My Wood Shop
  Mapledale Farms Home Page | Woodworking Project Gallery | Woodshop Tools | Maple Syrup | SHOP ONLINE | Our Tractors | On the Farm | Contact Us  

These are the tools I use to create my projects and the jigs that make the tools better.

Here is any shop's pride and joy- the TABLE SAW!

This is JET 10" contractor table saw with 30" JETFENCE. It has a 1 1/2 HP motor, which I might someday convert to 230V. I have added on a junk holder, a smooth melamine side extension table, 36"x48" outfeed table, board buddies, homemade dust collection cover for the back (thanks to Tom Hintz), use zero clearance inserts to reduce dust and tear-out, and I regularly wax the top with Johnson's paste wax.

I cannot imagine having a shop, at least for furniture and cabinetmaking that doesn't have a quality table saw.  And this is by no means the best table saw out there, but it is good. 

Porter-Cable 10" sliding compound miter saw

This saw is a workhorse for in shop cutting and for on the job work. I built that 12' long table for it along with the MDF extension tables, 4' to the left and 6' to the right. The saw is bolted down to the bench with four bolts so when the jobsite calls, it can be pulled into action in a heartbeat. I use a 40T blade (that came with it) for rough cutting and a 60T Freud for fine crosscutting. It can crosscut 11 3/4" at 90 degrees or miter 8+" at 45 degrees.
Notice the "Safety First" notice above the saw? Very important to be safe and observe notices with every power tool.

NEW -- I built a DC shroud for it -- it is a real pain to catch the dust from it b/c of the sliding and moving action that the saw does.  So rather than a small port - there is a canyon for the stuff to go in.  And it does a fair job. Notice I said fair, not great.  :)  The pieces in front sit on a French cleat, sot hey move accoridng to how I have the saw oriented for the particular cuts.

Grizzly G0555 14" Ultimate Band Saw

I got this saw as a gift for Christmas 2004.  Really awesome machine.  This thing has a lot of the options of the higher costing saws at a much lower price.  It features a 1 hp motor, upt o 12" resaw capacity, quick de-tensioner (some use it and some don't - I do because I can). 

I use Timberwolf blades from Suffolk Machinery on it -- man how that thing will cut.  I love it for roughing out bowl blanks, resawing lumber from thick into thin, and cutting curves.  It also makes a great, safer way to cut small pieces than trying to keep your fingers while using the Table Saw.

The dust collection is okay.  It does have the 4" port which is good, but the design could be better.  I do not know how - but I am sure designers can figure it out some day. 

JET 1236 lathe on shopmade base

I love to turn, even though it does draw valuable time away from my "flat" work. I was unhappy with the base that comes with the lathe, so I built a more sturdy one from 2" x 12" hemlock, adding plywood to the back for rigidity, 300 lbs. of sand for vibration-killing ballast, raised it to the correct height for me, and moved the switch to be slightly more convenient (but it is still a horrible place for a lathe switch). The drawers keep the dust off of accessories and the sandpaper where it won't get damaged or blown away.

I finally bought myelf a nice 3/8" Crown bowl gouge and a grizzly chuck.  Now I can turn bowls MUCH more easily than I could before.  I haven't had much time lately, but at least now I can when I get the chance. 

Reliant 6" jointer with 1 HP motor
A few years ago I needed a jointer for the big kitchen job, so I shopped around some, found this puppy on sale for 300 bucks NEW! So I jumped on it. I use this tool most of all, except for the table saw, of course. I can face joint (flatten) all kinds of woods and edge joint anything I need to. An accurate jointer is what makes accuracy truth. And a planer is little good without a jointer (when starting with rough stock).
I would recommend, to aspiring woodworkers, to buy their table saw, jointer and planer first. Not necessarily at the same time, but that they be the first big purchases. I do love to turn, but I should have bought this jointer  before the lathe. Simply more practical.
My shop in all its glory!

Here you can see the view of my shop, looking from near my Lathes out towards the Planer, Jointer, Dust Collector, Miter Saw, over the Table Saw, and the dust collection system. 

It is a mess, but you get an idea about the dust collection and the lack of order in my mind that translates into the shop "organization". On the DC system - you can see some fittings that are just capped off. The one over the TS will be for a future over-arm guard that I will build - someday.  The other one, that comes right out of the separator (the 55 gallon drum in the doorway), is for the Radial Arm Saw my father uses and the router table - both in the other part of the shop.  And yes my father is allowed to use my tools, he just declines that option.

In the far back is my new Grizzly G0555 Band Saw that I got for christmas. I put the riser block on it and got some nice Timberwolf blades for it.  I have been too chicken to use the good blades - hoping that my screw-ups will be on the cheapies that came with it. 

Craftsman 12 1/2" planer with homemade infeed and outfeed tables

This is about 4 years old now, and just changed the blades (actually just had to reverse the ones on it). It has done a good job planing face grain on everything from hemlock to pine to cherry to maple, and even some purpleheart. However, I  made a cutting board from cherry and maple for my wife for christmas 2002 (using the edge grain up) and had horrible tearout- so it and I did not speak much for quite a while.  We speak now, but it knows that I am itching to replace it so it tries not to act up too much.... :)
For the money, I wish I had waited and I had bought the newer Delta 2-speed 13" planer, definitely a much better value for the almost the same amount of money.

NEW -- I added melamine tables for infeed and outfeed -- it helpes to reduce snipe.  And I added DC to the planer -- a 4"x12" air duct fitting made for a great homemade hood.



3320