I have a decent shop set up. Mostly stuff from eBay and craigslist with a few hand me downs and birthday/Christmas presents. I have two tools that stand out to me as being both indispensable. Incidentally, I undervalued both when initially purchased, and actually appreciate both of them far more than I thought I would. Put another way I seem respect/enjoy them more over time.
My favorite tools are
1.) Jointech Smart Miter. This is the best table saw accessary I have ever seen or used. It’s a precision crosscut/miter sled. I seems like I use it on everything. I cut about 2000 board feet of picture frame moulding with it every year in addition to my various projects. Jointech is no longer around (sad since they made such great stuff) the closest is the Dubby sled from Inline Industries.
2.) Shopsmith 10er. I love this machine and marvel at it every time I use it. It’s a brilliant piece of simple durable machinal engineering. Watching the speed ramp up with the speed changer is always a blast. Sometimes I turn it on and watch the reeves gear to its work just for fun. A lot of people don't like Shopsmith combination machines, but I think most of their criticisms are unfounded. The change overs are not bad, usually only taking a few minutes, and the versatility is incredible, once you start thinking in terms of its capabilities a whole new world opens up. The only place where the 10er *could* be considered deficit is the table saw as it is not very deep and the fence design is out of the 50s. I have decent Delta contract saw so that is not a problem. I really think that I could do everything I typically do with a single Shopsmith Mark V or 7 that has the upgraded table and fence.
What are your favorite tools/machines?
My favorite tools are
1.) Jointech Smart Miter. This is the best table saw accessary I have ever seen or used. It’s a precision crosscut/miter sled. I seems like I use it on everything. I cut about 2000 board feet of picture frame moulding with it every year in addition to my various projects. Jointech is no longer around (sad since they made such great stuff) the closest is the Dubby sled from Inline Industries.
2.) Shopsmith 10er. I love this machine and marvel at it every time I use it. It’s a brilliant piece of simple durable machinal engineering. Watching the speed ramp up with the speed changer is always a blast. Sometimes I turn it on and watch the reeves gear to its work just for fun. A lot of people don't like Shopsmith combination machines, but I think most of their criticisms are unfounded. The change overs are not bad, usually only taking a few minutes, and the versatility is incredible, once you start thinking in terms of its capabilities a whole new world opens up. The only place where the 10er *could* be considered deficit is the table saw as it is not very deep and the fence design is out of the 50s. I have decent Delta contract saw so that is not a problem. I really think that I could do everything I typically do with a single Shopsmith Mark V or 7 that has the upgraded table and fence.
What are your favorite tools/machines?
