On 9/16/2019 9:15 AM, pyotr filipivich wrote: Bob La Londe
on Sat, 14 Sep 2019 08:13:11 -0700
typed in rec.woodworking the following:

If I did single projects from start to finish I could see the utility in
that. Now admittedly I do mostly metal working, but mine is a working
shop. At any given time I have 20 projects of my own and 30-40 customer
jobs on the projects board. Every machine I use has to be accessible
right now or it slows me down.

The situation you are in is different than the situation he is in.
Hobbyists rarely find themselves needing to be ultra efficient in
space and tool usage. As I said while watching the mill make the
prototype: "If I was going into production, I'd do it differently."*
There are a number of skills I would like to have, which I could
no doubt "pick up" if I did them forty hours a week. But I do not
have those 40 hours, so dedicating space to have the drafting /
lettering table, lathe/mill, turning machine, book binding frame,
plough plane and press, etc, etc, and so on, isn't a flying option.
And that is before I get to the non-material crafts. (Anyone know
of a "teach yourself to write Slavonic" textbook/ course?)

tschus
pyotr

*I recall an essay from the early 1990's: the author was a
professional furniture maker, who wrote that the finest furniture was
made by his neighbor, the accountant. Because _he_ did not have to
sell something to make the rent, he could spend all the time needed to
make it "perfect". From choosing the wood, to the final finishing.
I'm with him, there are a lot of things I've made which never got
"properly finished" because I needed something now, not next week. But
I digress.


Pyotr,

I do not disagree. I just wanted to make sure that he or other readers
considered all the connotations of making a decision like this. Time is
a valuable commodity for everybody. A RAS or a table saw are capable of
most of the same tasks including ripping. Both a RAS and a table saw
really need an out feed table to do long rip cuts. The only thing I can
think of I can't do on a table saw that I can do with a RAS is that some
RAS' are setup so that you can also use them for routing. That's a
non-issue for me because I have added a cast iron leaf to my table saw
that turns it into a router table.

I actually rarely use either the RAS or the table saw for ripping. When
I buy a stack of sheet goods I also buy a sheet of 2" styrofoam to use
as a backer, and use my worm drive circular saw with an attached rip
fence. I don't often have to rip long pieces of other types of board
stock. (can't remember having done it in decades)

Anyway, I also like to hunt, fish, ride motorcycles, and drive my Jeep
on mountain and desert trails. If I am not efficient in my shop I never
have time to do those things. While I am self admittedly an
argumentative and abrasive individual I also like to take some time to
just sit around with friends and visit. Yes. I actually have friends.
LOL. Not many, but I value the time I spend with them.

TIME is everybody's most valuable commodity over a lifetime.

The other side of this is that once you sell a tool or piece of
machinery you will certainly need it and wish you still had it. LOL.

I've spent years deciding whether or not to sell my RAS. Its for sale
now.