Thread: Advice for newbie setting up workshop

Senior . . . mm sounds old . . . Anyway tools

Very cheap hand tools are a disaster, agreed. Just try to buy hand tools or garden tools in Franklins or Woolwords.
Solution is either to buy good new ones if you have the money or go to the second hand markets and find good and some times very good tools for a few dollars. Takes time and some knowledge, but common sense helps. English German or American hand tools are usually very good. Buying hand tools second hand is a rewarding experience. I personally never stopped buying hand tools particularly old and good ones.

Power tools. There are some cheap and bad ones around? Yes.
Also some cheap and not so bad ones? Yes, GMC is one of them.
One can also buy power tools second hand, and contrary to popular belief, most of the time you can buy a good tool that will last a long time particularly to an amateur . . . IF:

You stick to the best brand possible. Never buy Black and Decker Rioby handyman series or any Chinese power tools second hand. In fact, do not buy ever any handyman quality second hand, nor small pwer tools.
Buy only the best brands the larger models and never pay more than half the price new, 1/3 is even better. Bosh and Rioby blue are OK, Makita, Hitachi, Festo, Elu, AEG, and any of the German.

Look at the tool, the state of its exterior tells you the life it had. If it is covered with mortar stains, paint or giprock dust, you can skip that one. If it looks looked after and it is a recent model, well you are on a winner. Plugging it in and revving it up will give you some further indication. Noisy bearings are a give away, smell the air that blows out of the motor, does it smell like burned plastic? Forget it.

In the end it is always a gamble but one that can pay good dividends. What I do after purchasing a second hand power tool is go to a trusty power tool repairer I know, that works inside one of the Parra Power Tools shops, and give it to him to clean and service, and if necessary change bearings and brushes. for some further $30 or thereabouts, you have a tool that will last a long time. I have a large number of power tools purchased that way and they are all still in good working order.

One last tip. If you ever burn a power tool working at home and providing you are not a professional, check your home insurance. Chances are that it is covered under the terms of your content insurance. I burned an electric planer and had it replaced legitimately.

Marc,
Where would you suggest looking for second hand power tools? Im am not in the market but I sometimes look at Crime Convertors and find really poor quality tools often up to 90% of new price and sometimes .... especially with the cheapes over the original RRP.

Aobed, you don't mention how much space you have in your workshop, or even if you have a workbench.

A simple workbench need not cost much but build that cost into your budget before you go shopping.
Working on the floor or on horses can be done, but it takes away from the fun and makes it difficult to achieve good results.

For a long time I had limited space, (if I'd swung a cat I would have knocked his head off.) and tended to set up a pair of horses out on the lawn next to the workshop, to break down the larger materials (like MDF sheets).

The other comments above are good, but take them in the context of how you think your hobby may develop.

Don't forget to have a simple wish list of smaller ticket items. Christmas and birthdays tend to be good for filling the gaps.

Enjoy your hobby, that's what it's for!!!

have I mentioned that I love this forum ???

Anyway, Mr Stink, there is a third school of thought that should be considered ; Ie : "I'll buy quality for high usage and compensate elsewhere" (IBQ4HU&CE).

As the name suggests Afficianados of IBQ4HU&CE (like myself) discover very early what they really need and buy a good one and compromise on others. In my case being a renovator it was a V.Good quality batt drill (Makita 7.2v - 12 yrs old and still kicking on the original batteries), 8" bench grinder, hammer & handsaw.

For example With a budget of $1200 you could get a bitchen batt drill, bench grinder, hammer and handsaw for approx $400 and get the GMC throwaways and other handtools as required when required and some timber to learn on whilst building your workbench!

Thats my opinion anyway.

Mind you I tend to lean towards the ES on occasion - my power tools all come in a nice dark blue colour.

Sniffle, sniffle, ah gee stinky I just read that message and you’ve put a tear in me eye. I was lost – I mean I didn’t seem to fit in at all. But thanks to Zed – another IBQ4HU&CE – I have found myself and can now see the light.
BTW Stinky, you can borrow my rotex any time, so log as you apologise to it – nicely too as it doesn’t like sarcasm! And you have to be sure to clean it before giving it back, I don’t want it to look all dusty!

Nice thread people but why is it in the woodturning forum?:confused:

NFI mate, Must admit I have recently started using the "Find todays active thread button" these days so as per my normal routine I have no idea what planet/forum i'm on. I still browse my favourites though.

hey Stink, why dontcha start a poll using your indomitable wit that begs the question : "What school do you belong to ?" I'd start it myself but I dont want to get in trouble for using the wrong forum...

Originally posted by WNS
Nice thread people but why is it in the woodturning forum?:confused:

Maybe because the original poster, being a nice sounding newbie, did not know which forum to use and so far nobody thought it necessary to point out the mistake.

Peter.

Stinkalot:
To find good used tools or power tools is a matter of being pacient and informed.
l live in Sydney so that is of no use to you, but there are 3 or 4 second hand tool markets on weekends and then there is the pawn brokers and the trading post, not to mention the second hand tool shops.

Cash convertors is a place to shop with caution since they tend to price their staff on the high side. Cash convertors in Fairfield has a Rioby drill press industrial line 16 speed floor stand for $399
A few phone calls quoting the model number revealed that when Rioby suggested retail price is $499, the retailer sells the same product for $380/

Having said that, I baught half of my workshop in places like Cash converters and I found some very good deals there. It all comes down to how much they paid for it. The guys that do the purchasing are not rocket scientist and if they pay too much for an item, they will try to sell it high, and unfortunaltey they usualy find someone that buys at just about any price.

Aobed,
great to see some younger people getting involved. Using a bit of lateral thinking here, I would also suggest you join a woodworking club (if you haven't already).
The CVWC should be able to provide you with the names of clubs in your area.
You will find some clubs specialise in certain aspects of woodworking such as woodturning and some cover a wide range within the one club (cabinetmaking, scroll saw, carving etc). I have joined the later type wich is great. You can start off in one field of interest and dabble in the other areas. This forum is a fantastic tool but the ability to talk to people face to face, exchange ideas and see first hand (touchy feely experience) what others are doing is worth its weight in gold.
Joining a club is the best thing you will ever do.

Hi there,

Just thought I'd let everyone know what I ended up purchasing and how I've progressed.

Thanks to everyone for all their help and advice .

I ended up purchasing a 10" compound slide drop saw, 1/2" router, belt sander, finishing sander, a heap of clamps and built myself a workbench to work off / store everything in.

Virtually all of the tools were "no name" brands, however they certainly to the job (atleast for my standard of work anyway!)

I went for the cheap approach for the majority of my tools and will progressively upgrade as my skills and needs increase.

I think this was highlighted in the clamps I purchased. I managed to pick up a heap of g-clamps / f-clamps from a "$2 store" for between $3 - $5. While not great, these were of equalivant quality of the cheap ones sold in bunnings for considerably more ($15-$20). For me, I couldn't justify purchasing record clamps until I can produce work that justifies the cost. (Or I win the lotto!)

Last weekend I built a bookshelf for my sister - which (aside from the workbench) was my first project since high school. I was quite happy with the performance of all the tools and look forward to my next project - a day bed!

My next major purchase will be a table saw so this will allow me to rip timber rather than having to get it all at the right width.

I also need to install a tow bar on my car and purchase a trailer. It's quite difficult to transport timber in a sedan

Hope everyone had a great Christmasn / New Years!

[QUOTE]
....... and look forward to my next project - a day bed!

[QUOTE]


If you are looking for a plan and instructions there is a day bed featured in the latest Triton Times which can be downloaded from
http://www.triton.net.au/ttimes_2.html

Regards,


Peter