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The AngleWright woodworkers Height Gauge is a compact tool for precise setting of tools such as routers, shapers, table saws and radial arm saws.

The body is made of machined aluminum which is hard anodized to provide a durable finish. Its 3-1/4” measuring range is enough to accurately adjust a 10” table saw. Two brass knobs provide easy adjustment (recessed so the tool can be used laying flat on its side as well as upright), one for fast, major adjustments, the second for micro adjustments.

The micro-adjusting screw allows precise positioning with 1/4 revolution of the screw equaling just 1/128”. The sliding piece that holds the steel pointer blade is dovetailed into the body of the tool for smooth operation and a snug fit.

The 1/2” wide pointer allows easy height adjustment of table saw blades by positioning it approximately where the blade reaches it highest point and gently rocking the table saw blade under the height gauge until it just touches.

The height gauge comes standard with a 1/32” fractional scale. The slider scale on this tool has a ”0” line so by positioning this between the markings on the large scale you can get accurate positioning to 1/128”. Accurate enough for even the most demanding woodworker!

The Anglewright Height Gauge is available direct from Anglewright.com

Lie-Nielsen hand tools - rightly recognized as amongst the best in the world - have just announced a new season of Hand Tool Events which gets under way at the Philadelphia Furniture Workshop in early October.

They will have benches and tools for you to try, toolmaking displays and woodworking demos by some of the country’s finest woodworkers. This is a great opportunity to meet them, talk tools and try out the entire line of Lie-Nielsen hand tools.

For full details visit our Woodwork Shows and Events page.

Delta Porter Cable has announced a series of money saving offers on a range of it’s high quality woodworking machines including Unisaws, 14” bandsaw, three speed ambient air cleaner, 10” left tilt hybrid saw, 6” professional jointer and 8” precision jointer. Offers range from a free sander to a mail-in rebate of $250.00.

For full details visit our Delta-Porter Cable Offers page.

Where to buy: Delta-Porter Cable products are available from Woodcraft.com

As woodworkers we’ve know the benefits of pure beeswax since Roman times. We also benefit from the properties of mineral oil to replenish the natural oils that wood loses over time. Another major ingredient in some modern woodwork finishes is Carnuba wax which has the best durability we know of. Carnauba wax is produced by the leaves of the carnauba tree, as protection from the incredibly harsh conditions of tropical rain forests — intense heat, harsh sun and constant moisture. It follows that it’s quite good for our furniture!

A special combination of these three ingredients makes Howard Feed-N-Wax the ideal product for wood finishes. Its gel-like consistency makes it easy to apply to even the most decorative of woodwork and it penetrates and nourishes both finished and unfinished wood.

Howard’s wood finishes are available online at HighlandWoodworking.com. For more information about Howard’s complete range of products you can also visit their website: www.HowardProducts.com.

It’s a problem woodworkers have had for years - made worse by the introduction of composite board - what length can you make a shelf so it doesn’t sag in the middle?

The rather unhelpful answer would be that it depends on the material, the thickness of your shelf, its width and length. But how do you work it out? Personally, I’ve always guessed - base on the size of the project I need to build - and by trial and error, sometimes having had to buy the shelf material in the first place. At best it’s a dreadfully inaccurate way of doing things, at worst it’s an expensive waste of board!

Well over at Woodbin.com there’s now an excellent online tool that can to a great extent solve these problems. It’s rather amusingly titled “The Sagulator” and you can choose from a wide variety of materials (hardwoods, softwoods, composites, even glass) and then input thickness and predicted shelf load.

It’s an excellent idea and a very good guide. It’s not foolproof of course because if you’re using sheet material the quality and structure can vary - but even then it should provide a very good place to start from. It’s definitely going on my favorites list.

Professional Tool Manufacturing has introduced The Work Sharp Wood Tool Sharpener for sharpening a broad array of woodworking tools including chisels, plane irons, carving tools, spoke shaves, carving tools and lathe tools.

Designed for both woodworking hobbyists and fine woodworking professionals, Work Sharp solves several common problems associated with sharpening hand tools: inconsistent results, grinding/honing the proper edge, keeping bevel edges square and grinding the entire bevel face.

“This is a major advance in sharpening with tremendous impact on woodworkers and how they work,” explained Kevin Blodgett, Director of Marketing, Professional Tool Manufacturing. “We developed this tool to simplify basic sharpening principles, deliver consistent and repeatable results for proper angles, while keeping bevel edges square and grinding the entire bevel edge.”

Industry research has shown that woodworkers often force their way ahead with inadequately sharpened tools or send them out to be sharpened. Work Sharp reduces sharpening time dramatically, eliminates the mess and hassle of sharpening and lets you grind and sharpen with a single simple machine. Woodworkers can sharpen and get right back to work without losing momentum.

Utilizing cutting-edge technology including an air-cooled, dry-sharpening system, a tempered glass grinding wheel for adhering backed abrasives, and a powerful 1/5 hp motor with a gear reduced wheel speed of 580 RPM, Work Sharp’s sharpening port provides woodworkers with a maintenance-free, easy-to-use method that delivers a precise and repeatable bevel angles of 20, 25, 30 and 35 degrees for chisels and plan irons up to 2 inches wide.

To make this dry system effective, Work Sharp cools while it sharpens using routed airflow from the motor and a heat sink design so heat is dissipated by the sharpener instead of damaging the edge you just sharpened.

Work Sharp comes with two double-sided tempered glass wheels so you can quickly switch between 4 grits of abrasives as you move from rough shaping to honing. And when you need to replace the abrasive, just pull off the old one and lay down a new one. These six-inch adhesive backed abrasive disks are widely available or can be purchased from Work Sharp.

Work Sharp also offers an innovative Edge-Vision slotted ’see-through’ wheel which allows you to see the edges as you sharpen them. The cost-effective package is available from Rockler.com for only $199.99 who also have an excellent video of the product on this page. It provides an affordable and dependable option to other methods and tools that retail for more than $400.

Professional Tool Manufacturing, located in Ashland, Oregon, is an industry leader in sharpening tools and technologies. For more information, visit www.worksharptools.com.

Here at Woodwork News we’re always looking at new products, so anything that boasts “Restore It – Don’t Strip It”® has to be worth investigating.

Although new to me, however, it seems Howard’s Restor-a-Finish has been around for some time and from it’s introduction in 1969 it has grown from a professional secret in the antique and furniture trades into a do-it-yourself woodworker favorite. Small wonder since it can quickly revive tired and damaged furniture finishes.

Before Howard’s Restor-A-Finish was introduced, blemishes in a wood finish could only be “fixed” with temporary scratch covers or through more severe stripping and refinishing. Now a formula has been perfected that can penetrate a wood finish with stain, blend out minor scratches and blemishes, and restore the original color and luster – without removing any of the original finish. It can permanently eliminate white heat rings and water marks, oxidation and even smoke damage. Most importantly, with Restor-A-Finish you can preserve and improve the original finish and value of your woodwork. It has been called an “amazing” time and money saving product which “does exactly what it promises.”

Howard’s Restor-A-Finish is the perfect a one-of-a-kind solution and is available online at HighlandWoodworking.com. For more information about Howard’s complete range of products you can also visit their website: www.HowardProducts.com.

Make sawdust collection easy and breathe fresh air!

Sawdust collection is vital not just for a clean wood shop but also for your safety. Under certain circumstances fine sawdust particles can actually self-ignite and explode. There are also the health aspects. Even if you wear a proper fitting mask, you probably don’t wear it all the time and there are particles floating around in the air which are at the very least unpleasant. They can cause discomfort from short exposure and over a period will give you serious respiratory problems

So efficient dust collection is a good idea for all of us - an integrated system with blast-gates etc. - even better. The good news is that at the moment Rockler have some terrific savings. They’ve got up to $200 dollars off a powerful single-stage dust collection unit from Jet and 25% off all dust collection fittings.

So there’s never a better - or cheaper time to clean up your workshop!

New Digital Height Gauge specifically for woodworkers

WIXEY, the innovative manufacturer of woodworking accessories has announced the WR200 Digital Height Gauge. This high precision digital gauge is the first of its kind developed specifically for woodworkers who require accurate and repeatable setting of saw blade height and router bit positioning.

Digital Display
As in other Wixey digital products for woodworkers, the full function display measures in inches (with fractions) or millimeters. It has a super large display for ease of reading and incorporates a traditional fractional scale for quick visual reference. Functions include ON/ OFF, IN/MM, Zero, as well as an auto shut off feature for extended battery life.

Precision and Accuracy
For the highest standards of woodworking accuracy, the WR200 has a resolution of .001”, 1/64”, or 0.05 mm along with an accuracy and repeatability of +/- .001” or +/- .05mm. It uses patent pending “Precise Fraction Technology” which gives the displayed fractions an accuracy of +/- 1/500”. The measuring range is 0.000” to 4-1/4”.

Easy To Use
The WR200 incorporates a magnetic base for ease of making measurements when attached to a cast iron tables. The anvil, scale, and other sliding components are made from hardened and ground stainless steel. The unique base design allows the gauge to be laid flat for making fence to router bit measurements. It incorporates a thumbwheel for fine adjustments and a lock knob for holding a setting.

There’s no doubt this new gauge can increase the accuracy of your woodwork. The fact that it’s easy to read and simple to set up are added bonuses. Wixey products are available from Woodcraft.com. The new WR200 should be available mid October.

Welcome to WoodworkNews.com - we’re here to try and keep you up to date with what’s going on in the world of the woodworker. We’ll search out interesting news items, product reviews, tips and tricks, whatever we can find that’s of interests to the home and hobby woodworker and the professional craftsperson.

As of today we’re just getting started but we’ve got big plans so please pop back often!