Machinery, Tools, Research, Reviews and Safety

Where do you think is the best place where I can get a decent (by decent, I meant cheap and high quality) reciprocating blade. Not quiet sure which brand is the most reliable.

I got my new Consumers Report today and they reported on the best cordless drill under $100 The first one listed is the Heavy duty Hercules HC91K1 Harbor Freight. $100 Second was Light duty Worx WX176L $100 Third was Rigid R82005K $90 They tested 40 drills. They did not give any details on tests performed or battery life. Too many unanswered questions for me. I don't doubt their results, but I'd like to see the tests and actual results.

I have been buying HF drill bits (general purpose) and lately even when sharpened in Drill Doctor are not that great. What is a good brand set to buy that will do wood and metal? Do not do a lot of metal but do not want to change bits in the middle of one hole.

What would be the best 10" table saw for a 4×8 portable workbench?

So here’s the saga…it may be old news to some of you… I finally ordered the Garrett Super Scanner V from Amazon. I figured it was about time as I plan to start using reclaimed wood in the near future. It seemed that I could practice a bit to make sure the real run would not cost me blades for the 735… When it came in I opened the Amazon box, carefully packaged BTW, and found a white box with a serial number and barcode on it (see picture). Inside the white box was a brand new shiny plastic Super Scanner V…or so I thought…(feel the suspense building now…?) After plugging it in and turning it on I got the tell-tale beep and green light. I wondered, howeve…

Well, my well used Oasis 15 inch planer decided to rebel yesterday, was trying to smooth one side to glue up some rails for a mahogany door a pard and i are building, anyhowz, it planed a couple then decided to lock up and not move the material, finding info on the oasis itself is tough, but it is identical to the griz, and a couple others, so finally finding some detailed diagrams i may be able to rectify the situation, gonna act like a tool repair guy, instead of a end user and see if i can finger it out, either a belt or pending on what the drive gears on the rollers are, could be them, anyone have issues with similar planer, diving into the unknown, gonna…

Government regulation will change woodworking forever from your garage to the largest users of table saws. I am not taking any shots at SAWSTOP if you like one buy one but soon big brother will make you buy a SawStop or something just like it . This video hit YouTube less than one hour ago. calabrese55

My birthday presents from my lovely wife

Just a couple years ago on two occasions I consider myself to have got lucky and stumbled on a couple old Black and Decker classics in fantastic condition, that look as if they have not seen much use at all, and at prices hard to pass up. One of them is a 2720 Industrial 8 amp router with owners manual. The other is a 7620 Commercial 5.5 amp, with a case, two wrenches, a edge guide, and owners manual. Generally people probably don't get too excited about Black and Decker, but as far as I know DeWalt started out as B&D's Industrial line.

Never payed attention to it till now that the B&D work bench was made from Bamboo plywood or we called it Boo-ply.Not a cheap product...

Anyone found any really good deals out there? There seem to be so many things reduced, but a $5 reduction on a $150 tool is just not too exciting.

As much as I don't need new tools, anyone see any spectacular deals at Home Depot, Lowe's, Menards, or Rockler?

Anyone seen any great Black Friday tool deals? I just saw a video on Lowe's and they had some various brand cordless tool sets. I don't really need any of them. Heavy on Craftsman stuff. Pass. Haven't checked out Menards or Home Depot yet. I was in Aldi yesterday buying some milk and they have a "portable workbench", sort of a Workmate type of thing for about $25.

Most places are having 10-15% off select Jet and Laguna tools. And Harbor Freight's ad, out today: https://blackfriday.com/ads/black-friday/harbor-freight?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=05QiILVhCnhPbzHDayAchms

A bit disappointed. A drill/driver+impact was on my Xmas wish list. HD has the one I wanted on Black Friday ad, $149. It was on sale through yesterday for $139, delivered to home. Hmmm. The Bosch Colt was $79 at Lowe's, originally $119 (really??). Hmmm. I got it for $99 - 5% a couple of weeks ago. While saving a bit, we've used it for two days. As my wife says, "I'm not getting up at 3 am, standing in line for an hour, perhaps missing out on even getting one for $10 savings on something."

A long time ago, in a galaxy far fa....oh, wrong track. Maybe a couple years back, in a forum that shall be nameless, Ralph raised the question about how to see the cut line on a bandsaw, when the dust/chips kept collecting on the line marks. I thought at the time that LED lights would help. They did, a little, but not enough. I then looked into a chip blower setup, but found that BS either had them or not, depending on how the motor housing is configured (to bleed off vent air). Mine don't, so I tried Plan C: install something. Turned out too expensive, I couldn't find the right parts, etc, and I gave up. New galaxy: W-smith tips show a product called Loc-Li…

Woodpeckers is running a sale on the Bora circular saw guide, both the four piece and the five piece sets. I'm considering this, but, according to the Amazon web site, these items have mixed reviews. I really can't justify the cost of a track saw. Has anyone had any experience with this system? I could make my own guides, but then I would need three different sets, as I have three circular saws with different widths between the blade edge and edge of the plate. Any thoughts?