I know we have all been there.
We have been itching to start a project, or we may be mid-way through one and think to ourselves this would be much easier if I had such and such a tool. Or, this isn't the right tool for the job, that one is and point to a super expensive tool on a website or a flyer.
We then start to think to ourselves, ok, how do I justify this purchase to my significant other, or perhaps we just go out and buy it and ask for forgiveness later.
Believe me, I have quickly learned that a high quality tool certainly can make a job easier, and 9 times out of 10 is one that is very fun to use.
But one thing I have learned is it's always better to pause for a second and ask yourself a few things. Read on.
First - do I have a tool that does the same thing as what I am needing for that project? Could there be a few modifications you could do in order to achieve the desired result?
I will illustrate with an example. A few months back, I was working on two projects: a live edge walnut slab desktop, as well as a cherry table top. I needed to be able to make a straight cut at the ends of these boards near the end for squaring it up. I thought to myself you know, what I need is a track saw. (because I knew there was no way I was going to be able to get a sliding panel/table saw in my small garage. Yeah, I thought, that is going to be the right tool for the job.
I then started researching track saws reading the reviews. I knew the Festool one, as great as it is, was probably not going to happen. Don't get me wrong, I think it looks like a fantastic tool, but it just wasn’t in the budget. I then started to go down the list of track saws on Amazon at various different price points. The Makita has great reviews. Maybe I can get that one, I thought. Then there is the Triton. I have seen that one in videos and it looks fantastic. I then got down to the Wen one. I have Wen Drill Press and it works well, perhaps this is the saw I need. I also needed the tracks for the track saw, as well as the clamps to hold down those tracks. Alright, I said, let's add everything to the cart.....and the grand total was five hundred and some odd dollars.
Which brings me to my second thing to think about before buying. You need to ask yourself how often am I really going to use this tool? Now I, in no way, have the correct answer, but if you find you are searching to think about that next occasion you would be using the tool, perhaps think do I REALLY need this tool. However, if you can think of several occasions where you would use this tool you might be justified in the purchase.
Back to my track saw story. Alright I had my items in my Amazon cart and thought to myself I can use it to square up the cutting boards, etc. But wait, I thought, you do that already. I could use it for.....? Well, for me I had trouble finding other reasons I could use the track saw. I know there are people who swear by them, that it is such a handy tool. But for me, I had my table saw and my mitre saw. Both those give a nice square edge.
What about bigger panels that would extend beyond the given allowances for both those? Well I have that crappy "green" circular saw I could use. But getting a straight edge is super tough with it. What could I do?
Well here goes another Youtube Search. There I found an amazing video by Jonathan Katz Moses. Walking you through setting up a straight edge for your circular saw. He made it out of plywood and he was able to use his existing circular saw. He even went so far as to say that justifying the $800 dollars for a track saw is ridiculous if you are not woodworking every day.
With this thought, now I could make a few modifications to an existing tool I already have. I would need to make a few things, and then I could use this tool just like a track saw. It would only cost me the price of a sheet of wood. In my case I got melamine, because, let’s be real, plywood is still super expensive.
I then got to work and made my Jonathan Katz Moses track saw jig, and tested it out. I found I had to make a slight alteration to my saw, with having to bump the blade height up slightly because the motor was hitting the track. As a result, I did lose some of the depth in my cut. But this jig certainly did the trick and I was able to cut a straight line on my slab as well as the cherry table. In fact, I have used the jig a few more times since and perhaps there might be a different saw in the near future for a purchase. Probably not a track saw, but maybe a circular saw with a higher motor so as to not hit my plywood jig. I would need to build a different jig for a new saw as the likelihood of a new saw fitting this track is low.
At the end of the day, I didn't need a fancy new tool to be able to complete this project. I am very happy with my end result with a few modifications to an existing tool I already had.
Now will this always be the case? Probably not. I will most certainly find myself on Amazon or a tool company site researching the latest and greatest thing, and wishing I had a new tool. But I will really try to ask myself: Do I already have a tool that can do this project? Are there some modifications that could be done safely in order to achieve the desired result?
And the big question…How often will I use this tool after this project?
The toughest part? Being honest with my answers.