Outfitting Your Home Workshop: Part 2
Outfitting Your Home Workshop: Part 2
Tooling Up for Production.
Today’s “17 Step Commute”…
Temp: Currently 55. Wet, ducky weather with a high of 62 today.
Humidity: 5 on the “Soup” scale. (1=light broth, 5=thick chowder)
Conditions: Slippery brick. No cat patrols about. Birds quiet.
Estimated Travel Time: 14 seconds (fast stepping required to stay dry).
Coffee Level: 3 sips left....
Last Monday, I wrote of setting up your work areas to suit your craft in Part 1. This week will be about tools. Admittedly, I am more of a wood person than a tool guy.
Beautiful grains and colors tease me with their potential. The fine folks at my lumber yard have learned this about me and leave me to my own devices amongst their stacks and I always find some new (to me) stuff to offer in my Etsy shop.
Tools, on the other hand, are more of a means to an end for me. While I admire and appreciate a well designed quality tool, I do not hoard them for collection sake. To me, they are a necessary part of my process.
But, it is possible to be both, if your budget can afford it.
Tooling Up
Buying a tool that you don’t necessarily need is not a bad thing, but for a start-up business you will want to focus on what you really need to get things going. As your business grows there will be plenty of cool tools out there that can take your craft to new and exciting places.
Quality is subjective. It is okay to buy cheap tools for occasional use or to try something new, but if it is a tool that I know I will need every day, I will get the best quality that I can afford. When I think I need a certain tool, I search for bargains, both new and used. Tools that are used often are replaced by better quality when they inevitably fail.
Example: Starting out, I purchased an economical set of a dozen router bits with an assortment of profiles in a nifty wooden storage box. Those that I used most often were replaced with single, quality bits. After 15 years, I still have 3 or 4 profiles that still have their waxy protection on them… AND I still use the box.
Sometimes, the cheap tool is the one you absolutely need. I use a battery of benchtop belt sanders to shape, smooth and polish my chopsticks, each with its own grit (80 through 600). The lower quality, inexpensive models have a design that I prefer for my work over the higher end tools, allowing my workpieces to be manipulated off the front, back and sides of the sander’s workable surface (platen). They have to be replaced periodically (about every 3 or 4 years) because of their lower quality bearings and motors. There are 4 or 5 “brands” of this tool, however they are all exactly the same with different labeling. I suspect they are all made in the same Chinese factory.
Before purchasing new or used, research the tools you think you’ll need to find out if they will fit your needs and determine the quality that will be best suited to your craft. YouTube has huge collections of “unboxings”, reviews and demonstrations. Try to learn the tools' limitations before you buy.
For finding used tools, garage sales and flea markets are fabulous, as you can actually examine the items, test them out and dicker on prices. In the beginning, I also kept an eye out for deals on eBay and online tool mongers. There are many individual sellers who are perfectly reputable and conscientious dealers (like you are trying to be). Then there are others, who go with the “Getum-Once-and-Getum-Good'' philosophy.
Once you think you have found what you need at the right price, know exactly what you are buying by reading the descriptions thoroughly. It sucks to receive a package with sizes or quality that are not what you expected. Be sure you are aware of shipping charges and taxes. These costs need to be added when calculating the cost of your startup and deducted from your income taxes.
Double-check that your shipping address is correct. That sounds like a no-brainer, but every once in a while my (evil) auto-filler will still enter a PO box that I no longer use, even after 10 years.
Size & Sound Matters
Shop size and the location of your work areas are also considerations when tooling up your shop. A mini-lathe may suffice for your intentions and takes up a lot less shop real estate in the workshop than a full size one.
My portable table saw has a permanent home and outfeed table that doubles as a router table and allows space for my spindle sander and combo joiner/planer. Its central location only takes up about 20 square feet.
If you are in a nosy community that has noise restrictions, you will need to respect their rules and keep things on the down-low. In my shop, the noisiest power tool is the indispensable shop vac. It runs whenever I am using my sanders, table saw or doing clean-up. Do your research and try to afford the one with the lowest dB noise rating. Your neighbors (and ears) will thank you.
If your craft allows, hand tools are the quietest and once you learn to properly use them can be quicker than setting up noisy machines. They are also usually safer.
Your needs will be different depending on your starting point, choice of craft, ability and financial situation. If you are beginning from scratch, go with the absolute basics and see where your business wants to go. Product interest, sales and customers will dictate the trends that are most important to concentrate on. It is the most economical path and will pad your bottom line in the end.
Around 2014, when the specialized 1/16” blades for my Craftsman bandsaw were no longer available, I traded some sign work for a used Hegner scroll saw ($1,300.00 new). This saw is still my go-to for most of the work I do 10 years later.
Quality tools are priceless, unless you don’t really need them. I made a few purchases and trades that ended up being busts. They sit collecting dust and rust in our humid Florida climate until I decide to resell them..
For my current work, 15 years after I opened my Etsy store, I could get by with my Hegner scroll saw, a small benchtop drill press, a benchtop belt sander and a small, cheap table saw. For production reasons, I now have an additional back-up DeWalt scroll saw and four more cheap benchtop sanders (each set up with a different grit) for shaping and sanding.
I invite to to see what I make and sell in my DustyNewt Etsy shop.
If you appreciate my work here, you can buy me a cup of joe here.
Stay tuned next Monday for Part 3 of my Outfitting Your Home Workshop blog. I will be discussing where to find materials, namely wood.
I publish twice a week… “News & Sneak Peeks” on Fridays and “17 Step Commute” on Mondays.