Shop Tool Inventory

 

Usually every year one or more of the woodworking magazines will come out with some sort of list of tools they suggest for equipping a woodworking shop. The quality of these vary from useless to marginal; the tools selection usually leaves some major gap in the basic consist and most likely includes a few items most woodworkers consider second tier options instead of a minimum requirement. The magazine lists usually totals up to some ridiculously low cost as well.

Some form of the "setting up shop" question is asked more frequently on several of the woodworking forums. Due to space and time constraints, most responses are shorter than an answer to such a broad question deserves; this article is an attempt to fill that gap.

The data that made this article easy to write for me was a shop inventory I did some time ago for my own purposes. After I had completed the inventory, I was curious myself what the basic (IMO) woodworking shop would contain and its? approximate cost. To that end I simply edited my existing inventory to arrive at the list displayed below.

In order for an item to be placed on the list it had to meet this simple criteria, "is this item required to build a furniture project in a reasonable amount of time to an acceptable level of quality?". There is some overlap in function between a few items on the list however several were never included if a particular task could be accomplished with an existing item on the list without too much extra effort. When I look at this list, I see the MINIMUM inventory I could build furniture with without a significant loss in quality or time.

The list below is not meant to be a recommendation for a specific brand or model number of tool, the brands and model numbers specified are representative of certain quality levels or capabilities. This list is also geared towards furniture building or home improvement projects, as such it does not contain some specialty items.

I have included a couple of items worth specific mention on the list. To me a planer and jointer are two parts of the same machine. While I can (and have) built projects without them, the capability these tools bring to the shop far outweigh their cost. I have also listed a certain class of the contractor type tablesaw. While it is possible to complete projects using lower grade equipment, this class of machine should present fewer problems in operation particularly in its usability and alignment, it is also upgrade-able. However, in this "shop" (like most), the tablesaw is the core power tool, any improvements in quality or capability made to this item will have LARGE positive impact upon the whole shop in terms of capability, accuracy, and usefulness.

Since this is a "minimum" list, there are (by definition) some notable absences; such as a circular saw, shop vac, miter saw, air compressor, and spray gun to name a few. While these items would be welcome additions, they are not absolutely required (your circumstances my indicate otherwise).

 

Minimal Shop Inventory


No.

Qty

Item

Type

Unit Cost

Total

1 1 dovetail jig (set) PC 12" accessory

100.00

100.00

2 1 drum sander, 2" with bearing accessory

15.00

15.00

3 1 drum sanders, 1" and 3" accessory

18.00

18.00

4 1 router edge guide, bosch accessory

34.95

34.95

5 1 sanding belt cleaner with handle accessory

5.00

5.00

6 8 clamp, 1/2" pipe, 48 long clamp

12.00

96.00

7 2 clamp, bessy 31, long clamp

38.00

76.00

8 2 clamp, bessy 50, long clamp

44.00

88.00

9 4 clamp, quick grip 18" long clamp

20.00

80.00

10 1 drill bit set, plug cutter, 3pc set cutter

28.00

28.00

11 1 drill bit set, spade 8pc set cutter

9.99

9.99

12 1 drill bit set, twist, 29pc cutter

79.75

79.75

13 1 drill bit, forstner set, HSS, 7pc cutter

27.50

27.50

14 1 drill bit, set counter bores, 5 pc cutter

32.50

32.50

15 1 drill bit, vix #1 cutter

8.00

8.00

16 1 router bit set, 1/4", 3/8", 1/2" roundover, Freud cutter

79.00

79.00

17 1 router bit set, raised panel, Freud cutter

145.00

145.00

18 1 router bit, 1/2" mortising with bearing, Freud cutter

21.00

21.00

19 1 router bit, 1/2" od flush trim, Freud cutter

18.00

18.00

20 1 router bit, 1/2" up spiral, 1 1/4" cutter

42.36

42.36

21 1 router bit, 1/4 up spiral, 1" cutter

15.16

15.16

22 1 router bit, rabbet kit, Freud cutter

35.00

35.00

23 1 saw blade, Forrest WW2 cutter

100.00

100.00

24 1 saw blade, Freud safety dado, 8" cutter

116.00

116.00

25 1 saw blade, thin kerf rip, 24t, lm72-10 cutter

39.00

39.00

26 1 crosscut sled, large (shop built) fixture

25.00

25.00

27 1 crosscut sled, small (shop built) fixture

20.00

20.00

28 2 extension cord, 25' fixture

8.91

17.82

29 5 organizers fixture

12.37

61.85

30 1 router table (shop built) fixture

150.00

150.00

31 1 work bench, main with vise (shop built) fixture

400.00

400.00

32 1 adjustable wrench set, 3pc hand tool

28.00

28.00

33 1 awl hand tool

6.00

6.00

34 1 bench brush hand tool

8.00

8.00

35 1 center punch, self centering strike hand tool

4.95

4.95

36 12 driver bits, average hand tool

2.00

24.00

37 1 dust broom, push hand tool

12.00

12.00

38 1 ear protectors hand tool

20.00

20.00

39 1 files, 6pc set hand tool

30.00

30.00

40 1 hammer, 16 oz rip hand tool

22.50

22.50

41 1 hammer, rubber face hand tool

11.00

11.00

42 1 hand saw, dozuki hand tool

30.00

30.00

43 1 honing guide hand tool

15.00

15.00

44 1 nail set 3pc set hand tool

9.75

9.75

45 1 panel carrier hand tool

15.00

15.00

46 1 plane, block low angle, veritas hand tool

69.50

69.50

47 1 plane, jack, record #5 hand tool

67.50

67.50

48 1 pliers, channel lock, 10" hand tool

10.40

10.40

49 1 pliers, diag cutter, electrician hand tool

12.30

12.30

50 1 pliers, end cutter hand tool

14.25

14.25

51 1 pliers, lineman hand tool

16.55

16.55

52 1 pliers, needle nose hand tool

13.65

13.65

53 1 prybar, flat hand tool

7.00

7.00

54 3 putty knives, small, med., large hand tool

2.00

6.00

55 1 safety glasses hand tool

15.00

15.00

56 1 scissors hand tool

6.00

6.00

57 1 screw driver set, Irwin, insulated hand tool

25.00

25.00

58 1 screwdriver, #0 square hand tool

3.00

3.00

59 1 screwdriver, #1 square hand tool

3.00

3.00

60 1 screwdriver, #2 square hand tool

3.00

3.00

61 1 socket set, inch / metric, Sears hand tool

100.00

100.00

62 1 utility knife hand tool

5.00

5.00

63 1 wood chisel set, 4 piece, 1/4" to 1" hand tool

20.00

20.00

64 1 wrench set, allen, inch, 13pc hand tool

8.25

8.25

65 1 wrench set, allen, metric, 9pc hand tool

7.85

7.85

66 1 wrench set, combination, inch, sears hand tool

40.00

40.00

67 1 wrench set, combination, metric, sears hand tool

40.00

40.00

68 1 drill press, Delta, 16 1/2", 17-900 machine

350.00

350.00

69 1 jointer, Delta 6" 37-195 machine

500.00

500.00

70 1 planer, Delta 22-560k benchtop type machine

320.00

320.00

71 1 tablesaw, Delta 36-444k contractor type machine

600.00

600.00

72 1 compass measure

12.00

12.00

73 1 level, 48" Starrett measure

40.00

40.00

74 1 rule, 24" stainless steel measure

7.00

7.00

75 1 rule, 6" stainless steel measure

2.40

2.40

76 1 square, framing, 24" measure

5.86

5.86

77 1 square, machinist, tri, 12" measure

67.50

67.50

78 2 tape measure measure

9.94

19.88

79 1 drill, Dewalt 3/8 electric, dw106k power tool

70.00

70.00

80 1 jigsaw, bosch 1587avsk power tool

155.00

155.00

81 1 router, bosch 1613evs power tool

195.00

195.00

82 1 sander, bosch 5" orbital, 3107dvsk power tool

120.00

120.00

83 1 sander, bosch belt 3x24, 1275dvs power tool

220.00

220.00


Sub Total

$5,398

Tax and/or shipping at 7.25%

$391

Grand Total

$5,789

Notes:
  1. Prices given are representative (your mileage may vary).
  2. Brands and model numbers given for reference only, no recommendations are implied by the author.

spreadsheet (zip)

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