Popular Woodworking 2006-02 № 153, страница 30
Tool Test Thin Wood, Safe and Easy Don't let the name "Luthier's Friend" scare you off if you don't make guitars. This precision thickness sander has many practical woodshop applications, especially intarsia. Thickness planers tend to eat material under Vs" thick and we can't all afford a thickness sander, but this drill press attachment can run material down to less than a 64" thick. A special sanding drum (with your choice of sanding grit sleeve) is inserted into your drill press. Adjust the fence to just less than your material's starting thickness and start sanding. As with a full-size drum sander, the wood is fed against the rotation of the drum requiring positive pressure as it's fed past the drum (a featherboard might make this easier). Each quarter-turn of the fence-adjustment knob reduces the space for the next pass. And the dust hood does a nice job of keeping things tidy when hooked to a shop vacuum. The Luthier's Friend is a simple and convenient way to make thin pieces for special projects without taking out a loan. — DT For more information, circle #182 on Free Information Card. Worx Cordless - The New Kid Worx (Greenville, S.C.) has launched a complete line of portable power tools and this drill is the first of those products we've tested. We ran the Worx 14.4-volt drill through the same tests used in our December 2005 drill review, and here's how it stacked up: We were able to drill 10 1"-diameter spade bit holes in 13/4"-thick poplar on one battery charge, while the other drills ranged from nine to 25 holes. We sank 99 V4" x 1 ^"-long lag screws in the same thickness poplar, while the test drills ranged from 16 to 164. Weighing 4.4 pounds, the Worx drill placed as the second lightest drill in the test. The drill comes with a one-hour smart charger, a built in bubble level, a magnetic tray to hold screws and bits and on-board storage for two double-ended bits. It has a 3/s" chuck, which was a rarity in our group test; Skil was the the only other competitor with a 3/s" chuck. That leads me to my conclusion and evaluation. The Worx drill performed much better than the Skil in our test. Many of the features are those of a professional tool and it's priced SPECIFICATIONS Luthier's Friend Street price: $159 Includes: 50-, 80-, and 120-grit sleeves Material capacity: 23/4" wide Performance: ••••O Price range: $$$$ Luthier's Friend: 512-454-3425 or luthiersfriend.com SPECIFICATIONS Worx WT155K 14.4v Cordless Drill Street price: $169 Speeds: 0-350 and 0-1,200 rpm Stated torque: 310 in./lbs. Performance: ••OOO Price range: $$ Worx: 866-354-9679 or worxpowertools.com at the affordable end of the 14.4v category. But when entering an already crowded market, we were expecting more from the Worx drill. We're anxious to see the rest of the product line. PW — DT For more information, circle #183 on Free Information Card. SPRAY GUN SOLUTIONS: ATOOL FOR EVERY CLOG Keeping your spray gun clean is the key to keeping it working. The problem is that the cleaning brushes that come with most spray guns will take you only so far. Sometimes there's gunk or a clog in a place that no brush will reach. The Master 2000 cleaning kit ($34.99, storage pouch not included) is the set of tools you'll wish you always had. There are seven pointy needles in several diameters for cleaning out clogged holes in your air cap. Plus there are a variety of brushes and picks that will get into the deepest cavities of your gun, including a handy 12"-long pick-up tube brush. There's also a bottle of spray gun lube to keep the trigger moving smoothly and the packing lubricated - a necessary maintenance task that is often overlooked. After six months of using the Master 2000 kit on my high-volume, low-pressure (HVLP) gun, I've found that I keep the gun cleaner and that the tool works more predictability and smoothly than ever before. For more information, contact Spray Gun Solutions at sgskits.com or 303-4243741. Also, be sure to read Bob Flexner's piece on diagnosing common spray gun problems on page 98 of this issue. With this information and a cleaning kit, you should be spraying without sputters. — CS TOOL RATINGS Performance is generally rated on a one-to-five scale. You won't see a low rating ("one or two") because we don't publicize inferior tools. "Five" indicates the leader in the category. Five dollar signs indicates highest price in the category. Three indicates an average price. If you have tool questions, call me at 513-531 -2690 ext. 1255, or e-mail me at david.thiel@fwpubs.com. Or visit our web site at popwood.com to sign up for our free e-mail newsletter. —David Thiel, senior editor 28 Popular Woodworking February 2006 |
