Thread: Equipment advice for Newbie

Here we go.

Work Bench with Vise;
OK
or Triton.

Router and Router Table [OK Triton; the same one]
Saw; Circular and hand
Chisels, Mallet
Planes
Clamps

Then the "Usual"
eg
Pencils,
Tape
Ruler/Straight edge
Square
Screws
Glue
Etc
etc
You determine it....

Welcome to the rathouse Aaron.
Good list above. Don't forget that you get what you pay for and you will need to pay a little extra for Accuracy. I would buy Big Triton router and mount under a table built on the base of the Gifkins Router Table. Good first project and you can troll through these forums to get ideas to add or modify to suit youself.
A good solid workbench and vise is a must.
You might find that to begin with a table saw is out of reach, but search for 2nd Hand ones and ask advice here. There may be a workshop you cane get to where you can get your timber cut straight and true either by the owner or you can buy time and do it yourself.
Best of luck.

Forgot the Gifkin!
Forgot the Gifkin


It was the first of my Downfall,
then came the;

HNT Gordon Planes

Stanley Planes

MANY, to many assorterd chisels

KREG Pocket System

Shees

I am still perfecting 'MY' Bench
.

Hi Aaron

If you intend ripping timber then the triton is great. If you are prepared to build a sled (search sled in triton forum) for the triton table then its great.

With a sled the triton can be very accurate.

If you dont intend to rip timber then a VERY good quality sliding compound mitre saw is probably better. If the angles are 90 and 45deg then you could always get a cheap scms and a mitre trimmer;



will get you perfect cuts.

I just love my mitre trimmer

What are you intending to build?

G'day Arron

I was looking at getting a Triton WorkCentre 2000 with a router attachment and router, but I notice on here that there are a few comments about the accuracy of their gear. Above anything accuracy is probably what I'm most interested in.... after price!

Personally...and im just talking from my own experience ...I owned a triton work center Mk3 for quite a while and was glad to see the back of it when i sold it . They can be accurate but there is a lot of stuffing around to get it and keep it that way.

I sincerly reckon you would be better off putting the money towards some good hand tools and a few good power tools and build from there.

This is a list of gear I would recommend

Hand tool list

Marking out

Squares: 300mm combination square (I like the starrett), 75mm and 200mm engineering squares.

Rules: 150mm, 300mm, 1000mm steel rules and 8m tape measure

Marking knife: preferably one with one flat side to run against a rule

Sliding bevel: I like the veritas one because it has the bade clamping thing flush with the body...though this in not essential

cutting gauge: I use both cutting (knife) and marking (pin) gauge. some I bought some I have made

Awl: these buggers are so handy. Just make sure it has a nice sharp point.


Cutting tools

Chisels: an overall starting out set I think should contain a 3mm ,6mm 12mm, 25mm and a large one say 42-50mm.
If your patient and do some research you can pick up what you need second hand (eBay, markets etc) look for brands like Berg and Titan etc
Or if you want to splash some cash go for a good quality Japanese set

Planes: good all rounder would be a #5, #5 1/2 or #6 add to that a block plane and a rebate plane
Planes can also be obtained second hand with some patience and research, if your willing to do some work to get them working properly. Or the big budget, work out of the box option would be Lie Nelson, Lee Valley or even HNT Gordon for a really good value new plane (most my collection consist of HNTs)

Spokeshave: Flat and round. Again old ones are good

Card Scrapers: good quality thick ones. A goose neck scraper is also a good thing to have

Saws: I tend to go for a machine for most sawing, but some small saws for joint work are handy. I like Japanese style saws

Hammers and Mallets: Cant go wrong with the good old claw hammer. Mallets are an excellent starting out project to make for yourself

other: set of screw drivers, flat and phillips head
drill bits, various types
consumables such as glue, screws and sandpaper, clamps, clamps and more clamps (of all types)


Sharpening

There are many different ways to sharpen and you will probably find one that suits you as you go along. As a basic kit I would suggest a 1000 and 6000 grit Japanese water stones. A piece of 10mm glass with wet&dry (various grits) paper attached with spray adhesive. This can be used to flatten water stones, the backs of chisels and plane irons and if long enough plane soles. I would also recommend a honing guide. ( I like the veritas Mk2) and a burnisher (for your scrapers).


Power tools

as a minimum I wouldn't do with out:

Cordless drill

small circular saw

random orbital sander

plunge router

This lot with the addition of various home made jigs and fixtures such as (to name just a few):


shooting boards: makes it easier to plane and dress timber

saw guide : couple different versions of these and you can pretty much do the same job as a triton

router table: very handy....jointing (by that I mean planing a straight edge), moulding, rebates, joinery (dovetails, box joints etc)


etc.

will allow you to do most jobs.

when you have all that and can afford it.... go out and but the biggest, baddest bandsaw you can afford

This all just my opinion of course....and you may find a Triton wc works very well for you...it does for lots of people

cheers
BD