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Started By
Message
Looking to start my shop. school me on the state of power tools in 2021
Posted on 12/18/21 at 5:07 pm
Posted on 12/18/21 at 5:07 pm
Gonna move soon and I have no kids yet so I’m going to try and get a little shop set up before those money pits eventually come along.
From middle school through college I had a full scale wood shop at my disposal at whatever school I was at so I’ve been fortunate to have had very expensive quality commercial power tools at my disposal.
I am very unfamiliar with the hierarchy of modern consumer power tool brands. I recognize a lot of the brand names like Ryobi, Makihita, Dewalt, Milwaukee, etc…
I know as far as handheld power tools go you have to stay within the same battery ecosystem unless you want to have a bunch of different batteries. But for now I’m more concerned with getting stationary tools together. Table saw, band saw, disc sander, planer, jointer, etc…
I can actually get most of these tools together (minus a nice table saw) for a couple thousand dollars. But I assume these tools that would go for these prices cumulatively are not the best quality. I don’t need the best and I probably won’t run these tools that hard but obviously I don’t want to buy something that’s junk.
Are the brands I listed above pretty safe just for casual use or are they mostly junky these days? Tons of the tools I see look exactly the same except for the branding on them. This makes me think that some factory in China just pumps these things out and they slap yellow on it for dewalt and green on it for Ryobi and so on. This doesn’t make me feel great about the quality.
So maybe just looking for any info on getting the best bang for the buck if I can getting this shop started.
From middle school through college I had a full scale wood shop at my disposal at whatever school I was at so I’ve been fortunate to have had very expensive quality commercial power tools at my disposal.
I am very unfamiliar with the hierarchy of modern consumer power tool brands. I recognize a lot of the brand names like Ryobi, Makihita, Dewalt, Milwaukee, etc…
I know as far as handheld power tools go you have to stay within the same battery ecosystem unless you want to have a bunch of different batteries. But for now I’m more concerned with getting stationary tools together. Table saw, band saw, disc sander, planer, jointer, etc…
I can actually get most of these tools together (minus a nice table saw) for a couple thousand dollars. But I assume these tools that would go for these prices cumulatively are not the best quality. I don’t need the best and I probably won’t run these tools that hard but obviously I don’t want to buy something that’s junk.
Are the brands I listed above pretty safe just for casual use or are they mostly junky these days? Tons of the tools I see look exactly the same except for the branding on them. This makes me think that some factory in China just pumps these things out and they slap yellow on it for dewalt and green on it for Ryobi and so on. This doesn’t make me feel great about the quality.
So maybe just looking for any info on getting the best bang for the buck if I can getting this shop started.
This post was edited on 12/18/21 at 5:07 pm
28
Posted on 12/18/21 at 5:09 pm to jlovel7
Makita or Milwaukee. Stick with one.
Posted on 12/18/21 at 5:13 pm to jlovel7
Try the Home & Garden board (yes, TD has a Home & Garden board)
Posted on 12/18/21 at 5:14 pm to jlovel7
I have always been partial to Milwaukee because that’s all guys use where I work. I have no info on if that’s a top brand, but I feel like everyone using it is a good sign.
Posted on 12/18/21 at 5:16 pm to jlovel7
quote:
I am very unfamiliar with the hierarchy of modern consumer power tool brands. I recognize a lot of the brand names like Ryobi, Makihita, Dewalt, Milwaukee, etc…
Mafell, Hilti, Festool then the rest.
quote:
Table saw, band saw, disc sander, planer, jointer, etc…
What is your budget ie China/Taiwan budget or Germany/Austria/Italy budget. Give the budget for the big 5 TS, jointer, planer, drill press and bandsaw. Intersted in old US iron?
Posted on 12/18/21 at 5:18 pm to Obtuse1
I've had a Hilti Sawzall for the last decade. Thing is a beast.
Posted on 12/18/21 at 5:20 pm to Obtuse1
quote:
What is your budget ie China/Taiwan budget or Germany/Austria/Italy budget. Give the budget for the big 5 TS, jointer, planer, drill press and bandsaw. Intersted in old US iron?
What are the price ranges for those?
Would love old US iron tools. Probably really only have the budget at this time for the Chinese stuff but would at least like to know what I would have to spend to get the good stuff so I can maybe plan for that in the future.
Posted on 12/18/21 at 5:23 pm to jlovel7
quote:
. But I assume these tools that would go for these prices cumulatively are not the best quality.
Not true. I have 3 Dewalt miter saws, the 10" jobsite table saw, the 12.5" thickness planer, and a number of their 20V tools, a few 12V, and even one 8V tool. Never had an issue with any of them. I also have a few Milwaukee M18 and M12 tools. The best bang for the buck will be whichever brand has the most tools you want within a common battery system. For me that's Dewalt as I do more generalized construction work than strictly mechanical/HVAC/plumbing type work which Milwaukee is better positioned to. I can charge my 12V, 20V, and 60V batteries on any charger I have and most of my 20V tools can use both 20V and 60V batteries. If you don't plan on needing more that just basic DIY tools then Hitachi is probably the best value, very solid tools and once you get a good base of batteries then getting reconditioned tools will be a great way to expand your collection.
Posted on 12/18/21 at 5:24 pm to jlovel7
Milwaukee is pretty much the best balance of price, reliability ease of procurement and customer support. I had my procurement team do a deep dive into this last year and we decided there’s a big enough gap to make all of our operating units switch and only buy them. They’re a pretty good company to deal with and usually have local repair shops.
This post was edited on 12/18/21 at 5:25 pm
Posted on 12/18/21 at 5:27 pm to jlovel7
Best advice I ever got. Buy Harbor Freight cheap tools and then replace any ones you wear out with a high quality expensive one. Lots of people find out they don't use half their tools more than once or twice a year.
Posted on 12/18/21 at 5:29 pm to jlovel7
Honestly if you’re looking for older quality tools look at Facebook market place, try and find auctions, and believe it or not garage sales.
Any of your rigid, dewalt, and so on will get you by for a while. If they have the lifetime warranty just replace it when the break.
Any of your rigid, dewalt, and so on will get you by for a while. If they have the lifetime warranty just replace it when the break.
Posted on 12/18/21 at 5:29 pm to jlovel7
quote:
What are the price ranges for those?
If you want Euro machine something like a Hammer C31 combo machine (sliding table saw, jointer, planer and shaper in one unit) along with a high-quality Asian DP and Hammer N4400 bandsaw will run you just over $13k properly setup and the prices go up to whatever you want to spend.
Low-end Chinese for the 5 machines maybe $7500 with 8" jointer and 15" planer with straight knives.
Posted on 12/18/21 at 5:32 pm to Clames
quote:
Not true. I have 3 Dewalt miter saws, the 10" jobsite table saw, the 12.5" thickness planer, and a number of their 20V tools, a few 12V, and even one 8V tool.
He looks to be setting up for actual woodworking so he is going to want more than a job site saw. Hybrid at minimum, cabinet preferable if he doesn't get a slider. The lunchbox planer will likely be OK but won't take deep passes so depending on the lumber it could take a lot of shuffling, but a lot of woodworkers do it.
Posted on 12/18/21 at 5:33 pm to jlovel7
Milwaukee. Buy a few combos. Accumulate batteries and then just get baretools which are fairly cheap.
Posted on 12/18/21 at 5:36 pm to jlovel7
Milwaukee and Milwaukee Pack Out boxes FTW.
Posted on 12/18/21 at 5:37 pm to jlovel7
Four companies make 48% of power tools.
Posted on 12/18/21 at 5:41 pm to jlovel7
quote:
can actually get most of these tools together (minus a nice table saw) for a couple thousand
For the table saw get a “Saw Stop” , it is very high quality , and anything else is a un-necessary hazard as far as I’m concerned
LINK
This post was edited on 12/18/21 at 5:44 pm
Posted on 12/18/21 at 5:44 pm to EA6B
quote:
For the table saw get a “Saw Stop” , it is very high quality , and anything else is a un-necessary hazard as far as I’m concerned
Or a slider. Both are extremely safe each has its pros and cons in use and in safety.
Posted on 12/18/21 at 5:50 pm to jlovel7
Certain tools, you should buy the corded version instead of the cordless. Hammer drill, angle grinder to name a couple.
I personally like Dewalt, Milwaukee and Bosch the most.
I personally like Dewalt, Milwaukee and Bosch the most.
Posted on 12/18/21 at 5:54 pm to EA6B
I have mostly 20v dewalt, I slummed and got ryobi for my battery powered nail guns.. you can get the entire ryobi line up of nail guns and batteries for what one bare tool Dewalt cost, otherwise the rest of the line has been good price/value/quality. I have had 3 warranty issues with dewalt and they have handled them great every time. I don't know how others handle warranties, Ridgid use to be great but made it more and more difficult to warranty out the old 24v batteries so I sold them off and jumped to Dewalt.
I have an 8" jointer, 13" planer, table saw, Radial arm saw and a miter saw that might never get used again... and the most useful and versatile tool is that old radial arm saw. It can rip, crosscut, miter etc. and I am on a hunt for the attachments to do more. I picked it up used for $170 and I think the table was used more as a shelf than the saw was ever used. Next up would be a router and router table. Get the Bosch 1617EVSK router, Amazon almost always has it for $159. It is easy to swap the motor from the router table to the plunge base. Buy whiteside router bits, they will last a hobbyist a lifetime.
I break down sheet goods with a 20v circular saw and a straight edge so my big saws are mostly for repetitive cuts. I don't have room for big outfeed tables since I have to roll all my stuff out and back in every project and you can get really good results with a straight edge clamped to your sheet goods.
I have an 8" jointer, 13" planer, table saw, Radial arm saw and a miter saw that might never get used again... and the most useful and versatile tool is that old radial arm saw. It can rip, crosscut, miter etc. and I am on a hunt for the attachments to do more. I picked it up used for $170 and I think the table was used more as a shelf than the saw was ever used. Next up would be a router and router table. Get the Bosch 1617EVSK router, Amazon almost always has it for $159. It is easy to swap the motor from the router table to the plunge base. Buy whiteside router bits, they will last a hobbyist a lifetime.
I break down sheet goods with a 20v circular saw and a straight edge so my big saws are mostly for repetitive cuts. I don't have room for big outfeed tables since I have to roll all my stuff out and back in every project and you can get really good results with a straight edge clamped to your sheet goods.
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