When I first ran across the Stanley-Bostitch clamping level in Popular Science, I didn’t think much about it because it was pictured just sitting on a surface. Later I came across a picture of the level hanging off the bottom of a 2×4 and thought, “Hey, now that’s pretty cool!”  It’s funny how much difference the choice of picture influences our perceptions of a product.

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Besides just measuring 45° and 90° like a combination square, the Penta Square also measures 22.5° and 60°.  But, that’s only four measurements; penta is a prefix for five. Either they’re considering 180° a measurement, or else they’re call it that because of the irregular pentagon-shaped body.

Kapro etches the 12″ stainless-steel blade in both Inch and Metric graduations. The bubble vial rotates within the body to check level and plumb in “all” positions. Absent is the thumb screw locking mechanism of a normal combination square. They’ve replaced it with their EasyLock mechanism, which they neglect to show in the literature.

Depending on where you look, the Penta Square could cost you as little as $6.

Penta Square [Kapro]
Penta Square [Woodworker's Supply]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Yes, you read it right — the Spot-Rite torpedo level has male pipe threads on both ends so you can screw it into a 1/2″, 3/4″ or 1″ pipe fitting to check level, plumb, and 45°.

So, how do you fit three different thread sizes on two ends? Since it’s hard to see in the picture, we’re assuming either one end has a stepped thread, or the level comes with a thread adapter.

Pricing for the Spot-Rite level starts at $22. Both the Summit and Allied sites say that this is a torpedo level and gunner nipple in one tool. Can anybody shed some light on what exactly a gunner nipple is?

Spot-Rite Level [Summit Contractor Supply]
Spot-Rite Level [Allied Rubber & Gasket]

Can you spot something missing on Kapro’s Combination Square? Actually two things are missing.  Notice there’s no channel running the length of the rule; it’s smooth and flat. You don’t need a channel because this square doesn’t have the usual thumb screw locking mechanism. Instead six rare-earth magnets hold the body where you position it.

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Replace the pad on the spindle of any of Bessey’s cast iron, Omega, or all-steel screw clamps with their clamping force indicator and you can tell instantly if you’ve applied the correct amount of pressure. As you increase the clamping force, the red disk starts to disappear inside the indicator; when it disappears completely and you only see green you’re using the right clamping force.

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Big Foot Tool’s Stand-Up Bolt Hole Marker allows you to mark the location of bolts on plates quickly.  Once you’ve dialed the correct bolt size and lined up the plate next to the bolts, you simply push the tool against the bolt and hit the spring-loaded plunger with a hammer to mark each bolt.

The bolt marker has a bolt size dial for 1/2″, 5/8″, 3/4″, 7/8″, 1″, and 1- 1/4″ bolts on each end; one end is used for 2×4 plates and the other for 2×6 plates. It retails for $33 at DHC Supplies, plus an extra $10 for shipping.

Stand-Up Bolt Hole Marker [Big Foot Tools]
Stand-Up Bolt Hole Marker [DHC Supplies]

Until January 24, 2010, Lee Valley has an introductory price of $13.50 (the regular price will be $18.50) for the Thread I.D.™ Nut and Bolt Indentifier*. It includes a plate with 28 tapped holes: 10 National Coarse (1-64 to 1/4-20), 10 National Fine (1-72 to 1/4-28), and 8 Metric Coarse (M1.6 to M6.0) that you can use to identify bolts, as shown in the far right picture below. But wait, there’s more: it also comes with knurled-head bolts in the same 28 sizes, so, as shown in the far left picture below, you can use these to identify tapped-hole threads in other materials, and, by flipping the plate over, as shown in the middle picture below, use them to identify nuts. Last, but not least, all this comes in a fitted wooden box.

I’ve seen a variety of bolt and nut sizers/identifiers, but this is the first combo kit I’ve come across, and I think it looks like a handy addition to the toolbox. What’s your opinion?

*Made, as you can see in the picture, by Chestnut Tools. However, their web site redirects you the to Lee Valley site.

Thread I.D.™ [Lee Valley]

Perpetuating the trend that the name of anything new must begin with a lower-case “i,” Incremental Tools (part of Taylor Design Group, the maker of INCRA Tools) has introduced new measuring and marking tools in their iGaging™ line. An example is the iGaging™ SnapDepth Digital Indicator shown above. Available for $16.99 (with coupon code GA15; $19.95 without), it can measure rabbet and grove depths in decimal inches to 0.0005″, in fractions to 1/64″, or in millimeters to 0.01mm. Its reinforced composite body includes a mounting lug on the rear that “fits most magnetic bases,” and its standard-thread interchangeable-plunger tip comes with 1″ and 2″ extensions.

With the coupon code, the prices on most of the new iGaging™ parts seems reasonable. What do you think?

iGaging™ [Manufacturer's Site]

When our friends at Stanley roll out new levels, we generally tend to at least listen to what they have to say. A while back they plopped a couple of aluminum, 4’ lighted levels in our lap. I scoffed and asked if they were kidding — they weren’t. I then found out why; they’re pretty damn cool.

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Should you turn in your brass setup bars for a set of Kreg’s new precision router table setup bars?  Probably not, but they are an interesting alternative for setting up your table saw, router, and other tools.

While brass setup bars are just pieces of square or rectangular stock machined to tight tolerances, Kreg designed their bars with three different gauges on each bar to easily measure tool height, cut depth gauge, and the distance from tool to the fence. The new style of setup bars might be easier to use for woodworkers who aren’t accustomed to using brass setup bars; you can’t stack their bars to get different thicknesses.

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Ryobi heated up competition in the low-to-mid-end tool market with their dramatically improved 12V One+ power tool line. But what about all those other jobsite tasks, like measurement, safety, security, and documentation? That’s the whole point of their new Tek4 line — a collection of everything from a multimeter to hearing protection to a digital camera, all powered via a compact 4V li-ion system.

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The latest Lowe’s circular has a great deal on Stanley tapes — and not the you’ll-never-see-it mail-in kind, either. Buy one FatMax 25’ tape for $20 and get this 16’ FatMax Blade Armor tape free.

The discount is taken at the register and the deal lasts until December 17th, so get a move on if you’re looking to score one. The blade armor tapes are particularly cool to have around the shop. We use the crap out of the one around here because whatever else the armor does, it doesn’t scratch the wood on fine projects. That makes it a welcome addition in my book.

The deal is one of those “while supplies last” type of things, so when they run out of either of them (the 25’ or the 16’), the deal is off.

Free 16′ Stanley FatMax Tape [Lowe's]

So you really want to know how much harder a hockey puck is when it’s frozen — ’cause it sure seems like it hurts a hell of a lot more! A quick search on the Internet didn’t lead to much, so if you really want to know you’ll have to resort to using a durometer like the Starrett 3805A Digital Durometer.

Durometers measure the hardness of soft materials like rubber, PVC, leather, vinyl, and other like materials. To use Starret’s model 3805A you simply press the blunt 35° point into the material and read the Shore A value on the display. It can read between 0-100HA with .1HA of resolution, runs on four AA batteries, and automatically turns off when not in use.

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When I first saw Eagle’s Marking Center Finder, I thought, “Cool, that works on the same principle as Rockler’s mortise-centering router baseplate.” Looking at the PVC-made jig, I figured it’d be 5 to 10 bucks tops, but then I saw $25 price tag and figured I’d tell everyone they should spend 15 minutes in the shop and make one with a with a piece of scrap wood and a section of dowel instead.

It’s simple geometry that if you build it right, drilling three evenly spaced holes on a line, the resulting jig should be pretty accurate in finding the center of a board. And if you build your own you won’t be limited to the width of a 2×4 like Eagle’s model.

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Speaking of multi-tools (e.g., TM 11/20/09), I just saw the Level Best2 in one of those card pack mailers — PRODUCTS FOR WOODWORKERS. RECESSION BUSTING DISCOUNT COUPONS INSIDE! — that I usually toss into the recycle bin. This “ideal portable tool” comes in 12″ and 6″ sizes, and, if you order one 12″ version now using code LB2, you will “Get One 6″ Tool FREE!” — only $19.95 plus S&H, which appears to be $4.95. If you don’t like yellow, you can get a Level Best2 in blue, violet, or pink, also. They are pretty clear on its four uses: level, plumb, square, and ruler.

Web pricing starts around $6 for the 6″ and $10 for the 12″, so, depending on S&H from other sites, the bundle from the manufacturer could be a good deal. But is this a useful tool? What do you think?

Level Best2 [Manufacturer's Site]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

Everybody’s trying to come up with the next gotta-have-it multi-tool like the try-square. Great Neck Saw’s attempt packs 10 measuring tools in one device. The Mayes Squangle is basically a square with an extra adjustable arm that swings from 45° to 90° and locks with two thumbscrews. To increase their tool count, they threw in a bubble vial.

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Imagine bending the stock of your carpenter’s square so that the tongue sat flat on the workpiece while you held it square to the edge. Now imagine going to the hardware store to buy a new square because you wrecked your old one by bending it. If you had a flexible Japanese square from Lee Valley you wouldn’t be giving your imagination such a workout.

The 3-1/3 oz. stainless steel square is thick and rigid at the corner, but it quickly tapers to a thin and flexible beveled profile on the 20-1/2″ stock and 10-1/2″ tongue. Lee Valley claims it’s square to within 0.1 mm in 100 mm. One side of the square is graduated in inches and the other metric; both sides have numbers etched and filled black.

To buy the Japanese square sold at Lee Valley you’ll pay $33 before shipping. The Japan Woodworker also has a similar, but smaller, square they sell for $40.

Japanese Square [Lee Valley]
Japanese Square [Japan Wodworker]