Comparing a Professional Wood Shop to a DIY Garage.
Comparing my budget friendly shop to my large professional shop. Brought to us by Squarespace. For 10% off your first purchase, go to: squarespace.com/makesomething
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Tools and Supplies Used (Affiliate Links)
Cheap Table Saw: amzn.to/4cTfEa2
Expensive Table Saw: Table Saw: amzn.to/3GbM9Bm
Adjustable Height Table: bit.ly/3vW59SY
Circular Saw: amzn.to/3u7AFfx
Track Saw: amzn.to/3vZ4P5U
Cheap Miter Saw: amzn.to/492uWGC
Expensive Miter Saw: amzn.to/3QRprDf
Miter Saw Stand: amzn.to/3xRPjsS
Cheap Band Saw: Bandsaw: amzn.to/3S9EUiU
Expensive Large Bandsaw: amzn.to/3G9LxvN
Jig Saw: amzn.to/3QqxSGl
Cheap Planer: Planer: amzn.to/4aAXloD
Expensive Planer: Planer: amzn.to/46tDYeh
Cheap Drill Press: amzn.to/49TGdJr
Expensive Drill Press: Drill Press: amzn.to/3SRXNsH
Cheap Palm Sander: amzn.to/3Spxidd
Belt & Spindle Sander: amzn.to/3Sowbe2
Cheap Jointer: amzn.to/3Sq4scP
Expensive Jointer: amzn.to/3SQrTMW
Stepcraft CNC: bit.ly/3pX03xU
Rayjet R400 Laser Cutter: bit.ly/3uHoP9e
★ WATCH MORE ★
Wen Tool Reviews: • I Bought ALL THE WEN T...
Table Saw Station: • Transforming a Cheap T...
T-shits, books and plans: makesomething.com
I think I just woke my wife up laughing so hard at “It doesn’t give a shit about your fingers!”
every time the beep comes just slightly after the swear word...your timing is impeccable
Came here to type just how much I appreciate it !!😅
I owned a collector car, that had to be moved out of the shop every time I wanted to do wood working. I was blessed and able to build a dedicated wood shop later on when I could afford it. My old cheaper tools were given to friends and family.
Pausing the video to 'lol' at the TEDx logo during the drill press segment. Brilliant !!!
I really like this video, the tone, and your thorough approach to all the ways that we work, our enjoyment, all under the guise of woodworking. Thanks!
My garage is hybrid storage, workshop, and gym, and most days I spend more time reorganizing, cleaning, and figuring out where I'm going to stack my cuts and cabinets, than actually cutting and gluing. A dedicated workshop with shrouded tools and dust tubes everywhere would be a dream for me.
Generally good info, would just add that another advantage of the planer and jointer is to flatten boards. Whether you start with rough lumber or S4S that has twisted, these tools open up so much more flexibility in the lumber choices that you use. Having to purchase only flat boards and then keep them flat can be expensive and challenging. Especially if your workshop is not climate controlled and the wood moves with humidity changes.
I love the thinking outside the box side of woodworking
I love this video David! As a serious hobbyist for about the pst 15 years, lots of my tools are in the prosumer level, as I don’t have a big dedicated space for woodworking. Thanks for making relatable content at both shops! Loving what you do and alway the Making it Podcast!
I've been woodworking since I was a toddler helping my dad in the shop. I realized watching this I still have the basic shop. At 40 it's probably not gonna change now lol
nice 67 impala. i had a 68 when I was young. really enjoyed that car.
Some really excellent tips there, Dave! Thanks a bunch! 😃 The trick, for most of us I guess, is to get the best workspace and tools we can. Which isn't exactly easy sometimes, but we do what we can. 😊 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
You kept saying you didn't have much space but from what we see in the video looks like you've got loads of spare space and you could easily build permanent stands, storage draws and a decent sized work bench, as long as you designed it carefully and put enough thought in to the placement and structure, functionality of everything you built. Enjoyed seeing the comparison though.
Love that '67 Chevy, brings back memories.
Since you have holes on the fence for that miter saw, you can screw a board to the back of it and use squeeze clamps on the bottom of those boards to use as stops. All I have is a small shop and had to figure this mess out. Usually my miter saw sits on a concrete shelf in my basement shop and I don't bother to pull it down. I just use my tablesaw for most of my cuts.
I have just gone through my KZhead maker right of passage and bought a red blade for my tablesaw. That's a thing right? Love your vids sir. Keep em coming.
Your videos are such a joy, so thanks. My workshop is my back porch. I have all the necessary tools, except a jointer. I just don’t have the space nor budget for a decent one, so I built a table saw jointer jig. Somewhat exposed to the elements, so I need to cover everything. I do have a 2 car garage, but my new Corvette has priority! As you said, there are many different ways to accomplish a task, and I’ve had to be inventive. Ya work with what ya have 👍
I’m moving into a new place/shop within the next month and can’t wait to start setting it up. I literally couldn’t care less about the rest of the house. I lost a really good paying job last year but was blessed to buy some professional tools but also have my share of dyi. I’ll be more deliberate this time in setting up due to learning and growing into a better woodworker but also because the space is smaller so I have to get more creative. From festool to wen and harbor freight, I love that I decided to get into this. It saved my life. Hopefully there’s better days ahead and if they are, a bigger jointer is in order. The jointer revolutionized what I can do and how fast I can do it. But I mill my own almost exclusively
Better days ahead. Have fun with the new shop!
Thanks so much for continuing this series. Being that we are somewhere in between, these are crazy helpful to make decisions on tools we should get and how we should use them.
Thank you. You're a smart man with good insights on life in general expressed through woodworking.
That's one sweet ride dude!! Very cool 😊😊
That has to be the no wait that is the cleanest shop I've ever seen in my life nice job Dave.
Love this video. Thank you so much. So so intuitive. What a wonderful and helpful video!
Hahaha! That TEDx moment though. Epic.
My shop is a 8×20 shipping container, small shops make you get real creative in how and where you put everything.
I like your classification! I’m at “stage 2”… I have decent table saw and planer and have made dedicated benches on wheels for them. I started with a basement closet I converted into my mini shop, and am now taking over a room of the basement and rebuilding my tables and making a new router table. I’m in that middle category. I don’t see myself getting to Cat 3 woodworker for any time soon though. But I will continue to collect tools and take some over!
I've been watching your content Forever. Still making great video.
I have a 2-car tandem garage which is a great space for woodworking, but I also park two cars in it and, store everything one accumulates over a lifetime, including tons of my wife’s Christmas decorations and art supplies. Given this, it’s always a challenge to find space, move my tools out from where they’re stored and putting them back at the end of each day so I can clean up the garage and move the cars in. Everything I build takes longer and it’s frustrating always having to move something around. I have a full workshop with a cabinet saw, 14” bandsaw, planer, jointer, router table, a few bench sanders, miter station and, several 4x8 cabinets full of just about everything you’ll ever need in a wood shop, including about 50 different clamps, so I don’t go without and I make it work. I use flip carts and my larger machines are all on mobile stands. However, I just got a cnc and had to remove the shelves from my assembly table to get it to fit in my shop, and I’m finally in a place where nothing more will fit, but plan to get a laser engraver in the near future at which time I’ll have to build a platform with a winch so I can either raise it or the cnc up to the only available space I have left on the ceiling. My point of this is that no matter what space you have, you can make it work. I saw a guy that put a miter saw and contractor table saw in a bedroom in his apartment, along with some tools, shop vac and small assembly table! He can only work during the day when his neighbors are at work, but he made it work. Another guy has a small storage shed next to his carport and pulls his tools out onto his carport whenever he wants to build something. His miter saw, table saw and assembly table are mounted on carts with wheels and he rolls them in and out of his storage shed when he builds something. I used a drill, circular saw and jigsaw for years, so you don’t need a bunch of fancy tools to enjoy woodworking!
Can't wait to transfer my simple garage workshop to a fancy one, because it will make things easier and more efficient from product perspective. Thanks again for making these budget friendly episodes.
This video makes a good argument for making benches and carts such that the tables for all of your tools are at the same level. Some tools, like the drill press and some sanding machines, can't do this because their tables are adjustable in some way. But the table saw, mitre saw, band saw, jointer, planer, router table, and work bench all have fixed tables that can be positioned at the same convenient height. And even the adjustable tables can be positioned such that the common setting matches the standard height. Some of the machines, rather than being stored on the floor, can be placed back-to-back on narrow carts. A jointer and planer are examples. Sometimes, the work will even travel in the same direction in normal use. If you clamp the workbench to the cart, the back-to-back positioning can reduce reconfigurations and give reliable out-feed support. The carts can also provide storage spaces. If the carts have two fixed wheels, they can be positioned so that they roll perpendicularly to the direction the work travels. That reduces movement of the cart if the wheels are prone to skidding. You can also add blocks or wedges to reduce movement, but that should be done consistently to keep the work surfaces aligned. Construct them to slide in from the side and lock against the bottom surface of the cart. I like the T-shits mentioned in the video description. 😉
David owns 2 bandsaws, meanwhile Jimmy Diresta owns ALL the other bandsaws. Ever.
Nope, somehow I have 5. Laguna 16" tall (a bit disappointing); 12 in chinese, was great for a while seems hard to tune at this point; Inca 10"; Milwaukee portable; Chinese metal, good on auto, otherwise the blade skips off. It can happen.
Interesting video, unfortunately, I cannot afford cheap tools. Look forward to your next video.
That encompasses a lot. Too poor to buy a screwdriver, all the way through to expensive tools are cheaper in the long run.
Another awesome video from a superb KZheadr
Nice Chevy!
Great video Thanks for sharing
In, I believe, the video building the tabesaw station, you asked for a replacement fence for the tablesaw. I put a Vega fence on my old Craftsman saw and it took me from the dark ages to being able to have an enjoyable time at my tablesaw. Just my 2 cents.
Your big shop doesn’t even look like a woodshop! That’s so impressive to me!! My wood shop is a two car garage that looks like a wood scrap pile on one side and automotive garage on the other.
Just curious, have you thought about flip top tool stands for the small tool shop? I have a small shop and I am thinking about getting one (or two).
My 67 Impala looked almost exactly like that one, but no vinyl on the roof. Thanks for the memory.
The vinyl top was added in the 90s. Thanks!
Have you looked at some of the Ron Paulk’s Work bench designs? The miter station with the table saw hung at the end looks like it would work in that small shop.
Great Video. Maybe adding a bigger knob to that rack and pinion mechanism would make it easier to use.
In regards to your miter saw stand you have a stop. You can raise your outfit higher than the level of your table. You can then adjust it back. You may not think you are able to have a stop that is far away, but as long as you can lock the wheels, anything that you can stand up right is a stop. A blank spot on the wall is a stop push the wood through the miter saw till it hits the wall and cut. You might need to get a few out feed supports that are independent of any tool, but there’s all kinds of ways to make stops even if you have a small Table for your miter saw to set on.
Did you get the thickness planer fixed, I have most of the same wen tools you got, and I didn't have the bad experience you got with the thickness planer mine was perfect out of the box.
They replaced it
In my one car garage shop, my best tools are my Dewalt planer and Rikon 10" band saw. The next upgrade I want is to replace my benchtop Craftsman drillpress. It has no power and the chuck has a bad habit of dropping out after a lot of use. My table saw is a vintage 12" Craftsman which also does not give a shit about your fingers. It has enough power for what I throw at it, but the fence sucks and it has no safety features. When I want to use it, i have to pull my car out of the other side of the garage and plug it knot my dryer plug. It's doable, but requires setup time, ehich can be annoying. I did recently buy the Wen oscillating spindle sander and it works great, 4/5 stars. Amyway, thanks for another informative video!
heres a tip for adjusting contractor saws for accurate cuts, get a set of gauge blocks(wen sells a decent set for around 40-50USD) you can combine them to adjust the total length then you just bring in the fence to contact them, these are made for machinist precision but can be used to make cheaper tools more accurate
@3:17 now there is where you could get a sponsor for a standing desk kit so you could program the heigh of the saw and other toolds into the desk height control LOL
Your “one car garage” is probably twice the size of my European one car garage 😓 Having tools I can easily pick up and move is a must.
I was about to recommend you a great video about improving your cheap table saw.... and when I found it I realize you did it hahahaha
Gotta say, that WEN table with the roller arms AWESOME for the WEN planer. I spent the time to dial them in about as close as I can to perfectly level with the inner bed of the planer with the longest level I own. It would totally be worth it to buy a second wheel cart for that thing if you've got the room. I also bought the WEN small drill press like that one. It is great for like 90% of what I need. Overall, I'm impressed with the WEN stuff I've used. It's not precision, but it is "good enough" for the weekend warrior. Been looking at that sander though, I bought the 1" belt and 6"circle sander combo... I regret that. It works, but... meh?
This one... doesn't give a shi*t about your fingers🤣🤣👏👏
for that Wen Mitre saw, have you tried out the depth stop on it? I'm very tempted to get one, I love that space saving rail orientation!
Bosch, Makita, Festool, and others do that. Unfortunately Wen doesn't have good distribution where I am and you can get the best Dewalt 12" (horrendous space hog) for less money.
"It doesn't get used a lot because it's small...." LOL
Hi how big/ small is your small shop?
I would appreciate if you would review the tools from Harbor Freight. They have a range from budget to higher end. But, are they any good? Is the Hercules really better than their budget line? Those of us on limited budget need to know.
There are people with a ton of space, but cheap tools, or no space and expensive tools. On the latter, look at the Euro woodworkers with their MFTs, and Festool setups in a cupboard. So I don't think that the space constraints are the big issue with cheap tools, it is an entirely separate issue. There are a lots of space rich poor people, just as there are a lot of Manhatan socialites with small apartments.
Ive been wondering what happened with the WEN Planer. I must have missed the update on it. Is it decent?
They replaced it. 5 stars
Well done video! One thing I would like to see more of is a comparison of palm/ random orbital sanders. The question I have is: Is a SurfPrep or a Festool sander really a lot better than a Harbor Freight or a Wen sander? If they are better? In what ways? I like the way the planers were compared. Can you compare the sanders in the same way?
Answer to that is that they really are. Depends what you want, I do a lot of boats, and prefer more powerful ones. In the day, that used to mean the porter cable with angle grind construction. There is also a whole world of ROS sanders designed for auto body. But if one wants maximum dust collection (I always use mine out of doors), The best papers going today, and the best actions, Festool, Mirca, are the best. They need proper extraction, which is another grand, and since this tech is now digital, your gear doesn't last decades, it becomes obsolete every time the software, or tech gets changed. So guys who bought sanders and extractors, and would like to go to battery now have to pony up for Bluetooth. It sorta comes down to whether you are the guy who holds the line and says "It worked yesterday, it will work tommorow'. Or the guy who camps outside the Apple store for the latest upgrade. Particularly for solid wood there are dozens of superior methods that don't involve extensive sanding.
Thanks!
Thank you! Much appreciated!
For a long time, I didn't have room for a table saw, and so I got a miter saw and lived with that. But I realize I could also have gotten a contractor's saw with a dedicated stand, which would have taken up about the same amount of space and been more versatile.
I definitely saw you in an OK Go music video
The sound issue on table saws cant be overstated. It's not just quieter, the sound is a much better note. Even with ear defenders it's far more pleasant to run a cast iron belt driven saw.
Yes, 100%.
StumpyNubs just did a video recently about a contractor saw fence that stabilizes it! Looks really good, might wanna give it a try!!! 👀
yep I realized that the bench is the most important tool the other day haha. I also don't like setup, I just want to start working so I totally get you :)
Taking the car out, moving the tools around and set up everything before being able to make the first cut. That is so me! And yes that is the main reason why I don't spend more time woodworking!
My wife has no appreciation for how long it takes to set up my tools and clean every up every time I need to park the car
Who makes your shirt? I need it.
The gap between his pro shop and cheap shop is less than his cheap shop and my diy shop 😂
About your "bench" in the small shop. I have that Husky table and built a nice cabinet for the bottom of it. Not only maximizes space, but makes it A LOT heavier. A little harder to move but makes it much more stable. You can sand or plane on it and not worry about it moving with a board that is out feeding on it. I can't recommend it enough. If you'd like to see mine, look up Rex Seven. A couple short videos on it. Great video BTW. I like your channel because it continues to make things even though you have product videos too. Many channels over time turn into Review Something. That's kind of annoying.
I need to do this!!!!
When David's small shop is biggerthan my garage and has more, better power tools 😂 My garage is a right pain in the arse, currently got 1.5 cubic metres of logs for firewood and a motorcycle in it haha. My set up is beyond basic until I win the lottery but I don't let it stop me making things, it's a lot more work but I'm still making and some of it turns out nicely.
The jigsaw is the one tool I hate using. The jigsaw is the one tool that consistently saves my a**. True love/hate relationship 😂
Im trying to start a woodworking shop in a ten by ten that was one used by the vfw
I have to ask- in the review video of the Wen tools, you had a really serious problem with the planer (missing mechanism for moving the boards through). I understand that the problem is now fixed, may I ask what happened?
they sent a new one and I sent back the old.
You could have stopped at #1 with me. A full dedicated space. I hate pulling the tool out to the spot I can use it at, and move car and setup... I am on limited energy with my disease... it takes a lot out of me. My art room is perfect... I need an item... it is right there and I just grab it for use... that is my biggest pain.
I want a band saw so bad ! Shaping 2x material is so difficult with a jigsaw.
You know that Wen has to be pretty decent because Alan Jackson did that song "Remember Wen" *ba dum tss*. Regarding the drill press - after having to sell all my tools before moving to Italy I had to buy a small bench top one and the one thing I miss is the drilling depth! Also, I LOVE your TV windows still. They always look so cool in the background.
damn dude, nice car
Votre voiture est magnifique 😉😉
Just curious about your comment about not having the space required for a larger bandsaw. Doesn't the table you have the Wen on take as much space as a bigger bandsaw like the Rikons? I know the caster system on larger bandsaws are not as convenient to move as your little table system, but feel doable. Feels like costs would be the bigger concern in this case.
probably the most space efficient tool there is. But, on the other hand, it is also needs the space to handle the larger wood one would be needing it for.
You can def fit a larger bandsaw in that space, that’s about the space I have and I have a huge bandsaw.
But Dave, remember you have access to that big KZheadr money so you get to have two shops, just like Jimmy and Bob
Who ever reading this comment don't stop working - You will have dream shop soon🙏
I like the fake window in your big shop. Atlest I’m pretty sure your shop is not right next to Moraine lake in Canada. I’ve been there twice and it is the most beautiful place I have been
The thing about the larger planer is you can now charge a fee to plane wood wider than 12 inches
I must have missed it but what’s the reason for changing shops? Did you move?
He’s doing a ‘2 shops’ thing where he has the ‘budget’ shop to show off simpler beginner type projects that are less intimidating because they don’t use so many high end tools.
He bought a house that he is gonna be renting out on airbnb. He is also gonna use it to showcase his work that can also be purchased. So instead of doing all the work at his big shop and traveling back and forth. He just set up a small shop at the airbnb.
@@Vikingwerk Funny thing is I did a lot of my best work before I had kids, or even a shop of my own. A lot of these dream shops don't see a lot of use. The people that own them, unless they have Jay Leno money and assistants, don't have the time, or often the inclination. If we aren't talking about pros the shop is often the product. When Landis did the workshop book, he even had examples of those kinds of shops. The shop becomes a full time job. FWW did an article way back about a "far east" furniture shop that had lots of workers, and lots of tools. But the best guy in the place, the one who made all the really expert pieces of furniture was this chain smoking guy with a half dozen planes, bowsaws, and chisels. If you have a dream shop, with every imaginable production tool. First of all, you need a separate building to hold your wood. And where does all the production go? That shop should be capable of stuffing any normal home with furniture inside a year. The answer these days is you have YT channel so you can have a shop, and a shop so you can have a YT channel.
This video in summary regarding shops: It's not about the size. It's how you use it; however, bigger does have more advantages.
I've never seen anyone pickup a drill press, even a benchtop, with one hand. Does the WEN even have a motor? I have a benchtop drill press and I think it weighs more than I do...
haha! I'm not as strong as I look. It's fairly light.
Tiny 1 car garage🤣🤣🤣 Try living in the UK, that's a huge garage 😉
You're not wrong. the Chevy would be stuck 3ft out the door of my garage and the door handles practically touching the walls 😂
Would it not be safer to use a budget track saw over a budget table saw?
It would be safer as long as your track saw has a riving knife. I think most do these days.
@@MakeSomething most don't tbh... and in general they are not that crucial, some newer ones have electronic protection.
@@MakeSomething It would still be safer. You can clamp the guide, if you think the saw is going to kick on you, so at least your hand won't be on the track. One hand on top of the saw is a lot safer than two hands on a workpiece; You can't get the workpiece thrown at you; And I don't see a riving knife issue breaking down plywood. It is generally safer to have two hands on a tool than a fixed tool and two hands supplying it. So router, vs router table or shaper. Seems as though it should be the opposite, but unless you rest that router in your lap between cuts it usually is safer to have the tool in your hands... Plus it is harder on your back to run trees through a chainsaw, than the reverse. Track saws are a little different because sometimes one is holding the track down, so i guess one could spaz out and throw the saw in revers over it... But the hand should never be behind the saw. At least 50 percent of the reasons to have a riving knife is to keep the material in line and not climbing into the kickback zone on a table saw. But the track has that covered with the track. If every rip cut on a table saw was made on a piece of wood that was attached to a guide jig, they might not have invented the riving knife. Another thing is that tracks too expensive to clamp to rough or distorted wood, and they only function reliably on flat surfaces, but people shove all kinds of sticks through table saws, which ads to the general instability around their use. Of course some wood will clamp the blade, and on a table saw, the riving knife is your friend. That rarely happens with track saws, and if it does, they can pop vertically out of the cut. That kind of trick only happens with table saws if you trigger the Sawstop. And there also aren't a lot of 5hp track saws.
I would have liked to know the costs of things. Even ballpark is fine. In the context of fast, cheap, good, pick 2. Big tools are faster and better but cost more. Usually.
watch his other video for cost breakdown
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It's not about how big it is, it's about how you use it.
This should be the title!
😂
Where's the blade guard on the Wen tablesaw? Must be crap but you should at least show it.
🖖
Hope the elbow heals.
Couple weeks of physical therapy and we'll be back to 100%!
size dosent matter 20:06
WHAT!!! Who parks in their garage?
Never been in a professional workshop that has even half the stuff yours does. Big panel saws, spindle moulders, tons of jigs, and the occasional CNC, but never the variation of a KZhead workshop.
Most woodworking businesses are not run by guys who could have almost 2M followers. They generally learn to do one thing well and that is it.
Oh, all the first world problems!! Even the “budget shop” is a dream for some.
Step #1 --> No offense to my Grandmas out there. (plural) Step #2 --> No offense to my Gramdma's out there. (sic) (misplaced apostrophe) Step #3 --> No offense to my grandma is out there. (auto-correct) Step #4 --> No offense to my Grandmas is out there. (Plural) (WT#???) 19:02