesak’s a long time ago. It’s a true mill, so kind of need to know what you’re looking for. Prices were very reasonable from what I remember. I have a small shape also. Just started making skis http://desmondskiworks.com/ .Good luck with your shop!

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MEL April 12, 2013 5:17 am

I have the Dewalt 735. It has served me well. I have a ton (several tons,literally) of 4 side rough lumber that for years I surface for all my various projects and the Dewalt has served me well. The replacement blades at one time were very expensive, I don’t know if that has changed.

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Tanner July 6, 2017 3:14 pm

how did you attach the router table to the table saw?

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Joe’s Garage Shop

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