36 - Miter Trimmer, страница 30

New Products

Mobile Base Kit

■ Mobile bases for stationary-power tools have been around for years. But the idea behind this one is new.

Instead of a base that's designed to fit one particular tool, it's a kit that can be sized to fit any tool in your shop.

The size is determined by four hardwood rails that are used to connect a set of heavy-duty metal corner brackets, see photo. (You need to supply the wood.)

To roll a tool around, all you do is step on a foot-operated lever.

This raises the _ base onto two fixed casters and a single swivel caster. Releasing the lever lowers the base back on the floor.

(The Mobile Base Kit is made by Delta and costs about $60.)

Pocket Hole Jig

■ After using this new Pocket Hole Jig, I know why it's called the Rocket. It makes drilling the angled holes for the screw's that hold a pocket joint together incredibly fast and accurate.

The jig consists of two parts: a drilling guide and a quick-action clamp. With the drilling guide clamped to one workpiece, .you use a special bit (included with the jig) to drill the angled holes, see photo A below. A collar on the bit controls the depth of the hole.

Another nice thing about this jig is there's no need to drill a

pilot hole in the adjoining work-piece. Simply use the clamp to hold the pieces together, then drive in the self-tapping screws, see photo B.

The screws create a strong, mechanical connection that's ideal for joining face frames, table legs and aprons, or the parts of a jig. (See page 31 for Sources.)

Scraping Plane Insert

a You can't beat a hand-held scraper for smoothing the surface of a workpiece. But when working on a large area, it's hard to get a consistently level surface.

That's why I like this Scraping-Plane Insert. By converting a standard bench plane into a scraping plane, it makes it easy to produce a flat, smooth surface.

The way it works is simple. You replace the blade and chipper

on the plane with an angled metal insert that holds a scraper.

With the insert held in place by the lever cap, you can still use the depth and lateral adjustment mechanisms on the plane to change the position of the scraper.

Turning a knurled knob on the insert lets you "fine tune" the cutting angle of the scraper to produce paper thin shavings. (For Sources, see page 31.)

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Shop Notes

No. 36