Replies

1. 
   sprocket | Oct 07, 2004 04:38pm | #1

   Patrick: Off the top of my head here are a few items that I would think would be nice:

   1) quality cabinet saw (unisaw, powermatic 66, or equivalent)

   2) dedicated router table with 3 HP router of your choice with an accurate lift mechanism, precision fence, and adequate dust collection for starters.

   3) A vintage powermatic sash mortiser or equivalent to make mortises for the trestle bases or whichever type table base you plan to use. I've seen where General International (import, arghhh!) is marketing a hollow chisel mortiser where the head pivots...interesting (?). I don't own a mortising machine myself but I would think if you go that route you will need to have some knowledge of tooling, sharpening and general machine maintenence as most of the taiwanese and chinese models as well as the chisel and bits that I've seen are not precision enough or sharp enough leading to a machine that just sits there. Others have mentioned on this forum before that there is a great need in this country for a reasonably priced but high quality horizontal mortiser that would use spiral end mill bits and where the table can move left to right, up and down and back and forth.

   4) a production panel glueing jig as an alternative to bar clamps. This is for your table top glue-ups. The one I'm thinking of is made by Plano I believe (not for sure though) but it mounts along the wall and the aluminum extrusions are easily adjusted for your panel then a large clamp screw at the top is snugged up pulling the panel flat at the same time.

   5) a cabinet making bench with a flat, massive top with plenty of bench dog holes and quality front and end vises.

   6) some quality hand tools to work the panels (my preference but a pro-level cabinet shop dispenses with this and uses big drum sanders) But for me I would think you would need a quality jack, jointer and finishing bench plane, a stanley #80 (or better) cabinet scraper, same handheld cabinet scrapers, a burnisher tool and a good book , the internet , practice or a class at a local woodworking school to get started. For your planes you should find a method of reliably, quickly getting the blades razor sharp so you may as well plan from the outset to have a dedicated sharpening area in your shop. I believe japanese waterstones are your best bet , in an ideal world it would be nice to have a sturdy sink right in your shop where its well lit and ergonomic and make some sturdy jigs to hold the waterstones. Since you have the $$$ I would invest in a pro-level set of shapton ceramic waterstones in good spread of grit sizes from 220 to 8,000 (all the way up to 30,000 for more $$$$). Get the surface flattening plate that goes with it while you're at it and learn how to keep the waterstones flat.

   7) Design into your shop good lighting in a combination of natural, incandescent and flourescent. Spend the $$$ on quality 4 bulb 48: sealed and gasketed flourescent fixtures from an industrial lighting distributor and then use full spectrum bulbs. Make sure that an electrican wires them into a separate subpanel on a dedicated circuit and wire them so that you can have half on at a time or full blast when you need the brightness for cleaning up and so forth.

   8) From the very beginning plan a top of the line dust-collection system with metal ducting to an appropriately sized cyclone dust collector (at least 2 HP) from a reputable AMERICAN manufacturer.

   9) Get the best planer and the biggest, baddest jointer you can afford and while you're at it mount a power-feeder on both the in and outfeed tables of the jointer. Get a Delta DJ-20 8" or equivalent. You'll still need to hand plane the machine marks out but having a serious Planer and Jointer will save you a lot of time and improve the precision and squareness of your table.

   10) Tooling for your tablesaw, premium blades, dadoes, fence and miters.

   11) a heavy duty lathe if you plan to use turned legs.

   That's all I can think of right now, I didn't mention a shaper but I was thinking more in terms of router table joinery.

   Good Luck!

2. 
   JMartinsky | Oct 08, 2004 01:26am | #2

   Nothing like spending other people's money! I think sprocket has you pretty well set up. If American/Taiwan machinery is your preferance, I would suggest that you contact "Bridgewood Machinery" , otherwise "Minimax" is worth checking out. I personally have a PM66 & 64A, but I have looked at the MM machines and have been pleased with what I have seen, thier bandsaws and combination machines in particular.

   Good Luck!

   John

3. 
   Floss | Oct 08, 2004 04:56am | #3

   If you are wanting to focus on production then I think you would be best served with some tools that are designed for panel processing.

   I would get a sliding table saw, Altendorf , Martin, Paolini are a few.

   A wide belt sander like a Timesaver will pay you back in many hours saved in panel sanding.

   If you are using rough stock then you would probably want a 16" jointer and a 20" or 24" planer. SAC and SCMI are a couple of good manufacturers.

   Depending on what type of joinery you will be using will determine wether or not you will need hollow chisel mortiser for mortise and tenon joinery. A slot mortiser for floating tenon joinery or a dowelling machine for dowelled joinery

   At this point hand held routers will probably suffice for table edge treatments but you will eventually want a shaper since the tooling is more versatile.

   At this point I've successfully blown your budget.

   However I would highly recommend the sliding table saw and the wide belt sander. These two tools alone will pay for themselves in short time.

   I think you need to define what type of product you want to produce and how many you need to make to earn a profit. Plus, what type of skill set do you require of your employees? Are you wanting to hire skilled craftsmen or machine operators?

   There are alot of ways to do what you want to. It just depends on what you are making and how you plan on marketing it.

   J.P.

   
   

   ---

   Edited 10/7/2004 10:04 pm ET by j.p.

4. 
   WayneL5 | Oct 08, 2004 06:10am | #4

   You may want to streach your dollars by buying some of the equipment used. 

5. 
   notDusty | Oct 08, 2004 05:14pm | #5

                      $ 30,000 may not buy much anymore  , though it sounds like a big number , production equipment costs can add up quickly. I really agree with  j.p.  a wide belt sander will be your most important tool. For table top mfg, this would be a must , and will make your life easier and your products more perfect. I have not priced them lately but I have seen used Timesavers sell for under $10,000 used .There are numerous types of wide belt sanders on the market today with a wide range of prices.

                good          luck                   dusty

6. 
   heartpinemik | Oct 13, 2004 04:54pm | #6

   You can consider stretching your tool budget by buying pre-owned, good quality machinery from a reputable dealer. Visit woodweb.com for a long listing of dealers of used woodworking machinery.

   My favorite is the X-factory. This firm specializes in professional quality machinery in every shape, size and color.

   Whatever you get, get top of the line equipment. The European manufacturers seem to be the hot ticket lately. And for good reason. They are not inexpensive but the quality and dependability is worth every penny.

   Good luck and watch those fingers.

7. 
   Andrew | Oct 14, 2004 12:22am | #7

   Add a vacuum press to the list if you want to do veneered tabletops. Rolling carts and a good assembly area are critical. Add a nice tracer lathe if you're going to be doing round legs. $30,000 doesn't buy much when you're talking big industrial equipment.

8. 
   bakesale1 | Oct 14, 2004 01:10am | #8

   I don't have any suggestions.  But if you're really going to buy industrial/production grade equipment, don't forget to check out used equipment.  There are quite a few sites on the web that have lots o' big machines from shops that are closing down.  Just a thought.

9. 
   donnybongo | Oct 14, 2004 03:03am | #9

   Holy, seems like sprocket has alot of ideas for your shop.  Go big or stay home as they say.  Good luck.