Five YEARS of Tool Buying Advice in 15 Minutes

Summary

In this video by Sturdy Bones Woodworking, we dive into five years' worth of experience and $30,000 in woodworking tools to demystify the tool-buying journey for new woodworkers. Instead of listing what tools to buy, the creator offers ten guiding principles for curating a tool collection that enhances your woodworking projects. From the pitfalls of impulsive buying to the importance of choosing versatile over specific tools, each principle aims to empower woodworkers to make informed decisions and investments in their craft.

Highlights

• The creator shares five years of tool-buying wisdom with a focus on guiding principles over specific tool recommendations. 💡
• Buying a tool without an immediate application is a common trap. The lesson: think twice before you splurge! 🪚
• Expensive isn’t always better; sometimes less is more, like choosing a Makita track saw over a high-end table saw for starters. 💰
• Considering a specific tool upgrade? Check its versatility first—it might just gather dust otherwise. 🌟
• Keep battery systems consistent across tools to streamline operations and cut costs. 🔋

Key Takeaways

• Avoid impulse tool purchases! Make sure you have a project in mind before buying that shiny new tool. 🛍️
• 'Buy once, cry once' isn't always golden; sometimes fancy doesn't mean necessary. 🤔
• Start with a versatile toolbox; a humble job site table saw can partner with a track saw for more bang for your buck. 💪
• Stick to one battery system for your power tools to save on battery costs and avoid confusion. 🔋
• Expensive router tables are nice, but often, simpler setups will do just fine. 🏗️

Overview

Embarking on a woodworking journey can be overwhelming, especially when faced with a sea of tools, each promising to be the best. In 'Five YEARS of Tool Buying Advice in 15 Minutes,' Sturdy Bones Woodworking condenses half a decade of wisdom into ten simple principles. This pragmatic approach helps both newbies and seasoned DIYers avoid common pitfalls.

Highlighting the importance of need-based tool purchases, Sturdy Bones advises against impulsive buys driven by online cool factor. He uses personal anecdotes to demonstrate how certain expensive tools can end up neglected when their use isn't immediately apparent or necessary. Understanding one's woodworking goals and choosing versatile tools can result in a more efficient and economically sound workshop setup.

The narrative also touches on practical efficiency, like selecting a consistent power tool battery system, which can prevent unnecessary expenses and storage chaos. Other high-value tips include focusing on tools that offer multi-functionality and avoiding overly specific, expensive gadgets that don't fit into everyday projects. Ultimately, the video encourages thoughtful investment to enhance one's woodworking craftsmanship without breaking the bank.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Purpose In this introductory chapter, the author shares his experience of investing nearly $30,000 in woodworking tools over five years. He highlights the challenge faced by newcomers in distinguishing necessary tools from mere marketing noise. Instead of providing a list of tools to purchase, he promises to discuss 10 principles that will help in curating a versatile and essential tool collection.
• 00:30 - 01:30: Principle 1: Consider Your Project Needs Before purchasing any tools, carefully evaluate your current project needs. Avoid impulsive buys, especially those influenced by YouTube demonstrations or online reviews. With convenient services like Amazon's overnight shipping, it's easy to succumb to buying tools that aren't immediately necessary. Prioritize purchasing tools that you have a direct use for in your current or upcoming projects to ensure wise spending.
• 01:30 - 02:30: Principle 2: Buy Once Cry Once The concept of 'Buy Once Cry Once' emphasizes purchasing quality tools and equipment even if the cost is initially higher to save time, effort, and money in the long run. The key idea is not to impulsively buy items as soon as they're seen but to consider if they will truly enhance the project in terms of ease, accuracy, or safety. An example given is of someone buying a massive lathe with the expectation of using it for woodworking but never actually utilizing it. Conversely, a mini lathe that's better suited for crafting smaller items like pins proves to be a more sensible investment.
• 02:30 - 04:00: Principle 3: Track Saw Before Table Saw The chapter titled 'Track Saw Before Table Saw' discusses the experiences and learnings of the narrator regarding tool investments. They reflect on a past decision where purchasing a large lathe proved to be a mistake as it was not utilized, while a small lathe turned out to be a valuable investment. The chapter also questions the common advice of 'buy once, cry once,' which suggests investing in the most desirable product to avoid future dissatisfaction. While this rule has often worked well, the narrator implies that it may not always apply universally.
• 04:00 - 05:00: Principle 4: Power Tool Battery System The chapter discusses the allure and potential misuse of purchasing high-quality, expensive tools that may not be necessary. Using the example of a Jessum tool, known for its excellent engineering and build quality, the chapter highlights that despite its impressive construction and performance, it might not always be utilized effectively or to its full potential, especially if it's not actually needed for one's specific tasks.
• 05:00 - 06:30: Principle 5: Expensive Router Tables The author reflects on the cost-benefit of investing in expensive tools for woodworking. Initially, a $250 Dowling jig seemed justified, but professional woodworking led to upgrading to a more advanced tool, the fesal Domino, for its speed, repeatability, and accuracy. This resulted in the Dowling jig being unused, leading to a reflection on the cost sunk into tools that could potentially be replaced by cheaper alternatives. The narrative emphasizes the importance of evaluating tool purchases, suggesting that sometimes, more affordable tools could be sufficient.
• 06:30 - 08:00: Principle 6: Need for Multiple Routers The transcript for 'Principle 6: Need for Multiple Routers' discusses buying a professional table saw, specifically the Grizzly 1023 RLX model. This is a high-end, three-horsepower cabinet-style saw suitable for advanced woodworking. However, it is also noted that the $2,500 investment might not be ideal for those just starting their workshop. In such cases, a smaller, more budget-friendly table saw like the DeWalt model would stretch the budget further, as exemplified by the narrator's friend Tim.
• 08:00 - 09:30: Principle 7: Miter Saws and Gauges The chapter discusses the benefits of having a versatile toolset, specifically focusing on miter saws and gauges. It suggests that opting for a combination of different tools, such as a track saw, can provide a wider cutting capacity and greater functionality for less money compared to investing in a single, more expensive tool. The emphasis is on the practical advantage of a broader range of tools over a single impressive tool in the shop.
• 09:30 - 11:00: Principle 8: Upgrade Saw Blades The chapter emphasizes the importance of sticking to one brand when it comes to handheld power tools, as different brands like DeWalt, Rigid, and Makita have their own chargers and batteries. This can cause inefficiencies and inconvenience. The key takeaway is to ensure that you have enough power for all tools necessary in a project, which is easier when using the same brand for compatibility reasons.
• 11:00 - 13:00: Principle 9: Versatile Tools Over Specialized The chapter emphasizes the importance of choosing versatile tools instead of specialized ones. It advises investing in high-quality, universal battery systems, which can be more costly than the tools themselves. Once a preferred battery system is selected, the recommendation is to purchase necessary tools from the same brand to maintain compatibility. Additionally, the chapter discusses the unnecessary need for an expensive router table, particularly a high-end model like the Jessum Ultimate Excel 2, which may come with many features but isn't essential for everyone.
• 13:00 - 15:00: Principle 10: Planer Before Jointer This chapter discusses the importance of prioritizing a planer over a jointer when setting up a woodworking shop. It highlights that while expensive tools like high-end router tables can be appealing, they might not be necessary for hobbyist woodworkers. The author emphasizes practical use over luxury features, suggesting that woodworkers purchase tools based on their actual needs rather than investing in more expensive options that might not be utilized regularly. The chapter serves as a reminder to focus on practical utility and efficiency.
• 15:00 - 16:00: Conclusion and Call to Action The author reflects on their tool usage, particularly focusing on the efficiency of bearing-based router bits that don't require a guide fence. They suggest that a simpler setup with a flat table made from plywood or MDF and an inset router lift could have been sufficient for a long time, highlighting options like the Craig Rockler or Jessum lift as more cost-effective solutions. Furthermore, the author advises that having multiple routers may be beneficial, expressing a wish for having invested in more routers.

Five YEARS of Tool Buying Advice in 15 Minutes Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 over the past 5 years I've invested nearly $30,000 in woodworking tools some I couldn't do my job without and others that are mostly just collected dust if you're new to woodworking you know it can be overwhelming to sift through all the online marketing and no where to invest your tool budget so in this video instead of giving you yet another list of tools to go buy I'm going to share 10 principles that will guide you in curating a collection of tools that you'll love and rely on in almost every project let's get into
• 00:30 - 01:00 it number one before you ever buy anything consider what you want to make now this may seem obvious but this guideline will prevent you from buying tools you'll never use don't purchase a tool just because it looks cool on YouTube if you don't have an immediate project for it or can't use it in your current work it's not the right time to buy it if you should buy it at all in today's world of online shopping with companies like Amazon offering overnight sh shipping it's incredibly tempting to
• 01:00 - 01:30 buy something as soon as you see it on screen however if you can't look at your project and think this would be much easier more accurate or safer with that tool it's better to wait here's a perfect example I bought a massive bladee secondhand years ago thinking I'd dive into wood turning and make full-size table legs for clients and today I've never used it for myself or any customer on the other hand my minithe is ideal deal for crafting pins
• 01:30 - 02:00 as client gifts Christmas ornaments and other small items that I actually make and sell the big lathe was a waste of time and money while the small one has been an excellent investment number two buy once cry once does not always apply you've probably heard the phrase buy once cry once before it suggests that you'll avoid frustration and disappointment if you invest in the new or better model you truly want I followed this principle for several purchases and it has generally served me
• 02:00 - 02:30 well however it's easy to misuse this phrase as justification for buying an unnecessarily fancy version of something that you don't actually need take this jessum ding jig for example it's built like a NASA engineered piece of equipment solid aluminum construction smooth fittings and knobs and zero play between Parts it's exactly what you'd expect from jessum which is easily my favorite woodworking tool company but here's the catch I don't use it of Prof
• 02:30 - 03:00 enough to justify owning a $250 Dowling jig once I started woodworking professionally it made more sense to upgrade to the fesal Domino for its speed repeatability and accuracy as a result this poor guy has been sitting unused in its box so I suppose you could say that I've still only cried once but it's because I now have $250 tied up in a tool that could have easily been replaced by a $35 one number three buy a great track saw
• 03:00 - 03:30 before buying a professional table saw this grizzly 1023 RLX table saw is a three horsepower cabinet style saw with cast iron trunions it's a fantastic saw and perfect for my needs however it's a $2,500 investment so if you're just starting to build your Workshop you could stretch that $2,500 much further by buying a job site table saw like the DeWalt in saw my friend Tim bought and a
• 03:30 - 04:00 Makita track saw and there are even less expensive track saws that would likely serve you well until it's time to upgrade the key here is to opt for greater versatility these two different tools provide a much wider cutting capacity together for far less money than the single larger investment who cares if your shop would look cooler with a saw stop in the middle of it if you could do more by having a broader tool set right number four pick a power tool battery system before picking your
• 04:00 - 04:30 handheld power tools don't make my mistake I started with DeWalt somehow acquired a rigid drill and now have an array of Makita tools along with their Chargers here's the truth in the world of handheld power tools most brands make great products that spin cut and oscillate you'll likely be happy with whichever brand you choose what will matter when you're working on a project is whether you're able to power as many of them as you need to at the same same
• 04:30 - 05:00 time and remember these Hefty lithium ion batteries can be as expensive if not more so than the tools they power so invest in the battery system you prefer then buy the tools that you need from That Brand number five you probably don't need an expensive router table now I love my router table it's a jessum ultimate Excel 2 with all the bells and whistles table fence hand crank masterlift and those sweet spring-loaded hold down guide things thing but here's
• 05:00 - 05:30 the thing it's one of the priciest tools in my shop while it's worth it for me to have this buy once cry once version I realize most Woodworkers aren't professional furniture makers relying on their tools for a living if you're a hobbyist watching this video keep that in mind here's the reality of fancy router tables while all those accessories are nice you only need what you actually use for me I rarely run anything along the fence I mostly use it to keep the dust collection close to the bit
• 05:30 - 06:00 why because 90% of the time I'm using bearing based bits so I don't need to guide the workpiece with a fence so what is this mean in practice well I probably could have gotten by for a long time with just a really flat table made from a couple pieces of plywood or mbf laminated together plus one of these inset router lifts like the Craig Rockler or even the same jessum lift all for a lot less money number six you probably do need more than one router now I wish I had invested in routers
• 06:00 - 06:30 earlier in my woodworking career for the first couple of years I was hesitant to use them fearing I'd either ruin my work or injure myself however routers are one of the fastest and most accurate ways to accomplish woodworking tasks once you overcome the initial learning curve and build a decent collection of reliable bits the possibilities really expand in your mind to start I'd recommend getting a trim router with its corresponding plunge base if that's all you can afford initially it'll take you far if your
• 06:30 - 07:00 budget allows I also suggest investing in a full siiz router a 2 to three and a half horsepower plunge router like those from Makita or Bosch there are two main reasons for this first it opens up a wider range of router bits with halfin Shanks these can remove more material and allow for larger profiles than quarin shank bits second the extra power lets you reduce RPMs while still making aggressive Cuts without burning or
• 07:00 - 07:30 chatter that awful noise you hear when pushing the router too fast through material importantly only by routers with variable speed control While most modern routers offer this feature it's crucial to familiarize yourself with speed control each router
• 07:30 - 08:00 bit works best at a specific speed and you should find this information on the packaging or manufacturer's website for both the router and the bits if you can't find this information you're likely not buying a reputer brand of router tools consider that a bonus tip number seven buy a cheap miter saw and an expensive miter gauge now if you've seen many of my videos you might think I'm not following this advice when I built my miter station along this wall I repl my DeWalt
• 08:00 - 08:30 compound sliding miter saw with this Bosch model I made this choice for a specific reason I wanted the sliding action but needed the saw to back up flush against the wall my old saw took up 3 ft front to back including dust collection however this is still an expensive saw and I expect to use it mostly for rough material breakdowns not finish cuts a few years ago there was a debate on YouTube about whether Woodworkers even need miter saws since you can do the same rough breakdown with
• 08:30 - 09:00 a jigsa or a circular saw both more versatile tools I recently bought a miter gauge I've been eyeing for a while and it's going to completely revolutionize my workflow most of the finished cross Cuts I make are at 90° when it comes to accuracy safety and reducing tear out my table saw is far more capable of producing a clean square cut than my miter saw a miter gauge is also Superior for making repeatable cuts on small
• 09:00 - 09:30 parts compared to a miter saw this is especially true considering the limited support around the miter Saw's cutting area between those no hand signs which can lead to dangerous operations finally with a good miter gauge you can still make precise repeatable angled and compound angle cuts on your table saw woodworking demands more accuracy and precision than rough or trim carpentry which is what most miter saws are designed for my recommendation prioritize is making precise tear out
• 09:30 - 10:00 free Cuts with your table saw and miter gauge either opt for an inexpensive miter saw or for go one entirely number eight upgrade all of your saw blades this tip will make you both a happier and safer woodworker I believe companies are best at making what they primarily sell just because something is included with a tool you buy doesn't mean it's the part you want to depend on long term so that saw blade that came with your table saw or might saw will definitely
• 10:00 - 10:30 cut things but it will likely not stay as sharp or even necessarily have the best tooth configuration for all your needs for lower budget upgrades I definitely recommend the Freud Diablo line of blades as an excellent starting point these are great blades you can buy from Amazon and big box stores and come in a bunch of different tooth counts these have carbide teeth that will last a long time on their own and many carbide tooth blades can even be sharpened or re tipped if they wear out over time rather than just replacing the BL blades finding a local company that
• 10:30 - 11:00 offers sharpening Services is also really valuable especially if you decide to upgrade to a more expensive brand like CMT or Forest I've put this Forest woodworker 2 through the ringer in my past several projects and at $160 it would be a complete waste to just replace it when I can have it re tipped for just 40 number nine if you can buy a tool that is more specific or more versatile go with the more versatile one
• 11:00 - 11:30 in this one I'm going to get really practical the reality of being new to woodworking is that you probably don't know exactly what you're going to be trying to make from one project to the next when I was a beginner I bounced from one interesting idea to the next from working mostly with plywood to make cabinets to trying to cut dovetails on a few scraps of hardwood I salvaged from a more experienced friend it's tempting to buy specialized tools that are perfect for the situation at hand but the beauty of the woodworking craft is that there's
• 11:30 - 12:00 always more than one way to get something done and in my opinion buying the specialized tool that exists for just that scenario is like using a cheat code when playing the game and using a more generic tool would ultimately make you a better woodworker and save you money if not time and frustration I think the best example of this would be buying something like a fesal domino when you don't have a plunge router I covered the versatility of plunge routers for things like loose tin and joinery in a different video which I'll link below but there's so much more that
• 12:00 - 12:30 you can do with a plunge router than just loose tin and joinery and they're also much less expensive a simpler example of opting for the more versatile tool would be buying a dovetail saw with very fine teeth and a super thin curf when you don't have a normal handsaw I use these Japanese style handsaws and if I could only have one I'd much rather have this rioba than this dozuki the rioba has finer offset teeth for cross cuts on one side and longer straight teeth for making rip cuts on the other
• 12:30 - 13:00 it also doesn't have a wide bar on the backside so the whole blade can fit into the curf the trade-off here is that the dozuki has a thinner blade and that bar on the top gives it a backbone so it always stays straight during the cut but the point is that a riobo can be taken to far more applications than the dozuki despite its specific advantages number 10 prioritize getting a decent planer before buying a jointer when you do buy a joiner anything
• 13:00 - 13:30 smaller than an 8 in is likely not worth the investment now this one's probably going to get me a lot of comments from folks who are happy with their 48in long jointer or compact benchtop model however I stand firm on this for a good reason most Woodworkers who need a jointer are working with Lumber longer than around 4 ft which is the maximum length a 6-in capacity Joiner with a 4T bed can accurately Mill and that's because it's challenging to support and move material atal accurately through
• 13:30 - 14:00 the jointer when it's much more than twice as long as either the infeed or outfeed platforms and I speak from experience here having owned a 6-in joiner before upgrading to my 8-in model I frequently encountered this limitation and it was frustrating enough to get me to prioritize the upgrade and I know several others who would back up this recommendation unless your projects exclusively involve very small parts your money is better spent elsewhere in the short term there are plenty of alternatives for Edge jointing such as
• 14:00 - 14:30 straight rip jigs with a table saw and offset router table fences and for face jointing you can use techniques like sleds and shims on a planer I'd recommend exploring these options or finding a friend or a local connection with a jointer before investing minimum $1,500 in a 6in model an 8in jointer will handle most of your Milling needs interestingly the no longer than twice the length of the outfeed platform rule doesn't seem to apply as strictly to 8 in
• 14:30 - 15:00 jointers I've successfully milled 8T lengths of material on this 6t bed jointer by myself without additional infeed and outfeed support though I'd guess Milling Timber much longer than that would also start causing issues I would love to hear what your favorite tool buying guideline is and if you have one to share just leave it in a comment below thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next one