The Design Confidential

12″ Double Bevel Compound Miter Saw… If you can afford to purchase one of these in a large size that slides, even better. The bigger the blade, the larger the cut and having the compound capability (can miter and bevel at the same time) is crucial on occasion, though most of the time either a miter or a bevel is all that is necessary. Double bevel indicates that it can bevel in either direction, which is definitely nice… all that board flipping will make a gal tired, especially if she’s only 5’2″ like someone I know (me). Having a saw that will do these gorgeous things, set up in an easy to access location is quite literally a requirement for me to be able to build. If you are balancing babies, like I am balancing babies, being able to get in and get out when inspiration strikes is quite literally a make or break for me. This saw or one like it in your price range (a 10″ blade capacity will be less expensive, but will require a good deal of board flipping) will easily change the way you build and will allow you to build more quickly and easily. Not to mention it will give you the ability to cut as you build which is always a good idea so that you can measure and cut to length as needed. Your local home improvement store will often makes your cuts for you, but when they are off by a bit it’s a major hassle to rectify if you don’t have something on hand.

Cordless Drill + Impact Driver… Now let it be said… I don’t care what they say, a cordless drill does not even come close to the power that a corded drill has. The end. But… a cordless drill and an impact driver are absolutely lovely to have on hand. When those puppies have the interchangeable battery system that the Ryobi One + series happen to have, well it’s just too darn convenient and simple to ignore as a set to include in your arsenal. Plus, it’s quite handy to have a separate drill and driver on hand so that you don’t have to change out your bits every 5 seconds. Even a quick change chuck is a tad inconvenient when you need to switch between drilling and driving with any kind of frequency.

Kreg K5 Pocket Hole Jig… The best of all the features from all the versions before this and with some fabulous additions to boot. You see, you will need a pocket hole jig to build most if not all of the projects on this site. So while any of them will do the job including the Kreg Jig Jr., this kit takes the cake. If you aren’t quite ready to go with the latest greatest of a thing, and you prefer the tried and true, the K4 Master System comes with quite a few bells and whistles, including a Mini Jig (which I use constantly for on the fly pocket holing) and a Kreg Face Clamp (hands down the best clamp around).

Right Angle Close Quarters Drill… For those hard to reach teeny tiny spaces and of course with my beloved easy swap battery system this guy has fast become a fave. I had the pleasure of getting my mitts on one of these recently (thank you Ryobi) and it’s funny how you don’t realize how much suffering you might be experiencing until someone puts you out of your misery. This guy did that for me. I have the 4V version which does not pack hardly enough power for my power hungry self, so this 18V version both packs a bigger punch and uses the same battery as so many of my other tools. That is a much better arrangement I think.

Circular Saw… This might not sound like a dream team tool, but in fact I prefer my circular saw over my table saw any day of the week. That is the truth of the matter. Also a table saw is technically not for making cross cuts, which for me defeats the purpose. It’s a rarity that I need to rip down a board to a smaller size, so cross cutting is where I need this to function. Now combined with the item below, this is a powerful and accurate cutting tool which is much safer when handling plywood sheets. Attempting to push an entire sheet of ply through my table saw blade with the limited wingspan that I have, has proven nearly impossible. This is my go-to every single time. Much safer for me…

Kreg Rip Cut… When combined with my circular saw, this baby is the bomb dot com. I can hardly walk in a straight line, so cutting in a straight line, even with a guide marker is virtually impossible for me. I will be posting an article on using this bad boy shortly, but in the meantime, I urge you to check out the description here and take a look at the demo pics. It will blow your mind! This is hands down one of my best purchases to date. Actually I feel like most of these are, but this one is useful constantly!

Palm Router… Of course there is no question that a larger table unit type of router is going to be the end all be all, but for most builders here at TDC, this kind of unit will do the job and then some and all with the ease of portability in a hand held tool. A router is a fabulous addition to your workshop for many reasons, but the main reason I feel this is a good investment is that it can do the job that you might otherwise need a table saw for (rabbets, dadoes, and grooves) and will also deck out your trim with pretty detailing. It’s a fabulous way to cut a template, for example many of the legs we design for seating and even the modern tree shaped bookshelf would absolutely benefit from a router, creating smooth beautiful organic lines as opposed to the sometimes rough cut from a jig saw. Inset hinges? Router. Beautiful inlay wood designs? Router. Freeform pattern and irregular curves and cuts? Router. Picture frame inset? Router. And on and on and on. A super cool tool that has so many possible uses and features it will definitely earn it’s keep.

Belt Sander… This is so very helpful when you are building with less than stellar lumber or you are a newbie to building, without doubt… but even for a more seasoned pro, having a belt sander, in my humble opinion, is like having 7 extra helpers over to help you sand your piece and perfect your build. Once you master your machine, this will greatly speed the sanding process, but be cautious when you are learning or you just might sand off a corner or create an uneccessary groove in your table top about 3 inches wide by 18 or 21 inches long, eek! There are two machines which I would love to get my hands on (I use an ancient Craftsman belt sander), the first is this more expensive Makita beauty for it’s claim to sand edges and corners. This is often the most trying aspect of a sander and why I typically stick to the 1/4 sheet variety for my basic sanding purposes. Those corners are super tricky to get into and sand the way you sand the rest of your piece. I know many of you, especially those of you with an orbital sander, know what I mean. So this Makita has a cloth dust collector and a nose that will allow you to reach those tricky spots with the front rather than the side of your sander. Awesome… Now this SKIL belt sander is priced a little bit more in my league, and has an awesome micro-filtration system with easy empty chamber. Double awesome! It doesn’t have the protruding nose and specialized design for edges and corners like the Makita, but we all have to find our ideal compromise to suit our budgets and our particular needs best, ya? Both of these tools are within the typical size for sanding belts – 3″x18″ or 3″x21″ – which is actually quite important since it means you will be able to replace these with ease and for less cost than a more specialized size that requires a specialty brand of belt. With both sanding supplies and wood filler I always feel like this needs to be considered and it would be lovely if it were possible to buy these items in bulk. I go through them like I blink my eyes and if you haven’t purchased a sander that uses standard sheets or belts, you will pay out a small fortune in sanding materials over time.

Band Saw or Rockwell BladeRunner… Some of the features of this insanely awesome thing are a bit redundant with a few of the previously mentioned tools, BUT, that doesn’t stop this cool guy from being pure genius. The perfect, and much safer option for ripping materials and creating stock from raw lumber. For those of you with access to beautiful species of wood, in it’s raw form, this is the perfect way to make yourself some gorgeous one of a kind furniture with wood that is costly or hard to come by. This particular tool I have linked to here, will scroll, curve, miter, cross cut, and even cut metal and tile without the need for a special water spraying saw! Woot! Ya, pretty awesome and I would donate one of my dogs for this baby! Most band saws will cut in this fashion, though I’m not entirely sure if they will cut metal and tile, but perhaps. Check out a few of Jake’s posts regarding his bandsaw experiences here and here. Isn’t it the end all be all? Indeed.

There may be other amazing things to add to this list, but for me, this is the ‘best of’ list of things that save me amazing amounts of time and energy when I build. I would love to know what your faves are! Please feel free to add your two cents in the comment section here, I would love to know what amazing things I might be missing out on.