You don't have to have thousands of dollars in tools. You can do a
lot with a table top drill press, some hand tools, a fixed saber saw
and vise. The vise can be used to make sheet metal bends with the
help of three lengths of 2x4 or you can make a bending brake (QST had
an article on that either this month or last month). You can find a
lot of tools at hamfests and garage sales that are good quality. I
got an early 1950s Craftsman scroll saw at a garage sale a few weeks
ago for $5. It has at least an 18 inch throat and is on its own
table, belt driven with a motor that was included. I bought a hand
held saber saw with scroll (some call these jig saws) on eBay for $20,
an old made in USA Craftsman (all the new Craftsman tools are
imported). There are more modern tools that are great for a casual
metal worker. Rockwell makes a saw that I can only describe as an
upside down fixed saber saw, under a table with a slot the blade
sticks up through.
http://www.menards.com/main/tools-hardware/power-tools/saws/rockwell-bladerunner-with-wall-mount/p-1474406-c-9082.htm
You can vary the blade speed and change it out. It is nuts for
cutting big pieces of bar, angle stock and sheet metal. After I got
one, I quit looking for a band saw. You may have to buy that one new
($160 at Menards) but everything else you can get second hand. After
the drill press and Rockwell saw, it all starts becoming small tools.
"first class" is for professionals who spend all day in a machine shop
making special items for a living. A ham who may punch one or two
chassis a year can do okay with a lot less.
Rob
K5UJ
> I seem to have two alternatives:
>
> 1. A first class, completely equipped machine shop.
>
> 2. A modest inheritance to leave to my kids.
>
> Reluctantly, I choose door number 2. Sigh.
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