if you're just getting started in woodworking you're likely overwhelmed by the hundreds of videos online upselling you into expensive purchases fortunately for you a sucker named me fell for a lot of that bad advice so I'm here to help you save a couple bucks and learn from my mistakes by playing little game of build buy or pass with 10 popular tools and accessories the gold standard of YouTube woodworking is a specialty tool known as a tracksaw and if you're unfamiliar think of it like the much more sophisticated pinky raising brother to the standard circular saw and while circular saws are great they are less than perfect at cutting dead straight lines unless you place it against a known flat surface and the only downside is lining up where to actually set the makeshift fence to account for the offset of your base plate enter track saws there is no math needed and you simply lay The Edge on your cut line and get going so should you build buy or pass building a track for your circular saw is possible in very budget options can be as simple as this example a known straight piece of wood screwed on top of another and then keep the base plate of the saw pressed firmly against the fence and you have a tracks of sorts now this works but it does have some limitations like on longer cuts it can be tricky to keep the base plate in contact with the fence especially if you find yourself reaching it also needs to be clamped down to keep it from sliding around during a cut so what do you get when you buy a track saww obviously the advantage of not having to make another jig the dust collection is far superior the tracks come with anti-slip rubber on the bottom so they don't need to be clamped down and a lot of newer track saws have a ring knife and anti- Kickback technology to keep you safe now all those advantages do come with a steep price tag though you're looking at $250 to almost $11,000 depending on the brand my recommendation if you're going to be working with sheet Goods often and you want to safely and accurately break down your 4x8 pieces of plywood into something more manageable investing in a decent track saww will be worth the money and in some cases you might not even need a table saw however if you only occasionally build cabinets or other plywood projects make a simple DIY track saw for when you need it and use the money for other purchases until it becomes a necessity statistically table saws are the most dangerous tool in any woodworking shop and if you're looking for a table saw safety refresher I'll leave a link below to a video that can help you out now aside from a blade guard which of course I don't have on right now one of the easiest ways to prevent an accident is using the correct push sck and that'll help control the workpiece and keep your hand clear of danger table sawce come with these goofy plastic chicken feet but they can explode when you make contact with the blade and they really offer little control so let's throw that away building a push stick or shoe can be as simple as taking a block of wood and then cutting a notch on the bottom to act as a heel and you're of and running is it sexy no but it works if you want to make something more ergonomic you could use a jigsaw to outut a shape like this with some curves now the nice thing about these DIY push sticks is they cost very little and nothing happens when you accidentally or purposely run the heel through the blade so what does buying a specialty push to get you well for $60 you could be the new owner of this yellow Beauty known as the micro J gripper it can do everything the DIY version can plus much more take a look at this cut I can adjust the legs to give me full control in between the fence and fully support the off cut plus there is a stabilizing base plate for taller pieces now aside from the price the only downside is they do take a little bit of time to adjust which can present an opportunity to say eh I don't need this it's just one cut and your life can change in a fraction of a second considering all of that information I encourage any beginner to make room in their budget for this or similar items because it will help you feel more confident and in control with your new table saw plus once you gain a little more experience having these around is very handy and I know I'm doing my best politician fence sitting right now but if you watch my videos you noticed that I do in fact use both but let's actually take a stance and say that this is a buy starting out I'm going to start this segment with a little controversy a Crosscut sled is the most important jig in a wood shop and why do I say that it's because they can be unnecessarily accurate they're safe to use on small parts and faster than just about any other tool for repetitive Cuts now I think we've established that this is definitely not a pass but let's shake it up and start with the buy option right out of the gate you're looking at a minimum of $1 180ish and that can be as high as 400 bucks but feel free to do your own research comparing and contrasting the different options out there now this one is from Rockler and we'll set you back $200 one of the main advantages that all of these off-the-shelf cross cut sleds have is they're really a miter gauge and a shitty disguise meaning you can change the fence position for angled Cuts now this could also be considered a con because anytime you had movement to a fence it introduces the opportunity for something to come out of square but another Pro is unlike the standard miter gauge certain models can support the offcut piece which gives you a cleaner cut and is safer let's say you want to build your own Crosscut sled while there are hundreds likely thousands of videos online claiming one is more ultimate than the next but at the end of the day they are all some version of a piece of plywood attached to Runners that go in your miter slot in a fence that has been perfectly aligned to give you 90° Cuts now obviously the main disadvantage is your fence is fixed in place so it's not ideal if you're someone that cuts a lot of small angled pieces but just like the purchased options that con is now a pro because once you get it dead nut Square it's not moving the other nice thing is because you're making it from scratch you can customize the cross cut sled to the exact size in specifications that will assist what you build most you can add hold Downs to secure the work t trck for stop blocks the list goes on and on so weighing the pros and cons of each should you build build or buy I think everyone should build their own Crosscut sled consider it a right of passage of sorts and the gateway drug to understanding how to make jigs for your table saw which will ultimately help you become a better woodworker while we're on the topic of Crosscut sleds let's do a little bonus item that just popped into my head I quickly mentioned Runners when covering DIY sleds now good Runners with no slop will create the repeatable action of returning the sled to the exact same location relative to the laid over and over again think of them like the foundation of your house you never see it but I guess they're fairly important let's make this short and sweet building will cost you nothing other than parting with an off cut you've likely been hoarding to get the fit just right slowly sneak up on the size with your table saw and the wood that you're using needs to be flat and straight cough cough you need a planer now even when you get them dialed in they can swell a bit when driving screws in and because wood is always moving they will expand in the summer making them tight or contract in the winter making them loose unless you use something quarteron now I think you can see where this is going but hold on for my recommendation buying your miter bars is yes a little costly but they don't ever go out of whack and can easily be reused which I often do and most importantly will remove a significant variable when you're constructing your own sleds I really don't like telling people exactly which brand to buy however I've tested and used a bunch even buying these absolute joke of a 3D printed version version on Etsy and there is one clear winner for me and it's this style that relies on a bunch of small set screws to keep it snug this is a buy and you won't be disappointed it's now been just over a year since I started working for this garage or I guess you could call that myself full-time and owning your own business it comes with a lot of Pros like being the boss decision making I mean you get it but of course like everything else we've discussed there are cons such as having that awkward one-on-one conversation with the owner plus dealing with all things bookkeeping and if you're a small business owner in the trades or maybe you're selling on Etsy I'm sure you can relate to what I'm saying now until recently staying organized with bills and payments that was a major con for me especially since I have all these different apps and services that I pay for on top of my actual bank account but I've turned all that into a pro since being introduced to North One bank I like to think of them as much more than a bank account it's really like a small business that helps other small businesses because they've designed this platform that tracks sales budgets spendings I mean the list goes on and on actually it's right there on screen now the first thing that you want to know is what's the catch how much watch this Pro right now 0 yeah there are no monthly overdraft fees minimum balances and when you own whatever small business you own I'm sure you're like me and you want to maximize what you keep instead of paying for nonsense they're also embracing technology to help make our lives easier like let's say I get this invoice for something all I have to do is take a picture picture send it in and then their AI analyzes all that information into an actual draft so that I can schedule it when I want it paid and that helps with cash flow and they actually print the check and send it oh yeah you don't even need physical checks anymore they do all that to help you save time now if you're a small business owner especially in the trades or you sell something that you create you owe it to yourself to check out north one it cost you nothing to apply and takes 3 minutes without affecting your credit score and if you're interested click the link below for an exclusive $10 credit and a big thanks to North one for sponsoring this video and you all for helping support me do what I love a router table is a fancy way of saying something flat that allows you to mount this spinning death ball upside down it's a bit like the table saw and circular saw incestual relationship and if I'm a betting man which I am I predict that you won't know which way I'm leaning on this one now on the build side it can be confusing because there are varying degrees of build and it's as simple as your router clamped upside down with a piece of wood stuck to the base plate technically a table all the way to full-on 40-hour projects while you save money for the overall frame after that it gets complicated do you need a lift to raise and lower the bti height those are expensive the fences need to be nice and flat with the versatility to be adjustable and the list goes on and on and the next thing you know you say to yourself maybe I should just skip all that Hassle and buy a standalone option that is ready to go out of the box or a specialty setup like this one that's built into the wing of my table saw to save on floor space I've done all those versions and trust me they are nice like most things in life you get what you pay for the decent quality Standalone router tables with a lift and a proper adjustable fence are going to set you back almost $1,000 and like the DIY version you still need to buy another router to leave in the table because it's an absolute pain taking them out so should you build buy or pass for the average beginner that's starting a tool collection while making your Farmhouse dreams come true a router table is just not a necessary purchase nice to have yes but you can perform almost all the same operations taking your time with our portable handheld friend I mean even for me this gets about 75% of my rter use compared to The Money Pit that's in the side of my table saw save your dollars for right now the total roads of woodworking are clamps there's no way around them and at some point you need to pay up pipe clamps these f- style or trigger clamps they're basically mandatory but let's do a little rapid fire of two specialty style clamps first up 90° Corner clamps and their function is in the name they're used to keep Parts held together at a perfect 90 degre while assembling builds they are great to have around you can somewhat easily build them out of plywood this is a much nicer version but they can be crude the only things that matter is you have a spot to secure clamps to but most importantly they're actually dead on 90° or you defeat the whole purpose which brings you to purchasing and that price tag does come with a pece of Mind of knowing it's actually 9 90° and the more money you're willing to spend the more additional benefits you can get like these that have the built-in hook for the specialty knobs for me I would skip the hassle of trying to make them while worrying about the accuracy especially when cheaper sets can be purchased for less than $50 bye these fun little guys are known as band or Edge spring clamps and they have tons of applications but they're mostly used for holding down Edge banding or keeping face frames in place while glue dries if you can't use nails now you can de facto build your own by putting a heavyduty elastic on a spring clamp and these are reasonably cheap I think you can pick them up for five bucks for five at Harbor Freight and there you go it's simple but effective compared to buying that serves the exact same function more or less except you're paying $5 to $9 a piece depending on the manufacturer and the size so build them right no this is actually just a pass you can do the exact same thing with painters tape and you have unlimited clamps if you need it good tape provides more than enough pressure and if you're having difficulty whatever you cut is likely not flat or straight and you have bigger issues sanding sucks and one of the ways to make it suck less is by letting a machine do the work enter drum Sanders now I have seen DIY drum Sanders built but I'm not even going to entertain that as an option because that's just crazy talk so buy or pass like I said drum Sanders are super convenient and will save you our sanding if and this is a big if you're making lots of small part builds like if you're one of those weird Etsy cutting in Sherie board people with a minimum price tag of 1,500 bucks it's high but it's actually worth the price and it'll pay for itself very quickly in that specific scenario however if you're like me and you have never even made a cutting board the bigger pieces that I need to sand are too much for this smaller machine so I end up doing it all by hand I would realistically need to spend $2,500 at a minimum and allocate additional floor space to get something I could use more frequently now I've owned it for over 2 years and I've used it less than 20 times if you want to sell hundreds of rectangular pieces of wood this is a buy however for most people including myself it's a pass which is why I'm likely selling this once I build up the courage to part with the tool if a Crosscut sled is the most important jig in a shop the workbench is the most important nonmotorized I don't know fixture thing you get the point now build building your own workbench comes with a lot of pros and cons for starters if you never made anything substantial in size it could be intimidating and you are likely going to make mistakes so there's going to be a price tag for going to school potentially on an expensive build especially if plywood is involved now on the flip side you have the ability to customize the bench to exactly fit your needs in terms of height width storage making it portable the material for the top I have laminate because I'm a child in can't be trusted with anything else also shop projects are a good opportunity to practice new skills however maybe you're a person that says I don't care about my workbench and what it looks like I just want something big and flat that I can start building on expect to pay around $500 for something decent quality and over $2,000 if you're one of those weird hand tool people for me this is easy do a little research on the unique features that others have designed for their shops that seem similar to your own and build exactly what you need don't be silly and buy I don't know why I'm sitting up here when you're ready to graduate from dimensional Home Center 24s and start using rough cut Hardwoods congratulations because you have a built-in excuse to buy a planer I'm sorry you can't actually build those but what about a jointer they work in tandem with a planer to make sides flat and parallel and when you talk about building a jointer it's not actually making this from scratch that would be crazy instead you perform the same operations that a jointer does with jigs on other tools a simple sled through your planer with the piece shim to prevent rocking will take care of the face and a straight rip jig on a table saw is like a deao edge joint now all that is reasonably cheap the downside is you lose the speed and convenience of having a dedicated tool to perform those tasks buying a jointer is an expensive proposition and I've had both benchtop and bigger floor models the benchtops are enticing because of the price in space but once you get Beyond smaller boards they aren't terribly accurate big B units like this are a dream but again you're shelling out a considerable amount of money for something new and they have a large overall footprint I've experienced all scenarios so build buy or pass if you only make smaller items like boxes birdhouses cutting boards buy a little benchtop jointer however if you plan to work with 4ot or longer pieces wait until you can afford or find a used 8 in floor model jointer like this one and if you absolutely need to buy something for a project look at used 6-in floor models not new because that'll prevent you from taking the proverbial bath when it comes time to resale and upgrade and trust me you will want to upgrade to an 8 in sooner than later now it's important to remember a Shop full of tools generally doesn't happen overnight but don't let that be an excuse to prevent you from building right now enjoy the ride we'll see you
