Machinery, Tools, Research, Reviews and Safety

I have a habit of keeping tabs on Facebook Marketplace looking for bargains. Last night a guy listed a Bosch Colt trim router for $75. It had been used once and looked brand new. I have one already but being a Bosch guy (I have 3 1617EVS) I thought it was a pretty good deal so I would watch it. He reduced it to $50 and threw in a set of cheap bits. They are in my shop now. Bits are clearly not Freud but hey, they were free. I should feel guilty but I don’t.

I have a project I' designing. It's a six foot long two level book case that may include drawers and doors. Or maybe it won't. It'll end up being painted white. So I'm still not settled on the material whether I'll use Maple Pine or Poplar. I'm planning on using loose tenons for the framing. So I thought maybe I'd look (again) at the domino. This time I looked hard. Now you may not know, but I am some what unloving about the brand in general. It's not merely that I think that they overcharge insanely to pay for those incredible benefits and vacations. But, I also had a bad experience with a festertool rep at a show when I dared in…

Need parts only manual for the saw. Have operation manual but no parts manual. Anybody locate listing online?....

Question to all. Has anyone closely compared the aluminum bar clamps sold thru Woodcraft to those sold at HF? I'm not a big HF fan, but I'll be darned if I can see any difference in these clamps. For a 36" one, HF is $11.99 while WC is $16.40. Appreciate any insight someone may have. Thanks so much and apologies if this has been covered already.

I saw this on Craigslist. I didn’t know the existed but what a cool concept. https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/tls/7559512644.html Paul

If you follow some of the humor topis in Free for All, you would have seen quite a few funny signs. As it turns out many of them are for sale on Amazon, and i picked up this one a few days ago. It's not rolling on the floor funny, maybe a little more serious. But I put in a wooden strip with magnets so i can move around the shop from time to time and remind me of what's important on days I may be a little foggy (which happens more and more as you age).

...waiting to happen.

I had an old friend pass away yesterday. He and I have known each other since 1986. It seems like yesterday and not 31 years. We used to work together quite and bit and he was always there when I needed him. Anyway, he'll be sorely missed. You would have never known that he was sick, but he is gone, nevertheless. There were no outward indications of anything wrong. As a matter of fact he was, in all appearances, in excellent shape and not all banged up or worn out like most his age. That alone makes me sad because there was no indications of anything being wrong. Perhaps if there had been I would have recognized it and at least been there to help. I may have b…

LOl, was out in shop working a bit re arranging, organizing again, installing a dust collection system in shop has been dragging on me, i have a large 4hp unit in a mech room along with the air compressor, adjacent to a wall in shop, this room was intended for air compressor and dust collector all along. so i have quite a bit of 4'' pipe, fittings, and today, i was setting on a stool and boom it hit me how to lay it out , and make it hit all machines with least amount of bends ect. i've struggled for months trying to work it out, amazing how dropping it from thought for a while an answer shows up. biggy was making drops in reasonable locations to grab a…

Good morning...and happy weekend ! Probably doesn't mean much to you retired guys I am looking for an "angle finder" and hoping you have a favorite that you've been using. It needs to do inside and outside angles... No digital, please...nothing fancy...accurate mechanical readout preferred. Doesn't matter if it's a gauge or something like a protractor. Right now I'm transferring angles to a protractor but am getting tired of that... I am refurbishing a deck around an oval pool...not so oval as you might now...and am edging the deck around the capping and need to cut boards accordingly. I've had other small jobs where an angl…

I need a mobile tool base, and have bought HTC products in the past...I really like them. In years past they made mobile bases that would fit almost anything, these weren't the ones you put wooden stretches in and adjusted to fit, they were rigidly welded heavy steel box beams with super quality castors. They were a little pricey, but most quality products are (IMHO). Anyway, in searching for them again I find an outfit called Affinity Tool Works has bought the brand. They (Affinity) are a "distributor of import tools". In looking at the HTC offerings, there are a handful of the adjustable bases available. Another former quality name down the drain. (rant off)

I just heard an ad on the radio from Lowes. It announced that the Hitachi tools would soon be Metabo XXX. Went on to say the tools will still be the same Hitachi quality, but if you want the Hitachi name rush in and load up (or something like that). Not sure what's going on, but it sounds like Metabo (which has always meant high quality European tools to me) has picked up an Asian line to compete with somebody. I guess I would think Lowes would know that Metabo are Cadillac tools, and Hitachi would be a step down (no offense to Hitachi fans, but the ones I've seen aren't in the Metabo league).

looks like the Pony/Jorgenson business has been bought by a Chinese firm. Heartbreaking...

In addition to the French curved set this 17 x 22" pad of paper has helped me draw out all my own thoughts and let me turn some of them into actual pieces of wood dodads... Just the right size for the scroll saw can't handle anything bigger than 20" so these sheets of paper gives me some wiggle room. We happen to walk in to a large office supply one day waiting for a doctors appointment in 1999 and it kinda changed my whole outlook of woodworking....I already owned the french curved set, but with out the graph paper, the french curved set was was filed away and hadn't been used for many years... All these placques with the letters I cut out using the word…

Just came across this pic on Pinterest. Couldn't find any other info. A unique concept, though.

Remember the idiot that sued a ladder manufacturer because their ladder slipped on a frozen pile of cow manure? Well, here's another Mensa candidate whose heirs will likely bring suit. Cell phone charging

I'm not trying to start another of those endless threads about the value of SS. But we've all seen the hot dog stuff, and here's a different take on the brake function. In this one the brake is tripped with a dado set, and some of the teeth break off. It's something I hadn't seen before and though it might be of interest. To skip through the usual sludge, go to the 6 minute (+/-) mark of the video. Now let's see if I can embed the video. OK, sorry, I'm not smart enough to embed it. Disclaimer: I found this on another forum and thought it might be of interest here...I don't go looking for this stuff. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYLAi4jwXcs&feature=youtu.…

Kickback waiting to happen. This one is not even from a Chinese company, it's a Canadian one (Though I don't know where it's manufactured).. A battery powered table saw.

While searching for some odd parts, I came upon this site. It's worth a few minute browse if just for their hilariously funny item descriptions. You'll find stuff there, you won't find at your local Menards or Ace. https://www.ax-man.com Take a look. You can thank me later. On a more serious note, Peachtree is having a barn burner of a sale. http://www.ptreeusa.com/edirect_041117_easter.htm