Best and Worst buys in the last 12 months

[Chris Knight]

The best

1. Sauer and Steiner plane - Works as well as you might expect - beautifully! http://www.sauerandsteiner.com/

2. Koch Ball and socket clamp - a superb carving aid http://tinyurl.com/aol64

3. Eliminator chuck - saves lots of frustration and time http://tinyurl.com/bz2q8

The worst
1. Koch Sharpening and honing system - I just can't get a decent edge using it. I prefer to do my carving tools by hand in fact. http://tinyurl.com/aol64

 

[tim]

Mods

Can you split this thread. Its getting a bit random with the marble drilling Q&A every three posts or so.

Cheers

T

Mod edit - Done

 

[ByronBlack]

Here's my two peneth worth:

Best Buys

No.1 Jet 14" Bandsaw - love the quality of the machine, with the dure-edge it's a dream to use, i'm so glad I got this instead of a Basato 3

No.2 Lie Nielsen Bronze Apron Plane - the best hand tool I own.

No.3 Kirschen 1101s Boxed Bevel-edged chisel set - easy to hone and sharpen, a joy to use.

No.4 B&Q Performance Pro Cordless Drill (birthday pressie) really good for the price, have used it loads already, going to buy another one!

No.5 Collins Woodworking Manual - bought from ebay for just 99p - excellent book.

Worst Buys (too many to put in this post)

No.1 Screwfix Spokeshave - utter carp!

No.2 Ferm Drill press - worse than useless, shakes all over the place, a cat with a toothpick could bore a more accurate hole.

No.3 Faithfull Plane set - the block was ok, but the jack was very poor, i've since sold these on ebay.

I could go on and on (on both sides) but these stand out. I received a Record T5 today that was a recent ebay purchase (£26) and that is in fantastic condition, i've also bought a lot of cheap tools from screwfix for guitar-making and most of them are just rubbish and not worth buying.

 

[Chris Knight]

Barry, well done on the T5, I've seen them go for over £50 =D>

 

[Anonymous]

Best buys in last 12 months

Triton Router

LN LA Jack - pefect!

LN #5 1/2 - more perfect!!

Veritas LA Jointer (OK, I dind't buy it but it is FANTASTIC)
Incra Ultra 24" router fence - how did I ever manage without it? (Thanks Chris for recommendation)

Rockler Mitre guage and 38" track (blue track that looks lovely in the router table ) - also, the only one of this length I could find.

Veritas Micro-Adjust Wheel Marking Gauge (after Alf's review). Superb bit of kit and cheap too.

Worst buy

Axminster 'straight?????' edge. Sent it back for a refund

Axminter Tenon saw. Rubbish!

 

[Bean]

Best Buy

Clifton No. 5 Just cannot get the smile off my face.

Kity 419 Table Saw What did I do without it

Kreg Pockethole Jig

Veritas MKII Sharpening System

Worst

Cheap F Clamps

Bean

 

[Nailer]

Best buy's this year.....not that there's much left of it .......but there's still time to squeeze a few more in :wink:

Xcalibur 804 table saw

Osborne EB3 miter gauge

Veritas MK II Honing guide

Bessey clamps

Record #7 Jointer

Worst buy's

I don't think there's been any.....thanks to this forum 8)

 

[tim]

Forgot to add this to my worst buys:

LN dowel plate
Beautifully made, really poor functionality. Any timber has to be about 0.1mm bigger than the hole otherwise the tear out is terrible. Also the timber will twist as it comes through meaning the resulting dowel isn't straight.

Cheers

Tim

 

[Chris Knight]

Forgot to add this to my worst buys:

LN dowel plate

Oh yes, I was forgetting too.

 

[Scott]

Best buys

Jet Supersaw - I love it!

Jet bench morticer - saves so much time and effort!

LV BUS - I sooo wanted not to like it! (just to be awkward!) It's not exactly pretty (sorry Rob - LN fan talking here) and I don't particularly like the rear tote BUT.... it does the job very well!

Worst

Well, for once I don't actually think I've bought a bad tool this year. Perhaps I'm finally learning to control my addiction! :roll:

 

[tim]

Well, for once I don't actually think I've bought a bad tool this year. Perhaps I'm finally learning to control my addiction!

Aah - but it can be anything - drill bits, sandpaper, etc - doesn't have to be super expensive tools.

Cheers

Tim

 

[Philly]

Here goes........(waits for tutting to die down :wink: )

Best Buys

Lee Valley LA Jack Plane-a beautiful, competent plane. "It's talent knows no bounds"

Trend Airshield-clean air AND eye protection that does not steam up, at the same time. Now this is H+S gear I actually WANT to use..... 8)

Lee Valley Honing Jig MK II- sharpening becomes a "no-brainer"

Worst Buys

Water Based Poly-horrible, horrible, horrible...... :x

Thanks to this forum (and a bit of luck) I've not bought any real screamers this year. Mind you, it's not over yet! :lol:
Cheers
Philly

 

[Scott]

Well, for once I don't actually think I've bought a bad tool this year. Perhaps I'm finally learning to control my addiction!

Aah - but it can be anything - drill bits, sandpaper, etc - doesn't have to be super expensive tools.

Cheers

Tim

In that case... I bought a sanding flap wheel thing for mounting in a drill. I thought it looked like it would do a good job because it has like webrax pad in between the flaps of sandpaper. Utter pants!

 

[martyn2]

best investment this forum =D> best tool not to sure yet :?
worst item got to be set of drills from b&Q

martyn

 

[cambournepete]

Festool TS55 - it really is as good as they say.
Festool MFT - not cheap for what it is on it's own, but great as part of the Festool system.
Festool CT22 - it sucks (in a good way, obviously :roll and keeps hold of the dust. It's also great with the systainers clipped on it as a stand for the TS55 when you're just made a cut.
The whole system just works .
(I feel the urge to buy a matching sander at - or soon after - Tools 2005...)

Bessey Duoklamps - again German quality that's simple and just works.

I honestly can't think of a dud I've bought this year...

Pete

 

[tim]

Lee Valley LA Jack Plane-a beautiful, competent plane. "It's talent knows no bounds"
snip...

Lee Valley Honing Jig MK II- sharpening becomes a "no-brainer"

Got my eye on these two (plus a fair few other things as well).

Saving my pennies for :tool: s 2005.

Cheers

Tim

 

[Philly]

Good Man! You won't be disappointed!
Philly

 

[Anonymous]

///

 

[AndyC]

Best buys:

Veritas Mk2 honing guide and water stones- make sharpening less of a chore and more a pleasure!

Ashley Iles B.E. chisels- really hold their edge well and great balance ( a problem ive had with previous chisels which can be as big a hinderence as marsh mallow steel!)

to be continued......... tools 05!!!!!!

Duffers:

Stanley 60 1/2 block plane- Casting was on the squint so have to sharpen the blade with an angle if i want it parrallel to the sole

Luckely no others ..............yet!

 

[dickm]

I have everything. I have so much of everything I can barely get in the shop.

Ashamed to admit that I have that problem too - while I was still working full time, any spare time and money went on looking for and buying good kit. Now I'm retired, I seem to have less time and space to use it all!

But still had a best and worst buy this year.
Best was a secondhand Startrite 352 bandsaw - solid, old-fashioned British engineering, with the right blade it will cut superbly to 10" deep and more.

Worst was also secondhand - a smallish Record dust extractor that sucked well but made such a horrible noise it had to go within days.