When we decided to start up a small farm, we realized there were going to be a number of varying sized construction projects. Having the right tools can be a tremendous time saver. If each project can be tackled without too much frustration, it goes a long way toward ensuring all the others get completed in a timely manner.
Like most people, we have always had a small portable table saw, a circular saw, several drills, and a few sawhorses. Given our workload ahead, we added a few items to our work shed which we felt were well worth the cost after using them in our coop project.
Alaska has a few potentially heavy rain months. To give us some shelter and space to work, we got a 10′ x 20′ foot ABCCANOPY from Amazon. This commercial strength vendor canopy has proved to be sturdy during heavy winds and totally waterproof. It can be enclosed on all four sides.
We picked up a Dewalt 12-inch double bevel sliding compound miter saw. outside of ripping lumber, this saw can handle the majority of your cut needs with precision and ease. This includes left/right miter and bevel cuts along with cross cuts. Angle cuts can be made with a table saw but the entire process is so much simpler, faster, and more precise with the miter saw.
Rather than bolting the saw down to some plywood, we opted for a heavy duty portable stand with a 500 lb weight capacity. It has handy work stops/supports that can be positioned anywhere on the rail.
Finally we purchased a few Dewalt work tables. These collapse for easy storage but can support up to 1,000 lbs when setup. They have approximately a 33″ x 24″ work surface. They were key in allowing us to support the coop as it grew in both size and weight.
Be well & green dreams!
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