I want to start woodworking as a hobby, but I would like to work toward making cabinets and other things that are more difficult. My wife wants to remodel our master bath in the fall and I would like to be able to most of the wood work myself. Any advice on what tools to start with. I have hand tools and some power tools like drills, jigsaw, skill saw, etc. I have a small table saw but it is not very accurate. I was looking at a router, router table, or better table saw. Also is it worth it to buy a router table or build one? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

I've been woodworking for more years than I like to admit to, and find that the table saw (a good one ) is the backbone of any shop. A good router is also needed tool as is a drill press. If you get the table saw, a great project is a router table (station). A great set of plans for one+ can be found on Norm Abrams web site. I think it's www.newyankee.com

This message has been edited. Last edited by: nona,

The backbone of any wood working shop is the table saw.

And the backbone of any table saw is an accurate fence.

Regardless of the table saw you buy, put a Biesmeyer fence on it to get the most accurate cuts possible within the limitations of the saw you have.

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Thanks for the advise!

just for the heck of it, I checked the price of the biesmeyer fence, Couldn't believe what they cost ($300 + ), quality table saws---$1200 +

what brand tablesaw do you have ? Maybe its inaccuracy is that it's out of adjustment, same goes for the fence you now have.
Before I sprung for that kind of money, I'd make sure that it's not an adjustment problem. Also, before I spent that kind of money, I'd remember that if you put a diamond tiara on a pig, it's still a pig

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I have a small craftsman. I am not looking to spend that much in a saw at this time I was thinking around the 300.00 to 400.00 range. Thanks for taking the time to look that information up for me.

I dont know what to tell you. I'm not a fan of craftsman power tools, but so long as the blade doesn't wobble, signaling a worn trunion bearing, you should be able to do what you need with what you have.Check all the adjustments, one of the most overlooked problems is the blade not being absolutely parallel with the miter slot of the saw. You can recognize the problem by burn marks on soft wood (pine )
I dont think you will gain anything with a $300 saw. I also check that the blade is at a perfect 90 Degree to the table by using a draftsman square. They're the plastic squares with various angles and quit accurate
also, you can do good work with a portable power saw, if you use a straight edge as a guide. You can use a plaine board that you know is dead-on straight or buy a straight edge guide just made for this, but you wont find it in any big box stores, you will have to get it from a woodworkers catalog, such as www.woodcraft.com or www.rockler.com

This message has been edited. Last edited by: nona,