Monday, December 9, 2013

My Conclusions about my woodworking needs


I have been looking at these portable band-sawmills for years now and after LOTs of consideration and thinking, planning, etc. have come to these conclusions:


  1. The chainsaw mills that I have (the mini-mill and the slabbing mill) are ok for what I want.  
  2. The chainsaw mills waste a lot of wood and are far slower and harder to use than the band-sawmills, but I have concluded that I am only interested in making beams and cants from trees - not boards!
  3. Bandsaw mills work well - but you would need to NEED lots of lumber to make them worthwhile.  I am not going to build a large compound or going into the wood-working business (or running a small lumber mill business).
  4. I can probably get by with just the chainsaw-mills that I have for my lumber needs for fine wood IF I get a large-ish bandsaw.  I am looking at a grizzly right now.  Although this model doesn't have a foot brake.  I might get the next model up (with a foot brake).
  5. In any case, no matter which mill approach I adopt, I will need a planer and a jointer to do fine wood work.  
  6. I think I can get dad's old delta planer fixed up and running with a set of shelix blades - its fairly small planer but I don't plan on making massive pieces of furniture!   The shelix replacement is NOT cheap - about $450!
  7. Tony Huffert has a Sunhill SM-204 8" jointer that I can get for $400!  It will need shelix blades as well.  Its model info: Sunhill SM-204 (note that sunhill company is gone and product is no longer supported).  However, there are shelix blades that I can use - for $350). Note that I have to pick up the jointer before Jan 7(?) with my trailer to get this deal from Tony.
  8. Other plans I have are to buy all of dad's woodworking stuff from mom.  I have a list that I am making to make sure siblings are ok with the purchase.  The only thing that I really want is dad's planer.  everything else I either don't need or don't want.  Just getting the stuff out of the garage so that it doesn't get lost in the estate.  Also, I think I can get the auxiliary tools for a good price from her, which may save me some time in buying them piecemeal as I need them.

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