When we are looking for accurate and repeatable measurements, we often turn to the trusty story pole. Though, our story pole usually consists of just a scrap piece of wood that is either cut to the right length or has measurement markings drawn on it. After all, being able to use the scraps we already have on hand, is what makes the story pole great. But what if you are doing a lot of measuring, and you need something that is going to be able to handle the abuse that goes along with production work?

While I think most of us would be just fine with using a scrap wood story pole, Woodpeckers has a new telescoping Bar Gauge that can do everything a story pole can do, plus more. The Bar Gauge is made out of stainless steel, aluminum, and a bit of brass, so it should last you a lifetime. One of the coolest features is the special replaceable screw-on brass tips which allows the gauge to measure inside corners, or fit into dados. Woodpeckers is offering four sizes of Bar Gauges - 12", 24", 36" and 48" max lengths - priced between $29.99 - $44.99. The Bar Gauge are a special one-time-run, so you must order before Monday 11/7/11.

Woodpeckers

We often find ourselves using duct tape outdoors to repair camping equipment and other outdoor gear, so doesn't it just make sense for Gorilla Tape – who boasts about being able to withstand harsh UV rays, cold winters, etc. – to offer their tape in a camouflage variety?

Well, that it just what Gorilla did, and it looks like they did it right. If you have ever looked at a hunting supply catalog, you have probably noticed that just about everything they sell is covered in a camo pattern by Mossy Oak, and there is a reason for that, they make the best camo patterns. Gorilla chose to use the Break-Up Infinity pattern by Mossy Oak, but unlike regular Gorilla Tape, it features a matte finish. The new camo tape also has the same great features as their regular tape, so you know you are getting something strong, that will stick to almost anything.

Gorilla Glue's new Mossy Oak Camouflage Gorilla Tape is available in 1.88-inch width rolls at 12-yard lengths and is available now at Lowe's, Home Depot and other hardware stores. Go out and get your camouflaged on... make yourself a Gorilla Tape ghillie suit.

What do you use if you want the delicate touch and control that comes with a hand saw, combined with the precision you get with a powered scroll saw? Up until now I would not have had an answer for you, but thankfully for those interested, I came across the Precision Saw from Knew Concepts. Knew Concepts is becoming a well know name amongst people looking for high quality fret saws and when you just look at their tools, you can see why. Not only do they impress with their no-flex titanium fret saws with quick tension cam-lever, but their Precision Saw is truly something unique.

The Knew Concepts Precision Saw takes the features that made their frets saws popular and combined them with the features that make scroll saws so accurate. This was done by making a fret saw that has a built-in table and ball bearing guide mechanism that allows the tool to move smoothly and accurately up and down. The Precision Saw is an all-in-one design, meaning that you would not need to use a v-board, which is commonly used with fret saws. The entire saw clamps to your workbench in place of a v-board. The table on the Precision Saw can also be tilted left or right for angled cuts, and an adjustable hold down pin ensures that your work pieces stay in place.

With a cost of $385, the Knew Concepts Precisions Saw is truly a saw for professional jewelers or fine metalworkers, but you should be happy to know that your money is being spent on a tool that is made in the USA.

Knew Concepts

Before there were loud but powerful electric routers, there were quiet and serene hand powered router planes. If you ever watch Roy Underhill on his woodworking show, you have seen how valuable these tools were, and still are. Sure powered routers can cut fast, but sometimes you just want the light touch that can come with hand powered tools. In an episode of Rough Cut, Tommy Mac demonstrated how the router plane easily cleaned up a dado cut with a router, without the need for any jigs or templates.

Lee Valley has just introduced their new Veritas Miniature Router Plane, that has all of the features of a regular sized plane, but now gives users a way to clean up really small dados. Cleaning up inlay cuts is the first thing that comes to mind with this router, but there are same many more uses. How about routing out a door hinge or some door hardware. Maybe use it to get old finish or paint out of a fine detailed piece of furniture you are trying to restore.

The Lee Valley Mini Router features a machined stainless steel body with a sole that has been ground and lapped flat. It comes with a 1/8-inch router blade that is made from A2 tool-steel which can be positioned in the standard inboard position, or in an outboard position. The blade can be adjusted up or down and locked into place with a fine-screw feed mechanism. Finishing of the tool are the two Bubinga knobs. The Veritas Miniature router comes packaged in an embossed, French-fitted presentation box, with an introductory price of $34.50. After 11/1/11, the price will jump to $39.50.

Veritas Mini router Plane - Lee Valley

Senco took cordless nailers in a new direction when they introduced their Fusion line. Instead of using fuel cells or fly-wheels, Senco developed a recharging close-looped compressed nitrogen system that acts kind of like a mini air compressor built right into the gun. Senco initially released 15-gauge and 18-gauge versions of the nailer, and now they are expanding to include a 16-gauge straight nailer (F-16S), and a 16-gauge angled nailer F-16A.

"We've had tremendous success converting pneumatic, battery, and gas-powered customers to the F-15 and the F-18," says Dave Moore, Senco's director of Fusion technology. "Now we have solutions for people who prefer a 16 gauge finish nailer."

The 16-gauge models should be a nice addition to the line, and it do offer a few advantages. The nails leave a bit smaller hole compare to a 15-gauge, but I think the bigger advantage is the actual shape of 16-gauge nails. Because 16-gauge nails are square, they actually have more holding strength compared to round 15-gauge nails.

Both F-16 model kits come with one 18 volt lithium-ion battery, a charger, and a canvas carrying case. A single battery charge can drive up to 500 nails, and their 18V battery can reach an 80% charge in only 15 minutes.

Senco
Senco Fusion - Amazon

Check out this new multifunction table that is sure to give the Festool MFT some competition. If size matters to you, take a look at the Benchmark Portable Work Table from Hagar Tools. The Benchmark is a foldable aluminum work table that is big enough to allow users to rip down full 4'x8' sheet goods.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Consumer Product Safety Commission voted on Wednesday to move toward tougher safety standards for table saws. This comes as bad news for the Power Tool Institute and its members who believe the safety standards they adopted in 2007 are adequate when used properly; many of us actual tool users would agree.

The problem is, the CPSC has been lobbied pretty heavily by inventor Stephen Gass, who wants every table saw in the US to use his safety invention which can stop a table saw blade as soon as any flesh makes contact with it. The technology Gass invented is pretty awesome, and he uses it in his SawStop brand of table saws successfully, but it is not cheap. I am sure the CPSC has our best interest at heart, but at what cost? A good jobsite table saw already cost $500 or more, so the question is, how much will the SawStop technology add to the price? The cheapest SawStop saw, their contractor model, costs around $1500. This could also be the end of the smaller Portable Jobsite Table Saws.

The CPSC has stated that their vote does not necessarily mean they will mandate the use of the SawStop tech, but it does mean that changes will be coming. My question is, what more can table saw manufacturers do to make their saws safer without using Gass' invention? It seems to me that just about all of the safety features that we know of are already on the newer table saws. If forced, PTI members will likely choose to use the WhirlWind safety method (which I wrote about here) over SawStop, because it would be easier to implement, would cost less, and would add less overall weight to the tools. Either way, we are looking at more expensive tables saws in our future.

Take a look at the videos after the break to see both the SawStop and the WhirlWind systems in action.

Via WSJ

Over these last few years it seems as tough anything that is both small and cordless is by default made to run off of the 12V rechargeable batteries. But what about the people that are invested into the 18-volt battery system, or people without either? This is where Porter-Cable has done something that I really like, they have introduced both an 18-volt (PCC581B ) and a standard alkaline 9-volt version (PCC582B ) of their new Infrared Thermometers. I should also note that the 18V version is compatible with PC 18V Lithium-ion and NiCd batteries.

The IR Thermometers have some really great features that make it even easier to spot the differences in temperature. Beside the backlit LCD display, both units also feature a temperature indicator beam that changes color based on heat differences in the room. Simply pull the trigger on one of the tools and a green indicator light will appear wherever the unit is pointed; if you move the beam to a cooler area, it will turn blue, or it will turn to red if it is moved to a warmer area. This feature should make it easy to quickly spot the hot and cold points in a room.

The thermometers both have a working range of -22 to 590 degrees Fahrenheit and an accuracy of plus/minus 1.8 degrees, and a 12:1 distance to spot ratio accuracy. The unit also feature a 10 bank memory system that can be used to store temperature readings, or be used to capture readings in hard to reach areas. Both models will be available in November and will retail for about $60 each. The PCC581B is sold as a bare tool.

Personally I think right angle drills are becoming more and more irrelevant, primarily because of the smaller sizes of regular ultra-compact drill; and every year these ultra-compact drills get smaller and smaller. Even though the ultra-compact drill has taken away many a job that the right angle drill could do, there are still times when we need something even smaller.

The PS11 is the latest right angle drill from Bosch, but unlike other right angled drills on the market, it has an articulating head. The new head allows the tool be used in standard 90-degree form, or it can be used as a straight drill when adjusted to 180-degrees. If both of those angles wont do, you have three more angle choices in between 90 and 180. Since you will be working in small, probably dark areas, an LED light would be nice; well, the PS11 has two LED lights that move with the head. While one light is great, two is even better. The drill features a 3/8-inch auto locking chuck that is suitable for most drilling and screwing tasks, and delivers speed up to 1,300 RPMs.

The Bosch PS11 Angle Drill/Driver is available as a kit (PS11-2A) which includes 2-batteries, a 30min charger, and a soft case. Retail prices is suggested to be $149. Those of you adding to your collection can find the bare tool as model PS11B.

Bosch Tools
Bosch PS11-2A - TylerTool

For many Festool owners it is either Festool tools or nothing, and in a time when just about every tool user has an impact driver, these same Festool fans have been making excuses as to why they don't need an impact driver. I have heard excuses like, "I don't need an impact because my Festool drill has more than enough power". Really? More torque than an impact driver? Sure their reasoning is a joke, but we have to admire their loyalty, even though it is annoying. But soon all those Festool owners that don't need impact drivers will be waiting in line to buy the new Festool TI 15 3-In-1 Impact. But we can't blame them, after all, we all know that impacts are the best tools for driving screws.

The TI 15 might be the first impact from Festool, but they didn't skimp on the features. You might have noticed the 3-In-1 in the name of the tool, and this because the TI 15 is not only an impact driver, but it also has a drill mode, and also a right angle drill head. The impact is powered by a 14.4 volt lithium-ion battery that drives the brush-less motor. The specs list the TI 15 with 100 Newton Meters of torque, which is equal to about 885 in-lbs of torque. Other features include a variable speed dial, LED light, and battery level indicator. Right now the TI 15 Impact is only available in Europe, but it should be on its way here in the near future.

Check out the video of the TI 15 Impact in action below and the rather catchy music.