New tools for shop advice needed

Bill Satko said:

Go for the most cast iron you can afford. By that I mean, if you can afford it, get cast iron trunnions and wheels. None of that is necessary, but you said $1,000 and for that amount you can get it. I am thinking Grizzly G05132X. I don't own one, and I do not own any Grizzly machinery, but I stop by there all the time for other items and always do a walk around. Seems very stout to me. Maybe others can say how good of a bandsaw it is.

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That would be a great choice. It will serve well for a lifetime.

I would vote in favor of Bills suggestion now. Hindsite now but i paid more than that for my Delta bandsaw in Canada. It was all US made though and i was putting my money where my mouth is on buying local.

Thanks Vaughn for the correction you dead on I am doing a lot of things lately. Must be my grey hair getting in the way.

i got the rikon, 18" and have good service from it. and the company has taken care of me in the past in a broken part.. no charge and 2 day delivery.

I am probalby going to regret this, but I went by a local (20 miles away) tool dealer today who also has a furniture shop in the back.

I ordered a Jet 17 inch drill press (499.00), Shop Fox 14" bandsaw with cast iron wheels, and rack and pinion guide bar adjustment etc... $625.00. and a Steel City 13" two speed planer, 3 knives for $375.00. ( I am going to wish I bought the Dewalt I know.....)

He had the planer and bandsaw in stock. I was able to see the bandsaw in action in his shop in back and it seemed to be ok. He did caution me that the stock blade included would not cut like the one i used in his shop.

It will be about a week before the drill press arrives and I will pick the rest up at that time or maybe later in the week if I am up that direction again.

Will let you know how well/bad it works out.

Thanks for the advice.

Sounds like good choices to me

You did fine and won't regret the planer choice. Good on you.
Next: pictures
After that pictures of shavings and sawdust.

I ran prices last night and with freight my choices were going to run a little over $2,000 from Grizzly. This guy is local so no freight to pay. The shop fox bandsaw looks a lot like the girzzly G0555X . I got out of there for a little over $1600 with tax.
I do like the table that the Jet drill press has over what I looked at before. But it did cost more than other models.

Thanks again guys,

Pics will follow.

well good luck to you and being able to see them work in person is definatly a big plus..

never regret using a local dealer. Even if you pay a couple of dollars more, you will always have someone who you can rely on to ask questions, help you out, order parts, etc..........(usually, a local dealer is helpful since they want steady customers)
If youre new to woodworking, having someone within a 30 minute ride to help you out when you run into a machinery problem will be well worth the few extra bucks.
on the bandsaw, you can order those from Ellis. Im dont make any money by telling you that, nor do I have any interest in this company, but their blades are not expensive and Im extremely pleased with the blades Ive bought from them on the reco of others here.

speaking of blades, what do you guys recommend as a good general purpose blade, width and tpi?

Also, what sizes would you recommend to have on hand.

Congrats on the new tools, David. I think you made good choices. I've got the Shop Fox 14" bandsaw and have been very happy with it. Like all similar saws, it requires a bit of adjusting whenever you install a new blade, but it's an easy process and doesn't take real long. Did you get the riser block, too?

I'm sure you'll be happy with the drill press, too. I have the 17" Craftsman, which looks to be made in the same factory as all the other 17" models that are coming out of Asia these days. I know nothing about the planer, but Steel City does have a good reputation, so I'm sure you'll be happy with that, too.

Blade-wise, your dealer is right...the factory blade is about worthless. I mostly use a 1/2" 3tpi hook tooth blade, but I'm primarily cutting thick green or rough wood for turning. For thinner material, you'd want more teeth. (I'll let others chime in on their recommendations.) On my saw, I've not been real impressed with results from the 3/4" blades I've tried, but anything smaller has run fine. My other piece of blade advice, thanks to Tod Evans, is buy from these guys:

http://www.ellissaw.com/Band-Saw-Blades/48/band-saw-blade-stock-list

(You'd be wanting the "Flexback" models shown at the bottom of that page.) Ellis seems to cater to the metalworking shops, but they have excellent woodworking blades too, and at great prices. I've used a number of $20 "name brand" blades (like the Timberwolf from Suffolk), but the $7 to $8 Ellis blades cut just as good and last at least as long before dulling. They do have a $50 minimum order, and you have to call on the phone to place the order and pay for it. But since you'll likely want to stock up with a few different sizes and tooth counts, you can get almost three times as many blades from Ellis as you can from Woodcraft or the typical suppliers. Bandsaw blades are expendables, much like sandpaper, so having a few in stock is very handy if you can do it.