On 25 Oct 2006 06:14:36 -0700, "Mike" wrote:


Bill wrote:
start all over again in this hobby / business / trade, what mistakes did
you make the first time around that you'd skip on the second go around?


It's easy to say that I would have not purchased a small Craftsman
table saw 7 years ago, and instead saved up for a really nice table
saw. Then again, 7 years ago I had no idea that I'd be so into
woodworking years down the road - so maybe that $200 saw shouldn't be
considered a mistake.

Here's one though: We decided that buying rough cut lumber beat the
pants off of dealing with the garbage available at HD/Lowes, and
purchased a 6" Jet jointer and a planer. A year and a half later, I'm
wishing that we'd gone with an 8" jointer, with longer tables. (Why
does it seem like most of the boards we end up with are 6.5 or 7 inches
wide?!?!)

Mike

And when you have that 8" jointer, it's remarkable how many nice
boards are wider than that. Now, if only I'd have bought that 15"
Northfield....

It never ends.

Back the what the OP said, I'm not sure (as a hobbyist) I would have
done anything different. Maybe I could have avoided a few turkeys
masquerading as tools, but for the most part it's been a learning
experience. An education costs money. No way around that.

BTW, in the beginning, all my tools were Craftsman. Not all were bad.
The floor standing ones were good, the hand held ones (power) were/are
uniformly bad. In every case they provided a learning experience.
Not only in how to use it but also what to look for in a better
example of it's kind.