Wood show
Laura and I went out the the yearly woodworker's show last weekend. What an expensive thing to do!
Honest, all I was looking for was a mitre guage for the bandsaw, and maybe a dado blade (if they were on sale). The show itself was jam packed. Lots of vendors, lots of demonstrations, and tools, tools, tools!
Laura and I sat through several demos, but we were most impressed with the ones from a company called Incra. They make fences, measuring devices, etc. for table saws and router tables. The router/joinery systm they demoed was awesome. So much so, that Laura (not me, Laura!), suggested that we should get it. We asked some questions, then sat through their other demo - their TS-III table saw fence system. It too makes things much easier, more precise, and repeatable. So, after some talking and debating, we decided to "go for it". It's an expensive system, very high end and somewhat high tech (for the wood working world anyway), but it will be the last router/fence system I will ever need. We wound up buying one of their package deals - the talble saw set, joinery set, and mitre sled here . Of course, the demo guy asked us what kind of saw we had. "Ryobi" I answered. Bad news. My cute and fun little Ryobi BT3100 can't accept the Incra system. Yep, you've already guessed it. We got a table saw that will work with the Incra. (and yes, there are others who have done the same - the Incra is THAT good). After some research, I decided to go with one of the new Craftsman hybrid table saws. In recent years, Craftsman has been making some pretty poor quality tools, but this new line of table saws is an exception. it's a mix between a contractor saw and a true cabinet saw. The one I got here has a cast iron table and extensions, and a nice closed cabinet (3/4) with good dust collection. Of course at over 350 lbs, getting the beast down into the basement was an adventure.
So, the show was neat and fun, but very hazardous to the checkbook.
Honest, all I was looking for was a mitre guage for the bandsaw, and maybe a dado blade (if they were on sale). The show itself was jam packed. Lots of vendors, lots of demonstrations, and tools, tools, tools!
Laura and I sat through several demos, but we were most impressed with the ones from a company called Incra. They make fences, measuring devices, etc. for table saws and router tables. The router/joinery systm they demoed was awesome. So much so, that Laura (not me, Laura!), suggested that we should get it. We asked some questions, then sat through their other demo - their TS-III table saw fence system. It too makes things much easier, more precise, and repeatable. So, after some talking and debating, we decided to "go for it". It's an expensive system, very high end and somewhat high tech (for the wood working world anyway), but it will be the last router/fence system I will ever need. We wound up buying one of their package deals - the talble saw set, joinery set, and mitre sled here . Of course, the demo guy asked us what kind of saw we had. "Ryobi" I answered. Bad news. My cute and fun little Ryobi BT3100 can't accept the Incra system. Yep, you've already guessed it. We got a table saw that will work with the Incra. (and yes, there are others who have done the same - the Incra is THAT good). After some research, I decided to go with one of the new Craftsman hybrid table saws. In recent years, Craftsman has been making some pretty poor quality tools, but this new line of table saws is an exception. it's a mix between a contractor saw and a true cabinet saw. The one I got here has a cast iron table and extensions, and a nice closed cabinet (3/4) with good dust collection. Of course at over 350 lbs, getting the beast down into the basement was an adventure.
So, the show was neat and fun, but very hazardous to the checkbook.