Thread: what’s your dream workshop setup and how’s progress?

Originally Posted by derekcohen

The most recent upgrade was a Black Friday purchase of a Nova Saturn lathe to replace my 10 year old Jet mini. There are more powerful lathes, but this one has plenty (2.3 hp) and all the variable speed and swing height (17") I believe I could ever need. So I am a very happy camper ...

Hi Derek,

Great setup, thanks for sharing!

I am considering a lathe purchase soon. Wondering if you compared Nova 1644 with Saturn. Similar price with a much longer 44" bed and similar specs from what I can see.

Cheers

Salim

I'm truly surprised your 20yr old cordless drill is still useful, I mostly stay away from cordless tools except for round-the-house stuff like drills and impact drivers because I have assumed they will be fairly disposable due to battery life span and I want to avoid disposable tools.

Austin, there is something to be said for good old tools - that old maxim of "cry once". My 12v Panasonic was an expensive purchase 20 years ago. I recall have tennis elbow at the time I went hunting for a new drill. The Panasonic shaded a Festool (or was it Festo back then?) for balance. My elbow told me which to get!

Over the years I have replaced a trigger and had several batteries. I once had a 15.6v Panasonic, but disliked its extra mass, and the extra power was not important. The 12v is a powerful drill, easily noticeable over the Festool C12. I have just purchased 2 Ni-Mh batteries and a new charger for this, and it has a new lease on life!



Don't write off the old power tools. My routers are all Elu ...



These are fantastic! I purchased the large 177e over 25 years ago and preferred it to the large Festo 2000 (now the Festool 2200). I have a second one in the router table (the 177e has been re-badged as the DeWalt 625). The middle sized MOF97 is one of the best routers I have ever used (it is now re-badged as a DeWalt 621). Superb dust control.

Contact me for information on sharpening when you are ready. I have tried a lot of systems of the years, and have settled on what I consider to be the most efficient.

I am considering a lathe purchase soon. Wondering if you compared Nova 1644 with Saturn. Similar price with a much longer 44" bed and similar specs from what I can see.

Salim, I did look at the Nova 1644. Compared to the Nova Saturn it is quite light weight. The 1644 has a 1.5 hp motor, the Saturn 2.3 hp. The 1644 is a manual speed change and the Saturn is electronic variable speed, and a wider range. Distance between centres is the same for the 1644 is and the Saturn (600mm basic and 1100mm with bed extension). I have the bed extension as I turn legs for tables and chairs. The legs of the Nova are alloy, while those on the Saturn are cast iron. The Saturn is a beast in mass! Then again, the Saturn is double the price of the 1644. It was the electronic variable speed (EVS) of the Saturn that sold me. Cry once.

Regards from Perth

Derek

while we are on Derek, I notice 2 little oddies on his workbench.

I would believe a B&D workmate has been sabotaged for its clamps/grips. well done Derek nice bit of recycling.

Single garage with a small corner for woodwork, and plenty of nice hand tools.

Im pretty close, a B&D workmate with some nice old tools that I have restored. I have a few luxuries as well, bandsaw/drill press/lathe.

My dream would be more space and a whopping budget but then I am only dreaming. Just have to get by with what I got.
Regards
John

Interesting dimithri, you aren't the first person who has a Bandsaw as high on the list of machines for a hand tool woodworker. I'm discovering lately how versatile a good bandsaw is!

Tonight the Power Ball lottery is half a billion.
The first step is to win the lottery.
Then, well we'll wait until I accomplish step 1.

Austin, I havent used it yet. Due to not wanting to fill my garage with fine dust, its often easier to take a jigsaw outside than the wheel the bandsaw outside. I didn't actually want a bandsaw, but I got it at such a low price, that I could not say no =) Hopefully it comes in handy soon.

Originally Posted by Austin_Turner

Interesting dimithri, you aren't the first person who has a Bandsaw as high on the list of machines for a hand tool woodworker. I'm discovering lately how versatile a good bandsaw is!

Bandsaws are super versatile and not just for cutting wood. I cut more dog bones, plastics (and even though I have a dedicated MW bandsaw) and metal with mine more than I cut wood.

Provided the blades are sharp, because of their narrow kerf, bandsaws are actually relatively low volume wood dust generators. They also don't scatter what dust they do make as much as other machines because of the downward cutting direction of the band. Unless a TS has good air flow through a cabinet, the back of the exposed blade ends up pulling a lot of fine dust up out of the cabinet and then spraying it around al-la sprinkler style. A combination of efficient cabinet extraction and OH guard extraction makes a difference.

Bob, how do you clean up after the bones, wouldn’t meaty bits go everywhere in the cabinet?

Originally Posted by derekcohen

Salim, I did look at the Nova 1644. Compared to the Nova Saturn it is quite light weight. The 1644 has a 1.5 hp motor, the Saturn 2.3 hp. The 1644 is a manual speed change and the Saturn is electronic variable speed, and a wider range. Distance between centres is the same for the 1644 is and the Saturn (600mm basic and 1100mm with bed extension). I have the bed extension as I turn legs for tables and chairs. The legs of the Nova are alloy, while those on the Saturn are cast iron. The Saturn is a beast in mass! Then again, the Saturn is double the price of the 1644. It was the electronic variable speed (EVS) of the Saturn that sold me. Cry once.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Thanks Derek!

I meant this Nova Galaxi DVR 1644 lathe.
https://www.carbatec.com.au/nova-gal...-1624-44-lathe

Comes with 2hp motor with EVS, 1117 between centres and cast iron legs. Carbatec RRP is $3999, currently down to $3,199. Nova Saturn is $3,549 with stand.

Keen to get your opinion!

Originally Posted by Austin_Turner

Bob, how do you clean up after the bones, wouldn’t meaty bits go everywhere in the cabinet?

Firstly I only cut deeply frozen bones or chicken frames - that way there's way less meaty stuff flying around
Then I cut a couple of pieces of pine before and after cutting the bones and run the DC which seems to scavenge the meaty stuff to some degree.
I usually by and cut up bones by the 5 kg lot every month or so and if I'm cutting a lot of large marrow bones a small amount of marrow mush can stick to the tyres and some to the table but a simple wipe off fixes those.
Chicken frames get cut up once a week but leave very little mess
The small amount of fat that smears the table is not that different to the paste wax I wipe apply to it.

Lucky pups!

Originally Posted by Austin_Turner

I remember talking to you a few years ago Albert and you’ve also upgraded a lot, business must be good! I notice the youtube guy had the same AD951 you reviewed here, it looks like a beast of a machine!

Thanks mate, its all investment... The next possible upgrade for me is the spindle moulder to a Felder Profil 45. the average product life is only 2 years-ish therefore I have to constantly think about new product to entice the potential customers. the AD951 is a beast alright, I wish I have bought it earlier.