Woodworking & DIY Blog

Credit: Flickr/cesarastudillo

We all like a good deal, but lately, there’s been a greater examination of the true price we pay for inexpensive items. On a global scale, you have works like Ellen Ruppel Shell’s Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture. In a review over at Boing Boing describes Shell’s analysis:

[The cost of discount culture is] a low-quality food supply, a ruined economy, a polluted environment, low wages, a shoddy educational system, deserted town centres, ballooning personal debt, and the loss of craftsmanship.

Of course that last word caught my attention. Craftsmanship—it’s something we all value when building our woodworking projects or renovating our houses. But even people like us are not immune to “cheap creep.”

It creeps up on you when you are in the home-improvement store and you see a huge set of screwdrivers for cheap. Our columnist, Paul Rush, explores this phenomenon in his upcoming column in the Winter 2010 issue of Canadian Home Workshop. (Look for it in early December.) With his trademark dry wit, Paul tells how he pays the price for his love of bargans:

Stout screws laugh at cheap screwdrivers. When you are out on the deck with the biggest drivers from your 20-for-$2.99 package, bad things can happen: you stick your slotted screwdriver into a screw you want to remove and you twist to the left. And there is movement, except it is the metal shaft of the screwdriver turning in the plastic handle. The screw just sits there.

Recently, over at Professional Power Tool Guide, they ask “Are Cheap Power Tool Accessories Worth Buying?” I bet you can guess the answer:

If you have an inferior accessory, it can cause a lot of problems. First, the job might take longer because you are replacing blades or other accessories more often and in the long run this actually cost more. Another problem is putting more wear and tear on your power tools. Because the accessory is not working to its maximum capacity, the way a professional accessory should, the tool has to do more work, which means more heat, which means a shorter life of the tool.

So, that’s a lot of evidence against the cheap. Now here comes CHW’s Steve Maxwell with his own counter-intuitive observation. In an article appearing in our Winter 2010 issue, Steve dismantles a Milwaukee 18-volt drill ($300) and an 18-volt TMT drill ($90). Here’ s what he finds:

Cheap tools are getting better at a rate faster than the high-end ones, and you have to wonder where it’ll all stop. Sure, top-end tools are still clearly built better, but even the cheap ones are surprisingly good these days.

I guess the jury is still out. Where do you stand on cheap tools? I’d love to read your comments below.

Makita LS1016 10" dual-sliding compound mitre saw

Here at CHW, we often get the inside scoop on tools directly from the folks that make them. But we, as I’m sure most of you do too, still get get a lot of information from your nearest tool shop.

The store that is literally down the street from me is Atlas Machinery. I stopped by yesterday to see what was new and interesting. Sean, Atlas’ machinist, told me that they can’t keep the Makita LS1016 10″ dual-sliding compound mitre saw in stock. He said accuracy was one of the saw’s features, but I was skeptical. Those dual-sliding compound jobs always have too much wiggle for the fine stuff. But Sean said this saw was solid. He would have shown me but, well, he didn’t have one. I guess I’ll have to go back.

Work can be so difficult sometimes.

Our technical editor Steve Maxwell has put out a video on three small tools that are indispensable in his shop.

What tools do you have that punch above their weight?

Moen's low-flow faucet, the Dorsey

If you have an old kitchen faucet, that piece of hardware could be letting water through at 20 to 50 l/minute. Sure, we all like the classics, but that dinosaur has to go. I mean, that kind of faucet doesn’t meet today’s standards. The maximum flow rate set by the Canadian Standards Association is 8.3 l/minute at 60 psi.

To slow the flow of that old faucet, you can use an aerator, a set of screens that add air to the stream of water. Some aerators blend in nicely with a faucet’s design. Others—not so much.

If you are not a fan of those bulbous, white, swivelling aerators, and serious about water conservation, Moen has its new Dorsey Eco-Performance kitchen faucet. This piece of hardware has a setting that can lower the flow rate to 6.6 l/minute, which Moen says can give you 32 per cent in water savings. But, if you need the maximum 8.3 l/minute, you can switch back.

Do you know of other low-flow faucets? If so, post below.

Relationships by Michael Hosaluk. Credit: Fox Chapel Publishing

Yellow Cactus Chair by Michael Hosaluk. Credit: Fox Chapel Publishing

Now, don’t get hung up on the traditional image of a box: you know, five sides and a lid. The 34 craftsmen and women featured in New Masters of the Wooden Box sure aren’t limited to a “boxy” box. Take Saskatchewan native Michael Hosaluk’s shrimp-like boxes made from Australian jara and Canadian maple (above, left). They are more works of art than containers.

Scribble by Michael Hosaluk. Credit: Fox Chapel Publishing

In fact, most of the boxes in this book are on the fanciful/artistic side of things, as opposed to the practical/craftsman side. But these artsy boxes are introductions to other stunning works, such as Hosaluk’s Yellow Cactus Chair (above, right) and Scribble (right), a maple bowl decorated with acrylic paint. These both show a level of creativity and construction beyond usual project plans.

And why not travel to the outer reaches of woodworking? There’s probably some inspiration out there that you can bring back.

Chris Grundy of Cool Tools on the DIY Network Canada

Almost 10 years after the DIY Network launched in the Untied States, the station for handy folks has made it to Canada. Now, just less than a month old, the DIY Network Canada (you know it’s Canadian because there’s a maple leaf dotting the ‘I’ in DIY) is bringing you shows that will help you with work around the house.

Five shows will be making their Canadian premieres on the network: Sweat Equity, Desperate Landscapes, Cool Tools, BATHtastic and Kitchen Impossible. Cool Tools catches my attention. In its first episode, the host, Chris Grundy, takes a look at the science behind duct tape. Science? More like magic.

I have a neat DIY Network hanging tool kit to give away. It comes with a flashlight, small pliers, sockets and a screwdriver with interchangeable bits. (Hmmm, no Robertson bit. I guess this is an import from the south.)

I’ll give this kit to the first commenter who tells me the name of the DIY Network Canada’s sister station.

The new FatMax Xtreme Unisaw?

Stanley’s new sweetheart isn’t just its block plane, but a Maryland-based maker of power tools. Yesterday, Stanley Works announced that it would buy Black & Decker.

This deal will create “the largest U.S. tool maker.”

Stanley Works includes such brands as FatMax, Bostitch and Mac Tools. Black & Decker includes a whole slew of names such as Porter-Cable, Delta, DeWalt and Kwikset.

Does this mean there’s a FatMax Xtreme Unisaw around the corner?

What other bizarre progeny can come out of this union? Post your comments below and the commenter with the funniest combination wins a set of Porter-Cable trading cards and a Porter-Cable pen with USB stick. These things could be collectors items someday.

For more on the merger, visit Stanley Black & Decker.

Canadian Woodshop News and Review

Our regular contributors Michael Kampen, Don Kondra and Gord Graff have a website of their own called Canadian Woodshop News & Review. They have tool news, reviews and video. Looks great guys. Keep up the good work.

Woodworker and founder of the College of the Redwoods Fine Furniture Program James Krenov died this Wednesday. His influence was wide ranging and includes our own Steve Maxwell.

“Although I’ve never made anything that copied his style,” Steve says, “Krenov’s ways of thinking have been a big part of the way I work with wood.”

The people over at Fine Woodworking have a good package on the late woodworker.

Did Krenov influence your woodworking, either through his writings or classes? Let us know.

Some days at the CHW office are tough. Today was not one of those days. The folks at Stanley unveiled some new tools this afternoon…in the press box at a Blue Jays game. I know: nice work if you can get it.

Ain't she a sweetheart?

The first tools to catch my eye were the Sweetheart planes. That’s right, these planes are not just found at tool auctions anymore. Stanley has updated its classic line. However, you’re still going to have some trouble finding one of these north of the 49th (they are available to the south), but the Stanley guys say the tools will be here soon.

Sweetheart No. 9 1/2

For those of you who are not so accurate when you swing the framing hammer, there’s the Fatmax Xtreme. Its strike face is 75 per cent larger compared with other Stanley hammers.

With a face like this, how can you miss?

Also in the FX line is a new 25′ tape measure called the Beast. It’s got fangs. Well, a huge hook. Combine that with the 13′ stand out and you’ll be grabbing corners from across the room.

Old Fatmax Xtreme hook (right) vs. new Fatmax Xtreme hook (left). My money is on the new guy

Finally, the FX ratcheting adjustable wrench is pretty cool. It looks like a regular adjustable wrench, but one of the jaws allows the tool to slide back over a nut. Turn the tool over, and you can ratchet the nut off.

The jaw on the bottom allows for the ratcheting ability of this ajustable wrench

Oh yeah, and the Jays won.

My view of the game