A woodworker is only as good as his tools. In a world with enough woodworking tools to fill entire big-box stores, it’s important to know what you should buy (and what to avoid) so you can produce the best pieces possible and save money. Our tool reviews are different. Rather than use pseudo-science, we use the tools in the shop (we’re all experienced woodworkers), and report back how they perform. So whether you are in the market for a new set of chisels or a powerful table saw, we’ve got the best tools covered.
Last week I was at the North American headquarters of Bosch Tools, part of a group of woodworking journalists taking a look at new offerings of the company’s products. The first woodworking [...]
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 [...]
Lee Valley recently added Japanese milled-tooth plane-maker’s floats to their product line-up, and I’ve been using them the last few days to tweak some through-mortises. These are [...]
Some machines are easy to set up to collect dust and chips while others defy all attempts. On the easy list are most stationary machines: Plug the hose into the port and it works pretty well. On [...]
So, with hours to go before the year ends (at least in my time zone), I’ve one more post for 2011: some of Popular Woodworking Magazine‘s favorite new tools for 2011. Caveat: Because [...]
In a recent post, I talked about using rasps and in a response to one of the comments, I mentioned that I was watching my mailbox for the arrival of a package from France. Yesterday the box [...]
The first thing I did this morning was polish the blade on the Veritas Miniature Router Plane and try it out on a hinge mortise (the pre-dawn use explains the mood lighting in the pictures). As [...]
Before Senco sent us the 18-gauge cordless brad nailer that I tested for the November 2011 issue, they sent us a 15-gauge cordless finish nailer, the FN65DA. The 15-gauge angled nailer is really [...]
I always say that the most-used machine in my shop is a table saw. Second to that is a floor model mortiser – I learned back in 2000 how important this machine was to a guy building period [...]
Nope! Disney hasn’t entered the world of toolmaking. This isn’t about an amusement ride, either. The Mouseplane is a new woodworking tool introduce by Power Adhesives, a United [...]
From the August 2011 issue #191 Buy this issue now In April 2011, I blogged about a new dust collector from JET (read it here). I also wrote about the new collector design in the August 2011 [...]
Mark Harrell of Bad Axe Tool Works corralled two of his new saws for us to test; he calls them Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp, and optional quartersawn mesquite handles play to the Western theme. [...]