For this feature we invited readers to tell us about their favourite power tools!
Graham Sands
TITIRANGI, NEW ZEALAND
‘I do like hand tools old and new, but I'm more confident and love using power tools. My coolest is the cleverly designed and well made Festool TS 55 track saw. Used with various length guide rails and vacuum system it makes the most perfect, straight cuts exactly where required without any tear-out or sawdust.
‘Cutting up a 1200 x 2400 sheet is an easy, safe and fun job, even more, it can plunge cut at pre-determined start and stop points. For my Kombi Campmobile refit I cut exact cupboard openings within plywood panels and used the cut-outs for the doors maintaining the veneer pattern. And just recently I worked with a builder on my new workshop construction. I used the saw and guides (without clamps) to cut all the floor base and roof base ply, as well as sizing each sheet edge of all the wall and ceiling plywood lining. I also plunge-cut eight ceiling recesses for flush fitting lights. The builder was so impressed he is getting one for his next job.’
Terry Beech
MORRINSVILLE, NEW ZEALAND
‘My favourite power tool? I could probably get by without my power tools, except for my drills. Although I use the drill press if I can, the electric drill is indispensable. To save time, I have one drill each for a 3mm pilot hole, 5mm screw hole, countersink bit, and as a screwdriver. I used to have a very small electric drill (now in power-tool heaven) which I prefer over a battery drill. In my hand is my Yankee “hand power” drill which is quick for single holes.’
Terry Hourigan
WARAMANGA, ACT
‘The power tools that I can’t do without are the Panasonic Combi Kit that I won as a subscriber prize from AWR early this year. I am now 71 and have been in the building industry for 55 years. It is a pity we didn’t have tools like these back when I started. I will never forget the “egg beater” hand drill, the brace and bit or the three or four hand saws I had in my tool kit of the past, all B.H.W. (bloody hard work). They still rest in my workshop some where.
‘I still do maintenance jobs for family and friends. I use the screw gun or the drill almost daily; I would have liked to have had the 14.4 Panasonic Kit when I installed the main window in The High Court of Australia. It is 80 feet high and 60 feet wide.’
Bruce Cowen
KALAMUNDA, WA
‘My favourite power tool is a Swiss brand Elu router Mod MOF 96 ¼" size machine here shown with the matching Elu router table. I only recently acquired these items from a neighbour who was moving house and clearing out his rather extensive workshop. He brought the items over with him from South Africa about 25 years ago. He was Swiss himself and swore by the Elu brand for superior design and craftsmanship. Both the router and table were brand new and in their original boxes.
‘The little router is a superb power tool and coupled with the router table it is just a fantastic size for boxmaking which is a favourite past time of mine. The Elu is certainly a superb little machine and a real joy to use.’
Alistair Boell
BOX HILL, VIC
‘Yes. I know I'm stretching the definition of 'power tools' but considering around here we specialise in hand tools, this is as close as we get.
‘Nothing creates as much interest and amazement as the laser jigs do! After teaching many classes, I still share this amazement at the simplicity and accuracy of this system. You see, the lasers are set at particular angles, and as long as the lasers cross at the tip of your reamer, you know you are reaming in exactly the right position. Without these lasers, reaming at two different angles is quite a challenge. Mostly this system is used for making Windsor chairs and stools when reaming mortises for the legs. Another thing I really love about these jigs is that it's such a contrast to the concept of traditional chairmaking.’
Alistair Boell is director of the Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking.
Arthur Grant
COLAC, VIC
‘The thing that transformed my woodworking habits the most in recent years was the purchase of a compound mitre saw. When I told my wife what I was about to do in 2004 she said to me “but you were never going to buy one of those because you think they are too dangerous for the work you do”. My reply was “yes but here is one with a new sliding fence that closes the opening behind the saw to fully support the work”.
‘Gill’s Tools (then) in Melbourne could see the need for a safer solution than that provided on compound mitre saws at that time, transforming them into precision machines for all woodworkers rather than just for carpenters on a building site. I was immediately hooked on the idea from the first time I saw a demonstration at the Melbourne Timber & Working with Wood Show. Accurately cutting a 10mm cube was too much to even contemplate before.
‘The retro-fitted adjustable sliding fences are attached to a C10FSH Hitachi saw mounted on a Dewalt stand and backed up with my own length stop system. The stop works on the same principal as the one that can be seen in AWR#38, p.29 with a micro stop to dial in the corrections rather than moving the whole unit. I might add that that stop, used on a cross sled on my tablesaw, was immediately made redundant when the new saw was purchased so I had to devise a way to be able to quickly set and accurately cut pieces less than 270mm long. This was achieved by making a platform that locks onto the Dewalt stand up level with the saw table. To this I hinged a flap that extend out over the table with the micro adjustor on the end to bring the stop to zero against the saw, I then marked off a zero line 250mm back from the saw and accurately scored a line, marked 0, square off the fence before gluing on the scale. Mind you I didn’t get it right at the first try but it now works splendidly without looking flash; the hinged flap came on the second try. I have also done a similar thing at our Woodturners and Woodcrafters Guild without the aluminium stand. It’s something any woodworker should be able to easily do
Craig and Rebecca Matheson
FINLEY, NSW
Craig: ‘My Ryobi 150mm orbital sander is my most used and coolest power tool. It sands to a very fine finish and the sanding discs are very quick to change. The best part is the front handle which is big and in a good spot. I have a bad left wrist and with the Ryobi I can keep it straight, not like with the other sanders I own which I can only use for a short time before my wrist starts hurting.’
Rebecca: ‘For drilling and screwdriving my Milwaukee drill is my most used tool. It’s over ten years old and still going strong. It is lightweight and has a soft hold hand grip and great chuck that holds drills and screw bits tight. The battery lasts a long time and the drill has lots of driving power for its size.’
Alan Burdon
NAROOMA, NSW
‘My DeWalt 18 volt power drill has been in frequent use for over seven years. It has been my primary drill and driver while I constructed a shed for storage and living in and built the house seen behind me. The house is rammed earth and straw bale with a pole frame; and as you can see I like BIG poles. The DeWalt has enough torque to put a 20mm auger through a foot or more of stringybark, or to break your wrist if you don’t pay attention, yet enough control to drive the finest of screws. During this time I have replaced one set of brushes and a trigger assembly. As with all DeWalt tools the drill is tough and well built and was part of a five piece set which was a big investment at the time but which has repaid every cent many times over.’
James (Pat) Robson
Murwillumbah, NSW
‘During my time as a tradesman and someone who has pottered with woodworking for many years I have had many useful power tools, but the one that I would regard as my coolest power tool would be a recent acquisition. This is an Ozito 18 volt drill, which I use on a daily basis for drilling and screwing square drive screws into the hardwood birdfeeders that I make. This drill comes with an extra battery and equally important to its numerous attributes is the fact that like most Ozito power tools it carries a good guarantee and a price that makes it affordable to everyone. Being on a pension or fixed income replacing or buying new power tools can become a financial drain and it is a godsend that there are good power tools available at affordable prices. So if I do happen to wear out this little beauty I can afford another.’
Trevor Gaskell
Brisbane, Qld
‘It is a well known fact that the best grain in timber is found in the root system of trees. To bring out the grain without altering lines of the timber, I use a very simple and cheap tool called a flap sander.
‘You buy what is called an abor made by Jonco from Bunnings for around $5. Cut up your old cloth-backed sanding belts into 30mm strips about 150mm long and place ten strips on the left hand thread abor, grit down. It will clean all the unwanted bits of the wood leaving its natural shape. If you use a heavy grit, say 40 grit, this will carve to any shape. Lighter grits are used to give you a smooth finish. On red cedar, Huon pine and camphor this works like magic. I have completed around 50 coffee tables and about 30 natural form pieces to gallery quality using this simple but effective tool.’
This article was first published in issue 77 of Australian Wood Review.
If you have a favourite power tool you'd like to tell us about, email a pic and a paragraph to editor@woodreview.com.au