woodchuck1954

I, too, started with the original Makita 9.6V stick battery drill. I got it so early, a keyless chuck was not available.
I used it for three years of installing corrigated metal roofs. It finally died about when it was 20 years old. Plenty of power, for what I did. I bought the Bosch 10.8V
impact driver and the pocket driver was the rebate. But it was that slow, quick-chuck driver. I hardly ever use it. The impactor is a pleasure to use. One of these days, I will buy the real drill driver, without the batteries and charger. Tool-only goes for just under $100.

You can buy any other major brand 10.8V two pc. set for half the price of one Festool. You get a 3/8" chucked driver drill and the quick chucked impact driver. I think I will still stay away from black and green.

...............and to think that owning a trim or small router was all about how easy they are to maneuver with one hand. I really see no point of purchasing this product if you already own a full-sized table. A large router can take any cutter that a trim router takes. The only buyer I can see, is a model maker or anyone else that only does minature work.

Hmmmm! It looks to me like the "Inovative" push pad is NOT a Rockler product, but one by Bench Dog.

Tell me something? If it only adds $100 for each new tablesaw, how come the prices of Sawstop saws are typically double or triple the price of most other manufacturer's saws? Contractor saw for $2000. It seems to me, only fools and idiots need this technology. Would you want to work near one of these guys. They ought to be banned from woodshops, for life.

woodchuck1954
"A legend in his own mind."

Santa usually gives me a list of things to make, using my old tools.

I don't remember where I saw it, but there actually was a hammer with a laser. Sort of like, "Why do they put lasers on jig saws?" When using a jig saw, most of the time its used for a curved cut. Why put one on a drill press, just like drilling metal, one hit on a center punch, on wood, automatically lines up the point on the bit. But, my all time favorite was the Harbor Freight center punch that had a magnifying glass attached to the side of it.

Whacha spend the other nine cents on? Anyhoo, I bought the MK2 guide about three years ago, with the 1K/4K combo stone, as a set, straight from Lee Valley, for under $70. Just about the best decision I ever made. Using the guide is as simple as it can get. The only thing was, when I got mine, my chisels were already a few years old and I had no other means to sharpen anything, outside of sandpaper. Soon afterwards I purchased a 250 grit stone to quicken the job. After using them I realized I needed one of those grooved stones to flatten the other two.
The 250 stone and the flattening stone cost around $50, together. When I went to flatten the 250 stone I decided to try out my 12" disc sander. Even with a 60 grit disc, it took quite a bit of time to flatten it completely. Once I was there, then I used the grooved stone to dress the two faces.
I have no idea if technically I did right or not, but everything seems in good working order and frankly its a lot cheaper running through a disc than doing the whole job on a $25 stone. I have a good-sized plastic tub, with a sealable lid, to keep all three stones under water. If I were to start all over, I think I would try the MK2 with the scary-sharp method, to keep costs lower. I'm sure the guide would do well, as long as you had a flat-solid surface to work on.
I have the six piece set of Marples Blue Chip chisels, that I bought several years ago, long before they started making them in China. They are okay, but you can probably do a lot better, with about the same amount of money, especially now that they left England. I believe it was Fine Woodworking that did a tool test on chisels, two or three years ago. They rated western chisels seperately from Japanese chisels. The Japanese set from Grizzly got rated best value. Seems to me the set cost was lower than $15 per chisel, on average. You probably have direct access to the author of the article, to get some first-hand comments, at least more than the average Joe, on the outside looking in. If nothing else, You could always buy one of those chisels and try it out, before committing bigger bucks for the whole set. Everybody has different hands. A tool that feels good in my hand may not fit yours.

woodchuck1954
"A legend in his own mind"

I was born in 1954. My father gave me his Walker Turner 6" Joiner. Its older than me by about five years. He bought it new. Its the basic machine with a home made wooden stand. The beds are too low, in my opinion, so I am going to redesign a taller stand and add mobility to it. The one feature I like the most is the motor sits level with the beds, with a triple V-Belt system, a lot like cabinet saws. It has the original 1/2H.P. The one feature I don't like is the rear-mounted fence. I sure wish it had a center-mounted fence. It needs a lot of care, but overall it is in fine shape.

woodchuck1954
"A Legend in his own mind"

Very seldom do I buy used power tools. I don't even look at yard sales. But, a few months ago, I bought an old Craftsman
belt driven air compressor. I have no idea of its CFM capacity, but it does fine with my brad nailer and stapler. The guy was asking $40 for it, all I had was $32. He took it and I haven't looked back since.

Precision and ease of use are the two most important qualities a favorite tool must have, in my opinion. The first that comes to mind is the Veritas MK2 Honing guide, that I purchased with three waterstones, a few years back. Or it works well with the scary-sharp system, if you prefer. There is nothing to calibrate, as its so simple. Another favorite is my Katie Dovetail Jig. I use it exclusuvely, upside down, on my routertable. Again simple set-up, by eye. I chose it over the Leigh jig because it cost $100 less and all I wanted was Through Dovetails. I will also add, Terry Hampton, The inventor/president of the Katie Jig, will talk to you, first hand, on the telephone and if there are any issues, he will help solve the problem instead of adding to it. My only problem was missing parts when I first got it. He not only sent what I needed but added some extras, for my trouble. He then gave me the company, cell phone and his private home phone numbers, if I needed them. Lastly, a year ago I built a Drill Press Table for my 16.5" D.P. Designed it as I worked on it, it has two T-tracks, with toggle clamps, a straight-edge clamp for a fence and large replacable inserts for the drilling surface. It bolts directly to the round, cast-iron D.P.table. Again, simple and well-made, out of two layers of MDF and edges trimmed with Walnut. Finish is just several coats of Garnet Shellac and three coats of paste wax.

Woodchuck1954
"A legend in his own mind."