Buyer's guide
Dust Collector CFM Chart
Published CFM figures by machine, plus what a 2-1/2, 4, 5 or 6-inch duct can actually carry at the industry transport velocities. Every number sourced or shown as arithmetic.
Buying guides
Decide first, then compare products
The hard part of buying a tool is almost never picking between two models. It is working out which category you actually need, and what specification decides it. That is what these pages are for.
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Most tool advice on the web starts in the wrong place. It hands you a ranked list of six products before establishing whether you need that kind of product at all — and the expensive mistakes in a home shop are almost never “I bought the second-best planer.” They are “I bought a 2.5-inch hose for a 4-inch port,” “I bought a single-speed router and then bought panel-raising bits,” and “I bought a dust collector when what I needed was a separator and a shorter duct run.” Those are category errors and specification errors, and no product ranking protects you from either.
So this page collects the guides that answer the decision. Some of them are comparisons — plunge against fixed base, table saw against miter saw, jointer against planer. Some of them are reference tables you will come back to with a specific number in mind. Some are about sequence: what to buy first when the budget will not stretch to everything at once. None of them is a product ranking, though every one of them links to the relevant ranking once the decision is made.
How to use this page
If you already know what you are buying and just want a recommendation, skip all of this and go to the best woodworking tools, which is the ranked pick from every category we cover, or to the hub for whatever you are shopping for. If you are not sure yet, start with the section below that matches your problem.
The reference tablesare the pages we would most like other sites to link to, because they are the ones that took real work to compile: published CFM figures by machine, what each duct diameter can physically carry at the velocity chips need, and manufacturer-published maximum RPM by router bit diameter. Every figure on them names its source, and where we did arithmetic ourselves we show the formula so you can check it. Where we could not find a citable figure — there is no published CFM specification we were willing to quote for a wood lathe or a router table — we say so and leave the row out rather than filling it in.
The dust collectionsection is the one most likely to save you money, because dust collection is the part of a shop where people most reliably buy the wrong thing. The single most common mistake is treating it as a horsepower problem when it is nearly always a diameter problem: airflow scales with the cross-sectional area of the pipe, so a duct two sizes too small caps the whole system no matter what is bolted to the end of it. The second most common is buying in the wrong order — a collector before a separator, an air filter before a respirator.
The router section exists because one word covers three genuinely different tools. A trim router, a mid-size combo kit and a 3 HP table motor are not points on a scale; they do different jobs, and buying the wrong one is the most common expensive mistake in the power-tool half of a first shop. On top of that sit two specification decisions that outlive the router itself: which collet size you commit to, and whether the machine has the variable speed that large cutters legally require.
The starting outsection is about sequence and honesty. The most useful question a new woodworker can answer is which kind of work they are actually doing, because carpentry and furniture making want different tools for a concrete reason — one works to a measurement, the other works to a fit. Get that right and the buying order mostly decides itself.
What we do not do
We do not run a testing lab, and we say so on our methodology page. Nothing on this site is presented as a measurement we took. What we do is read the manuals and the published specifications, name the source for every figure, do the arithmetic those figures support, show our working, and then say plainly which one we would buy and why. Every price you see is pulled live from Amazon and stamped with the date it was fetched, and when that data goes stale the number disappears rather than sitting there being wrong.
We also do not pretend a page is neutral when it carries affiliate links. Every buy link on this site is marked as sponsored and earns us a commission if you use it, at no cost to you. That is set out in full in our affiliate disclosure and our editorial policy, and it is why every roundup names a pick we think you should skip.
Look it up
The reference tables
Three pages that exist to be checked rather than read end to end. Every figure on them is either published by a named source or arithmetic we show you.
Buyer's guide
Router Bit Speed Chart
Published max RPM from a named manufacturer for seven bit diameters, the computed tip speed for each, and how to set your router when the bit has no marking.
Buyer's guide
1/4 vs 1/2-Inch Router Bit Shanks
Doubling shank diameter multiplies stiffness far more than twofold, which is why big profiles chatter on 1/4-inch shanks. When the small shank is fine, and why adapters disappoint.
Top pick: Yonico 17150 Router Bit Set (15 pc, 1/2 in shank)$49.95 · Amazon
Dust collection
Sizing and spending on dust collection
The machine you need depends on the port, the duct and the machine you are collecting from — in that order. Horsepower comes last.
Roundup
Dust Collection on a Budget
Four stages, cheapest first: a separator on the vac you already own, then a starter collector, then gates, then air filtration. Buy in this order and nothing gets replaced.
Top pick: Dustopper PRO Low-Profile Dust Separator$66.98 · Amazon
Buyer's guide
Dust Collection CFM: How Much Do You Actually Need?
Free-air CFM overstates what reaches the tool. Here's the math on hose, fittings and port size, and the real 350–700 CFM target for a single small-shop machine.
Buyer's guide
Shop Vac vs Dust Collector
A shop vac gives high static pressure through a small port (sanders, track saw, router); a collector gives high CFM through a big port (planer, table saw). Most shops end up owning both.
Buyer's guide
Dust Collection Ducting for a Small Shop
Diameter, length and every elbow subtract from the airflow at your tool. A plain guide to hose vs rigid pipe, blast gates, grounding and a layout that keeps the CFM.
Buyer's guide
Router Table Dust Collection
Two collection points, two different airflow problems. Which one to connect to a vac, which to a collector, and the honest options when the bit is buried in the fence.
Top pick: Fein Turbo II HEPA Wet/Dry Dust Extractor$656.93 · Amazon
Buyer's guide
Lathe Dust Collection
Turning throws shavings in an arc no fixed port can cover. The honest strategy: sweep the shavings, collect hard at the sanding stage, and filter the room.
Top pick: JET DC-650 1 HP Dust Collector (30-micron bag)Check price →
Routers
Which router, which base, which bit
One word covers three tools and two collet sizes. These decide which you need before you look at a single product page.
Buyer's guide
Which Router Should You Buy?
Trim, fixed-base and plunge compared head-on, decided by what you make rather than by horsepower. Plus the collet and table-mount details that decide it for you.
Head to head
Plunge vs Fixed Base Router
A plunge base starts cuts in the middle of a board; a fixed base is steadier for edges and lives in a router table. The honest answer for most shops is a combo kit.
Top pick: Bosch 1617EVSPK Router Combo$230.00 · Amazon
Buyer's guide
Router Bit Types Explained
Straight, spiral, flush-trim, edge-forming, rabbeting and joinery bits — what each family is for, why 1/2-inch shanks cut steadier, and the speed rule for large bits.
Roundup
The Best Woodworking Routers
The word 'router' covers three tools — a trim router, a mid-size combo, or a table router. We rank six and tell you which job each one is really for.
Top pick: Bosch 1617EVSPK Router Combo$230.00 · Amazon
Roundup
The Best Router Bits
Buy a cheap set to find out which profiles you use, then buy those three properly. We rank the sets and the individual bits worth upgrading to.
Top pick: Whiteside 401 Basic Router Bit Set (7 pc, 1/2 in shank)$141.35 · Amazon
Roundup
The Best Router Table for a Home Shop
A router table turns a handheld router into a small shaper. Five ranked on flatness, fence precision and dust capture — plus what a lift does and does not buy you.
Top pick: Bosch RA1181 Benchtop Router Table$289.00 · Amazon
Starting out
What to buy first
The purchases that unlock new work, in the order that wastes the least money — plus the honest question of which kind of woodworking you are actually doing.
Buyer's guide
Carpentry Tools vs Woodworking Tools
Portable and fast versus stationary and precise. Which tools belong to each trade, which genuinely serve both, and what to buy if you honestly do a bit of each.
Buyer's guide
The Essential Woodworking Tools Checklist
A tiered checklist by shop size and budget, plus the accuracy and finish staples most lists forget — square, marking gauge, block plane and a sander.
Top pick: iGaging Combination Square Set (6 + 12 in)$66.31 · Amazon- Buyer's guide
Buyer's guide
The Beginner Woodworking Tool List
What to buy first, in order, from nothing to a working shop — buy the tool the next project needs, and buy accuracy before machines.
Head to head
Jointer vs Planer: Which Should You Buy First?
A jointer flattens and straightens; a planer thicknesses. They do opposite jobs — and for most home shops the planer is the smarter first buy. Here's why.
Top pick: DeWalt DW735X 13-in Thickness Planer$754.99 · Amazon
Head to head
Table Saw vs Miter Saw
A table saw rips along the grain; a miter saw crosscuts across it. Which one comes first depends on your work — here is how to decide in a paragraph.
Top pick: DeWalt DWE7491RS 10-in Jobsite Table Saw$649.00 · Amazon
Buyer's guide
Small Shop Setup Guide
Mobility, a real workbench, dust at the source and enough power — the four things that make a tight garage shop usable, plus the buying order to get there.
One against the other
The head-to-heads
Four pages that exist because the question is always framed as a choice between two things. Each one settles it on the single specification that actually separates them, then ranks picks from both sides.
Head to head
Track Saw vs Circular Saw
A track saw cuts a finished, splinter-free edge and a circular saw cuts a rough one you clean up later. Six saws ranked across both families — the Makita SP6000J for cut quality, the Makita 5007MG if a rough edge is fine. Live prices on every pick.
Top pick: Makita SP6000J Plunge Track Saw$628.64 · AmazonHead to head
Drum Sander vs Planer
Buy the planer first: it removes stock an order of magnitude faster and costs less. Buy the drum sander when figured wood, thin stock or glued-up panels start tearing out. The DeWalt DW735X and the JET JWDS-1632 compared, with live prices on four machines.
Top pick: DeWalt DW735X 13-in Thickness Planer$754.99 · Amazon
Head to head
Bandsaw vs Scroll Saw
A bandsaw has a continuous loop blade and cuts from the edge inward; a scroll saw takes a blade you thread through a drilled hole and cuts enclosed shapes. The JET JWBS-14SFX if you need capacity, the DEWALT DW788 if you need detail. Live prices on four saws.
Top pick: JET JWBS-14SFX 14-in Bandsaw$1,549.00 · Amazon
Head to head
Titebond II vs Titebond III
Titebond II is water-resistant (ANSI Type II) and Titebond III is waterproof (ANSI Type I) with a longer open time and a darker glue line. II for most indoor work, III for cutting boards, outdoor joints and big glue-ups. Live prices on four Titebond grades.
Top pick: Titebond II Premium Wood Glue (16 oz)$7.57 · Amazon
Upgrade the machine you own
The accessories that change what a tool can do
Three purchases that buy capability rather than horsepower. Each one is decided by a published specification most buyers never read — indexed stops, groove width range, and the steel the edge is ground into.
Roundup
Best Miter Gauge for a Table Saw
The Incra Miter 1000SE is the miter gauge to buy, with the Kreg KMS7102 the better choice if your crosscuts are mostly square. Five gauges ranked on indexed stops, slot fit and fence, with live prices.
Top pick: Incra Miter 1000SE Miter Gauge (18–31 in Fence)$165.95 · Amazon
Roundup
Best Dado Blade Set
The Freud SD208S Pro Dado is the stacked dado set most shops should buy, with the 42-tooth Oshlun SDS-0842 the value pick. Six sets compared on tooth count, width range and shims, with live prices.
Top pick: Freud SD208S 8-in Pro Dado Set (12T)$96.88 · Amazon
Roundup
Best Forstner Bits
The Freud PB-107B is the Forstner set to buy for furniture work, with the Irwin Marples 14-piece the one to get if you need size coverage first. Five sets compared on steel, rim design and sizes, with live prices.
Top pick: Freud PB-107B Forstner Bit Set (7 pc, 1/4–1 in)$92.97 · Amazon
Chosen for one job
Picked for the work, not the category
Four pages where the job changes the answer. The best tool in general is routinely not the best tool for stripping a finish, cutting a dovetail or running a jig — these rank on the criteria that job actually imposes.
Roundup
Best Sander for Refinishing Furniture
A 5 in. random orbit sander with real speed control is the right tool for refinishing furniture, and the Bosch ROS20VSC is the one to buy. Six sanders ranked for stripping, flattening and final passes, with live prices.
Top pick: Bosch ROS20VSC 5-in Random Orbit Sander$69.00 · Amazon
Roundup
Best Chisels for Dovetails
Dovetails need thin side lands, a flat back and the narrow sizes — not a big set. The Narex Richter set is the pick; four bevel-edge sets compared on steel, hardness and sizes, with live prices.
Top pick: Narex Richter Bevel-Edge Chisel Set (5)$226.99 · AmazonRoundup
Best Router for a Dovetail Jig
On a dovetail jig the router's depth adjustment decides joint fit, not its horsepower. The Bosch 1617EVSPK is the pick; five routers compared on collets, speed range and base type, with live prices.
Top pick: Bosch 1617EVSPK Router Combo$230.00 · Amazon
Roundup
Tools Needed to Cut Dovetails
A hand-cut dovetail needs six tools, not a shop full. A backed saw, a chisel set, a marking gauge, a knife, a mallet and a square — what each is for, what to buy, and live prices on all six.
Top pick: Suizan Dozuki Dovetail Saw (9.5 in)$58.80 · Amazon
Buy for the project
What a project actually needs
Four pages that start from the work rather than the category: the box, the joint, the board and the thing that lives outside. Each one lists what is genuinely required, what is a speed-up, and what you can skip.
Roundup
Best Clamps for Cabinet Making
Buy four parallel clamps before you buy anything else — the Jorgensen Cabinet Master is the one to start with. Six clamps ranked for carcase glue-ups, face frames and long panels, with live prices.
Top pick: Jorgensen Cabinet Master Parallel Clamp$73.59 · AmazonRoundup
Tools Needed for Mortise and Tenon Joints
A mortise gauge, a chisel, a mallet and a backsaw will cut the joint — and the gauge is the one that decides whether it fits. Seven picks across the hand and machine routes, with live prices.
Top pick: Narex Richter Bevel-Edge Chisel Set (5)$226.99 · AmazonRoundup
Tools Needed to Make a Cutting Board
Four parallel clamps, Titebond III, a 50-tooth blade and a random orbit sander will make a board you would be happy to give away. Six picks ranked, plus the planer question answered honestly.
Top pick: Jorgensen Cabinet Master Parallel Clamp$73.59 · Amazon
Roundup
Best Wood Glue for Outdoor Furniture
Buy Titebond III: it is the one glue here published as ANSI/HPVA Type I, and it gives you 8-10 minutes of open time for an outdoor assembly. Four glues compared on the ratings that matter, with live prices.
Top pick: Titebond III Ultimate Wood Glue (16 oz)$9.61 · Amazon
What you feed the machine
Blades, air and fasteners
Three pages about the consumable end of a shop. A machine is only as good as what you put in it, and in all three cases the deciding specification is one most buyers never look up: blade width and pitch, SCFM at 90 PSI, and nail diameter.
Roundup
Best Bandsaw Blades
Leave a 1/2 in. 3 TPI blade on the saw and it will do almost everything — the Olson All Pro is the one to buy. Six 93-1/2 in. blades ranked for resawing, curves and scrollwork, with live prices.
Top pick: Olson APG72693 All Pro PGT Bandsaw Blade (1/2 in., 3 TPI, 93-1/2 in.)$23.71 · Amazon
Roundup
Best Air Compressor for Woodworking
For a shop that mostly fires nailers, buy quiet before you buy big: the California Air Tools 8010A at 60 dBA is the pick. Six compressors ranked on published SCFM, tank size and noise, with live prices.
Top pick: California Air Tools 8010A Ultra Quiet 8-Gallon Air Compressor$249.99 · Amazon
Head to head
Brad Nailer vs Finish Nailer
Buy the brad nailer first: 18-gauge holds trim while glue cures and leaves a hole you can ignore. Six nailers across both gauges, with the one job each is genuinely better at and live prices.
Top pick: Metabo HPT NT50AE2 18-Gauge Pneumatic Brad Nailer$59.00 · Amazon
The last step, and the one before it
Finishing, scraping and cutting where nothing fits
Three pages about the end of a project rather than the middle of it. The finish page settles film against oil before it names a brand, the card scraper is the surface prep that leaves no scratch pattern, and the multi-tool is the only thing that cuts something already fastened in place.
Roundup
Best Wood Finish for Furniture and Shop Projects
Minwax Fast-Drying Polyurethane is the most protection per dollar on any shelf, Arm-R-Seal is the wiped film furniture makers use, and Polycrylic is the one that leaves maple looking like maple. Seven finishes compared, with live prices.
Top pick: Minwax Fast-Drying Polyurethane (Warm Satin, 1 Quart)$15.97 · Amazon
Roundup
Best Card Scraper, and the Burnisher That Makes It Work
The Bahco 474 is the scraper most woodworkers own and costs less than a router bit — but it is useless without a burnisher, which is why the Crown three-piece set is the better first purchase. Six picks compared, plus the four-step edge sequence.
Top pick: Crown 377 & 376 Scraper Set with Burnisher (3-Piece)$49.99 · Amazon
Roundup
Best Oscillating Multi-Tool for Woodworking
The Dremel MM50-01 is the honest buy for a furniture shop: a complete corded kit at a price that matches how rarely you need one. Six multi-tools compared on oscillation angle, blade mount and vibration, with live prices.
Top pick: Dremel MM50-01 Multi-Max Oscillating Tool Kit$94.99 · Amazon
Breaking down and shaping
Saws, lathe tools and carving gouges
Three pages about taking wood away rather than joining it together. In all three the deciding specification is one the box does not advertise: the flatness of a saw shoe, the length of a turning-tool handle, and the spread of sweeps in a carving set.
Roundup
Best Circular Saw for Woodworking
The Makita 5007MG is the one to buy: a magnesium shoe that stays flat, light enough to control at the end of a long rip. Six saws ranked for sheet goods, framing stock and cordless work, with live prices.
Top pick: Makita 5007MG Magnesium 7-1/4-Inch Circular Saw$189.90 · Amazon
Roundup
Best Wood Turning Tools
Start with the PSI Woodworking LCHSS8: eight M2 high-speed-steel tools for less than one premium gouge. Six turning tools ranked on steel, bar size and handle length, with live prices.
Top pick: PSI Woodworking LCHSS8 8-Piece HSS Wood Lathe Chisel Set$84.95 · Amazon
Roundup
Best Wood Carving Tools
The Narex 869200 five-piece set is the one to buy: three gouges, a V tool and a skew, which is a complete carving vocabulary. Six sets ranked on sweeps, handle size and out-of-box sharpness, with live prices.
Top pick: Narex 869200 5-Piece Starter Carving Set$66.67 · Amazon
Keep going
Once the decision is made
Head to the best woodworking tools for the ranked pick in every category, or browse all guides and how-tos for the project walkthroughs and explainers that are not tied to a purchase.
Buying for somebody else rather than yourself? The gifts for woodworkers guides run the same research with the compatibility traps spelled out, and Black Friday woodworking deals 2026 covers what is worth waiting for and what is not.