As those of you who know me know, I like to do a bit of research before spending any money. In the case of building up my shop supplies, I have diligently compiled a list of tools that will stay the course and provide you with years of service. I thought it might prove beneficial to some of you. Note, I haven

Good list. I have all of that but the brad gun. Well, not as fancy. Black and Decker and Ryobi bits for my router.

My bank account hurt just reading that...

I wish I had the shop space to justify buying even one thing by Festool but sadly my limited shop space is going to go to zero as soon as the Mrs. gets her new car.

My woman saw the dust collection feature in a Festool demo at a tool trade show (not only did she go, she had fun!) and said I should get one. Of course, the price tag changed her mind but it made it easy for me to drop some money on a nice router while there.

nice list. i agree with the bosch router combo. i love mine!

i will add this though, one can indeed get away with the lesser expensive tools if they will opt for the better bits/blades. bad/ dull blades/bits will shorten the life of any tool. if one skimps on tools, they should splurge on bits/blades. and if using a circular saw, a straight edge. keeping everything running smooth with little to no binding, will lead to extended tool life and service.

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

You forgot a good set of clamps, tapemeasure, and a carpenters square.

I didn't forget clamps, but don't have a huge preference. I have had good luck with clamps from the Menards special to Irwins to homemade beasts. Having a lot of them to me is more important than quality on clamps. I regularly use 10-20 on a single panel.

Personally, I don't use a carpenter's square. I use a large protractor and a straight edge for every enclosure I do. When I lived on the farm a few years ago, It was not uncommon to find 89* or 91* carpenter's squares, which I really did not appreciate. Use of the protractor is also handy when mapping out a horn.

Plus I'm a big dork.

Personally, I don't use a carpenter's square. I use a large protractor and a straight edge for every enclosure I do. When I lived on the farm a few years ago, It was not uncommon to find 89* or 91* carpenter's squares, which I really did not appreciate. Use of the protractor is also handy when mapping out a horn.

Plus I'm a big dork.

I've never had the privlege of mapping out a horn really so I can't comment on that. Would like the opportunity though.

Personally, I don't use a carpenter's square. I use a large protractor and a straight edge for every enclosure I do. When I lived on the farm a few years ago, It was not uncommon to find 89* or 91* carpenter's squares, which I really did not appreciate.

My dad used a "square" displaying the features you described when setting up his radial arm saw back when I was a little squirt. It took him awhile to figure out why everything he tried to build came out f'd up. Then whe he tried to use the "square" for something else and compared it to a real square, the problem dawned on him. That's why I used an engineer's square when I set up my table saw and I recheck it before I start every project.

Plus I'm a big dork.

We all are really...

The second box I ever built I used a framing square to adjust my radial arm saw. I then cut all the boards. When I tried to assemble them I found that the square was off by 5 degrees and since the box had a slant back the pieces did come together so nice.

Festool kicks ass. Using their circ. saw with the sliding rail attachment is the ultimate in laziness, perfect for me

I just hooked up a shop-vac to mine, the Festool dust collection system is teh $$$