looking to invest in tools need advice

[nismboy6986 10+ year member]

I plan on building enclosure as a side job and hopefully eventually open up my own shop once my skill level, funds ect increase but right now i'm trying to get the tools i need to get my foot in da door. i already have drill, jig saw, circular saw and a fixed based router (was a steal at local pawnshop) so i have the bare basics to build enclosures but i was thinking towards things to help me build them quicker, more precise, more intricate. like i want to do dado and rabbit joints ect. I've seen the router buddy kit in parts express that supposed to allow you to cut perfect circles and dados. I've haven't actually cut dadoes before even though i work at place that builds retail fixtures (ie checkout stands for stores cigarette displays, i built the black cabinets wal-mart has there mp3 players, navigation units ect in) but most the wood cutting is done by CNC machines. If im not mistaken it is alot better to have a plunge router for the purpose of cutting dadoes but i was woundering if i could buy a plunge base for it (its a craftsman not sure of model off the top of my head. if icant get a plunge base i guess i could always use it for a router table. i was also wondering about table saws. none of the ones at lowes ect seem to be able to handle boards greater than 24" I think you would just build a table to extend it out but i'm not sure about the fence. I know that question makes me seem like a person who shouldn't even be near a table saw but i do have alot of experience with one its just a great big industial one that is well out my price range. another question is what size and spec air compressor would be good for running a staple gun, palm sander cut off tool ect. I don't want to buy something too dinky nor do i want to buy the overkill hurricane-maker 9000 either at least out the gate.

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[morgans432 10+ year member]

tablesaw is a good tool, have a pretty big one not sure how much it cost but it does the job.

 

[harborCityCrips 10+ year member]

table saw, chop saw, and a decent ammount of bar clamps and your set (including the stuff u got). smaller table saw ones you would take to jobsites ect run like 3-4 hundred and chopsaw go anywhere from 100-600 depending on wat you want

 

[miker 5,000+ posts]

Table saw...

 

[jdc753 10+ year member]

you can just make a table for the table saw or even buy one an a fence for the table. We got a portable table that I think will do up to 48" or larger rips. You can't go wrong with brands such as Makita, Dewalt, Bosch or even craftsman. Its been a while since I looked but I remember a pretty decent Dewalt table saw that was about $100 at the big box stores. Clamps would definitly be a plus, not really sure about using a nail gun, I prefer screws, but I know my dad has used several (over nearly 10 years so good quality) Bosch "pancake" compressors, they are good little units capable of running guns and what not for a sinlge person. For a one man show something that will maintain 90-120psi and hold maybe 2 or 3 gallons of air should be all you would need.

I don't think you would reall need to be making dado cuts or anything on speaker boxes, best and farthest you should need to go would be to make all the corners 45° joints instead of butt joints (just to get more surface area for the glue). But you should be able to get a plunging base for it just get the model number or even take the unit to a sears store or whatever and see what they got. You could get away with a fixed base router though for most, only think I would think would be cutting speaker holes and even then you could use a large drill bit to get a starter hole and go from there.

 

[miker 5,000+ posts]

Brad nailer. Just recently learned that you can use brads on MDF!

Would deffinatly help!.

 

[nismboy6986 10+ year member]

i would want to run a staple gun for stapling fleece ect to mdf to make fiberglass boxes. I know dado costruction is used alot in home audio and i do want to do that too and the kit is only like 50 bucks. and i would think it would add extra rigidity to to the enclosures to used that and the standard glue and screw joints.

So u can buy like extendable tracks for the fence ect? i understand about just building a table to extend out the table on the table saw but how would u go about extending the range of the fence. what do u think about hatachi saws ect? i have a 14.4 and a 18volt Hitachi drill which i consider pretty good (the 14.4 seems to be alot better than a 12 volt dewalt drill i had and leaps and bounds better than the B&D 12v firestorm i got) but i'm not sure about there saws and stuff.