Hardware and Fasteners - [B][/B]Woodworking Novice need advise

I am going to be taking up woodworking finally and was wondering if I can get some sound advise as to what main tools I should start with. I know about the famous Tablesaw but I would like to know the advantages of contractor, radial, mobile. also names that would be of great quality. Also the shop I am building will be build outside my house about 20 by 20 or any recommend on sizeof shop, location of tools in shop, and anything else I should know to get started. Any site recommendation to help me learn would be also greatly appreciated.

The size you mention will not be large enough. With a table saw in the center, you need 12 feet in front of the saw and 12 feet behind the saw to rip a 12 foot long board. Any tool which feeds the stock through the tool such as a planer will have the same space requirements. Do a floor plan which shows the location of the tools you plan to have. Then plot in work space for assembly of projects you will be working on such as building furniture. You need a separate space for finishing to avoid dust contamination. And be sure to include plenty of storage space for various types of lumber and plywood. Good luck with your project and enjoy you work.

20x20 ft is large enough. I use half my 22x24 garage.
The Steelcity hybrid table saw is by the car door, 5 ft in, and on wheels. It does not have to be in the center of the room.
I have one bench running down the middle of the outside wall, with another across from it toward the centerline of the garage. On that one I have my benchtop Delta drill press, Dewalt 735 planer, and Ryobi belt/drum sander. The bandsaw is at one end of the bench.
The dust collector is tucked into the corner by the car door with PVC piping running to the tools. The Jet jointer is also in a corner and on wheels for when I need it.

As for tools to get, I would recommend a router, then build/buy a table for it. The jointer and planer come in handy if you plan to use roughsawn, re-sawn, or reclaimed stock.

A couple other good sites to visit would be www.routerforums.com (http://www.routerforums.com) and www.sawmillcreek.org (http://www.sawmillcreek.org)

Oooh, tool buying. I love this forum!! As mentioned table saw in middle front to back. I can't suggest a name brand off experience. Mine is a 1973 vintage Craftsman and it won't break allowing me the justification of buying a new one. Banging table. I have a radial arm mounted on a full width run off table across the back of my shop (24 x24). Here, again, 1970's Craftsman that won't break. Drill press (not expensive). Later on you can equip your drill press with a mortising attachment, and your table saw with a tenoning jig. Makes for great joinery in furniture. Router on undermount table and plunge router for free hand work. Later on, planer, jointer, oscillating drum sander, scroll saw, band saw. As far as portability of the table saw, unless you need the area, don't. I have a portable on my jobsite trailer, but it gets moved every day. The one in the shop is rock solid. This could get to be fun!

Down, boy! [chandler loves spending other people's money; well, okay, so do I...:o ]

Here's some stuff to gnaw on:

http://home.comcast.net/~hchute/woodshop_shoplayouts.htm

Size is pretty much relative. It depends on what you plan on doing. In my case, I work on smaller stuff, like jewelry boxes and toys.

I have a pretty small workshop, but have my table saw on wheels to revolve for crosscutting and ripping purposes. I don't do much with plywood, but when I do, I precut the stuff with a circular saw in the garage, then haul it down into the basement shop.

I don't have much interest in building big stuff, like furniture, boats and planes, so in my case a small shop works well. And I'm guessing mine is probably bigger than many.

Before you go buying all Delta, you may want to make absolutley certain you are VERY interested in woodworking.

If so go for it. If your not sure...

1. Table saw: As big a table as you have room for, on wheels. Some you can mount your router on the right on the blade right there on the table.
2. Router: I got the DeWalt DW 618. It has 3 attachments the motor slips in and out of I can't remeber if it was 280 or 380 for the set but it sure is nice to have a plunging router, normal and d-base.
3. Drill press, I have a cheap little one that I couldn't live without. But it depends on what your doing, the more you spend, generally the more travel up and down the drill has
4. Sanders: orbital, stationary belt
5. Clamps all different kinds. I really like my Irwin Quick Grips (one hand operation)
6. Compressor... its always nice to have air. If you want to sand, grind or anything like that you need the mack daddy compressor though that stuff eats up air.
7. Planer/Joiner. Once you get to these, you will know what you want.
8. Compound Miter. I went all the way with this, compound 12" sliding miter. Size of the blade makes it last longer and its nice to cross cut large stock.

Padded floor mats if your on concrete.

I am going to resurface my workbench and leave an overhand this time so I can use smaller clamps to hold down items. Right now I have a vertial 2X4 right under the plywood surface at the edge. So I need like 5 inches to clamp down a 1/4 piece of ply.

I am about to build a table to hold my drill press, stationary sander and scroll saw. It is trianglular and rolls to expose the tool you want to use, a real space saver.

Otherwise, I would advise spending the money on blades, from hacksaw blades to saw, you get what you pay for.

Good god I need to get a life and stop writing books... they lived happily ever after.

J

radial arm saws are great but also can be very dangerous, for a novice probably a good chop saw that has a sliding arm to allow cross cuts of 12 in's, like said above the rest is mostly dependant on what type of wood working you are planning on doing. small or large projects?

life begins when the kids leave home and the dog dies.