Looking for that perfect last-minute holiday gift for a friend or family member? Our editors have made their list and checked it twice. Here are our Top 10 ideas for giving your favorite Santa a hand in the workshop.
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Pocketweez Splinters, metal shavings, slivers from drywall screws – they’re an annoying and everyday occurrence for folks who work with their hands. Until recently, the best solution we’d found for removing these pesky prickers was self-surgery with a utility knife. But now that we’ve discovered Pocketweez tweezers, we pull out splinters quickly and safely. The all stainless-steel tweezers have razor-sharp jaws that fold inside their own protective shell so you can carry them in your pocket. Pocketweez.com Street price $25 |
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Ridgid Pin Nailer If your arsenal of nail guns doesn’t yet include a pin nailer, you should seriously consider getting one because the tiny fastener it shoots practically disappears under paint and finish. The Ridgid R138HPA boasts a number of user-friendly features like toolless depth-of-drive adjustment, a reversible belt hook and a rear exhaust. It shoots 25-gauge pins from 5/8 in. to 1 3/8 in. Ridgid.com Street price: $90 |
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Infinity Essential Router Bit Set Buying router bits one at a time is the most expensive way to build a collection. Infinity has assembled six of the most commonly used 1/2-in. bits and packed them in a nice wooden case. The result is a set that costs $50 less than buying the bits separately. Included are flush-trimming, straight, and chamfer bits, two roundover bits and a rabbeting bit with seven bearings. Infinitytools.com Street price: $100 |
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Peltor Muffs Whether you’re cutting the grass, running shop tools or using a nail gun, it’s important to protect your hearing. But we often want some music while we’re working and, unfortunately, most hearing protection makes it tough to hear your tunes. So we were delighted to find Peltor’s Digital WorkTunes AM/FM radio earmuffs. The high-quality muffs reduce noise by 26 db. and have a digital tuner that makes it easy to find your favorite station. There’s even a 3.5-mm auxiliary input jack for connecting your iPod. Peltor.com Street price: $60 |
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Veritas skew block plane Any finish carpenter or woodworker worth their sawdust will tell you that a block plane is an indispensible tool for dozens of wood-fitting and shaping tasks. Add a blade that stretches to the edge of the sole like that on Lee Valley’s Veritas skew block plane, and this versatile tool gets even more useful. Available in left- and right-handed versions, the new plane can trim tenons and rabbets, reach all the way into inside corners, and still do the myriad things a regular block plane can do. Leevalley.com Street price: $209 each for $390 for both versions |
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Stanley Hands-Free Flashlight The first time we saw Stanley’s Clamping Flashlight, we thought of the many times in recent memory that it would have made life easier. The light’s built-in clamp can grip objects up to 3 1/2 in. thick, and the head rotates 350 degrees and tilts 120 degrees. The light burns up to 30 hours on four “C” batteries. Stanleytools.com Street price: $30 |
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Porter-Cable Drill/Impact Driver Kit If you’re ready to replace your old cordless drill, or you’ve been flirting with the idea of buying an impact driver, you won’t find a better deal than this kit. The 12 Volt MAX* Compact Lithium Two-Tool Kit (PCL212IDC-2) combines an easy-to-control compact drill-driver and a powerful impact driver for driving long or heavy fasteners. Set one up for drilling and the other for driving; you’ll fly through tasks like screwing cabinetry together. The kit comes with two batteries and a charger. Deltaportercable.com Street Price: $139 |
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DeWalt Compact Router DeWalt’s new 1-1/4-hp, single-handed compact router has plenty of punch for all the little jobs a trim router loves: chamfers, roundovers, hinge-mortising, and most edge profiles. But the star of this show is the plunge base that lets you rout inlay grooves and make all kinds of stopped cuts. The result is compact combo kit unlike anything else on the market. Dewalt.com Street Price: $199 |
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Freud Premier Fusion tablesaw blades At a trade show demonstration this summer, we watched a Freud tools rep use a new combination tablesaw blade to make cut after flawless cut. The blade was a thin-kerf version of Freud’s best-selling combination blade – the Premier Fusion. The thin-kerf version creates less waste and requires less horsepower. Freud recommends the thin-kerf version for saws under 3hp, and the full kerf for 3hp and higher. Freudtools.com Street Price: $80 |
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Porter-Cable’s QuikJig for pocket screws Deltaportercable.com Street Price: $230 |
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Veritas' new skew block plane set would make any hand tool junkie a happy camper. Watch out, though, they're a wee bit expensive!
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Fine Woodworking editor Asa Christiana couldn't stop talking about Porter-Cable's new drill-driver combo set at this year's IWF event.
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Pin nailers are super handy for anyone in need of a third hand to hold pieces into place - be they jig components or trim - while the glue dries. Rigid's is sturdy, effective, and under the $100 price barrier!
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At only $100 for the set, Infinity Tools' essential router bit collection is a fantastic shop gift, made even better by the fact that they just dropped the price by another $10. You can have them (for the time being) for $89.90!
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