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Father’s Day Gift Ideas
Looking for the perfect gift for the woodworker in your life? With Father’s Day right around the corner, this is timely. But whatever the event, your favorite woodworker is certain to love these gift ideas.
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Product Review: Nova Voyager DVR Drill Press
Lots of tools cross our paths, and every once in a while a tool really grabs our attention. The Nova drill press is a great example of that. What makes it cool? Let’s jump right into one of my most-loved features on this machine; electronic variable speed. No step pulleys, no belt to move…Changing speeds
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Benefits of Parallel Jaw Clamps
If you’re working wood, you’re probably clamping parts together. That means you need to have good quality clamps in your shop. It’s really hard to beat the benefits of parallel jaw clamps. Why parallel jaw clamps? I tell you what. The feature I like the best about parallel jaw clamps is that the jaws stay
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Product Review: Portamate PM-1800 – Panel Carrier
This is an ingenious and invaluable back-saving tool for a one-person shop. It works better and easier than I imagined. Being able to maneuver sheet goods around my shop, and then flip them from vertical to horizontal, and do that all myself with very little effort is HUGE. There are other heavy-duty plywood carts available for large shop use, but those are big and expensive. This one is compact, folds flat for easy out of the way storage, and it’s a real steal at around $100!
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Using a Bar Stock to Set Up Tools
Anyone who knows George knows that he pretty much hates measuring. He cheats whenever possible, employing a variety of tips and tricks, including using a set-up gauge. Set-up gauges are simple little things: brass bar stock in a variety of sizes, but they take a lot of the hassle out of setting up tools. What’s
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The Super Max 16-32 Surface Sander
Surface sanders, also called drum sanders, have really come a long way. It’s not that long ago that you’d only find surface sanders in large, commercial shops. Today, sanders have become way more prevalent in small shops, and way more accessible to woodworkers. SuperMax has been a name in the surface sander world for a
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How to Weather Wood
Have you ever wondered how to weather wood? Sometimes a project calls for a weathered look that just cannot be created with new wood and conventional finishing products because our typical finishing approaches render a look that is, well, just too new. Sure, you can sometimes find weathered wood for sale that has been salvaged
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Why George Loves Combination Squares
There are a handful of tools in the shop that I use nearly every day. A combination square is one of them. These are such versatile tools. I love that you can interchange the heads for different functions, getting even more mileage out of a nearly indispensable tool. Round stock, angles, marking and measuring. The
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How to Attach a Miter Saw Laser
There are a lot of great reasons for having a laser on a miter saw, but not every saw comes with a miter saw laser. If your machine doesn’t have a laser don’t despair, there’s a solution. Benefits of a laser There are some great reasons for having a miter saw laser. A big one
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Dust Collection Systems from Laguna
Effective dust collection in your shop is very important. Remember that reaction to dust is a cumulative thing. Not reacting today doesn’t mean you won’t become reactive in the future. The lesson out of this? Take care of your lungs by making certain you have good woodworking dust collection on your tools. Laguna Tools has
Buying Advice
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Hi, Im interested in purchasing a JET Drum Sander… Between the JET 1632 and 1836… I’m on the fence… Any thoughts on one vs the other… it is about $200 more for the 1836… also the 1836 is 2″ bigger and has the 1.75 hp vs the 1.5 on the 1632. I like the 1632 but hate the thought of a year down the road I should have spent the extra $200 for the 1836. Thank you for any advise/thoughts on which way I should go. My email is eilers2020@gmail.com. Thank you!
Hi James. Power and capacity are important with a drum sander. Between the two that you are looking at, I would lean toward the 1836. Before you pull the trigger, I’d also suggest taking a look at this one: https://amzn.to/2Lj2gCh. The same people who designed the Jet drum sanders left to start SuperMax, and these guys know what they are doing. George has one in his shop and loves it. It’s a very impressive machine, and roughly the same price as the Jet 1836.
Thanks
Paul-WWGOA
Looking for good 10″ Table saw blade sharpener