Power Tools Worth The Investment
Building a shop from scratch requires a heavy up front investment in tools you need. Luckily, there are areas where you can save money. Before you run out to Harbor Freight to outfit your shop with the essentials, peruse this list to see which items are better coming from one of the big brands.
Before I dive into the lists, these lists were compiled with furniture making in mind. If you aspire to turn on a lathe or plan to center on constructing houses this list likely won’t apply.
Worth it
Here are the items I suggest you wait to purchase until you can make a decent investment.
Table saw - Avoid buying a jobsite saw as your first table saw. Table saws are a huge investment, but jobsite saws are inaccurate machines meant to be used for rough work. You can get by with one, but after I stepped up to a cabinet saw I saw a night and day difference between the machines. No longer did I need to tinker with every setting imaginable just to get a few decent cuts before the saw jiggled loose and no longer cut straight. If you cant stomach a full cabinet saw, a decent contractor saw will work well for you for years.
Miter saw - I started off with a Ryobi sliding miter saw. It was fine for rough work, but the saw, much like a jobsite table saw, would not keep a setting. I would set the saw for a perfect 90 degree cut. Reset for a 45 and head back and the 90 would now be 89. It slowed me down so much I replaced it with a Bosch Axial Glide saw which has been a dream to use.
Plunge Router - Plunge routers can do so much in the shop, but much of what they do is heavy work. Cutting dados or dovetails requires precision and removing a lot of waste. An under powered router will struggle and catch, pulling your fingers in to the bit. Buying a decent router up front is a safer option and more capable option as it can be used upside down in a table.
Dust collector - Shop vacuums suck. They do have their place, but nothing compares to a dust collector. The bigger the machine, the more dust it produces and a shop vacuum will not keep up. You have to have a dust collector to remove chips and dust alike which will improve the machines effectiveness and keep you safer in the shop.
Buy Budget
Save some dollars on these tools by buying a lower cost option. That doesn’t mean hitting the bottom of the barrel, but pick a mid-range offering. This category is saturated, meaning many manufacturers make these tools and the doodads and quality are all comparable. Spending on a premium brand won’t get you much here.
A trusty trim router doesn’t need to break the bank but boy are the handy to have around.
Trim Router - Trim routers are all fairly similar. You can go down a rabbit hole researching these, but I suggest picking up a cheap cordless version. Trim routers are worth having around for small tasks, but a beefy trim router goes against the entire point of a small, mobile tool used for light duty round overs on edges.
Random Orbital Sanders - Random orbital sanders are mostly all alike. The difference in performance between budget and premium is negligible. Premium models improve creature comforts, improving ergonomics and making sanding easy on the hands for a professional shop where a sander is used hours on end. But for the most part you don’t need to run a sander for 5 hours straight, so save a buck. I have a Makita and it has been well performing for the price point.
Drills - Hand held drills and impact drivers do not require the top of the line for woodworking. If you were doing construction I would suggest differently. Having a long lasting, robust, and fast drill and driver are important for repeated tasks where seconds add up, but in the world of furniture slow is okay and often preferable. Driving a screw into softwood is one thing, but driving one into hardwood too fast can cause it to snap right off.
Drill Press - A drill press, while handy, isn’t a necessity in your shop. There are tasks it is nice for, but often those tasks can be done with a hand held just as well. If you do get one, a table top version is all you need unless you plan to do metal working too. But I don’t because metal is messy and I don’t like it.
Track Saw - Track saws are expensive regardless, but there are three tiers. Budget friendly such as a Wen, good value in a Makita, and uber expensive such as the Festools. I recommend the Makita. I have it and it has been a fantastic tool. I also recommend saving money on batteries and going for the corded version, after all you are going to hook a hose up to it anyway, so you might as well have a cord.
Band Saw - This one depends. Are you resawing a ton? Then you’ll want to spring for an expensive, large saw. But if you are like me and only need it to cut curves then go for a budget option. I have a small Rikon which has proved itself worthy in my shop.
Avoid Entirely
These tools I own, but do not use enough to justify their space in my shop. Some I bought because I didn’t know any better, others were free and given to me. I recommend allocating your budget elsewhere.
Not dusty from use, but from sitting on a shelf.
Belt Sander - A hand held belt sander has very little use in a furniture shop. I honestly haven’t used mine in years. They are too aggressive for us furniture makers. Leave the belt sander on the shelf for your flooring friends.
Sheet Sander - Sheet sanders are the old school way of sanding before the invention of random orbital sanders. They burn through paper fast without doing much actual sanding. The dust collection is terrible. They are all around inferior machines compared to the random orbital.
Stationary Sanders - I have a disc and belt combo stationary sander and I hardly ever use it. Maybe if it was also a spindle sander it would be better, but even then, these stationary sanders are so small they aren’t good for much. If you need a disc sander I suggest buying a disc insert for your table saw. Stick some sand paper to it and you have a two in one machine for the rare instance you need it.
Oscillating Tool - The only time this was useful was to cut away drywall to find a water pipe leak. Otherwise, these tools have no utility in a furniture shop.
Dremel - I bought a Dremel with a plunge attachment to use as a mini router before I had a router. It seemed like great utility at the time. But it’s not a great router. You can carve with it, but I do very little carving, and what I do I prefer to use chisels. It’s one redeeming feature are it’s little sanding attachments, but they are so small they are only good for tiny details which could be done just as well by hand.