5 tools I have that I can use to start making money.

5 tools I have right now that I can use to make money

Over the past decade … or two (wow that hurt to type) I have been collecting tools. Since I re-started Idol Creations I have been brainstorming how to make money with it. I love building things, and my army of tools could help me get off the ground.

I have gathered a few of my favorite tools that i believe can help me get started, perhaps I can turn my hobby here into a paying side job.

Without further adieu here are my top 5 tools I believe can help me make money.

In no particular order

1. My Table Saw

   

   Without a doubt it would be my Mastercraft table saw. (it doesn’t exactly exist anymore; being 15 years old. But here’s the replacement Canadian Tire offers) Sure it’s only a little contractor saw, with a teeny tiny little table top. But it can definitely help me get started. I can make little boxes, picture frames, smaller items. It has served me well for well over 15 years (I don’t know exactly then I bought this, it is probably over 20 years old). I could build a larger table for it, out feed table and be set up to cut much larger stock. However at this point I’m considering it a temporary stepping stone saw until I can find or afford a larger table saw. Used, new whatever happens to come up.

2. My trusty chop saw.

   

   Recently I upgraded to a 10″ sliding compound mitre saw (Thank you to my wife and oldest son for a nice Fathers day gift a couple years back). I had an old unknown brand 10″ mitre saw that got the job done for 16 years or so. I bought this saw when I worked at Cashway (now Rona) in 2000. Which I still have and use it for portable work. With this sliding one I can leave it setup on a bench and cut much wider stock than my old saw could (5 3/4″ vs 11 3/4″)

3. Kreg Rip Guide for my (borrowed) circular saw.

   

   Since my mom and Stepdad live very close by, we tend to borrow each others tools often (this also cuts down n buying every tool ever needed) So Thank you Gaetan 🙂 . With this rip guide I can handle wider stock to build larger furniture that I cannot cut safely on my tiny table saw.

4. Plunge router.

   

   This is an interesting one. Remember I said I was collecting tools. Well at one point my parents would simply ask what tool i wanted for gifts, (Birthday or Christmas etc) and one year I just said a router could be handy, not really having a use for it at the time tho. So I ended up getting this one as a gift, and it came with a 5 year warranty from Craftsman. After the 5 years they called me (my mom) and asked if I needed to extend my warranty before it expired. And honestly I don’t thing i even used it. (Sorry Mom). However it will prove to be a very powerful tool now because without that nice fancy table saw

5. Kreg Pocket hole jig 

   

   I have the smallest, cheapest one available. It comes with the Jig, Drill and collar, driver bit, and some screws to get started. Nothing fancy here, but seeing as I don’t have a useful table saw for custom joinery, a pocket hole will help creating projects a little easier than fumbling on the saw making dados and rabbets etc.

So those are 5 tools I think can help me get started in turning this aspiring hobby, into something that I can at least make some money on to buy more tools 😀

What tools to you use to generate some income from your shop. I’d love to see what you are cooking up in the shop too.