Which tool would you upgrade first?

[RKMBrown©]

Getting the itch for a new tool.
I am a hobbyist making furniture/turning for self/family/friends. No income from the woodworking. I am a psychiatrist by profession - This is my therapy.
The three under consideration are an a 6 inch RIDGID jointer, 13 inch RIDGID planer and a 14inch RIKON bandsaw.
They all work fine.
3 options:

1. Get a 15-16 inch planer - more capacity to plane and thickness. But the supermax 18-36 can always sub for now for wider panels

2. Upgrade to a 8 inch jointer with helical cutters.

3. Upgrade to a serious Italian bandsaw like the MM16 or even the Italian Lagunas. Will likely keep the Rikon for smaller blades.

What do you guys recommend?

bandsaw

[BloomingtonMike]

He has a 14" Rikon already.

A 16" band saw benefits would not outweigh getting rid that screaming loud planer to me.

What dust collector do you have?

[rschissler]

He has a 14" Rikon already.

A 16" band saw benefits would not outweigh getting rid that screaming loud planer to me.

That's what I say!  Replacing the band saw would be last on my list.

[Alan S]

It seems to me the question is "What you want to do that one of these tools would enable?"  If your hobby is making stuff, just plan your next project and when you need a tool for it, you'll know what to get.  If your hobby is buying tools, buy what makes you happy.

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

For my work, my 14" Delta BS with riser block handles all I care to throw at it. It'll resaw 8" wide boards all day long with its 3/4hp motor. I'll soon put on a 1.5hp motor to make resawing bigger easier.

Having owned 6, 8, and now a 12" jointer, I would upgrade the jointer first. I wouldn't bother with a carbide cutter...for now. I would put the carbide cutter in your planer.

But...I wouldn't buy these things new. I wouldn't buy *any* of it new. How are you with changing bearings? Are you interested in getting anything bigger than 8"? Are you interested in a heavy, stationary, cast iron planer, such as a PM100? If so, I'd visit www.owwm.org and take a look over there. In that group, we work to keep old, cast iron stuff up and running.

I just completed getting my 12" jointer up and running. It was built sometime between 1885 and 1897. Runs like a champ now. $500 to purchase, ~$500 in parts, paint, and motor to get it running the way I want it to. I'll eventually put a carbide cutter on it, but only because this is a "forever" jointer. My PM100 has a carbide cutter in it, and it's a beauty to behold.

[adamcherubini]

I made money making furniture for many years with none of the tools you listed. I feel like I'd like to know more about what you are building before I'd recommend tool upgrades.

Apologies in advance if this is obvious or not what you are interested in: I suggest you look to tools you don't have now that would provide some new capability to allow you to explore some new aspect of your furniture making, rather than simply upgrading tools you have, which may provide no meaningful increase in your repertoire.

My experience with most hobby/semi-pro woodworkers is that they emulate pro/production shops that typically have tools optimized for mass production of a very narrow repertoire of furniture (like kitchen cabinets). For many of these guys, upgrade means more industrial, not more capability. I feel like, if you spend more money, that investment should show up in the final product.

For example - commercial furniture is pretty rectilinear. I find the 2 dimensional nature of rectilinear furniture to be constraining. But I build it like everyone else.  When I do, I often want to add texture in the surfaces or joinery to make a plain piece more interesting. So, a couple suggestions might be veneer tools, a couple good hand planes for surface work, or molding planes to hand make moldings. Moldings can make a huge impact on a piece of furniture.

I don't see that much curvilinear furniture being attempted. Whether its a Bombe chest, Sam Malooof rocker, or Windsor chair, or even a carved Chippendale chair.  These are iconic products that can't be made with a table saw.  Sam Maloof used a pretty big band saw if I recall. But you could probably get started with what you have. In my shop, curves come from steam bending, but mostly hatchets and my shave horse. I use that quite a bit.

Green woodworking is something to explore if you have access to timber. I'd like to do a lot more of that in the future. I have always loved that.

Carving is something I was always afraid of, thinking it would take me 20 years to learn. I think it does take 20 years to learn, but you can produce a decent ball and claw foot in an hour with a couple hours of practice. Don't be intimidated like I was. Try it. Good carving tools are helpful and fairly expensive. Old carving tools are even better and refurbishing them will keep you off the streets and away from the TV for many months at least. (I found carving addictive - just like turning).

Sorry this is a little off topic. Hopefully there's something here you can use.

Adam

[dg152]

I was in a similar situation a few years ago. I had a Delta 22-580 13" planer, a Ridgid 6" jointer and a Grizzly GO555 Ultimate bandsaw. All worked well but were slow. It took forever to put a pickup load of rough cut wood through my jointer and planer. I came into a few extra bucks when Jet tools went on sale for 15% off. I bought an 8" helical jointer and a 15" helical planer. I am very happy with both. Bench top planers are noted for their loud operating sound. The 15" planer is much, much quieter and faster.

Last year I upgraded my bandsaw to a used 3 hp, 19" Grizzly. The extra power and accuracy is incredible!

So, you've got some fun choices to make. Determine what tools would be most useful to you. What works for me may not work for you. There are some sales coming up on Powermatic and Jet. I'm sure other manufacturers (except SawStop) will be doing so, as well. Have fun shopping!

[mdhills]

What do you use for joinery now?
Matt

[Derek Cohen]

Getting the itch for a new tool.
I am a hobbyist making furniture/turning for self/family/friends. No income from the woodworking. I am a psychiatrist by profession - This is my therapy.
The three under consideration are an a 6 inch RIDGID jointer, 13 inch RIDGID planer and a 14inch RIKON bandsaw.
They all work fine.
3 options:

1. Get a 15-16 inch planer - more capacity to plane and thickness. But the supermax 18-36 can always sub for now for wider panels

2. Upgrade to a 8 inch jointer with helical cutters.

3. Upgrade to a serious Italian bandsaw like the MM16 or even the Italian Lagunas. Will likely keep the Rikon for smaller blades.

What do you guys recommend?

The replies from Hank and Adam always catch my eye.

I am a clinical psychologist (specialising in child and family work), and woodworking is my therapy


Machines are important for me to process rough timber and prepare it for hand tools. My furniture generally contains something that is curved, which increases the problem-solving aspect. A bandsaw is important for resawing and preparation work. Still, there are flat sections, and a wide jointer and planer are equally important.

If you can, I'd get a wider jointer. A combination jointer/planer is an economical way to go. Like Hank, I have a Hammer A3-31, and this will process rough sawn boards 12" wide. It is strongly built and very reliable. Mine has a helical cutter. These are exceptional, both in labour saving and quality of finish. It is also very quiet - unlike your lunchbox planer! Keep in mind that I will hand plane everything at the finish, so I am not concerned about fitting a 15" wide board into a planer. For me, a machine such as that is overkill.

The bandsaw I have is the Hammer N4400, which has a 12" resaw. I believe that the bandsaw must have a capacity that fits a jointer. These are a good team. 

Just to complete the trio, I also have the Hammer K3 with a shorter slider (1250mm). I do not work with ply or mdf sheets, only hardwoods. Moving to the slider about 18 months ago was a positive change over the contractor saw I had for 20 years. 

The order of my purchases over several years was: bandsaw, combination jointer/planer, table saw.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[EvilTwin]

Depends on what type of woodworking you do.  If its mostly flatwork/casework, then probably the jointer or planer.  Whatever machine you find the most wanting.  If you do lots of turning, a nicer bandsaw.  

So tell us, how do you feel about it....

And since I cant help myself sometimes,

Welcome to the Psychiatric Hotline.

• If you are obsessive-compulsive, please press 1 repeatedly.
  
• If you are co-dependent, please ask someone to press 2.
  
• If you have multiple personalities, please press 3, 4, 5, and 6.
  
• If you are paranoid-delusional, we know who you are and what you want. Just stay on the line so we can trace the call.
  
• If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a little voice will tell you which number to press.
  
• If you are depressed, it doesn't matter which number you press. No one will answer.
  
• If you are delusional and occasionally hallucinate, please be aware that the thing you are holding on the side of your head is alive and about to bite off your ear.