When I was a youngster growing up, my dad had a Sears Craftsman radial arm saw, a Rockwell radial drill press, and some old table saw. And they were all in a very wet, and sometimes flooded basement. But he and I managed to do a lot of woodworking in that basement.
When I was first married, I moved into a small 1½-story home with a basement. No garage. Guess where I decided to put my shop? Yep. In the basement. But I couldn’t afford a lot of tools. I did manage to buy a new Craftsman table saw. (In the small town where I grew up, the only source for woodworking tools was Sears.) But the table saw was the only new tool I owned.
My first router table was a 2×4 base with a plywood top. I think it was in one of the first issues of Woodsmith magazine. Oh…my Craftsman router was the one other new tool I eventually purchased. (more…)
