Help selecting Bandsaw, Jointer, Planer, and Table Saw

Hi all, I am getting close to setting up a new shop, and I have read countless books, posts, and magazines about what to get and what not to get, but am still looking for more suggestions.

Currently, I'm trying to decide on a jointer, planer, and table saw. Here's the current break down:

• Bandsaw - I've pretty much decided on the Grizzly G0555 with the 6" extension block, but I'm open to other suggestions.
• Jointer - I'm currently looking at 6" Ridgid and 6" Grizzly models, as well as the 8" Grizzly. From the comments I've read, many people suggest getting an 8" if possible. For those that believe this is this the right thing to do, could you offer a few cases where it comes in handy (like pieces of furniture or whatever). That 8" lacks a mobile stand and shipping is double the 6" Grizzly.
• Planer - I'm currently looking at the 13" Ridgid or possibly the 12" Makita. Both seemed to get good reviews in this months Wood Magazine.
• Table Saw - I'm still up in the air about this. I can't decide between a good hybrid saw or cabinet saw. The new Grizzly G1023RL looks pretty nice. I would like to get one with a riving knife though. Ridgid seems to be lacking one at the moment, and all they'll tell me is they're working on a replacement for the R4511.

I have checked Craig's List and I'll continue to do so, but nothing exciting has turned up there lately.

I was looking at the new 10" Jet Planer/Jointer combo, but there doesn't seem to be a ton of reviews for it yet and the short table seems to scare most people.

I'd mostly be doing small cabinets and furniture. I am doing this as a hobby for now, but I do plan to do this for a while -- which is why I'd like to spend a little more now and not have to buy new stuff again in a couple of years.

As far as shop space goes, I have a 30'x22' detached garage. I need to be able to move most of the things along a wall to fit a F150 and a small tractor, but I can definitely move the truck out overnight when the need arises .

I am trying to stay within a budget (~$3000), so getting the 8" jointer and a cabinet saw are pushing it a bit, but if it's the right thing to do, I'd rather do that and hold off on a few other things.

Also, the local lumber yard sells S2S wood, so I'm not sure how often I'd need to join the faces of wide boards. I don't mind doing some hand planing as well.

Thanks for any suggestions and comments!
-Doug

First off welcome aboard.
I would say to pop for the SawStop® 10” Professional Cabinet http://www.sawstop.com/procabinet/procab_home.php
And a G0593 8" Jointer w/ Spiral Cutterhead http://www.grizzly.com/outlet/8-Jointer-w-Spiral-Cutterhead/G0593
The rest of the tools can come with time.
Between the 2 it's just a bit over your tool budget but you'll never have to replace them.
And what part of the country are you in? The people here see and hear about a lot of tools being sold, and if they have an idea where your from they will give you a heads up when they see some thing that is close to you.

I'm in Apex, NC (outside of Raleigh). Just updated my info.

Were I in your shoes, I'd get the saw stop and a good planer. I have the dewalt 735. You can face joint on the planer with a sled and if you have a proper blade on the TS it will take care of the edge joining. The rest can come later.

i have the version of the grizzly bandsaw without the bells and whistles, and i think it's all right. i have the 13" rigid 3 blade planer, and i just love it.

What I don't understand is people keep pushing others to buy the most expensive items when it is obvious he is trying to get a reasonably priced collection of tools that will serve well for many years to come so that he can have a fairly well rounded shop.

"I am trying to stay within a budget (~$3000)"

Unless your going to be building furniture with lots of over 6"wide long boards I.E trestle tables, large china cabinets etc. For the most part I would look for a 6" jointer you can buy locally be it new or used so you can avoid shipping. I think the Ridgid planer will serve you well That leaves you with shipping for only the Grizzly table-saw & Band-saw. I think your on the right track. You'll still need clamps, electric hand tool, regular hand tools etc.

Just my 2 cents worth. YMMV

welcome to our group here, don. my take is first off if you are firm on your dollar expense then let the jointer go and get a good Tsaw, either a new or good used,, the saw stop is one fine TSaw but pricey, but its not to pricey if you have lost fingers on the cheaper models. the other tools that your not looking at like bart mentioned add up in hurry. and with a good blade on your TSaw and your hand plane you can get by without a jointer. do i have one yes, have i gotten by without yes again. the planer you mentioned possibly could be paid for by the saving in have the lumber yard do it for you.. but most of us have either the lunch box or the stationary models..not familiar with grizzly planers but have heard and seen good results in the dewalt 735. one feature that is nice is the blower to exstract the chips out for you. some of the others dont offer that.. happy hunting for your tools,, and get to know craigs list better.. they are a lot of tools out there that are good used tools and alot cheaper than the new ones

I agree with Bart. Although the saw stop and 8" jointer are great that comes to more $ than he has available.
Keep on checking CL. I have done real well carefully picking out the quality tools and getting good deals.
If I had $3000 to start a shop I'd get a good used contractor table saw, ridgid 6" jointer, dewalt planer, PC random orbit sander, a decent used band saw, several routers and a router table. And a ton of clamps.

Oh ya, Welcome Doug!!!

While I understand the budget thing, I'm sure we all do, and with $3000 you can certainly get decent versions of all the tools listed in the want list, but, I have to agree with Chuck and others that are suggesting the top drawer tablesaw to start.

Honestly, the SawStop Pro model, with the quality and the built in safety device is hard to NOT buy, even if it kind of breaks your budget now, I'd advise to get that saw, and then over time, fill the other rosters slots on your list.

This might even work to your advantage over time, I honestly do not see much point in buying a brand spanking new Bandsaw or Jointer, they have not really changed much in the past 20 years or so, and can often be had for real bargain prices used and in good condition. The lunch box planer is something that I'd want to buy new, as well as the Tablesaw, as there have been some really significant changes to these items in the past 20 years.

If you do not go the SawStop route, at the very least go with a saw that haas a true splitter, this is one safety device that should have been on all of our saws a LONG time ago.

it seems to me that you are taking the long view, and wish to do this hobby for the rest of your life, well with a top quality tablesaw, you will have a solid foundation to build on, and with a saw like the SawStop, (yes I have one) you will enjoy using it every time you turn it on.

I'm not saying Bart or other are wrong, they are certainly NOT wrong, as Bart has a very nice collection of older well used tools, some that he has resurrected like his wonderful Delta Uni-saw, and others that he just maintains and uses all the time.

You are not Chuck, nor are you Bart, you are Doug, so you will have to make the choice, and I'm happy that you are asking all of us for input.

Welcome to the Family

Cheers!

As I see it, from my own experience, rushing out to buy a bunch of tools to "start" a hobby is foolish. After 5 years since I decided to outfit the shop with the tools needed to do the type of work I wanted/needed to do, some still haven't even been plugged in let alone used. Granted, they spent 3 of those years in storage due to unrelated reasons. Yet, the best project I ever turned out was when I only had a table saw, bench top drill press, router, and a hand drill.

Given that the lumber source provide lumber S2S, a jointer probably isn't necessary at this time. The SawStop table saw is an excellent recommendation. Be aware that you're paying extra for a unique and desirable safety feature. The other perspective is that when on a budget, you will end up buying tools which you'll want to upgrade later. It's to be expected. IMHO, the table saw is the most painful to upgrade as most woodworkers tend to setup their shops around the table saw. Dropping a new table saw in place in the future usually means rearranging many of the other items in your shop to remain efficient. From that perspective, and if I had to do it again, I would not skimp on the table saw.

One opinion that I've formed with almost no input from others is that buying all of the equipment at once has a significant potential of slowing one's development of woodworking skills. This may sound a little counterintuitive. But, if you're positioned with only a couple of tools for a complex task, you're more or less forced to think outside the box on how to use those tools (safely) to accomplish the desired complex task. I think this skill is almost universal amongst those who truly crave to be in the wood shop and use their problem solving skills versus going out and spending the next $500 for a machine to save an hour or three of their play time. Yep, we can always buy more stuff to make the job faster and more accurate but I believe there's always a trade off elsewhere. Sometimes it is just $$$. Often it's the opportunity to learn something new which is where this fine group of worldly citizens come in to play.

Welcome Douglas
More than thirty years in, starting with home-improvement type projects and gradually moving on to (I think) finer work, here are some thoughts.
I've tried to buy good tools along the way, when I just couldn't figure out a work-around for specific tasks any more. People I respected advised to "buy really good tools" and I listened. Now I'm struggling with some of those, and I wish I had bought really, really good tools!

My Craftsman contractors tablesaw was considered to be a good "carpenter's" saw in the early 80's. I've spent enough on aftermarket upgrades for it to pay for a nice old Unisaw or General, or a good portion of a Sawstop.

The 6 inch Delta jointer seemed like a good choice, but now is the most limiting tool in the shop, not so much for it's width of cut, but for it's lack of a long, flat bed and easy, accurate adjustments. It's so hateful to change the blades that I put off doing it much too long. It needs to go, maybe up into the hayloft or to the scrapyard. My conscience might not let me sell it to an unsuspecting new woodworker!

Some nice old iron has been creeping into my shop the past couple of years. This is very satisfying and can give great value. I'd encourage you to look in the used industrial-grade machinery direction for some of your needs. I'm trying not to let mine be a diversion though. My shop is for woodworking, not restoring old machines.

This forum can be your best tool. There are lots of extremely talented people here who are very generous with their truly expert advice. A look at some of the gallery photos is, for me, a very humbling reminder of the calibre of work being done here. Enjoy!

Peter

I will give you the same advice I give everyone. Take you time, don't spend a lot of money all at once and NOTHING beats the bang for your buck of a good vintage used tool. And they have not be value engineered to death either.

It's not for everyone, but I have a shop full of tools, except for my Grizzly bandsaw the average age is probably 1947-1948. But there is a lot of newer used stuff out there at some really good deals. Yes, it take some digging but after a while it finds you. Craiglist is a good source but you typically have to be really fast.

There are lot of $800 Unisaws out there and that is machine that you probably will never outgrow. When you sell it someday you will probably get your money back.

Matt Warfield said:

A........... The SawStop table saw is an excellent recommendation. Be aware that you're paying extra for a unique and desirable safety feature...........

Click to expand...

Matt, I'm going to respectfully disagree with you on this point.

The New SawStop Pro model is very much inline with other full on cabinet saws price and quality wise, from what I have seen.

All with 36" fences I see these kind of prices at various places:

Delta Unisaw $3300
Powermatic PM2000 $3100
Powermatic PM66 $3200
SawStop Pro $2899

I know that these prices will vary somewhat by location, shipping etc but I'd say it is safe to say with a little shopping around, they could all be had for around $3000

SawStop is the only one with the safety device, but I think that they all, with maybe the exception of the PM66 have good splitters.

Stuart Ablett said:

Matt, I'm going to respectfully disagree with you on this point.

The New SawStop Pro model is very much inline with other full on cabinet saws price and quality wise, from what I have seen.

All with 36" fences I see these kind of prices at various places:

Delta Unisaw $3300
Powermatic PM2000 $3100
Powermatic PM66 $3200
SawStop Pro $2899

I know that these prices will vary somewhat by location, shipping etc but I'd say it is safe to say with a little shopping around, they could all be had for around $3000

SawStop is the only one with the safety device, but I think that they all, with maybe the exception of the PM66 have good splitters.

Click to expand...

Hey Stu don't you mean Riving Knife
My 1940's Unisaw has a good Delta splitter because I installed one. But it isn't as good as a Riving Knife.

Oh by the way good morning or is that good night.

On a side note my Dad made some furniture & a lot of cabinets with plain doors not raised panel with nothing more then a 1950's gold colored anniversary addition Craftsman contractor table-saw & jointer purchased new. He purchased 13/16 S2S material & ripped & then jointed the edges. I still have these tools today & they will be set up in my bigger shop when I get there.

Personally if I had the $3000 to spend on a table saw I would buy a Unisaw over a Sawstop..
I have an older craftsman 3 hp cast iron contractor style table saw that does everything I need and more. It has plenty of power and is extremely accurate. I got it on CL for $175.
With all respect to others ideas. For $3000 you can get a good variety of tools and upgrade as your skills and needs require.
You may want to consider a good used Shopsmith as well.

You asked for opinions, ye got 'em.
To keep within your budget limitations (most of us are familiar with that situation), I suggest you hold off on the tools you expect to use the least. That way, as time passes you may find good used ones. e.g. I got a dandy jointer about a year ago for $50.00.
You mention the Grizzly G0555 bandsaw. That bandsaw is almost legendary as being one of the best values out there in the 14" size. I have one, use it almost daily and am very happy with it. But, I would suggest this, if you can fit into your budget, look at a larger size, e.g. 17", instead of the riser. The riser, reportedly, works fine for occasional big stuff milling and such but for regular use, you will find the bigger,and more powerful ones better suited for such work.
As you get your tools, do take pictures and keep us up to date on your progress. Congrats on your shop adventure.

Bart Leetch said:

Hey Stu don't you mean Riving Knife
My 1940's Unisaw has a good Delta splitter because I installed one. But it isn't as good as a Riving Knife.

Oh by the way good morning or is that good night.

On a side note my Dad made some furniture & a lot of cabinets with plain doors not raised panel with nothing more then a 1950's gold colored anniversary addition Craftsman contractor table-saw & jointer purchased new. He purchased 13/16 S2S material & ripped & then jointed the edges. I still have these tools today & they will be set up in my bigger shop when I get there.

Click to expand...

Yep Bart, you are correct, Riving Knife, nice catch!

I would have to agree that there is a lot of old iron out there that can be had for a deal. But and this is a big but If you have no idea if the machine you are looking at is in good shape, and no idea how to fix it or possibly make parts for it. Than the old ones can be a nightmare. Not saying one can't learn these things but it can be an expansive lesson getting that 1950 saw that has just been restored.Then finding out after the perches that it was restored with nothing more than a new coat of paint.
I can tell you this for sure 20 some years ago I had a pile of cash for tools. I got a Delta contractors saw a Grizzly planer and a Jet jointer. The planer and the jointer are still in my shop. The saw was and still is a pile of junk and has been gone a few years now. From the day I bought it until this very day I kick my self for not getting a good table saw and waiting on the other tools. I still have not replaced that saw and wont until I have the cash to buy the saw I want instead of getting something just to have a saw. I have my work table saw and it treats me well enough to get by with.
The Table saw can be a 3k perches but in my experience it is way easier to come up with a grand to by a jointeror a shaper or 500 to buy a bench top planer than it is to come up with 3 grand to get a new table saw. Don't forget that once you get into woodworking you may find that you have no need for a bandsaw but really wish you had a lathe or some other such thing. But you will never find that you don't need a good TS. Even if you end up doing nothing but turning pen the TS is the go to tool for cutting up blanks.

Chuck said, in part: "....you may find that you have no need for a bandsaw but really wish you had a lathe or some other such thing. But you will never find that you don't need a good TS. Even if you end up doing nothing but turning pen the TS is the go to tool for cutting up blanks."

Depends on what you plan to do. I use my bandsaw daily and turn on the table saw, maybe, once a month. My blank cutting is done with the bandsaw. I wouldn't attempt to put logs through a table saw.

I have only two items that I feel that I have enough knowledge to speak about.

1. T/S For form, fit, and SAFETY, there is only one saw. It is the SawStop. WELL Worth the price, if you are goin' for the long haul and they now have several model available.

2. Band saw. I have the grizzley GO555. Bought it before I saw Rikon's offering. Look at the Rikon 14" deluxe and the 18". They are both one piece Square columns. The 14" Deluxe has 12" of resaw and the 18" has 13" resaw. While I worked at Woodcraft, we sold several hundred 14" Deluxe and we had the 18" in our shop where we tried to beat it to death, but kept on. I'm guessing here, but I believe we sold at least 50 18". Not one was returned of either model and the three or for minor problems were taken care of quickly and courteously.

Hope this helps.

Bruce