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Yes, the big Domino dowel are about a hundred times dearer than a biscuit so Domino only gets used when absolutely necessary.
Had a look around and I can get a deal via the eBay discount on a brand new Trend T10 for 220, or a T11 for 250,
I can't recall exactly but isn't the main difference that the T10 doesn't have the under the table rise and fall adjustment facility? 🤔
Routers are good value for the capability, I would just try to keep in mind what you plan, or are likely to do with one.
Biscuit jointers are in my opinion the best value tool around, hugely underrated for what they can do with a bit of thought , cheap to buy and run , just ignore all the tests that say they are weaker than a domino - strong enough is strong enough.
Confession ,I own a domino machine I have yet to use it, but I do look forward to the day , the opportunity to get a s/h one came up.
Do have a look at Peter showing what can be done on a budget:
which is a lot of money (and way more than I’d budgeted, but in fairness I didn’t really appreciate the implications & limitations on buying cheap) but if I never ever have to buy another one in my lifetime, then it’ll be worth doing.
Yes these things are expensive, but they will last you pretty much forever and for what you are doing, it's unlikely you could ever break it.
The money aspect is a huge hit, even after you've bought it you go through a kind of heartache wondering Why, Should, OMG WTF have I Done... etc, but that will pass as you use it, it does what its told and the years roll on, ever reliable.
The last thing I bought when i went through that was a set of 5 bevel edged chisels. They came in a nice little leather pouch, and cost me £350. Now I've got about 35 other chisels, of varying sizes, all capable of doing a job, but in all fairness the steel is not the best, more trade capable than cabinetmaker capable. It was a lot of an outlay, and I could(probably should) have bought something else with the money, but I got them, went through some heartache, but every time i use them it brings a smile to my heart in that they take and hold an edge that is not just amazing, but reliable. I know they will do me till i pop me clogs, and will be my go to chisel for the finer work when i need something i can rely on.
I still have pangs about what they cost, but I recently spent £5K on an EBike, so comparison wise I guess those chisels were a bargain, and likely to last considerably longer.
The router, especially if it is up to the task can make about anything. Tables, chairs, cabinets, as well as preparing timber for jointing, flattening rough to smooth, machining out intricate shapes, cut moulding,machine grooves, rebates etc, etc. It is one of the most versatile machines available for modern day furniture construction.
Update - thanks for the advice guys, pulling the trigger on a new Trend T11 today for £250. Or not, the eBay discount has disappeared while I messed about making my mind up spending so much on this.
Also got a mail shot from Rutlands that their 1/4” router is £50, down by £40. No idea if it’s good vfm or not.
On the subject of routers, I'd like to add a router table option to the sawhorse workbench I put together using an MFT worktop. I'm currently prevaricating between spending the money on something like the Triton or Trend router table tops with fence, then adapting it for mounting on the sawhorses, or having a go at building one myself using a router plate.
The plan is to use it to build some shaker doors for the built in wardrobes in our bedrooms - it'll probably involve buying a new router as well, as I currently have a small Bosch Blue router (excellent but underpowered for this job) and a crappy old B&D effort that I suspect would be soul destroying to try and work with mounted under a table.
Oh Aye - and thanks to Big John for the feedback on my original setup; there were several useful tips in there that I've incorporated into it. I've should have also mentioned that the big spirit level was incidental to the tabletop: I was checking levels in a bit of the garden prior to a bit of re-landscaping, and I'd sat it on the worktop for safe keeping.
Also got a mail shot from Rutlands that their 1/4” router is £50, down by £40. No idea if it’s good vfm or not.
1/4" is fine for lighter work, such as small radiused edges, grooves, etc, but you can't get the larger bits that do the edge profiling, or say tongue and groove bits etc, in 1/4", generally. 1/4" machines tend to be lower powered, and as such lack the grunt for heavy duty routing work, and with the more dense hardwoods. Maybe better for some hand held jobs though. I started out with a small Trend 1/4" router, and it quickly became inadequate for what I wanted to do. If you want something to mount in a table, then go 1/2".
OK just to go back to the start of the thread for a moment, I've got a load of board cutting to do for a house move- nothing massive but a lot of cutting shelving to size, quite a lot of resizing and editing existing furniture etc etc. I could do it all with my old circular saw but it's not cutting well anyway so it seems like a good excuse to upgrade to a plunge saw or at least a circular on a track...
So, question is, should I just go and get the Macallister MSPS1200? It's out of stock at Screwfix so best price I can find is £100 but that still seems pretty reasonable, comes with big enough rails for my jobs, includes a scriber (a bunch of this will be with faced chipboard, tbh I don't care if it chips a little bit but within reason)
(I'm half tempted to just get a little mini saw for £50 and just cut along a straight edge like I'd have done in the past but these just look a lot quicker)
So, question is, should I just go and get the Macallister MSPS1200
Don't see why not.
I'm sure it'll be a better experience than what you have, although could a new blade be the answer?
Nah, track saws will change your life!
it’s not cutting well anyway so it seems like a good excuse to upgrade
Assuming it’s spinning, then It needs a new blade. You don’t have the right excuse I’m afraid.
Nah, track saws will change your life!
Correct excuse, crack on!
@northwind can it use the makita rails etc, as I bought the erbauer plunge saw back just before the current worldwide chaos and was able to buy fairly cheaply the makita long rails to use with it. Which was a whole Lot easier to use than the short rails that came with the tool from screwfix.
Track saws feel like a luxury tool - that I probably didn’t need, but they make the DIY life so much easier.
Cheers folks. It's the same as the Titan saw that used to get all the budget recommends, and works with Makita's rails though tbh I don't expect to be doing any long cuts. Still nice to have an option.
goldfish24
Full MemberAssuming it’s spinning, then It needs a new blade.
Nah, it's not the blade itself- it spins but inconsistently, I don't know anything about the hardware tbh but it feels loose, like a shot bearing or something. Still does the job but it's inaccurate and rings a bit and all feels a bit sketchy with a deathwheel. Hand-me downs...
Ditch Jockey - happy to help.
Northwind you're welcome to borrow my tracksaw for a bit if you like. As in if you will be doing it in a oner and I don't lose it for weeks!
Check the blade in your circular saw. Even cleaning the blade can make a difference.
I made this using scrap shelves and the track saw for the grooves and rebates all balanced on a workmate. It's not perfect but I threw it together with very little hassle and the gaps are pretty good where I was concentrating (and less good when I gave up bothering)
It's my next big hand tool purchase will be a makita track saw.
The problem with tools is you never have enough. N+1 all over again.
Man is a tool using animal. Without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all.
Thomas Carlyle
Thanks Josh, I reckon this'll be lots of little jobs that drag on for weeks so, I'll get my own 🙂
Not a plunge saw but moving house I couldn’t really justify bringing my table saw, so I hung onto the 10” circular saw that was inside. I had to cut some 25mm plywood that I clamped to a workmate etc - it was horrible, too much power for handheld use. Anyway, with lots of jobs needing doing on the new house I bought a Makita 100mm cordless circular saw - absolutely awesome. I had 3 new laminate worktops to fit in my business workshop - needless to say the walls weren’t square so 2 needed trimming and the little saw was the perfect tool for the job. Size /power means that there’s little risk from kickback and I was able to make some plunge cuts to modify another cabinet rather than making a mess with a pad saw.
I got the Macalister track saw. Like it a lot, so yes I'd recommend it. Used it for the following jobs...
- Building a wine rack out of furniture board to fit a gap in the kitchen
- trimming furniture board down to use as kick board in the kitchen
- Trimming the top and bottom of a gate that I built, felt smug about that one
- Rather dodgily cutting the top off some half rotten fence posts. But had it to hand and was quicker than using the hand saw.
I got a 40t blade as the cuts on the furniture board with the stock blade were a bit rough.
Makita 100mm cordless circular saw
What model is it ?, I didnt know they did blades that small.
What model is it ?, I didnt know they did blades that small.
Makita DSS501Z - 130mm blade so can do cuts up to 50mm in softwood.
Can someone advise on plywood? Mdo Vs phenolic faced Vs marine grade. I want something quality, will happily paint the finished item, water resistant. Mdo seems I good choice I think. Needs to give a good finish on routed edges and be durable. Needs good strength and rigidity, but I'll use 18mm so that shouldn't be a problemDoes it glue ok with a quality polyurethane? Gorilla glue wood glue?
Ta
Oh and any good sources to recommend?
Quick update on the router purchase.
Finally pulled the pin on a router, got a Trend T11 240v brand new for £258. Which is a lot of cash, but it’s pretty good value for what it is. To offset this, I sold a couple of tech items I had that I wasn’t using, so effectively it’s only cost me 117. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.
Bought from eBay seller abbey power, who reduced the price today until midnight and with the eBay take15back code, took it from 303 to 258. Which feels like a bargain (ish).
Finally pulled the pin on a router, got a Trend T11 240v
Sick bro. Same as mine 👊
Sick bro. Same as mine 👊
Lol, may have the same tool, strongly suspect the quality of our finished products will differ somewhat !
I also bought the Aldi wet&dry 30l power on Vac today, £50 isn’t too bad for a lot less dust in the garage.
So it’s arrived, nice reassuringly solid bit of kit.
Realised I should have already asked for a recommendation on router bits for it, so I can have a play with it at the weekend! My std go to for this kind of stuff is the ‘trade rated’ stuff from screwfix.
Also need to get a book on making units / furniture as I’ve got to make some units for the house to account for some odd angles. Unless I can make do with YouTube.
Woop woop! I just bagged a Makita rp2301cfx/2 for the bargain price of £178 from Amazon. Used but acceptable it said... Missing the dust extraction attachment but think I've got that for £2.50. We shall see when it arrives.... If it's no good it can go back
I finally joined the tracksaw nation, with pretty much the absolute cheapest one you can get, a Silverline 624327, for £80. And I am in love. I'm kind of a bodger and I like to work as I think, and this is the first time I've really been able to cut big bits of wood in a way that really suits that slightly random-brained approach. Just mark, line up and bzzzzt. We just finished clearing out my mum and dad's place and I aquired a load of beaten up old furniture, and now 6 wardrobes have met their demise and been turned into shelf after shelf...
Next, a load of really big storage boxes, also made out of wardrobes. I could do it all with a circular saw of course or even by hand but I almost certainly never would, the speed of it just opens up possibilities and practicalities. Cheers STW thread!
Still to figure out track compatibility for it but tbh it's no hardship to live with the 1400mm for now.
Gahhh! Router looks amazing, no visible damage, can't see the marks on the case they described... Get the guide assembled, give it all a check over... Where is the collet? Not in the box...hmmm, I'll get on to Amazon as it wasn't supposed to be missing and get one sent out... Hang on, let's see if it's the shaft and not AWOL.... Undo nut... bollox, bollox bollox. Collet is shattered and a large piece is, I assume stuck in the shaft. It's going back then. I reckon it got bought, pulled out the box and set up ready to go then dropped/fell from the work bench onto a hard floor by the bit, breaking the collet and the (described as missing) dust extraction attachment.... And doing possibly lots of unseen internal damage. The naughty first purchaser then boxed it back up and returned it. Amazon discovered the missing dust extraction attachment and listed the router as 'used, acceptable' but no. Lesson here kids, Amazon aren't that thorough at checking for damage on returned items. Oh well, Hermes will collect and return it, Amazon pay for that.
Having handled it...I want one for sure now!
Neilneville they are £258 at toolstop and there’s 5% off your first purchase!
Cheers, yes I pulled the trigger there. £80 more than Amazon, but delivered in one piece and working!
Resurrecting this thread, rather than creating a new one.
My lower back problem has come back with a bloody vengeance, all solveaable but takes some time, so need to get some trestle tables that are height adjustable, so I can raise the work area, bending over is trucking painful at the moment.
Anyone recommend some trestle tables that are height adjustable, have slots that take 2x4 and don’t take 20 minutes to assemble every time I need to set it all up ?
I have a pair of Toughbuilt saw horses which are height adjustable and can take 2x4 or 4x4s to make a bench.
I also have the Toughbuilts, C700s too.
Seem very good bits of kit to me. I wouldn’t however say the height adjustability is anything special, they’re either at full height or too low. I’m 6ft 1 for reference.
@footflaps @piemonster thanks, had a look and ordered, seems to be the best of the bunch.
What are the options for “cheap” dust extraction?
I’m currently al fresco with a good mask, but frankly, crap weather days are good days for making stuff.
I think I’d be plugging whatever is extracting onto multiple power tool one at a time. Low volumes too.
Space is very very limited.
Cheap dust extraction usually means a Henry. Only really good for one tool at a time but you usually only use one tool at a time. I've got mine plugged into a remote control so it's easy to turn it on and off. I keep looking into 'proper' dust extraction but they are way bigger, more expensive and often no better for hand held tools.
What are the options for “cheap” dust extraction
I bought the Aldi wet dry vacuum with the power tool switch when it was last on - last year I think - at £40 IIRC reliable, works well and cheapest I could find.
Not as good or anywhere near as big as the proper dust extraction kit, but I’m also limited on space.
Looking on eBay you often get second hand / reconditioned ‘Henrys’ that are the simpler commercial models (no retractable cord) going very cheaply
I've got a titan Wet n Dry vac after my old Nilfisk died. 30ltr version, and it takes an age to get the thing full. Loads of power. Makes a huge difference to cleaning up (or not having to clean up) after cutting/sanding etc.
I'd suggest the smallest one that still has a PTO socket for tools.
I have a Titan one too with a power tool take off.
It's got loads of oomph. Very good.
I fitted a Festool hose to it though as the rubber end tends to play better with most tool outlets.
It's also supposed to be anti static, but I'm forever getting static shocks off it.
Does me nut.
Anyone know how to reduce static?
Annoying as the Festool hose is specifically meant to be anti static.
It’s also supposed to be anti static, but I’m forever getting static shocks off it.
Does me nut.
A hose in itself can't be antistatic unless it's earthed in some way. All it really means is that it's conductive so the charge will flow but it needs a route earth. Does the festool vac have some sort of continuity between the hose and vac that you're missing?
When we hook up temporary hydrocarbon hoses you basically have to electrically bond them all together and then to earth somewhere so no section of hose can build a charge.
It’s also supposed to be anti static, but I’m forever getting static shocks off it.
Does me nut.
Needs to be a vac designed to work with that kind of hose. The Fein vac I use has little copper doodahs in the socket the the hose pushes into that presumably connects to earth. I think the festool ones the plastic itself is conductive.
Another vote for Titan vac. I bought mine when fitting a kitchen, done another and several other very very very dusty DIY jobs, does well. Mine doesn't have the PTO so I just got one of the eon plugs.