Question Of The Week... (2021 week 40)

[ripjack13]

Howdy,
Welcome back to the QotW peeps! It was a long summer and I did plenty of activities with the grandkiddo and the Mrs. I found a slew of new questions for ya'll. For those new members that haven't seen this, this is a weekly series of questions topic for everyone to join in on the discussion. Some of the later questions may have a poll, and some will not. so, with that said,
Don't be shy now, go ahead and post an answer....



What is the most useful/valuable (not monetary value) piece of equipment you believe every woodworker should have, and why?









**Rules**
There is no minimum post requirement,
primates, woodticks, wood spinners, and leprechauns are welcome to post an answer.
And of course the and the doc too....
"Life is made of ever so many partings welded together." -Charles Dickens

 

[Mike1950]

A big hammer to make every thing you measured twice but still cut wrong fit!!!
Tough question- depends on what you are doing. probably my sharpening stones- everything starts with sharp tools. But if I was starting all over the first thing I would buy is a good dust collection system.

 

[2feathers Creative Making]

The most used tool in my shop is probably my random orbital sander. The most useful multipurpose is a hammer.
As a carpenter by trade, I can probably do more things at the jobsites with a circular saw than the average hobbyist. At the job my skilsaw isn't much difference in importance than my hammer.

In conclusion, it would be hard to picture a woodworking shop without a hammer/mallet. Even a turning shop needs to remove live centers and chucks from m1 or m2 openings...

 

[woodtickgreg]

Yea qotw is back!
Man this is a tough question, to pick only one? Now the question did say equipment......and I view equipment as machines, so for me it would be the table saw because there is so much you can do with it. It has always been the center piece of whatever shop I was in at the time. I can do so much with a table saw, almost all forms of joinery and breaking down sheet goods too. It was the first real machine I purchased when I got serious about wood working. Until then like @2feathers Creative Making I used a circular saw a lot, amazing I still have my fingers since my circular saws where usually cheap crap and dull blades, lol. All the other stuff to me is just paraphernalia, tapes, rules, squares, hammers, pencil sharpener, etc

 

[DLJeffs]

When I finally got a garage big enough to have some room to work, the first piece of equipment I bought was my table saw. I agree with Greg - I bought that because it seemed you could do nearly everything on a table saw if you put your mind to it. And it seemed to be a good choice - I built a lot of stuff using that saw and some hand tools and elbow grease.

 

[trc65]

A proper workbench with appropriate work holding apparatus. The one constant as I progressed through hand tool only, hybrid flatwork, and now turning has been a workbench. Whether it's a piece of plywood on saw horses, the top of your table saw, or a fancy Roubo, I've never seen a shop without a bench.

 

[Nature Man]

Belt sander. For gross shaping, you can't beat it! You can hog off wood much faster than a ROS. I now have two of them, a 4" and a 6". Have used the 4" for several years now, the 6" I picked up in the recent past and haven't used it yet. Chuck

 

[Herb G.]

Patience. Answer is self explanatory.

 

[Karl_TN]

As a woodturner, I would have to say a chainsaw. All my wood supplies are free with this one piece of equipment.

 

[eaglea1]

A good analytical brain, that considers safety as well when planning projects.

 

[Ray D]

I’m going to agree with what a few others have said …Table saw. I do a lot of flat work and there’s just so many things that can be done with this tool.

 

[Mike Hill]

I don't do much flat work, so not a table saw - I've probably used a band saw more. Over the years - for me, for power tools - it'll be belt sanders - both hand and table. Lately, its been compound/sliding miter saw or sharpening stones/systems. And don't forget CLAMPS!!!!! And I'd be lost without some kind of rotary tool with burrs. But don't count out lathes - Lil Mikey has 4.

 

[Lou Currier]

I find that a band saw comes in very handy for all kinds of cutting needs.

 

[Jason Martin]

My first big purchase was a Grizzly 10" tablesaw. Bought about 13 years ago. I would find it difficult to do without! One of my more recent purchases was a Grizzly 14" bandsaw, and that is probably my 2nd most used tool. But how would i do without the my planer and jointer?? Both Grizzly as well... And drill press, also Grizzly.. Hard question, but I guess tablesaw.

 

[Sprung]

Ultimately it depends on what kind of woodworking one is doing.

But if I had to absolutely choose one piece of equipment for me, it would have to be the table saw. Bandsaw would be a close second, if not a tie. Both are quite versatile.

But it's hard to ignore how every other tool connects to it in use. Could I make some nice stuff with a table saw or bandsaw being my only piece of equipment? Yeah. I'd also spend a lot of time making various jigs or switching setups between tasks. I'd not easily give up any machine or piece of equipment that is currently in my shop.

But I will also put in an agreement with Mike on the dust collection. If I could go back and start over, I'd have gotten it sooner. So many people as they're building out their shops and buying equipment put dust collection down at the bottom of the list - and I'll admit that it was a lower priority purchase for me. It's not a glamorous machine. You can't make anything with it. It's a glorified vacuum. But, man, does it make dust control so much better and easier. And you only get one set of lungs - treat them well. And, in addition to a dust collector, an air cleaner is valuable as well.

 

[Gdurfey]

A pencil and sharpener if you don’t have a pocket knife

 

[Mr. Peet]

Pick-up truck. This item lends itself to so many other cross-over items to allow access to new wood(s) and time.

 

[phinds]

I think the whole idea of trying to ID one item is <nasty rant deleted> because if you had the best possible one of any of the items mentioned above, or any other woodworking item, but nothing else, what are you going to do? What COULD you do? I guess with a chainsaw you could cut down a tree and do a chainsaw carving, but there really aren't any other standalone tools. I think what's needed is enough tools to do the kind of work you personally love to do. Anything less is going to be unpleasant no matter how good your favorite tool is.

 

[Karl_TN]

I think the whole idea of trying to ID one item is <nasty rant deleted> because if you had the best possible one of any of the items mentioned above, or any other woodworking item, but nothing else, what are you going to do? What COULD you do? I guess with a chainsaw you could cut down a tree and do a chainsaw carving, but there really aren't any other standalone tools. I think what's needed is enough tools to do the kind of work you personally love to do. Anything less is going to be unpleasant no matter how good your favorite tool is.

Cutting down trees and chainsaw carving. Where’s the imagination. You can build an entire house or barn using a chainsaw. Add a simple milling attachment if you want to build with flat boards.

Teasing aside, this was definitely a question that‘s guaranteed to get mixed results. Still it’s fun to hear which tool will be the one that your family will be prying from your dead fingers.