Over the last two months I ‘ve added a few new toys to the shop. Mostly I needed a Jointer, so I picked one up from Harbor Freight during a sale and added the 20% off coupon to bring it to under $160. It’s not the nicest jointer, but it beats the crap out of what I had: None.
I also added a Ryobi AP1300 Thickness Planer. I managed to grab it when Home Depot was bringing in the new AP1301, which seems inferior to the AP1300 (no cutter head lock, no re-plane, no thickness indicator). As always, I looked for a deal and talked a manager at a Home Depot in Houston into selling me the floor model (complete, both knives, no manual/box) for $155 for a $280 planer.
Since I got the jointer and thickness planer I’ve expanded my woodworking fun to include some 4/4, 8/4 and 5/4 Walnut, Africian Mahogany and Cherry. I’ve got to admit, it’s great fun taking rough stock and making dimensioned lumber out of it, regardless of savings.
I had to add a couple of software extras to this via learning Google Sketchup and buying CutList Plus to help me design and layout my cuts on my sometimes weird dimensioned lumber. Both are highly recommeded.
Finally, I added my my much desired Rockler Router Table #1 package that I’ve been wanting for over a year. This will get my Hitachi M12v out of my tablesaw and into a proper table of it’s own. I’ll be building the Router Table cabinet this weekend (if it stays dry) and will post my Sketchup .skp file when I’m done.
Other recent addtions: Incra Precision Jig from Rockler ($59 vs. standard $120) for dovetails and all manner of precision router work and a All-in-one 50″ clamp. I mention the clamp because it’s changing the way I work with sheet goods and even long stock. It’s a clamping straightedge which allows me to run my circular saw, router, whatever all the way across a 4×8 piece of plywood in a precise manner. This means that I essentially have a low volume panel saw when I add 2 2×4’s and a couple of cross 2×2’s to my saw horses.
Now if it will just stay dry I can make some sawdust!