Case in point… I am going thru craigs list & find an ad for a 1” belt sander w/ a small disc sander on the side. I call the guy up. He has an Australian accent. He tells me that he is in country visiting his mother-in-law, and is helping her sell some of her late husband’s wood working tools. So, I go buy to look at the sander & this is what I found…

Got to meet the family & made friends with the mother-in-law… got her name & phone#... she had lots of other things & had sold many as well. Her husband had passed away 18 months prior. Paid $80 for both the Sander & the Jointer & got plenty of extra belts for the sander & a push tool with the jointer…

She had lots of stuff I didn’t need. But there was a wish list going on in my mind as I looked at all the tools she had.

I ended up saving up a bit of my bonus check from work & called her back a few weeks later.

I had made up my mind to come back for this. It came with all the biscuts too! I really thought I was doing pretty good…

But turns out that this widow was quite a sales person…

I didn’t start out needing, or wanting a dremel tool w/ drill press & bits…

Nice little custom case w/ drawer that her husband had made for the bits…

Man, that Widow took the last dollar I had, right out of my wallet! $89.00 for the Plate Joiner & the Dremel w/ bits & Drill Press

She has more stuff too. I still have her number. Waiting for my next bonus check…

By now most of you can see that I’m big on using Craigslist.

I don’t even plan on buying anything in particular, but still go to look on a regular basis, (you never know what you’ll find unless you look, right?).

So, I’m looking in the tools for sale section.

I’m basically looking for hand tools, but lots of things will catch my eye.

I come across an ad for a Rockwell Delta Table Saw.

I really don’t need a table saw, but there was a picture & I wanted to take a look at it.

This is what I saw…

The ad reads that it’s a Rockwell Delta 34-600 table saw that he was trying to restore. I didn’t see an asking price, and next to the Ph# to call, it had “FreeKurt”, just like that…

So I call the number. I get the guy on the line & start talking with him. He tells me the story, (there’s always a story).

He wanted to restore the saw. It needed a new motor & the bearings were shot. So he takes the whole thing apart. But he’s not able to get back to fixing it. It sits on his bench for 9 months before he decides to relieve his bench of the burden.

I asked what he was asking for it & explained that the ad didn’t have a price listed. He says “I tried to put the price as “Free” but it wouldn’t take it. I guess it has to be a # in the field for it to take. So I just put the word free next to my name”. He told me he didn’t want to put the saw in the “Free Stuff” section because he wanted to make sure that someone got the saw that would know what it was and would take the time to restore it. I went & picked up the saw. It is cast iron. The table is real heavy. From what I’ve found doing research, it could be from the late ‘60’s.

I was able to find the bearings for it for $5 each & found a 1hp Baldor electric motor that I will attempt to make work with this… the motor is really heavy & puts out 1725 rpm. Got it for $62.

I will probably make a saw station for this saw. It will be a fun project

I will probably need to do some pulley ratios to get this up to 3450rpm + for the saw to work properly. I will definitely need help with this restore. Any help, ideas, experience with this saw, please reach out… thanks in advance.

This entry is to show that your shop budget can be as little, (or as with this find, nothing), as a child’s allowance, and still make a decent place to make things happen.

I’m doing my thing…

looking on craigslist for the next great tool deal.

I usually rummage thru the “For Sale – tools” section for ideas.

Then I look thru garage sales which often will have better prices on the same types of tools.

One Saturday a few weeks back…

I stumble across an add in the garage sale section for a sale at a storage unit business.

They’re cutting locks & selling stuff at some units.

Other units, the people are there, selling the items that are of less importance to them, so they can generate cash to pay that months bill before they have their unit, & possessions confiscated.

It was only a few miles away from my house.

So, I went to check it out.

The manager tells me they do a sale like this every 3 to 4 months, and that most storage unit businesses do the same type of thing.

Whether it’s a “garage/unit sale, or sometimes it’s a blind auction.

Anyway, take a look at what this “turn” of events produced…

I had been thinking about a lathe. But had thought it best to wait till I rebuilt the budget…

Would you believe me if I told you that I got this lathe, along with the worktable, delivered to my house…

(take another look)

...along with these Shopsmith carving tools!

For $50.00? !!

Would you? Cause that’s what I paid.

The guy that I got it from had 2 units that he had a wood shop set up in. Said he wasn’t really using the lathe that much anymore & the $50 would help out w/ rent.

Win/Win? I’ll take it!

So, I discovered another awesome method of finding super deals on tools for the shop. I will call all of the storage unit facilities in my area to find out when they do their sales & mark my calendar. Sounds like a real treasure hunt to me…

What do you think?

I plan to build the Shop Built Air Cleaner/Filter that I saw on a blog from “PocketHole69” out of it. I estimate my shop to be approx 2800 cu ft. So this thing should have my shop air clean in 5 minutes, (in theory). I’ll keep everyone in on the Progress on that.

I also picked up on a lode of Ipe’ Wood. Some of you may have saw the topic I started last week regarding a species of Hardwood from Brazil. “RichGreer” & “RickyD” were able to help identify the species. I had picked up what my source had at the time, and they told me to check in with them during the week.

I was able to pick up another load & wanted to share in the spoils. So I got on the Lumberjocks site & sent a PM to another LJ in the neighborhood, My granddaughter got hold of the camera to document the events

Here’s Grandpa on the computer..

My new LJ Buddy wasn’t able to make it for this lode. But we’ll try to get him in on the next…

I took my Porter Cable Cordless Circ saw with me this time, hoping to make it a better & smoother experience. With all of the nails in these pallets it is a task getting it loaded in my SUV, Let alone getting it prepped to work with..

I will need to figure out the best way to get this stuff ready to work with. Most of it is bowed or warped pretty bad. But it’s free!!!...
..
...

I think I’ll build a workbench out of it… I think I have enough. But I sure will be busy for a while trying to get it all cleaned up. I ended up with quite a lode:)

No Craigslist in this entry… I’ll get back to some tool deals in the next entry. A workshop on a budget is possible guys. Even wood can be obtained for free or at a good discount… Look for companies that import granite slabs from South America/Brazil & ask them how there shipments come in. If you have a planer & a jointer you can turn wood that doesn’t look very desirable into great stuff…

Until next time…

I managed to pick up a real bad case of the flu… It merged into a full on Sinus Infection that had me out of work for 7 days & landed me an emergency room visit. The CAT Scan revealed full sinus blockage. This explained the dizziness, fatigue, and major dehydration… Well, I made it! The budget has taken quite a hit though. Hospitals ain’t cheap… & missing 7 days of work makes it real hard to pay for the hospital. But there’s still plenty of things for us to talk about. So, back to it…

Every Wood Shop needs a table saw… We’d all love to have the “Powermatic PM 2000”, or the “SawStop Professional” as our centerpiece. Maybe, down the road a bit… it might be a bit more realistic for us to have a wish list with that kinda machinery on it… For now, we need something that will work, and that will hold us thru until we hit the lottery…

Craig’s List to the rescue, once again…
I picked up this 10” Ryobi BTS15 Table Saw w/ stand for $65…
For now… this will do…

Next, we need a Miter Saw/Chop Saw… Drum roll please…

$100 Brand new, right out the box, laser sight & all…
With patience & a firm resolve to get what you need & fit it into your budget, Craig’s List can be a Pearl of Great Price! My advice… (for what it’s worth), make up a list of what you need to get started. Factor in your budget. Prioritize which tools you need first… then patiently hunt them down on Craig’s List.

I have found my best Craig’s List deals, not in the “tools” section, but in the garage sales. It may take a bit more time to hunt them down. But in the end, it’s worth it… More to follow…

I have decided to tell about my experience in building this shop. I will go over it all, so that others that are thinking about building a shop, but think they can’t afford to, will have hope. More to follow…