|
| |
Welcome to my tool reviews page where I give honest evaluations
of woodworking tools that I use in my workshop. Only tools I consider
worthy of purchase make it onto this page.
JET JWL1236 Wood Lathe
I
chose to purchase this lathe because of the balance of features verses price it
offered and because of my faith in the Jet brand after some fairly extensive
experience with one of their cabinet saws. It features a 3/4 hp
motor, variable speed control, pivoting head that can turn 90 degrees for
outboard turning, and a heavy bed among other things. Once I had the stand
and lathe assembled I round filed the included face shield (using a lathe
requires much better face protection than a piece of plastic held on your head
with a strip of elastic), ground two of the four spurs off the drive center for
better turning of stock with less than perfect ends (my thanks to Ernie Conover
for that tip), and loaded a piece of ash to start turning. My lathe came
with a set of tools said to be a $60 value that I used to go to work on the ash.
The next day I was on the phone with Jet telling them the 3/4 hp motor was
undersized because I was having so many problems with overpowering the motor and
stopping the spindle. They verified that Jet does not make a conversion
kit to increase the motor size and that any modification on my part would void
the warranty. I came to the conclusion that the quality of my cutting tools was
low and I needed to try this lathe with better tools before passing final
judgment. Henry Taylor and Robert Sorby came to my rescue, and I have
since been successful turning black walnut and Cocobolo hardwoods on this lathe.
I would still prefer twice the horsepower on the drive motor, but this lathe
works well if you use good quality high speed steel cutting tools. As
heavy as this lathe is, it still wanders a little while rough turning. One
of these days I'm probably going to put some drop anchors in the concrete floor
so I can bolt the legs down. |
|
Milwaukee 1/2" Magnum Drill
The Milwaukee 1/2" magnum drill is a heavy duty workhorse.
It has a 5.5 amp variable speed motor that can get the job done. These
have heavily populated tool boxes of construction workers for years for three
reasons, performance, durability, and a reasonable price tag. I've used
many of these drills through various employers over the years. When it was
time to buy my own drill there was no question which one it would be.
Milwaukee now has an 8 amp version. I have stopped the bit a couple of
times on the 5.5 amp version in extreme cases. I have also been picked up
and body slammed by a 7.5 amp Milwaukee Hole Hawg while it was twisting the head
off a 1/2 inch solid carbide drill bit. I'm sure the Hole Hawg
is geared for more torque than the 8.0 amp Magnum, but if you are going to use
the 8.0 I strongly suggest you hold on tight to both handles when drilling
anything that might grab the bit. They are very high grade, professional
equipment.
|
DeWalt DW621
Plunge Router
The DeWalt DW621 is a 2
hp plunge router with three adjustable stops. With included equipment it can
turn both 1/4 and 1/2 inch bits. I bought mine for use both on a table and as a
hand held. I originally wasn't sure that 2 hp was going to be enough for a
table mounted router, and so far this machine has cut everything I've run up
against it (oak, black walnut, chestnut, birch) with ease. I haven't yet used
any large bits for raised panels. I'll update this when I get to test it on
that type of heavy load. Depth adjustment and the start switch can be a little
tricky to use upside down. I tried unsuccessfully to get DeWalt to give me
rectangular coordinates for the non-symmetrical screw holes used for mounting to
a plate so that I could use CAD to make a drill template. After a failed
attempt to use the bottom off the router as a template I realized that I had to
find a pre-drilled router plate. Rockler® Woodworking and Hardware saved
the day with their excellent
pre-drilled 1/4
inch aluminum router plate. The penalty? I had to replace the
entire top of my router table which I had already cut for my original plate and
laminated. If you are building a router table, I strongly suggest you avoid the
frustration and find a good pre-drilled plate in the beginning. They are
available for a variety of different routers.
|
Jet JBOS Oscillating Spindle Sander
The
Jet JBOS bench oscillating spindle sander does a great job of sanding places I
can't reach with my belt sander. The spindle oscillates up and down while
it rotates at over 1700 RPM. The heavy duty 14.5 X 14.5 inch table adjusts
at up to a 45 degree angle from horizontal. This machine is more suited to
precise sanding than bulk wood removal. It comes with spindles that range
in size from 1/2 to 2 inches. This is the machine to use for sanding hard
to reach concave surfaces.
|
Henry Taylor Diamic Lathe Tools
Henry Taylor Diamic high speed steel
lathe tools are my number one choice for spindle turning tools. I use the
1/2 square scraper, 1/2 round nose scraper, 1" round nose scraper, diamond
section parting tool, 1/4 spindle gouge, 3/8 spindle gouge, 1/2 spindle gouge,
1" oval skew, and 1 1/4 deep roughing gouge. The extra long tool on the
far right is a 1/2 Superflute bowl gouge.
|
|
 Clamp-It™
Assembly Square
The Clamp-It™ Assembly
square is one of those tools that you wonder how you ever lived without.
Normal squares are great for checking to see if you got something put
together exactly the way you want it, but
Clamp-It is the tool that gets your drawers, face frames, table legs,
and even your fence gate square and keeps them in place while the glue
dries and the screws are driven in. They come in the standard
8 inch version, the
4 inch Mini-Clamp-It version, and the
adjustable 8 inch version that can be set to different angles.
They are also great when you need an extra set of hands. |
|
