Replies

1. 
   mike4244 | Jan 19, 2006 06:25am | #1

   These are my opinions after 45 years in the trade. Cabinet saw- Grizzly G1023 with the shopfox classic fence.14" bandsaw,1 1/2 hp minimum,Grizzly ,Delta.These two saws will do the job for most people. I have the 16" grizzly g1073. This is a 2hp saw,7 1/2' resaw capacity only,cannot use a riser block as this saw is solid cast iron.The limited resawing capacity is not a problem for me, I rarely come across stock wider than 7 1/2" that isn't cupped.I resaw and edge glue. This is an excellent saw if you need the horsepower and rigidity of a largewr saw,weighs over 400 lbs.

   Drill press, Delta with threaded rod depth adjustment, locking quill ( this is an important feature not on all drill presses)at least 3/4 hp.

   As far as the jointers and planers go, check out grizzly website.They get good reviews. I can't help you with a shaper, only used them infrequently.You may want to check various websites such as Jet,Delta,bridgewood etc. If you are not in a hurry the classified ads in your local paper may get you good used machinery. A friend of mine got a 36" bandsaw for $300.00 last year from an ad in the paper. It cost him $150.00 for a moving company to put it in his shop, and another $100.00 for bearings. If you have 3 phase in your shop  you may be able to pick up good used machinery even cheaper than standard single phase equipment. Most small shops only have single phase available, the 3 phase takes longer to sell, hence lower prices.

   I suppose you could try ebay, I never have. Buying from ebay , from unknown sellers makes me uneasy. Though plenty of people use ebay without problems.

   mike

1. 
   AGAPE | Jan 19, 2006 08:39am | #2

   ALOT OF IT DEPENDS ON HOW MUCH YOU WILL BE USING IT AND THE BUDGET.

   I PERSONALLY LIKE  1) POWERMATIC 2) DELTA THEN 3) JET

   THEY HAVE THE HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF BUYERS

   OR EVEN BETTER YET IF YOU HAVE THE SPACE AND POWER CRESCENT AND OLIVER

   ARE THE BEST

2. 
   user-49352 | Jan 24, 2006 05:07am | #3

   wtb,

   best wishes to you in your new venture. I am an engineer, a lifetime woodworker at 47, and tend to study things well before I buy them. Bang for the buck... I would have to look at Wilke machinery in York PA for most of your purchases. I just dropped $3000 on their 12" jointer and am very pleased with the quality. If I had it to do over again, I likely would have bought more from Wilke early on. Don't get me wrong, I am very pleased with my Delta 15" planer, my 10" Jet tablesaw... and my Delta drillpress(16"?). I may have overpaid... a little for them though. I also have a Laguna 16"HD bandsaw, a nice machine, but a little pricey, and I think that the comparable Wilke machine would have been a little better quality for alot less $$. I use a 3HP DeWalt inverted plunge router in a table as a shaper... and it works very well for me. Get the largest equipment that you can afford if you are serious about woodworking. Upgrading is a pain in the #$%, and the quality of your work will suffer. Overall, stay with Wilke, Delta, Jet, Powermatic, and you will be safe. Wilke will be your best value. Grizzly and Foxpro are junk. Its all mostly fabricated and some assembled in Taiwan.... its a matter of which company controls the quality better. General has a made in Canada brand, but you'll pay for it, and I can't vouch for the quality. I am at [email protected] if you would like more insight..

1. 
   ohcomeon | Jan 27, 2006 07:48pm | #6

   Hmmm, the statement that Grizzly is crap and Wilke is great is a bit bogus.  I don't own either, but Wilke has some of their stuff made in Taiwan and I guarantee it is coming out of the same factory, if not the same product as some of the Grizzly equipment.  I have been looking at both for a new bandsaw and dust collector.  Plus, there are plenty of people that have spoken very highly of the quality from Grizzly, especially on their more recent offering.

   Without backing up your assertions of "junk" then you offer nothing to the discussion.

1. 
   TonyCz | Jan 28, 2006 07:36am | #7

   Grizzly makes a good Shaper 3 or 5 HP with or with out a sliding table. The sliding table need a bit of tweaking to make it usable. A power feed is a must!! 

   MM 16 hands down the best saw for the money powerful motor 3 HP the new model I think is larger then the one I bought two years ago.

   You can't go wrong with a 10" unisaw. with a Biesemeyer fence best bet.

   Delta floor mount drill press with speed control on the head no belts to move from pulley to pulley.

   jointer 12" Power matic

   All of the larger tools should be wired for 240 volts. Drill press 110.  

   Jet dust collector 2 hp min. two stage going larger is better here if the shop space permits. example two bagger  power matic with a 5" duct.  240 volt or three ph.

   Chop saw Bosch 12" double sliding compound miter saw wow what a saw.

   Nail guns, Senco all the way.

   Good help your on your own.

    

   Edited 1/27/2006 11:58 pm ET by SD9

2. 
   Ricks503 | Jan 31, 2006 12:57am | #8

   It all comes down to quality control and what level ISO they are using at the Tiwanese plants.  Same plant, differant ISO and you get quality from one and junk from the other coming out.1 - measure the board twice, 2 - cut it once, 3 - measure the space where it is supposed to go        4 - get a new board and go back to step 1

1. 
   highfigh | Jan 31, 2006 07:38pm | #9

   It's down to QC and what was spec'd. Really shiny table saw tops mean very little. They look nice for a while, but a slightly rougher top can be just as flat, unless it's being measured from the bottom to the top of adjacent milling marks, which is a totally useless measurementunless they're really jagged. My Grizzly top was finished on a surface grinder and has no grooves although I have seen several saws that had large, sweeping grooves. Unless the grooves catch the wood and redirect it, they don't matter. The acuracy with which they machine castings, however, does matter. If there are sloppy faces and borings, it won't necessarily be an accurate saw. Re: the Biesmeyer fence- there are some very good clones out there and after using a Biesmeyer for about 4 years and then getting a saw with a clone, I'll keep my clone since there's no reason to change it. I added 7' rails, it's accurate all the way down to the far end and I trust the measurements although I do check occasionally to verify, usually on scrap during setup for a cut. Some companies actually have a QC manager and/or engineer onsite in China or Taiwan. With some of the problems I have read about, maybe we should be cranking up the heat on them instead of complaining about them here since there's no guarantee that someone from the companies will read anything on this forum. I think it would be interesting to see exactly what is different from brand to brand. Maybe one of the woodworking mags will send someone and they can do an article about it.
   "I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."

3. 
   fingerlessHack | Jan 27, 2006 01:57am | #4

   MiniMax 16" bandsaw (16" resaw capacity) is a great saw. Laguna's 16HD is a nice saw but I prefer the MM 16". I have owned Laguna 18" and now a MM 16" and I still believe MM is better... more rigid, stronger frame.

   Table saws ranked in order:

   1. Sawstop ( not just for its safety features, it is a more substantial machine)

   2. Tie between General (Canada) and Powermatic 66 (I say tie because many say General is better and many say Powermatic is better, I tend to believe General might feel more USA made than Powermatic 66 since Jet bought out Powermatic. For that matter of fact not certain if Powermatic 66 is truly USA made as they would have you believe.)

   3. Delta Unisaw (no other delta models would I consider).

   4. Grizzly, Shop Fox, Taiwanese etc.

   Cheers!

1. 
   jhounshell | Jan 27, 2006 03:50pm | #5

   I just started setting up my shop about eight months ago. So far I have purchased everything Delta (table saw, drill press, jointer and band saw) and I have not had a problem with any of them. Like any manufacturer, you'll want to make minor upgrades (saw blades, miter gauges, etc). But for what I need I feel like I made a good decision buying Delta.