G'day from Newcastle/Lake Macquarie

G'day All,

I have just moved into my own place up at Lake Macquarie and I can't tell you how excited I am to a 1.5 space garage to set up. :U (neither of our cars will fit in :D)

I've always loved working with wood, but I have only ever really been able to do work in a driveway and then store tools away at the end of each day. The frustration being that you spend more time setting up and packing up than you get to work on your project.:((

I have plenty of tools from when I used to be a handyman, but now it's time to buy some machinery.:wink: First off is going to be a decent table saw, jointer and thicknesser. I have to say, I get so overwhelmed buy choices and what to get. At the moment I am tempted to get a Durden pacemaker 10 inch with a 6 in jointer, a sherwood 13" helical thicknesser and a drill press.

If anyone has any suggestions or recommendations etc I would be very grateful.

I look forward starting on a my initial project and being a part of this community.

Looking forward to meeting up with other memebrs too.

Cheers,
BeerGuy (I always struggle to pick a name, but I am a full time brewer, so it kind of works.):-

Welcome
Lots of info to add confusion to your choices here!

If I were to do it all again, I'd pick a project, and get the tools needed for that project. Rinse and repeat. That way you avoid some of the "I think I'll need that" but never do, or you needed something bigger/smaller etc.

While I really like my tablesaw, I could get by fine with my tracksaws and bandsaw, and save a big chunk of space, so I probably wouldn't have bothered getting it if I could turn the clock back.
Jointer and thicknesser very useful - would be amongst my first buys, but I like to recycle/repurpose old wood. You could get a whole lot of dimensioned and finished lumber for the price of the two machines.

My most used -
Sliding compound mitre saw
track saws
bandsaw
jointer/thicknesser
ROS Sander and sheet sander
Vecturo (multitool)
Router

Welcome to the forum.
You'll find some good advice coming your way. :)

Welcome to the forum.

Regards
Keith

Thanks Bernmc,

I am also a huge fan of recycle/repurposing timber. When ever I go past the tip/recycling centre I end up leaving with a few nice pieces. I also drive past council cleanups and see all the timber furniture being thrown out and think to myself, I would love to grab that and use it to make a .......?
Anyway, I have found someone selling what looks like and entire house worth or framing timber made up of hard wood and Oregon, which I am pretty keen on. There will be a lot of de-nailing and I'll need to grab myself a metal detector, :U but I get as much joy from seeing the old timber brought back to life as I do from the actual projects.

This is the Saw/Jointer that I am looking at. To me it looks like it is in great condition and I love well built old machines. I just don't know if I should be looking at a new saw and jointer instead. This one isn't cheap @ $775. Any thoughts on this Durden pacemaker?

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/iIcAA...Al/s-l800.webp

Cheers,
Richard

Welcome to the forum Richard. Is this your brother?
I don't know anything about the Durden Pacemaker but looking at the photo they don't have a lot of support on the left of the blade for sheet type materials compared to a dedicated tablesaw. Putting largish pieces of ply or MDF through could be a bit tricky. Apart from that the machine looks very clean and tidy.

G'Day & Welcome to a top forum.....
There are quite a good few members around Hunter region and cross NSW plus the rest of the country.....
You'll find a heap of helpful & knowledgeable blokes & ladies on the forum and for most very willing to assist.
Make sure you show off your handiwork as everyone loves a photo, especially WIP [Work In Progress] photos with build notes.
Enjoy the forum.
Enjoy your woodwork......
Cheers crowie

Thanks for you reply Treecycle, I have decided to take you advice on board and I will go for a proper table saw. I just missed out on one that I saw on ebay, i saw it late at night and decided to sleep on the decision and by the time I went back in the morning it had sold. :(

I am constantly checking Fb market place, Gumtree and ebay, but it might be a bit of wait to find a decent table. I'm going to put up a wanted Advertisement and see how I go :)

Thanks Crowie for the welcome.

So many projects planned and I will definitely make sure I take some WIP pics. Admittedly I'm normally terrible at it. :wink:

Welcome to the forum.

Welcome to the forum