On Thu, 09 Sep 2004 22:24:20 -0400, FGG
wrote:

Recently moved to a new home and finally have the time and space to try
doing some woodworking projects.

What sort of thing ? Freee-standing furniture, or house trim ?

if I had to limit myself to one tool, he would get a radial arm saw.

IMHO, no way.

RAS are just about usable if they're 20 years old, well made and in
good condition. Even then they're not safe for ripping, and if they're
anything other than perfect they're a nightmare to use, with a
tendency to inaccuracy.

I don't know an affordable modern RAS that couldn't better be replaced
by spending the same considerable cost on other machines instead.


I would _definitely_ start with a table saw. At low cost, the Ryobi
3100 is well thought of and it seems very similar to the Axminster BTS
10 that I started with (and I'd recommend if you're in the UK). Above
that there's a bit of a gap where more money doesn't buy much more,
then you start to get into the serious machines. Although buying old
£2000 industrial machines for £500 is my favoured suggestion.

If you're going to be doing house trim, get some sort of compound
mitre saw - prefereably one that slides and has a depth stop so you
can use it to cut dados. They don't have the reach of the RAS, but for
narrower timber they perform the same operations.

I'd also suggest a cheap 1/4" router, followed up by a good 1/2"
router when you want to start using it in a table. The cheap router
will still be useful when you want something lightweight and portable.
--
Smert' spamionam