| View paxorion's: | home | workshop | projects (10) | blog (12) | reviews (15) | forum topics (46) | buddies (10) | favorites (37) | activity log |  |
Impulse buy lives up to the company name, and may save my woodworking journey!
I come from a rather impatient part of the world, and if anything seems like a monotonous use of time, I can’t stand it. So if anyone were to ask me what I enjoyed least (i.e. hate) about woodworking, it’s sanding. In fact, sanding is probably the part of woodworking that is most likely to cause my projects to go into limbo. There are times when I am worried that sanding will be the death of my woodworking journey! Enter the Preppin Weapon. I remember first spotting it on a...
A great clamp for what it is meant for - One-handed clamping
Way back when (after home ownership but before my woodworking hobby), I thought that these beefy Irwin Quick-Grip XP600 were the most awesome clamps. After all, why would I want a heavy clamp (i.e. the parallel clamps a few inches away at the big box store) where I’d have to use 2 hands? Fast forward a few years, and I now have a more realistic perspective of these clamps. Recently, I splurged and picked up 8 of the 12” model from my local Home Depot. My decision was prompte...
The classic K-Body formula lives on at an affordable price
DISCLAIMER: The first part of the review is a first impression/use review. Please see my update below. I dare say that all woodworkers droll over building a wall full of clamps, and many of them probably wish they could stock it full of parallel clamps. However barring the rare blow-out sale, most of us aren’t able to afford the high cost of parallel clamps. I got into woodworking long after the Woodcraft and Harbor Freight stopped carrying their K Body clones, so the hopes of thi...
Worth every dollar I paid for them
OK, so my title might be a bit misleading. As a hobbyist, I don’t think I would be able to justify spending that healthy chunk of change on clamps if I paid the full retail price. Like many others, when the JET parallel clamps went on sale for 50% off during Black Friday 2013, I pulled the trigger to buy some, and I picked up the framing set (2×24” and 2×40” with the clamp blocks and bench-dog pins). Since I started using the JET parallel clamps, I’ve defi...
Mobile storage for less
The DeWalt TSTAK is the yellow and black competitor to the Festool/Tanos Systainer and Bosch/Sortimo L-Boxx. There doesn’t seem to be much of a retail presence at the moment (although Woodcraft seems to have begun carrying them, and highlighted them as a 2014 Fathers Day gift idea). So after a lot of online research, I procured a few of these units (the long-handle I, flat top II, and 2 drawer IV) because I found them to be on average, 30-50% less per unit than it’s competitors....
Solid performer, but change the saw blade is a pain
That’s probably all the saw you’d need – My wife Famous last words for a saw that I quickly became annoyed with. I purchased the saw about 3 years ago during a Lowes fathers day sale. For the price, was quite the bargain. I’ve used the saw for for a much of home repair/renovation jobs, as well as many woodworking projects to break down sheet goods and solid lumber. At 13amps, it’s rated to have less power than many 15amp saws, but I doubt many would experi...
The best push block I've ever used, but so pricey I make reasons to use it (so I feel better)
When I first saw the MicroJig Grr Ripper (they seem to be on a YouTube product placement campaign, with many icons now sporting their products), I thought “what a neat concept…but do I really want to spend $60 on a push block?” For the most part, I was on the fence, given the large price tag, and perception as a “gateway” product into the realm of MicroJig accessories. It was only when I used a Grr Ripper for the first time that I realized just how much potential the design had to improve t...
I wanted handsaw sharpening experience, and I got more (sharpening experience) than I expected
This past summer, I had to repair some molding along the exterior of a bay window. Given that it was a very small number of molding cuts to repair, I opted to get a plastic miter box and backsaw to do the work rather than pull out a power miter saw. I saw it not so much as an additional expense, but rather a chance to get some handsaw sharpening experience. My criteria was to find a cheap handsaw that I wouldn’t feel bad ruining by experimenting with sharpening. After playing with a few...
Many times more useful than I expected. Weight your uses to figure out if a-la-carte works better
I purchased this Rockler Bench Cookie set as an impulse buy about a year ago. This purchase has proven to be my best impulse buy to date. Everyone in my family loves using the bench cookies, including the wifey and my 2 year old daughter who keeps trying to steal them, so she can do curls. I’m going to split my review into the 4 components. What I will say, is that while the set is awesome, if you find you only want the cookies and/or the cones (like me), you may be better off buying...
A barely viable alternative to the Bora, but most are duds
After I fitting my power tool collection with both a circular saw and router, I wanted to add a few easy to clamp edge guides to my tool collection. After playing with a variety of different edge guides in the market (Bora, Emerson, Woodriver), I settled on the Bora as the one that felt the best, given the long handle. All reviews about clamp edge tools I read highlighted the aluminum bar’s had a tendency to flex midway through a cut operation, making me think the wide track model was...
