As those of you in the Wheels and Tires and 2004-2008 F150 sub forums know by know, I am seriously jonesing for some Maxxis Bighorns (Summit Mud Dawg), limited slips, and gears... And I finally got the dinero together to do it... But life goes on, and home improvements aren't paying for themselves. So... I have decided to put my money where the better investment is, and finish outfitting my home shop, and picking up lumber.

I am posting this mostly because I am wondering how many of us on this board would do the neccesary stuff before modding the trucks. It seems like there are some guys here with an endless supply of cash. I'm not one of them, and I am sure thare are plenty of guys like me here. So what did you spend your mod budget on instead of mods?

Here's my list of goodies the truck funds got spent on... Oh, and before anyone asks, I already worked this one with the wife, the truck mods come with the tax return money... Okay, on to the list....

Ryobi BTS21 10" Table Saw. http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...5X-_-100593232

http://www.blackanddecker.com/Produc...roductID=16905

http://www.blackanddecker.com/Produc...roductID=14874

http://www.skiltools.com/en/AllTools...-01&cid=192166


At least that's the Power Tools... There has also been...
Stanley block and smoothe planes.
Stanley 6 Piece 1/4" -1-1/4" wood chisel set.
Stanley Utility knife. Basic. (After I bought a new one, I found FIVE in my garage!).
Workforce Level, Combination Square, Sliding Bevel Marking Gauge, and Carpenters Pencil set. (El cheapo that does the job).
DeWalt 10" Masonry Blades (4, I am going to be working with Hardie Panel).
Dewalt 7-1/4" Masonry Blades. 4.
Skil 30 piece router bit set.

And of course the 40 2x4s and 200 or so 5/8x6x 6 foot dog eared cedar pickets, plus, a couple of 5lb boxes of hot dipped ring shank nails of different sizes. The Hardie Panel is coming as soon as the fencing gets finished, and that work actually starts this upcoming weekend. I will be renting a post hole digger / auger and concrete mixer from a local shop to set up my concrete for the posts. I am probably going about this the hard way.... But I am going to re-use as many of the posts as are still in good shape, and replace the rotted ones by digging them out, most likely dig the concrete stump mostly out, and anchor an eye bolt to the stump, hook it off to a recovery strap, then to the truck and pull...

So with any luck, I will have the home improvements done, and the truck done by this summer...

 

Mod money? I haven't turned a wrench except to change oil or turn a lag bolt in red oak in over a year...

all my time/money goes here:

So far the only tool I've had to purchase that was more than maybe $50 was this, and it was worth every penny!

 

Oh man that is SWEET!

The right angle drill is cool too!

 

Power tools are nice too!

 

thats a beautiful house, got anymore pics?

 

I haven't spent any mod money on my truck in over 6 months.
I've also had other priorities, like buying ported heads,ported intake manifold and a bigger turbo for my hotrod.
About 5 years ago when I was building my garage I didn't have money to dump into my cars and I drove an old F150.

 

Go with the porter cable plunge router instead. You'll be happy you did. If you time it right, sometimes they throw in a nice 6" Random Orbit sander for free. As for the Staney bench planes what are you looking for? I've restored some old Stanley Bailey and Bedrocks and couldn't be happier with the quality. I switched out the irons with some Lie-Niesens and some chipbreakers made by Hock. That ryobi contractors saw won a few awards recently. It turned out to be a top choice with Fine Woodworking Mag too.

 

I thought about the Porter Cable, but decided on the B&D after borrowing one from a friend. I like how easy it works... And honestly I have never known anyone that owned a Porter Cable, so aside from advertising I don't know about their stuff. Anyway, that B&D Firestorm makes really nice dovetails... I am sure enough it will last for what I need to do. I am just a home hobby / home repair user. And I have a table mounted Ryobi that isn't a plunge that I decided to simply keep table mounted. I figure I am pretty much rigged.

As far as the plane goes, I was talking about Block planes, you know the small handheld for doing things like shaving a slight warp out of a door or something along those lines... I will definately be wanting a planer later on. But a bit beyond my experience, and needs at this point...

I used that Ryobi table saw this afternoon to rip some sheets of T-111 into patches for failing hardboard siding until I can get the Hardie Panel installed.

For the next power tools I am going to want, a 60+ gallon upright air compressor. Something big enough to run a spray gun if I want to... Hoses, Spray gun, brad nailer, framing nailer etc... And then a drill press, and maybe a lathe. I remember my Dad had one when I was growing up. That was a GREAT tool!

 

DBHost,
This was one I was talking about:

I restored it to look like this:



It was made between 1902-1908. It is a classic tool - they don't make them like they used too. I am a big fan of my Porter Cable but I also have a variable speed trim router made by bosch for smaller jobs. I have found with black and decker stuff, they don't last all that long. Ryobi is a nice midrange product, though I usually buy bosch, dewalt, or porter cable for hand tools. My table saw is a Jet cabinet saw and I have a Rikon Bandsaw.

 

OT... Nice house!

 

Yeah... I need to quit spending money on my truck this summer and start helping my Dad out with our garages... our newest one needs to have some electrical work done, and we need to put up more sheetrock on the ceilings and walls... then we got to plywood out the entire attic for storage.

Along with some work out in the yard... I gotta get a couple bed fulls of stone, mulch, and topsoil.

I got my work cut out for me in the next month or so. Cause I know right as soon as it is 40F outside, we are already working on Spring/Summer/Fall projects.

I better enjoy February as much as I can...

Heck, even though we had those two 68F days... My dad worked my tail off...

 

Never seen one quite like that. That looks like a really sturdy adjuster on that!

I've used B&D stuff for years, and while I certainly admit, their products aren't the quality that they used to be. I did a lot of asking around and reading what reviews I could find before I shelled out the cash. For me on the router, the choices were ones I was familiar with. B&D, Ryobi, Skil, and Bosch. I have a Skil circular saw that works great, but I have seen their routers in action and wanted to avoid that at all costs, I needed a router to use yesterday to re-make some damaged custom molding in my bathroom, and NONE of the Home Depots near me had a Ryobi Plunge Router in stock. They were all back ordered for some reason... And Bosch makes fantastic stuff. But for how much I use it, a Bosch router will probably outlast my grand kids... I'm not sure if you are aware that DeWalt is a B&D companyhttp://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Black_&_Decker_(BDK). The Firestorm line from what I have read is where B&D is aiming at the mid range, and has hit the mark. Not sure if you have laid hands on one of these, but they are not the cheapo plasticy junk you are used to seeing them make from say 10 or so years ago...

Not to say the other brands don't rock. but for my uses, the B&D Firestorms were a good choice. Of course you see I paid more for the Ryobi table saw. I went off of a LOT of word of mouth from other hobbyists, and their experience with their tools... Not to mention the online reviews. Where I could find them of course...

 

I don't want to steal the post, but here's the only other pic I have right now. I really need to get some newer ones, but there's always more important things to do than take pix...



I'm hoping to get some interior pix soon. We're almost done. Still got a few small plumbing things to wrap up, and some trim left (mostly stairs)...

 

Thats a pretty sweet looking house. My uncle has been building his own house for like two years in his spare time. I wouldn't ever want to do that or wait that long.

 

Dbhost,
Good call on the word of mouth reviews. I base a lot of what I buy on the theory that if many share a common opinion about a tool, than that opinion might just be the right one. I heard something about B&D and dewalt....let's just say Ford owns Jaquar but they also own Mercury. They may both be fruit, but they're not both apples. I'm giving you too hard a time anyway. Buy what you're comfortable with and you'll be fine. With my woodworking tools, I really only like to buy things once - so I get the best available. Conversly, with my automotive and fix-it tools I buy craftsman or husky - something midrange and not too expensive because I'll never get my use out of a Snap-on set. I've slowed my MOD'ing down alot so that I can have a little extra cash for my Cancun trip in April. I'm gonna charter a boat and try and hook-up with a nice fat black marlin and maybe some dorado.

BTW, if you're going to get a lathe. I might suggest that you look into grizzly brand machines. They are a great tool for the money and a much better deal for someone who is starting to turn. That is what I have currently for my full size lathe. I'm also looking into getting a JET mini lathe - it is almost a capable as a full sized lathe, but it's about 1/4 the price in most cases. I just got some free sycamore from craigslist I'm going to prep and seal for turning. I'm working with some ash and bolivian rosewood right now. Maybe I'll post a picture when I've got something finished -- if I haven't given it away already.