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Dave Campbell Indoor Furniture
Editorial Content Chief, WOOD magazine
Outdoor Furniture
ATrdooubbeleAschrooobtaintgRGeaudideer
Mission Furniture
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tool up your shop

Why Buy Big When
Benchtop Will Do?

Save some scratch (and space) by
going smaller, without sacrificing
performance.

As the Rodney Dangerfield of the power-
tool world, benchtop tools often get “no
respect, no respect at all!” Floor-standing
machines typically offer more capacity and
power than their benchtop brethren. But in
some cases, the tinier tools pack all the punch
you need, and the big equipment may be over-
priced overkill for the home woodworker.
In this article, we’ll show the benchtop
machines that make sense (and save you dol-
lars), and even reveal when to ignore our advice
and go big.

First, a few general observations:

■ They cost less for a reason. To balance size,
features, and price, manufacturers of benchtop
tools often use smaller, less-powerful motors
and lower-quality components (bearings and
switches, for example). If you’re not running
the tools hard 8 hours a day, don’t sweat the dif-
ference. (For exceptions to the rule, see “When
to stick with stationary,” next page.)
■ “Benchtop” doesn’t always mean “portable.”
You won’t necessarily gain floor space with a
benchtop machine. A gangly drill press or stout
planer doesn’t tuck away easily underneath a
benchtop or inside a cabinet. So, you may still
need to make a stand to get these to a good
working height. (Find plans for tool stands at
woodmagazine.com/toolstands.)
■ Large workpieces need extra support. The
light weight or small footprint of a benchtop
tool can make it less stable, especially when
working large pieces. Be sure to secure such
machines as a drill press and planer to a heavy,
broad base to prevent tipping.

1 Best-Ever Home Shop Ideas 2013

5 benchtop tools we’d buy in a heartbeat

Drill Press SPINDLE SANDER lathe
Why buy? A benchtop drill press with a Why buy? Drums on benchtop models Why buy? Legs on a lathe add weight
10–12" swing capacity (the widest piece can sand inside curves on stock up to that dampens vibration. Bolting down a
in which it can center a hole) handles 90 about 3" thick. The typically plastic benchtop lathe does the same thing.
percent of boring tasks required for mak- gears and light-duty motor won’t last as Today’s midi-lathe, equipped with an
ing furniture and cabinets. After all, how long as the components inside their accessory bed extension, has enough
often do you drill more than 5" from the beefier brothers, but you’d have to burn distance-between-centers and power to
edge of a project part? And with 3"-plus up two or three of these to exceed the turn spindles 35" or so in length: plenty
of quill stroke, most benchtop models cost of one floor-standing sander. Swap for table legs. And you can stow a bench-
bore plenty deep for mortises. the spindle for the belt attachment on top model when not in use.
Cost savings: about $200 Ridgid’s EB4424 (below) and add edge- Cost savings: $200–$300
Go big instead if you routinely bore belt sanding at a benchtop price. Go big instead if you plan to turn
holes larger than 2" into hardwoods, Cost savings: $500–$900 bowls, platters, or vessels larger than
drill into steel, or sand aggressively with Go big instead if you must do aggres- about 10–12" in diameter.
chuck-mounted drums. sive sanding every day.

mortiser planer When to stick with stationary
Why buy? Even if you make a lot of mis- Why buy? A 13" planer costs you only
sion furniture, a benchtop mortiser will 2" of width capacity versus a 15" floor- Diminutive machines don’t make sense in
serve you just fine, thanks. The argu- standing model, but you gain floor every case, and here’s where we’d bite the
ment for a benchtop model is so one- space, thanks to the smaller footprint bullet and buy big to begin with:
sided, in fact, that even professional (especially compared with a stationary ■ Tablesaw. Although some benchtop
production shops rarely have floor- planer with infeed and outfeed exten- saws now boast stationary-saw features,
standing mortisers these days. sions). As a bonus, benchtop machines the cost of those better machines rapidly
Cost savings: about $700 often deliver a smoother finish, with approaches the price of a good contractor-
Go big instead if you’ll routinely bore easier-to-adjust knives, to boot. style tablesaw, which offers greater rip and
mortises larger than 1⁄2" (for bed rails, Cost savings: $400–$1,500 crosscut capacity (not to mention a better
posts, and the like). You’ll need to step Go big instead if you regularly hog fence and miter gauge), a quieter and
up to a floor-stander—or another rough lumber down to thickness. A sta- more powerful induction motor, and
method such as a drill press—to get that tionary planer cuts deeper and feeds easier adjustments.
kind of boring capacity. lumber faster than a benchtop model, ■ Bandsaw. Benchtop models lack the
saving you time on big jobs. Also, the power and capacity to resaw hardwoods
universal motors on benchtop planers or rough out bowl blanks, so what you
require periodic downtime to prevent end up with is a glorified jigsaw for curve
cutting. Even then, you’ll get frustrated
overheating during long quickly by poor blade guides and blade-
planing sessions. tensioning systems.
■ Jointer. Long face-jointing sessions
can overheat the universal motor on a
benchtop unit. And you will have long
sessions making twice as many passes as
with a stationary jointer due to the limited
depth of cut. Fences tend to be flimsy,
cut-quality marginal, and tables too
short to joint workpieces longer than
about 4'.

Produced by: Dave Campbell

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Browse more than 1,300 woodworking project plans, DVDs, back-issue collections, videos, tool reviews, books, & more.

On this info-filled disc you’ll find more than... WOOD Magazine September 1984 – Dec/Jan 2011/2012 Issues 1–209
325 645FurnitureProjects
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Includes an easy-to-use article index!

ISSUE 209 DEC/JAN 2011/2012 Better Homes and
Gardens®
ISSUE 186 TEP PLAN! Gardens®
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21 inCet1ra1dPGlrreoejaetcts!47 into Fundren!tisture!Jewelry BoxEasy-to-Build Projects InsideEasy-to-make ® ®
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