News

If you are a serious woodworker or even an avid amateur, you probably have some form of dust collection for your shop tools. We all know that dust in the lungs is a bad thing, especially if the dust is from manufactured or composite woods. Dust collectors are good at keeping dust levels down in the workplace, except for when you need to clean them out. Those filters get blocked up with so much loose dust that when you remove them, the dust goes everywhere. You almost need an extra dust collector running when clean out your dust collector....

When do you ever open up a new can of paint or stain, and finish the entire can in one go? Unless you are a professional, the chances are pretty good that you rarely finish the full thing in one day. So what ends up happening is you seal up the can, and put it on the shelf to used at a later date. After a few projects have gone by, you turn to your dust covered can of finish and open it up to find a hard skin over the surface. What a...

Bosch has recently announced a new Saw blade that is part of their DareDevil line. The blade is designed to perform better and last longer than other blades on the market, and if they are anything like their DareDevil Spade bits, framers really having something to look forward too. The boost in performance is due partly to features like Bosch's C3 Micrograin Carbide teeth, which are said to not only stay sharper longer, but they can also resist impact damage. Other features include a special coating on the blade that helps to reduce binding in wet...

Smart phones are not only really popular, it seems like everyone and their Grandma owns one (except me), but they are also super handy to have around. With the almost limitless number of apps available to us, these once business only phones have now become popular tools among tradesman, and can be found on every jobsite around the Country. There is one problem though, these high priced smart phones are not really designed to handle the toils of everyday construction use. My Friend and his BB phone know this all to well. After a number of...

Did you know you can make round tenons on square stock by using a simple jig and a table saw with dado? FineHomebuilding.com has a video that shows us how simple the jig is, and how easy the whole process is as well. Check out the video and see for yourself. It looks like the most important step to getting accurate roundness, is to make sure that your square stock fits snugly into the hole on the two guiding blocks. The cool thing about the setup is that you can adjust the tenon depth in a matter...

Jay over at Cop Tool put together a pretty simple and probably pretty accurate test, pitting the Bosch 2.6Ah batteries (BAT618) against the new Bosch 3.0Ah batteries (BAT619G). Now why did Bosch and the other manufacturers take years to start using 3.0Ah batteries, when Makita has been using them since they first introduced the world to Lithium-ion tools all those years ago? Well, I don't have an answer to this. Whatever the reason, Bosch now has batteries with a rating of 3.0Ah, and have also packed in a few other features. The new High Capacity or...

We can always count on Dremel to bring us some cool new tools that make diy and hobby projects even easier. Up first is a new Rotary tool, the tool that really put Dremel into household across America. The new Dremel 3000 rotary brings us a few great new features and might just make some of you past Dremel users long for a 3000 upgrade. The first feature is something we have all been wishing for since we got our very first Dremel all those years ago, on board wrench storage. The 3000 is the first...

Storage, storage, storage, we never seem to have enough of it. Just when you think you are getting yourself organized, you turn around to find that you are not; at least that is how I feel. The problem is, good storage solutions are either hard to find, or they are expensive. So when I find a system that looks solid, and affordable, I feel it is my duty to share it with you. The ShelfLinks system from 2x4basics looks like it fits all of the criteria I mentioned above. The system uses a combination...

The trim router has always been a handy tool to have around the jobsite, and thanks to advancements in technology, these little guys have become more and more powerful over the years, at no cost to their compact size. Originally intended for only trimming laminate, these "Trim" routers are now powerful enough to handle many of the jobs of their bigger brother. Rockler has obviously seen that the new generation of trim routers are being underutilized, and have come out with a new trim router table to bump them up to their true potential....