Things are going way faster that I had anticipated. When I first even thought about going the hand tool route, I intended on doing it at a slow pace. Buy a tool here and there, sell the corresponding power tool and ease into shrinking the shop. Well that’s not quite how it worked out. I’ve sold off more than half of the power tools I had in the past week!
It all started with the miter and bandsaws. I figured these two power tools would be the easiest for me to replace. What made me think so? My recent addiction to eBay. I’ve spent quite a few hours scouring for the best possible deals for hand tools. The time spent hasn’t all been wasted since I’ve acquired a decent amount. A set of chisels, a couple of hand planes, hand saws, back saws and that’s just the beginning. Anyways, back to the the miter and bandsaw. With all the new saws, I figured I could get by with rough cutting the wood to length and then clean it up with hand tools to get my by. Even though my primary use for the miter saw was cutting the miters for frames (which is also my source of income), it really began to be more trouble than it was worth with it’s inaccuracy so that’s why I felt it could go first. The bandsaw was mainly used for resawing. I have no real need to resaw right now, plus, getting it tuned up to run top notch would cost way more than I want to invest into it.
So on to Craigslist these bad boys went. I got a hit on the both saws the first night. One guy locally for the miter and one in Mississippi for the bandsaw. The guy in Mississippi called the next day and while on the phone asked if I had any other tools for sale. Not thinking he would actually be interested in what I had, I named off the other power tools I had. Asking how much I would take for my 6″ jointer, I began to think about whether or not I would actually sell it. Then he made me an offer I really couldn’t resist. He offered more than I what I was thinking about selling it for so I said SOLD! The bandsaw and jointer cords have been severed!
I was making contact with the other guy but he kept falling through with picking up the miter saw. In the mean time, I got another hit for the saw and told him it was on hold but since I had started selling other power tools, I figured I would let him know what other tools I had. Well as it turns out, he was interested in a total of three. The miter saw, drill press, and planer. I gave him my prices and told him if the guy didn’t pick up the saw that afternoon, he could have it. He contacted me back and was willing to pay my full asking price and wanted to pick them up that night. SOLD! The miter saw, drill press, and planer cords have also been severed!
All I have left is my table saw and router. Might as well put them on Craigslist too. I will… soon.
The Fameless Woodworker 