Wood magazine review a tool

That extra width is particularly useful for supporting…. The blade assembly glides on a set of articulated arms rather than sliding on a set of rails. The result is a saw that can…. Modern hand planes continue to be popular, and this low-angle block plane excels at trimming tenons, rabbets, and end grain. When using a regular plane,…. The tool features a 1. Christopher Schwarz. Vintage moving fillister planes are easy to find but can be tricky to restore because of all the moving parts and the general wear and tear these tools endure.

Jim McConnell. In my experience they are marketing gimmicks that do nothing particularly well. This short panel saw is…. Those qualities exactly describe these two saws…. Brendan Gaffney. This attachment makes power carving hollows fast and fun. It turns an angle grinder — a relatively crude woodworking tool — into a more precise instrument that can still hog away lots of…. It creates lots of surface area for glue and a tight mechanical fit—the two requirements of any good woodworking joint.

Setting up a lock miter bit in a router…. Tool: Dadonator Jr. Think about it. Whenever you pull the tape from right to left to make…. Years ago, I made a corner cupboard from black walnut. I thought the wood was magnificent, but a can of rusty cut nails I used in building it proved to be far more important, taking me on an unexpected journey into my past.

My father gave me these nails, saying that they were left over…. They have to fit tight in the miter slots, yet still be loose enough to slide. This requires a tolerance of only a few thousandths….

By holding the kerf open, a splitter helps prevent kickback and keeps the blade from burning the wood. Most woodworkers would naturally think of a power tool, but truth be told, a good handsaw will do the job almost as fast. A dream machine for portable power tools—one that protects your health and keeps your shop clean.

The Oneida Dust…. These bits read Chris Schwarz endorsement here cut fast and clean, clear the chips efficiently, and stay sharp for a very long time. The WoodOwl Tri-Cut drill bit digs and pulls itself into the wood via a snail screw, and…. Unlike similar devices that merely hold the pieces in place, this one…. Not for extra pressure—that would create unwanted swirl marks. But another handle would give you extra control and relieve the tedium of sanding with only one hand. The fabric was heavy-duty, the seams and stitching were even, and there was no….

Bench Paws have…. A busy shop that kicks out a lot of laminate work can spend a lot of money on new bits. Amana has reduced that cost by designing replaceable cutters for three of the…. In an effort to inform our readers about the latest and greatest, Popular Woodworking has surveyed the rich landscape of tools and equipment available and made our picks of woodworking tools of note for Here are some of our favorite tools and products we discovered over the last year.

Supercell Dust Collector — [Buy…. The chisels are ground from …. Your feet are sore and tired. Your back and knees ache. How are you going to boil the water? How are you going to get the steam to the steam box? A new kit from Rockler makes this all very easy.

It includes everything you need except the box…. Tool: Ultimate Matte Finish Polyurethane Manufacturer: Rust-Oleum So you want the look of raw wood and excellent protection against spills and scratches? Until recently, that request might have provoked a few chuckles.

When dry, this finish has the minimal look of a wax finish—the wood is…. Michael Springer. No gas, no fumes and plenty of power for green woodworking. Battery power has…. First, you get a straight carving…. David Lyell. I remember buying my bench vise as a young man who wanted to give the heaviest and therefore, the most meaningful gift to my father for Christmas that….

I do not like stuffing things into my ear canals, such as foam plugs that must be compressed with often dirty fingers, then…. Test methodology Bench chisels are meant mainly for sheering wood fibers, either…. After my initial inspection of both the Narex-Richter and the Stanley chisels, I was ready for the sharpening process.

Before sharpening a new blade I like to check the back for flatness with a small precision square or a knife-edge straight edge. This gives me an indication of whether the back is convex or….

In late January Narex, the reputable Czech hand tool manufacturer sent me a box that contained three chisels for review. The sturdy but old fashioned stapled together gray cardboard box held three sleek jet black capsules that contained the new Richter line of bench chisels.

It took me a few months and now I am…. Nathan Rinne. Their convenience cannot be overstated especially given they often times outperform their corded counterparts.

I feel as if having my hand closer to the work gives me better control, not only because the tool feels less tippy, but because I find it slightly easier to guide. And I…. And even if you do manage to get some of these bits, they…. Article Index. The shining feature of this rack is mobility. And Rockler did not skimp when it added the high-quality polyurethane casters. I might be a convert, however, when it comes to tools that are difficult to grind on a dry….

The tool is still available and just as great as ever though. I avoid sanding as much as possible — but sometimes it has to be done. The narrow-bodied heads are open on one side, and can thus be attached to any flat piece of material up…. These curves are not static arcs — they are segments of the Euler spiral — and so the shapes they create have more spring and life.

The typical set…. As a result, many woodworkers hesitate to even attempt the joint, which can seamlessly wrap the grain around a furniture carcase to a beautiful effect. The three…. For a while, they were wrapped in kitchen towels — less than ideal. Like most Kreg products, the parts are well-made, nicely finished and fit…. Steve Shanesy. Now the company has introduced an inexpensive electric steam generator that makes it ever-so-easy to add steam-bending wood to your arsenal of techniques.

With the Earlex…. Out of the bag, the sander includes everything you need — a metal stem containing two independently rotating shafts that produce the….

Chuck Bender. The one feature that I love about the Angle-Ease from Woodhaven is its ability to tilt. This lift gives you the ability to make complex mouldings with a router that are impossible to….

Robert W. At the time, it seemed like a great idea — reduce overspray and eliminate the need for a massive air compressor chugging away. The Smart-Bit Depth Setter allows you to sink screws to a consistent depth every time. Although it was first introduced to the deck-building industry, there are a lot of features about this little tool that make it appealing to furniture…. Like its big brother the GCM12SD , this saw has a hinged-arm system that creates a smooth, gliding action when extending the saw for a cut.

When I work in…. After using dozens of student-made mallets, however, I wonder if many of us would be better off with a well-balanced, professionally made mallet. If you are a person who wants to buy a thing….

Though Warren Weber and Bill Schroeder…. Although they are sold separately, they work well as a team. These days, however, woodworkers have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to workbench accessories. Earlier this year, Benchcrafted released its latest vise….

The DX general purpose and DX fine crosscut blades feature unique grind angles on the teeth. Both are alternating-top-bevel blades, but they sport a….

I use them when I want to turn off the power tools and relax, or when setting up a power tool is simply too much bother. Vintage moulding planes are tricky beasts.

Typically the wood is warped, the irons are misshaped and the wedges are beat to snot. This year Matt Bickford became a full-time planemaker…. Taking its design cues from the common rafter square, the compact size is a much better fit for wood-working than its larger cousins. The aluminum square is laser etched light colored readings on red for high visibility…. The newest offering from….

Glen D. The gist is, instead of running your chisel or plane blade over a diamond plate to sharpen it, you run the diamond plate over…. Then what about all those benchtop power tools? Where do they go? The folks at Kreg and their Universal Bench cover pretty much any….

If you currently have a single stage or two stage dust collector, the new Super Dust Deputy will boost their efficiency. You get greater capacity and versatility than a mini-lathe, and a smaller footprint with a degree of portability, compared to a full size lathe. The full-featured Jet VS is a welcome addition…. Mount the clamp to the plate, and…. How much innovation? These jigsaws are available in both corded and battery-powered, and you can choose between a D-handle or barrel-grip design.

Straight out of the crate you can see that…. Its soft silicone…. Spyder, a Kansas City, Mo. At first glance, these blades look odd at best and gimmicky at worst.

But after taking these blades for a test-drive, I began to understand the versatility offered by this innovation. Video: See the Spyder double-sided jigsaw blade in action. Glen Huey. Delta has introduced two bench top lathes: one lathe has five speeds while the other lathe is…. Well, why not, right? The iGaging Digital Marking Gauge still does everything a traditional marking gauge does. Tool: Supercell Mobile 14 Gal. In my shop, I have a combination of big and small machines with varying sizes of dust ports.

The company set out to design…. Tool: Super General T. Is your current blade coated with burned residue? Most types of tail vises are quite complicated to build, but the folks at Lee Valley have figured out a way to make a simple…. It now comes in small Single Use Tubes, 4 to a pack. Usually, small tubes of anything cost more per ounce, but these can end up saving you…. One word describes this tool, its cutters and the twist on the materials used: innovative. By the editors Page: From the August issue Buy this issue now.

Seldom does a tool come along that changes how we look at a woodworking technique, but the Noden Inlay Razor does just that. The Inlay Razor, designed by Adjust-A-Bench inventor Geoffrey Noden, allows you to make an unlimited variety of inlay bandings as quickly as you can prepare the wood.

Although the process looks as if it might be slow, the work glides along easily. In fact, the process to create straight or curved banding is as addictive as it is creative. While the tool itself is very simple, the idea and the design of the cutters used to slice the wood are outstanding and a bit mind-bending.

The concept is light-years ahead of its time, but the cutting blades are decades old. Blog: Read more about this tool and watch a short video at popularwoodworking. Just fill the container with the appropriately thinned finish of your choice, attach the power unit and spray.

But the German company that produces the Colt line of drill bits does just that…. The basic principle and end result may be the…. The Veritas tenon…. You may know the iGaging name from their digital devices, but they offer traditional measuring tools as well. These Premium Straight Edges are quite…. The folks at Laguna have been working hard to put a cabinet saw within reach of more woodworkers, and the Laguna Fusion — a ….

Alan Lacer. Perhaps woodturners should sell naming rights. The field has never standardized the names of woodturning tools or measurements of their widths or how to describe their angles , so they often go by different names.

In other…. Take a typical double-armed tapering jig, for example. Taking up the challenge, the folks at MicroJig have created a much more sophisticated device that solves both…. This modern take on the Stanley 51 shooting plane oozes quality, and is a dream to use….

Squeeze-out happens! The panels are flat, and the squeezed-out…. Using just one router bit, both halves of the joint are cut using the same setting; one vertically and one horizontally.

But have you ever tried setting one up? In order to work, it has to be dead-on perfect,…. The Dremel Moto-Saw is at a price point that puts a scroll saw within easy reach for non scroll saw…. Most push blocks use a soft rubber pad for a gripping surface. These pads work great for a…. Common complaints include blade drift, tearout and inaccuracy, to name a few.

Power, it can be outfitted to help your router perform a multitude of other functions. The CRB7 router base has been around a while, but the…. Atoma plates are composed of monocrystalline diamonds electro-bonded to a thin sheet of…. For wider cuts, you use a dado set, right? Well, now you have another option—a thick kerf blade. All you need is a jig and a drill. If so, you know that locking clamps are extremely handy for holding parts together during assembly. The Keter Folding Work Table is a real boon for guys with limited work space.

Read the entire tool test here. Not only does it have variable speed, it has a reversible motor…. With the new K5 jig, the folks at Kreg have managed to tweak their flagship kit to make it even more user-friendly. No compressor?

In Part 1 of this story I review the Creative Woodburner from Walnut Hollow and today I want to show you how one of my 9th grade students used it to burn a beautiful butterfly on her the wooden box that she built. Safety first When working with tools, and especially wood burning instruments, my….

During the last year or so I have been searching for a versatile, dependable, yet affordable wire-tip wood burning kit for my woodworking program. And now after buying and testing such tool I feel confident enough to recommend it to my readers. In our program we are happy to teach our students how to use…. For older tools, two new Mag Switches from General International provide an easy safety upgrade. Imagine this scenario; you trip a breaker while your tool is….

From the Editors and Contributors In an effort to inform our readers about the latest and greatest, Popular Woodworking has surveyed the rich landscape of tools and equipment available and made our picks of woodworking tools of note for Editors note: This item no longer appears to be available.

Dowels and loose tenons have been around for some time. Both have stood the test of time, making strong, simple, reliable joints. Packaging their flesh-sensing blade brake technology in a smaller, more affordable format made it more attainable for a larger portion of woodworkers and folks on jobsites.

This upgraded version of their jobsite saw…. I started with inexpensive multipacks. Then I bought a few specific sizes for projects and even sprung for some premium one-offs. Tool: Bench Dog Tools No. After wiping the protective oil off all the surfaces and setting the blade depth, I was able to make de-cent shavings within minutes….

Browsing and search results are driven by images. The design seeks to solve some of the common issues associated with twin-screw vises. The solid transmission of power through the gears promises…. However, this does not impact our recommendations. This bandsaw bridges the gap between…. Mobile tools are one of the keys to working efficiently in a small shop or if you ever set up shop at a jobsite. Best of…. Two months ago, Brightech, a company that specializes in designing and manufacturing magnifying lamps….

While setting up our flattening mill, we decided to try a router bit that was recommended by Nick Offerman. Whenever we visit our friends in Toronto, I always make sure to stop by at least one of the three Lee Valley stores in town. This month as we headed North I came up with a really good excuse to jump on the streetcar to visit the downtown Toronto store: I wanted to look at….

Tim Celeski. A few years ago, Dremel started developing a new line of digital tools with the DigitaLab series of products. Recently they introduced their first laser cutter: The Dremel LC Spoon bits are meant to bore wood with the help of a brace drill. Shooting boards are typically pretty simple. A bench will have several variations nearby, but there are plenty of times when I have wanted a few more boards. This is where the Veritas Shooting Board shines.

Today on the blog, David Lyell gives us his review. The new Mirka Iridium abrasive paper has proven to be a workhorse in the Popular Woodworking shop. We gave it a try. Every woodworker loves joints that are tight, strong and secure. Dovetail joints and mortise and tenons will get you there, but if you need a knockdown joint, good options are limited.

My local Woodcraft has a great display of Armor Tools gear, and I finally took the plunge with their dog clamps. The Makita brings a lot of great features to the table with the 18V LXT, including both a fixed and plunge base….

Several manufacturers have introduced all-in-one units that incorporate cyclones and HEPA filtration into a single footprint. The PM adds to those important features with a proprietary automatic filter cleaner that runs when you…. The Blue…. A few weeks ago Veritas tools Lee Valley released their most recent plane. The squirrel-looking plane there are actually two versions of it: a limited edition stainless steel, and a continuous production cast iron is by far one of the smallest planes around.

Josh Cohn. Pocket holes are my go-to for quick and easy assemblies — shop furniture and jigs made out of plywood — as well as making face frames and cabinets. We were not particularly excited, however, about year-old carpet, and the moment we got the keys to the…. Laurie McKichan. The Multi-Router can be used to cut dovetails and many other useful woodworking joints, but it excels at…. Up to now, CNCs were large, heavy, complicated tools that take up a lot of space in a shop. The Shaper Origin is something quite different.

We love the original wooden-handled Bessey K Body clamps. But they became unavailable in when Bessey released the Revo clamps, which had a larger clamping surface of about 30 percent than the K Bodies and a soft-grip handle that allowed for easier and more comfortable tightening — but we found the clamps often slipped….

Shop Now: Amazon Website: kregtool. This jig uses set screws to attach a sled to…. Most CA glues have a very short working time. Nexabond is available in three….

A brushless motor is more efficient, and that translates…. Buff Bandsaw If a Bandsaw could take steroids, it might look something like this. Weighing in at lbs. It has all the necessary features and a few nice extras. If you ever work with wood from unreliable or unusual sources, such as one-person sawmills, it pays to own a moisture meter. I slip mine into my pocket whenever I head to the lumberyard and it has saved my skin several times in the last 20 years.

But not everyone can afford an expensive pinless…. This inexpensive compact saw performs surprisingly well. Click here to read the full review. Web Site: Craftsman. From the February issue, When sliding miter saws first hit the market, they could cost as much as a decent table saw.

So I was shocked…. Lightweight but solid, this two-knife model is a decent starter machine. Web site: grizzly. Blog: Get the skinny on spiral cutterheads. I admit to some skepticism as I unboxed the Grizzly G Sand Curves With Ease Sanding is one of those necessary evils we all face as woodworkers. Craftsman new Oscillating Spindle Sander makes sanding curves and contours easier and less time consuming. The sander features a large in. Cutting them by hand certainly requires skill and practice, but if you use a well-designed router jig, almost anybody can play ball.

Many of these jigs are quite expensive, but Leigh Industries, the maker of one of the best-known jigs, has just introduced…. These advanced dust collectors are now more versatile than ever. Dust collectors for the small shop have come a long way since the days of a broom and a pan.

The latest generation—two-stage cyclones on casters—are more powerful, more efficient and quieter than any previous machines of a similar size. There are at least six…. These are all great features for a small shop compressor. Dual Drum Sander Plus Want to cut sanding time in half? Tool: WS Tool Bar Attachment Sharpening on sandpaper is sure easy when the sandpaper rotates on a disc—you just hold the tool.

As originally designed, the was equipped with a built-in ramp for holding chisels and plane blades at the…. Web: Bosch. As of this…. Router Table Box Joints Making box joints on a router table is a time-saving alternative to making them on the tablesaw.

More importantly, using a router table leaves your tablesaw free for making those unexpected cuts that every project inevitably requires. This box joint…. With its 3-horsepower, volt motor, this saw is built to handle just about anything you can throw at it. Bryan Griffith. A: Although it seems reasonable to expect new chisels to come sharp, there are three good reasons why they…. When I was growing up, Skil made fantastic circular saws. Craftsman put its name on some good machinery…. For experienced woodworkers, these faux-reviews are easy to spot and ignore.

What are the signs? Even more telling, the…. Because I like nothing better than to pull down my pants and walk around in public, here is a guide to reading and writing tool reviews. Before I…. Part of my job at Popular Woodworking Magazine is to talk with tool manufacturers and get their newest innovations into the PWM shop to test and review.

I tend to do things in a big way, which means I have a small mountain of things to review crowding the shop, my cubicle and the storage…. We recently received some new Freud Diablo blades at the magazine to test two of which will be featured in an upcoming Tool Test in the magazine. The blade is what Diablo calls its Ultimate Flawless Finish blade.

Maxed Out Midi Lathe. Both machines are made of heavy cast iron for stability and low vibration and feature quick release control levers and a 2 Morse taper head and tailstock. But General has…. It replaces the , a model that received top marks in our planer tool test back in In the years since, few other small planers have met the very high standard set by the Is the new model a step forward?

Because it is a relatively new…. Bosch has done it again — only smaller. Since leaving Popular Woodworking in June , I have avoided writing tool reviews. In fact, I have been thrilled to focus my attention on other things. Coming in…. At the HandWorks show in Amana, Iowa, last month, Veritas introduced publicly its newest innovation in workholding — a cam-lever hold-down that to me, looks like a duck.

In this video, I show some of the features of this long-awaited base, and give some tips for using a router to make mortises.

With a good fence on the router and a few clamps, you can…. Non-woven abrasive pads Scotch-Brite is one brand name were a great alternative to steel wool, much like cassettes were way better than 8-track tapes. Steel wool leaves behind little bits of metal…. Way back in , I wrote an article for issue 4 of Woodworking Magazine about holdfasts. At the time, very few woodworkers knew what a holdfast was, and the article reviewed available manufactured holdfasts, as well as a few blacksmith made ones.

We recently put the original holdfast article online, and included a link to…. If you have attended any of the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Events in the last year and you have a sharp eye, then you probably noticed an odd-looking low-angle jack plane on one of the benches. Dave Coleman is one of our readers, and one of the dedicated craftsmen putting the White Water Shaker Village back together.

My first thoughts were…. Over the years I have developed my index finger as a highly skilled glue-spreading appendage. Combine it with a proper bead of glue on the edge of a board and I can spread it evenly in nearly one swipe. These include the table saw, jointer, bandsaw, mitersaw, CNC machine and others. Most Recent Dancing-Master Caliper. Dancing-Master Calipers Craftsmen made them just for kicks.

Man looking at Square. Let us show you eight practical uses. Photo of jig. Our Favorite Doweling Jigs A good doweling jig should be intuitive, easy to use, and accurate. We've tried 'em all, and these are the jigs we like best. Photo of different clamp adaptations. Clamp Beyond Your Clamp Capacity Every bit as frustrating as not having enough clamps is not having clamps that reach where needed.

Whether you need to span a cabinet or wide panel, or apply clamping force beyond the reach of a clamp's jaws, these tips help you stretch your clamp's potential. And you won't have to store all those long bars or pipes. DeWalt benchtop planer with oak board.

Shop Test: Benchtop Planers These machines reduce boards to final thickness quickly and accurately. More Tools and Reviews Innovate Awards logo. Wood Magazine Innovate Awards Our 20 Best Router Tips and Tricks Make your router more accurate and versatile using these simple jigs and techniques.

Using the drill guide on board. Precision on the go. Man putting large board on tablesaw. Object on table with pump on table. Facing Favorites.

Bowl Gouge Sharpening. Bowl Gouge Sharpening Woodturning expert Brian Simmons shows you how to put a razor-sharp fingernail profile edge on a bowl gouge. Related Hand Plane on board. Skilsaw on board. Using planer on board with a long ribbon of wood. Getting Started with CNC. Work small parts safely. Tuning and Using Japanese Hand Planes.