A small workbench is where most projects in the home shop start. Even if you’ve built yourself a beautiful big bench, smaller foldable units like the Black and Decker Workmate are often extremely handy to have around. The problem with most of the old orange-and-black standbys is that they’re heavy and a pain in the ass to unfold and setup. The X Frame model Workmate from Black and Decker aims to ease some of that pain.

The X Frame is smaller and lighter than a standard workmate and boasts a 350 pound weight capacity — but that isn’t the good part. The X Frame opens like a TV tray for easy setup and tear down. We dig that.

The question, though: is the trade off of sturdy vs. light-and-easy really what you need in the shop? Let us know what you think in comments.

Street pricing starts at $30.

X Frame [Black and Decker]
Street pricing [Google Product Search]
Via Amazon [What's This?]

Fastcap’s third hand support may not be the cheapest support pole on the market, but it’s hard to beat a company that actually gives you instructions on how to shorten their product with a hacksaw! It’s unclear whether they honor their lifetime guarantee and no charge replacement parts after that operation, though.

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If you’re not sold on the traditional featherboard as kickback protection and you want something that’ll glide a little easier along your workpiece, you might want to give Board Buddies a try. Instead of numerous little “fingers” rubbing against your workpiece as you run it through your table saw, the ‘Buddies sport two wheels (that roll in only one direction) to provide constant pressure via a set of springs. The result: a nice smooth cut with no potential for chattering, and since the wheels won’t turn backwards you have the kickback protection you need.

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The ShopSmith Mark V 5-in-1 woodworking system has been around since the ’50s — and hasn’t changed much since then. Recently I had a chance to work with one, and the results were surprising. It’s obviously not built for pros, but it’s simple to use and can handle almost any basic function — like cutting, sanding, or turning — in a multitude of formats. I can’t fault it for being what it is: a good starting point for hobbyists who don’t have a great deal of space and want a shop.

They are a bit pricey, but this, too, is mitigated by their longevity. My dad, for example, has had his for almost 30 years, and it’s never broken once — even after helping us build countless projects with values far outweighing the $2,000 he shelled out for it back in the day.

So is the hardy shop-in-a-box method worth it for the home hobbyist, or is it just better to save up and buy what you need in pieces? Let us know what you think in comments.

Mark V [ShopSmith]
Street Pricing [Google Product Search]

Believe it or not, your dust collection system doesn’t have to sound like a 747 taking off every time you fire it up. The Supressor dust collection muffler won’t reduce the noise to a quiet whisper, but it can help reduce it to a more bearable level. Penn State Industries claims the Suppressor can reduce up to 50% of the noise from a typical dust collector.

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This pocket book is a great resource for anyone working in a shop. It’s designed for metal workers and machinists, but the information contained within comes in handy in lots of situations. Best of all, it’s durable enough to survive in a shop environment, and every page is coated in a glare-free laminate that resists tearing and won’t get all filthy.

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Whether you have a huge garage workshop or just the corner of a room, adding mobile bases to your tools can help you maximize your usable space by moving cumbersome stationary tools out of the way for projects. HTC’s universal bases are particularly desirable since you can adjusted them to fit a wide variety of tool sizes, and they offer incredible weight-handling capacities.

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Ridgid recently updated their benchtop thickness planer line with a 3-cutter blade design. They say the triple-cutter design will mean smoother finishes on your work (read: less sanding). And the cutters are double edged, too, so you can flip them around and use the other edge to prolong the life of the blades.

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Many of us questioned the utility of Eastwood’s Tilt-A-Car when we wrote about it, but TM reader and photo pool member fabridan43 gives the concept the ultimate Toolmonger thumbs-up: he made his own.

In the photo above you see his 1962 Sprite project on its side, offering easy access to the bottom of the car for restoration work. And you can see that there’s no way a lift would fit in his shop — assuming he could spare the cash from his restoration project to buy one.

As far as I’m concerned, this is case closed: these things clearly have a place in the shop.

Toolmonger’s Photo Pool [Flickr]

At first glance, the cleaner called “Simple Green” just doesn’t inspire confidence; you’re trying to get rid of green crap, not add it. But the fact remains: it’s one of the most effective cleaner/degreasers out there that’s readily available, non-toxic, biodegradable, non-abrasive, non-flammable, and affordable.

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We previously posted a Dealmonger about Milwaukee’s 18V li-ion 4-piece combo kit, but the $80 gift certificate from that deal is no longer available. This deal, however, will get you the best price we’ve seen right now. As we mentioned previously, this 4-pack combo kit brings together some of the more popular Milwaukee items into one convenient kit: you get the 1/2” hammer driver/drill that delivers up to 550 in/lbs of torque, the Sawzall recip saw, the 6-1/2” circular saw, and a xenon worklight with Clip-Lok.

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A ten inch disk sander’ll lighten your wallet at least $150. So why not turn your table saw into a disk sander for under $35 instead with CMT’s balance blade and sanding disk? Their disk mounts to saws with a standard 5/8 inch arbor and utilizes standard self-stick sanding disks. Sounds to me like a great way to pocket over a hundred bucks and gain valuable shop space.

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Apparently the wave of power tool lasers is petering out, but LCDs are the new lasers. Now Wixey’s found away to add a digital readout to your table saw fence of all things. It’s designed to fit most any fence, although some require a bit of modification. Regardless, the LCD still allows you to easily remove and replace the fence as needed without needed recalibrating each time since the readout attaches to the fence with a small rare earth magnet. It’ll measure up to 60″ total and can measure to both the right and the left of the saw blade.

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Your table saw is probably one of the most expensive tools in your shop, yet you end up throwing crap on it or using it as an ad-hoc work table when you’re not using it because it presents a convenient flat surface. Why not protect it from damage with a TOOLClad magnetic cover.

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Using fresh sandpaper – particularly sanding belts and discs – can be a joy. But once they get clogged up with pitch and loose sandpaper grit it’s miserable. And if you’re making fine furniture, it can ruin your work as well. Woodstock International’s Pro Stik abrasive cleaner sticks are basically formulated from crepe rubber that easily removes the built up gunk on your favorite abrasive belts and discs.

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Most downdraft work tables are huge industrial installations that cost big bucks, but the Shop Fox downdraft table is better suited for a home shop environment. This thing really sucks – and I mean that in the best possible way. Just attach it to your dust collection system — or just a shot vacuum — and it creates a powerful downdraft around your work, keeping your work area dust-free.

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Hilltop Design, an engineering firm in New Hampshire, has a 21st-century solution for moving around big shop equipment: the hoverpad. Instead of hoping your sorry-ass friends will show up and your dolly and steel toes will make it through one more move without injury, you can use hover technology to get the job done quickly and safely.

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