I got a gift certificate for Home Depot for Christmas and with it I was thinking either a table saw or a drill press. Which would you guys say has more uses.
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which tool has more uses?
- Thread starter DigthemLows
- Start date
- Dec 20, 2004
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- Player-Builder-Founder: Honey Badger Pickups & Regenerate Guitar Works
my drill press see regular duty in all of my builds - both necks and bodies. this would definitely be my choice of the two tools noted.
a tablesaw has no place in my shop (no room) and outside of using it with a sliding bed for fret slotting I don't see any real use for it that I don't already have covered with other tools.
if you don't have a good router, I think it'd be a tough choice between the router and drill press ... and I'd probably go router first
take a search in the sticky for this forum - there's several links to good discussions on which tools
all the best,
R
a tablesaw has no place in my shop (no room) and outside of using it with a sliding bed for fret slotting I don't see any real use for it that I don't already have covered with other tools.
if you don't have a good router, I think it'd be a tough choice between the router and drill press ... and I'd probably go router first
take a search in the sticky for this forum - there's several links to good discussions on which tools
all the best,
R
I would say the drill press. I have both, keep in mind that im currently making all my own hardware so Im drilling alot of steel and brass. Which may make my needs a little more than yours, I dunno. I built my first 3 basses without a press, now I wish I would have had one from the start. I use mine for headstock holes, pot holes, outputjack holes, sanding drums (really nice for the radius') clearing the majority of wood in cavitys with a forstners bit, it saves alot of time. Interesting enough home depot has router tables on sale too I picked up the Ryobi for $99.00 to join tops and bodys with. Yet to use it though, it seems suitable for the job.
I saw this thing on sears.com, or some store similar, that actually sold an attachment for a drill to make it into a drill press. I'm not sure how much better a drill press is, but this thing was only like 40 bucks, and would allow you to get some other things you wanted.
I'll see if I can find it at homedepot.com
Greg
I'll see if I can find it at homedepot.com
Greg
- Mar 1, 2005
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.........all of this under the assumption that you already have a Dremel with a good compliment of accessories?
Drill Press would win over a Table Saw. You might want to look at a router if you don't have one. Outside of Home Depot (for next Christmas) maybe a drum sander or a vacuum press!
Musiclogic
Commercial User
- Aug 6, 2005
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I would have to say drill press also. My table saw is invaluable in my shop because I buy large pieces of rough sawn lumber, cut it to the sizes I need and plane it to surface. For you, the drill press can do your drilling, and drum sanding which will make your life a lot easier. Table saws are further down the line if you decide to cut and mill your own lumber.
- Jun 6, 2004
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Don't forget to check pawn shops for tools. I see tons of routers in them. I got my drill press there too.
Gotta go with the drill press here. Between the attachments and jigs, you can do many more things than a table saw. But I would keep in mind that a table saw can be the foundation for suitable jointing of long pieces and that's more important when building solidbodies of all styles. It's even possible to safely resaw with a table saw and that can be invaluable to the budget builder. Another strike against the table saw is that the performance is directly related to it's setup state. A drill press doesn't have the adjustment or the setup complexity of a table saw.
yes, drill presses are far more useful for instrument making, but if you're doing other things in your shop (furniture, housework, etc.) a table saw might make more sense for you.
Personally it was one of the first things I purchased for woodworking as I do a lot more than just instruments.
Personally it was one of the first things I purchased for woodworking as I do a lot more than just instruments.
If Hambone says "drill press over table saw", the drill press is the way to go. He is well known as the first advocate of the table saw, on this forum.
For the record, and for what it's worth, I agree.
For the record, and for what it's worth, I agree.
yeah I got both but the drill press gets use so much more, in fact i rarely use the table saw for guitar building (fret solting and stuff) more for furnature and the like, now if you want to talk about bandsaws then thats a different matter totaly.
I have a bandsaw.............although I don't feel comfortable enough to use it yet........It's a pretty tough tool. I keep practicing on scrap, so my next build will see some bandsaw usage. I think I'm going to go with the Drill press........My wife is wanting to see some bookshelves and such but I've got enough tools for things like that. I think I can get by fine without a table saw for now. Thanks for all the great input!
