On Apr 26, 7:50*am, " wrote:
I need to quickly put together an order for about $10K or so of basic
woodworking and metalworking machinery and smaller stuff, for a
Community Workshop starting at a University.

I know of good old Harbor Freight, and Grizzly.. from Home in Vermont.
But is there another solid but not-too-much-more expensive supplier
that you would recommend??

I need a single supplier because of the paperwork jungle (I'm in the
Middle East)...

And, if anyone has a list for starting up a small but decent shop, I'd
appreciate if you'd send/share it..

I hate these Fire Drills, but I want people (and me) to have some
decent tools to use next (school) year. *And I just got asked to make
a list, which is a lot better than some guys in Purchasing winging
it....

Your opinions would be appreciated!

Regards, Terry King *..On the Red Sea at KAUST.edu.sa

Newsletter:http://redseanews.info*Community Information:http://kcomm.info

A lot depends on exactly WHAT you want to make. You can blow through
10 grand in a hurry equipping a machine shop and still not have
everything needed. Watch the motor specs, too, 60 HZ motors will
overheat in a hurry on 50 HZ.

In woodworking, probably a basic contractor's saw would do, a drill
press for sure. A bandsaw would be nice, although a lot can be done
with a turning bowsaw, just a lot slower. In woodworking, beginners
should probably go through a course of using just hand tools, saves
dinging up the expensive equipment. So maybe a basic set of chisels,
planes, scrapers, mallets, a bench or two with vises. A lot can be
done with just hand tools. If decorative furniture is in the works, a
scroll saw is handy. A planer and jointer are needed if you want to
make table tops and the like. A ton of clamps, C and bar for glue-
up. There's never enough clamps. That can be a class project, too,
making clamps of various sorts.

On the metalworking side, things get expensive fast. You could
probably get a 7x Asian metal lathe for cheap, this would handle a lot
of smaller work like model engines and the like(and clamp parts). A
4x6 cutoff bandsaw is handy for cutting off stock. A stick welder
would be handy for building shop racks and tables. Again, hand tools
can do a lot, it just depends on how motivated the operator is. The
drill press for the wood shop can do double-duty. Maybe a mill/drill
or used vertical, if one can be had without breaking the bank.
Tooling will be the costliest part of that. Get a set of Gingery's
home-made metal shop books and motivate some students. Basically how
to build a complete shop from scrap. That's if you've got more
manpower than cash. The wood shop part can build patterns to be
poured in the metal shop. For that, you'd need foundry stuff.
Gingery shows how to start with virtually nothing, but you've still
got to have more than just two hands to start with. Pin punches,
reamers, drills, center punches, prick punches, files, screwdrivers,
on and on for hand tools. Vises for the drill press and workbenches.

Don't forget sharpening stuff, stones, belt grinder, whatever.

Stan