$1000 Budget… Woodworking from Scrap…

[oldcpecdr]

I couldn't build much without a table saw. A quick glance at Craigs List in Hawaii showed ten table saws of various quality at reasonable prices. Circular saw and a straight edge for breaking down sheets of plywood and then off to the table saw. Couple of saw horses and a router (maybe build or buy a used router table) and you are a budding cabinet builder. Add a Kreg Pocket Screw Kit for face frames and you are there. A few Makita pieces, drill driver, finish nail gun, small impact driver, small circular saw, pad sander, maybe a belt sander... I think for about 2000 bux you would be sitting pretty there in Paradise.

To really make life easy spring for the DeWalt Miter Saw and get the folding cart. I think mine was about 550 new a few years ago. A truly all purpose tool for any carpentry work.

Mike B

 

[Ryan]

I ended up going with what I know… a track saw… got it reconditioned on cpo:

Factory Reconditioned Makita SP6000J-R 6-1/2 in. Plunge Circular Saw

Factory Reconditioned Makita SP6000J-R 6-1/2 in. Plunge Circular Saw

www.cpooutlets.com

They were hard to deal with on the shipping thing to Hawaii. They cancelled the order twice. Finally, I called… and they were super cool and gave me a great price.

$250 all in. I’m excited to give this thing a run and compare it to my festool.

 

[RTM]

Next to a surfboard, niche Hawaiian cliche.

 

[mike93lx]

I ended up going with what I know… a track saw… got it reconditioned on cpo:

Factory Reconditioned Makita SP6000J-R 6-1/2 in. Plunge Circular Saw

Factory Reconditioned Makita SP6000J-R 6-1/2 in. Plunge Circular Saw

www.cpooutlets.com

They were hard to deal with on the shipping thing to Hawaii. They cancelled the order twice. Finally, I called… and they were super cool and gave me a great price.

$250 all in. I’m excited to give this thing a run and compare it to my festool.

I got a great deal on my grizzly, but if I could have gotten that for 250 (I assume that excludes a track?), there is no question which way I would have gone

 

[Ryan]

I got a great deal on my grizzly, but if I could have gotten that for 250 (I assume that excludes a track?), there is no question which way I would have gone

For tracks, I got these:

POWERTEC 71387 55” Guide Rail Joining Set | Includes (2) Aluminum Extruded Guided Rails and (2) Guide Rail Connectors for Woodworking Projects | Compatible with Makita or Festool Track Saws - - Amazon.com

POWERTEC 71387 55” Guide Rail Joining Set | Includes (2) Aluminum Extruded Guided Rails and (2) Guide Rail Connectors for Woodworking Projects | Compatible with Makita or Festool Track Saws - - Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

I found a barely used set on island and paid $100 for the two lengths of 55" track. They seem nicely extruded, but they are heavier than my festool tracks by quite a bit...

 

[Ryan]

On my drive to Home Depot this morning:



I added the dewalt compressor/nail gun kit to my arsenal:

DEWALT 6 Gal. 18-Gauge Brad Nailer and Heavy-Duty Pancake Electric Air Compressor Combo Kit DWFP1KIT - The Home Depot

Accomplish your jobs with ultimate precision by using this excellent DEWALT 18-Gauge Brad Nailer and Heavy-Duty Pancake Electric Air Compressor Combo Kit.

www.homedepot.com

I got it open box for $165. It’s not impressive at all, but for the money? I’ll take it.

 

[LeonardY]

Ryan,

Great to see you moving ahead. I hope you will give us a perspective on what it was like getting along with other tools.
Having lived in Hawaii as a kid and the mainland. I know some of the difficulties on materials and tools. But there were always ways of getting something done.
I've also lived and worked in Europe and Asia. I've seen amazing things done on limited tools and budgets.

Keep it going!

 

[anndel]

So… Question for you guys… I am taking on a project in Hawaii this summer that will essentially be rehabbing an old 50‘s era Sears/Roebuck house. Other than hand tools that I shipped over, I will be starting from scratch. The only source for tools on the island (Kauai) that I know is Home Depot (Ugh). To simplify, I need the foundation tools for building cabinets. There are other projects to be done obviously, but for the way I work if I can build a square box, I can build/repair most anything.

My initial thought was track saw, cordless drill/driver, router (with track adaptor), and sander. But that’s just the tools I learned on… Guys learn with different stuff…

And I thought it would be a helpful exercise for me to see how other folks would tackle this… Maybe table saw and chop saw for more versatility, etc…

If ya got time or are bored, how about helping a fella out and just listing what you would do?

If you were on Oahu, you could borrow my table saws. Any case, there is a Home Depot in Lihue if you need to hit a big box store.