What, if any, woodworking related purchases, or gifts received, just didn’t cut it (pun) for you? Maybe the device seemed like it would really be useful at the time, but ended up in the shop corner collecting dust – or worse yet in the recycling bin. For me, that would be the Original Incra jig – the one used on a router table to make dovetail or box joints. I used it successfully a couple of times, but there was way too much fussing and cussing for my limited amount of patience. Eventually, I ended up giving it away to a member of the local woodworkers association who graciously accepted it. I never heard from her again. Not to sound too disparaging of Incra however, I do own and frequently use their T-Rules measuring devices, which are simple and accurate. So what “just have to have” item in your shop ended up more like “I shouldn’t have bought that **** thing!”?
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Lots of little things, of course. Some small purchases get used every day, and some get used a time or two, then end up getting in the way for years.
The most expensive thing was a Leigh dovetail jig. Probably 1983 or 4. I forget what it cost, but it was a real stretch at the time. Talk about fussy. And I didn't care for the 7 degree slopes on the pins and tails either. At the time I thought handcut dovetails were magic. No one made a decent dovetail saw, and no one except Tom Law knew how to sharpen vintage saws.
I struggled through one project with that Leigh jig, and decided to hunker down and cut them by hand. I have never recommended a dovetail jig to anyone since.
Same here - I bought a dovetail jig and used it once. Found that I'd rather learn to cut them by hand. I think I gave it to a family member when we moved.
I could put a Kreg pocket hole jig in the same category. I've used it once, thought about using it for a project and then decided to do something different for the joinery instead.
A Router Raizer purchased many years ago to adapt a PC 690 router for table use. Much more trouble than it was worth, and a short time later the market became flooded with better solutions.
By the way, this is an occasional topic of conversation on Shop Talk Live where they are referred to as “tool bombs.”
Years ago at a woodworking show I was suckered into buying a "Spacer Fence System" from West Oaks, Inc. It was to go on the router table for cutting box and dovetail joints. The HDPE parts were all warped and it never worked properly. The company seemed to have disappeared before I got home from the woodworking show. I kept it figuring I'd use the plastic for something else. Was looking at it the other day and realized it's all too warped to be useful. I expect it'll be in the recycling or trash on garbage day this week.
For me, it was lock miter bits. Just could not get it to work; threw it away. The sad part is that after a few years, I bought another, determined to make it work and threw that one away too. And again.
I got a real laugh out of your comments as it parallels m8ne exactly. I even bought a setting guage and have never used it.
Lots of little stuff, I have drawers full of things that I have purchased over the years that never see the light of day. I have purchased tools for a specific project, done the project, so that actually they did pay for themselves but then they sit. 15 " circular saw, Crain baseboard saw, cleat nailer, upholstery stapler. I'm dealing with one right now, a Delta 18-36 drum sander..I borrowed it but I could own it but it's has destroyed my shop. I just can't figure out how to absorb it. It's big, it's tall and though it on wheels it's really hard to move. Everything in my shop is made to move but if something is taller than my band saw, if it interferes with me running stock on my jointer or planer..... It comes with pretty much a life time supply of replacement sand paper but it's also been made obsolete by the manufacturer, no parts. But, I could use it. I'm not sure if at this point it is a boondoggle or if I'm in a boondoggle!
"Drill doctor" sharpening thingy for twist bits. Put it in as third option in a secret santa gift exchange and wound up with it. I will happily ship it to anyone that wants it for the cost of postage.
I agree, the Drill Doctor needs to be sued for malpractice. I had such high hopes for sharpening my whole arsenal of drill bits.
Really? I use mine, and like it. I got it specifically for doing 12 inch long 1/2 and 5/8 bits for running Romex through framing. I do save up smaller twist bits and have a sharpening marathon once a year or so. It's saved me a lot of dough.
I know they make several models. Maybe some of them are poorly done?
Well, interesting to read the comments on the Leigh dovetail jig! I friend of mine was a corporate type going to seminars at a woodworking store in Memphis back in the '80s. He bought a Leigh dovetail jig, and ended up giving it to me around 2000 when he gave up any thought of doing woodworking. It sat under my drafting table for almost 20 years before I dragged it out last year to try to figure it out. l had to do so much work on it to even get close to acceptable outcome that I can't believe they had the audacity to sell the thing! I used it with OK results on a bathroom vanity project where I made some deep trays/drawers that lived behind cabinet doors. However, for any furniture project where I want top quality, I'll continue to cut them by hand, as I have for years.
The other oddity, also a gift, is a Bob's CNC router device, given to a friend who I plane cedar lumber for. It sits on the table of my Onsrud overarm router, the non-digital precursor of it, which I have found to be extremely useful when I need it (from time to time.) My next project is a church kneeler, with raised flower and vine carvings; I'll use the Onsrud to hog out the waste and establish the background level for the carving.
My worst purchase was a big, 3 hp electric motor at a farm auction, for which I paid $85, a lot of money back in 1976. Unfortunately, when I tried to fire it up, it was dead.
I think my heavy cast iron tenoning jig for the table saw might fit your description. I used it twice shortly after I bought it about 20 years ago. I then got in the habit of using a dado set instead and it's just sat on the shelf since.
Just to be contrary, I like my Leigh jig. Got me through my first few dovetail projects pretty well.
+1 on the Leigh.
Mine was an early one; I hope they figured out how to make them better. The ends that hold the square rod the fingers attach to was thicker than the fingers, so that the router wouldn't sit down on the first few fingers. The weight of the router flexed the square rod so that the dovetail notches were not square to the board. As I tightened each finger, I had to check that it was square to the rod. Etc.....
I owned whatever the top of the line Leigh model was called in the mid 1980s. After a somewhat steep learning/fiddling curve I used it a lot. I still used a fixed spaced jig for most of my kitchen production, 10-12/year, but for 3-4 really high budget kitchens we did each year, and all furniture drawers, I used the Leigh. Two years ago I saw a Leigh D4R Pro 24”, with every accessory and many extra bits, for sale on Craigslist for $200+. New, with all the extras, it would have been close to $1,000. The seller, a hobbyist, said it sat unused for years. I love it. Maybe it’s because it was like coming back to an old friend. My muscle memory of how to use it made it a very pleasant reunion. The original model I bought didn’t even have the VRS vacuum and router support this one came with.
Not a true woodworkers tool, but I got a Rotozip and never used it. Got rid of it somewhere along the way in our last move..
Rotozip is great for cutting out drywall around electrical boxes. And especially for cutting holes in ancient plaster and lath-- the Rotozip doesn't grab and shake the lath so that half the plaster comes off the wall. But that's all I've ever used mine for.
I am the worst for buying in haste and regretting at leisure. I do tend to buy things intending to use them then change my mind, rather than doing the sensible thing and buying the tool needed for a job at the time.
My worst purchase was a cheapish whetstone grinder by tooline. Cheap and crap. The wheel was not true, and of course turns so slowly that it would take forever to get it round. I did think of making a jog to hold my stone dresser against it for the half hour or more it would take, but decided the time was more valuable and I should just accept I had lost the cash. It is still looking at me sullenly from the back of a dusty shelf...
Other tools I regret - pretty much any cheap version of the good stuff. I've given up on them now but still get tempted. I bought a $20 sander because it was cheaper than buying a new pad for my bosch - vibrated so much I could not feel my fingers after 40 mins of use and caught fire after a few months. I now have a $200 or so deWalt - worth it. Every cent.
You reminded me of another. I've got a Dewalt corded mud mixer for mixing 5 gallon pails of joint compound or concrete. I couldn't even count how many buckets I've mixed.
I was three hours away from home one time when an unexpected mixing job came up. Rather than drive back for the Dewalt, I grabbed the heaviest 1/2" drill locally they had at the hardware store. A Skil. It burned out in less than ten minutes use.
I just won't buy cheap stuff any more. It's such a waste.
A dowel plate. I have had two, a LN and a Marples. I can make undersized wonky dowels just as easy with my pocket knife. I have seen several at wood workers estate sales and they all look in mint (unused) condition. When the sale is held to get rid of my tools, my dowel plate will be in the same condition.
I use my tenon jig all the time. Depends on what you build. The latest was to cut the slot in the handle for a charcuterie board. Routed and chiseled the board bed, then ran the handle over the TS until I got the right fit. Board was scrap, not big enough for anything else. Handle was from a damaged board and repurposed.
I have a lot of things I do not use every day but I got them for a purpose and do not discard then because I may need them again.
I (requested and) got a HNT Gordon palm smoother as a birthday gift. It is an absolutely beautiful tool. I love it in all ways... except using it. This is, I suspect, largely about me and not the tool. I can get it to leave a glass-like surface, but I find the set up to be finicky. With the steep blade angle, the feedback from the tool is also very different than my other planes, which again, I suspect is about me and not the tool.
Porter -Cable profile sander. I think I've had it 25 years and can't ever remember using it. I would sell it but don't think it's even worth the time to list it.
Similar woes. Ryobi Corded Triangle Detail Sander. Thought I'd find it useful. Bought 25+ years ago. Used maybe 2x.
anything branded "Festool"
Magnetic saw blade guides for me.
Anything from Harbor Freight. Without fail, if I purchase anything, it's junk. I learned my lesson many years ago. But just for the heck of it, I strolled into one this summer. I saw a neat little dowel guide for $19. Hey, it's gotta work right? No matter how I held the drill, the "guide" was 4-5 degrees off vertical. Not good for a 3" bolt hole.
I now own a $60 Dowel-It doweling jig. Don't forget: Friends don't let friends go to Harbor Freight
Sorry, you paint with a very broad brush here.
Yes, I agree Harbor Freight does not sell high quality stuff.
But one can find great inexpensive C clamps in a multitude of sizes from a throat size of 2 inches to 12 inches. Toggle clamps, casters, dollies, etc
And I learned from a friend that the company actively supports "shop classes" in high schools in California. That in itself is reason to occasionally purchase from them
Bluemo's avatar will always be "Boondoggie" to me!
"Boondoggie" - I like that! My wife drew it depicting our fuzzy little wire-haired dachshund "Saucy". When things look bleak, I always say "It's a good thing there are dachshunds in the world."
MJ - Send the Drill Dr. I love the one I have (Wore it out). Could use another. How do we hook up?
Use the contact form on the website in my profile. Include "FW Drill Doctor" in the message so it gets to me.
MJ: Thanks for sending the Drill Dr. Got it and ready to go.
I have used the leigh jig ti great advantage once I developed a new system.I marked the exact c enter of the jig,I then lay out the number of dovetails from this center to what is the width of the part to be milled.Then you can cut the pins and tails without that left and right nonsense
Nice to see Boondoggie again.
An MLCS horizontal router table.
My wife bought me the old dovetail jig from Woodcraft.... Maybe its a wood Haven? I fought with it a couple of tomes then gave up.
My biggest regret... Well, actually, it's two from the same company. Sadly, it's Kreg. And, I'm a hug Kreg fan, at least of their pocket hole system. I've used it to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars.
But, their saw guide thing... The Rip Cut. I keep it on the shelf to remind me not to buy any more Kreg crap like that thing. I fought and fought and fought with trying to get two of my circular saws to attach to the stupid foot.
We recently dipped our toes into Kreg's cutting accessories.... And, feel like I am an absolute idiot for doing it. The offending product? The Kreg Straight Edge Guide. The spring loaded attachment is so damn sketchy! Plus, it's really hard to accurately place it....
Kreg will not get much happiness from me for anything outside the pocket hole products without some serious miracle product introductions!
My aged Porter Cable dovetail jig has worked well for me over the years after a lengthy learning curve and experience cutting and milling the material to spec first and having my layouts clearly in mind. Took me about a year before it became my go-too tool. Also chuckle at many of my wood show or knee jerk acquisitions that also gather dust and storage room such as the heavy steel tenon tool, full set of Windsor chair hand tools for splitting logs, stripping bark, hand boring, and pull knives to make spindles. Also haven't used my six foot by two foot by two foot steamer for years and it has a home next to my garbage cans in the back yard. Fun fun fun though trying to use our new tools we just rationalized to buy. Love it.
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