My Sunday School class volunteered to help convert one of the rooms at our church into a theater. The guys all met and put together a plan to build risers for the theater chairs that we got when a local theater closed down. I found this one of many reason to add a power tool to my small collection. I bought a Skil table top "table saw" for a bit more than $200.00. I took it to the church that night, used it for about 5 minutes and was scared to death by it. It shook like the old Electric Football Games. It went back to Home Depot the next day. Of course, giving up a power tool (even with good reason) and not replacing it is one of those things that male homo sapiens just can't do and live with themselves. I had to upgrade. I settled on the Ryobi BTK3000.
It was a great improvement and started me on my way to a garage shop. I spent the next few months going to every Home Depot and Lowes and buying every accessory I could find for the saw. The long rails, the caster set, everything. While it wasn't a table saw by any stretch, it was a great place to start. I started spending all my time in the garage. There hasn't been a car in my 2 car garage since.
It is now a pretty full shop. I have replaced the Ryobi with the Dewalt Contractor's Table Saw. I got all the accessories for it also, including the long rails, sliding miter table, outfeed table, mobile base, etc. I have the exact set up shown in the picture at the link above. That is the anchor of my shop. To compliment the table saw, I bought the Rigid Radial Arm Saw. I'm so glad I got this when I did, Rigid has since discontinued the Radial Arm Saw. I have enjoyed the RAS more than I thought. Next to it is the Rigid Oscillating Edge Belt/Spindle Sander. I got on a Jet kick for a while and bought the Jet Air Filtration System, 14" Band Saw with a 6" riser block, 6" Jointer, Dust Collector, and Bench Mortiser. I love the DeWalt yellow, and along with the table saw, I have the Scroll Saw with stand a light, Thickness Planer, 18V Cordless Set, and 2hp Router. I had to buy a few Porter Cable tools for the collection, if for no other reason than to support Norm ;). But, they really are the best I found for these 2 tools. I bought their Plate Joiner and 3 1/4hp Router. One last tool of mention. This is probably the most fun "tool" in the shop. The Incra Jig Ultra.
The rest of the stuff filling up my garage is the various shop vac, Dremel, Rotozip, palm sander, circular saw, bit kits and clamps galore. Oh, and the pile of wood!
I've had a ton of fun in the garage and setting everything up was a blast. Hopefully we can discuss tools, techniques and resources here. I'll probably write a tool review every now and then and share some of my favorite wook working sites. Grab your apron and "the most important safety tool in the shop", you safety goggles and come join me in making sawdust!
Trent