As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. This costs you nothing and never changes which tools we recommend.Full disclosure.
Independent reviews and comparisons of power tools, hand tools and woodworking gear, tested against the jobs they are actually bought for.
You never have enough clamps, but you can have the right five kinds. Parallel clamps for panels, a right-angle clamp for carcases, holdfasts for the bench, and one that holds what nothing else will.
Loose tenons, pocket holes, dowels and traditional tenons all solve the same problem differently. Six jigs, what each is actually strong enough for, and which one to buy first.
You never have enough clamps, but you can have the right five kinds. Parallel clamps for panels, a right-angle clamp for carcases, holdfasts for the bench, and one that holds what nothing else will.
Loose tenons, pocket holes, dowels and traditional tenons all solve the same problem differently. Six jigs, what each is actually strong enough for, and which one to buy first.
Accuracy is decided at layout, not at the saw. Six tools that replace reading a tape with transferring a dimension — a wheel gauge, a double square, setup blocks, an angle gauge, a caliper and a saddle square.
A pantograph jig for copying and scaling carvings with a router. What it does well, what it cannot do, and what to buy.
A dovetail jig no longer in production. What separates a good dovetail jig from a frustrating one, and what to buy now.
A Canada-only drum sander. What drum sanders actually do, the open-end trade-off, and the Amazon-available alternative.
A hand-made Australian marking knife sold direct. What a joinery knife must do, and the Amazon-available alternative.
A hand-made Australian marking gauge sold direct. Why wheel gauges replaced pin gauges, and what to buy on Amazon.
The ColdHeat brand is gone. What a cordless glue gun needs to work at all, and the current one to buy.