I’ve been doing basic woodworking for a while, and I want to start moving into furniture (mostly for my own enjoyment). I strongly prefer the aesthetics of craftsman/mission/prairie style (Gustav Stickley, et al.) I’m trying to make a list of the basic power tools that would be necessary/useful for that style of furniture, along with hand tools, and I’d appreciate feedback from people with more experience than I.
I already have a very basic work bench; I think that I probably need to make a work bench that I can use bench dogs on; a roubo workbench be ideal. I also definitely need to make an infeed and outfeed table for my table saw so I can work with plywood sheet more easily.
(I have a number of these, but not everything.)
Table saw (ideally a cabinet saw)
-miter gauge
-dado blade
-tenoning jig
Miter saw
Band saw (ideally 2; one that could do re-saw work, and a smaller one for cutting curves)
Jointer (ideally long bed)
Planer
Router
-tongue and groove set
Drill press (?)
Mortising machine
Random orbit sander
Finish sander
Dust collection
Dovetail jig set (for drawers)
Doweling jig (?)
Hand planes (kind of a long list here…)
Chisels
-mortising chisels
-paring chisels
-flushing chisels
Card scraper
Marking tools
-Scribe
-marking knife
Combination square
Tape measure
Calipers w/ depth gauge
Clamps
-Parallel clamps
-pipe clamps, etc.
Is there anything that I’m missing that I should be thinking about? (Quick edit - I don’t have a lathe on here because I have zero interest in turning anything. I don’t think that things like a belt or spindle sander, or a shaper, would really do much of anything for the style I prefer. A router table might be useful though.)
Start with a project and buy just what you need. You can spend a lot of money on tools and then discover your interests never have you use that tool. Try to stick with the tools you have and master them before buying a new one. So pick a project that can mostly be done with tools you have, and then buy only the one tool you need. Of course this must be balanced - if you really need something made now buy the tools as needed and you will have them, but if you have a choice do projects within the abilities of your current tools.
Your wanted tool list isn’t bad - you should have it. However the point isn’t to go buy them. The point is to watch local craigslist, auctions, and such to see if something on the “someday” list goes on sale cheap. You should know enough about the tools to have a good idea of what you will take used. There are some great 60 year old tools out there for cheap that work better than anything you can afford new - but they don’t go on sale everyday, and some of them need significant work before they become great again (are you willing to do that work? Machinery restoration is a fun hobby but it isn’t going to make furniture so it might not be for you). Thus you should know what to look for in a used machine to decide if a deal is the right one for you.
Oh yes. I def. do that. :)
Good advice overall, thank you.