Now here’s a good idea — integrate a ball bearing into a drill bit stop. When the stop hits the work piece, the bearing will stop and allow the bit to keep spinning: no marring, scratching, or burning from the spinning stop. It’s not a new idea: the Forstner Depth Stop we covered previously uses this, and now so does FastCap with its new Layout Drill Bit for drilling shelf pins for European-style adjustable shelving.

To adjust the depth of the stop, you loosen a set screw with an Allen wrench. Sounds just like a collar stop, doesn’t it? In my opinion, they really missed the boat on this one; rather than selling such a limited-use bit, they should integrate this technology into a set of collar stops.

The Layout Drill Bit will only be available in 5mm and 1/4″ sizes.

Layout Drill Bit [FastCap]

You could say that using FastCap’s Mortise Tool to quickly apply their ebony pin Artisan Accents is cheating, but then again you might make the same argument against using power tools to make traditional pinned mortises.

To apply the accents you just need to tap FastCap’s Mortise tool with a hammer; doing so leaves a divot in which you place the accent. Then just tap the accent with a hammer until it is flush with the wood.  The accents can be used purely for decoration or for hiding screws.

You’ll pay $20 for the mortise tool plus $8 shipping. You might as well throw in a pack of 50 Artisan Accents for $5 while you’re at it, since shipping won’t cost you extra.

Mortise Tool [FastCap]
Mortise Tool [FastCap eStore]

Are you sure you want to carry that sharp and dirty painter’s 5-in-1 tool or putty knife in your pocket?  With FastCap’s new folding pocket putty and combo putty knives you don’t have to worry. Both tools use the same folding handle as the rest of their pocket tools to protect the blade and keep your pants clean and free of holes.

The pocket tools feature a thin, flexible blade made from heavy-duty stainless steel that can get behind molding without damage or spread fillers. The combo putty knife also allows you to scrape, dig, and clean rollers like any painter’s 5-in-1 tool.

Either pocket tool will run you $10, plus Amazon will ship the tools for free if you purchase over $25 — you’ll just have to throw some extra tools on the order.

Pocket Putty Knife [FastCap]
Pocket Painter’s Tool [FastCap]
Putty Knife Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Painter’s Tool Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Use TapeNIX temporary pulls anytime you haven’t put pulls on the cabinet or drawers, but still need to easily open and close them. Presumably they are so named because Anthony LaFemina created them to replace the blue tape he saw being used as temporary pulls.

Made in the USA, TapeNIX pulls slide over cabinets and drawer faces up to 3/4″ thick. Simply slide them off once you’ve installed the permanent pulls.

A bag of 10 TapeNIX pulls shipped from McFeely’s will run you $12, but you get a better price break at 100 pcs. — $33 shipped.

TapeNix [FastCap]
Tapenix [FastCap eStore]
TapeNix [McFeely's]

Add Category Tool Type: Hardware

Yeah, we’ve posted a lot of FastCap products week and we’re still not done. This is because FastCap is actually cranking out a ton of unique tools right now. Whether these tools stand the test of time or are relegated to the back shelf remains to be seen, but you have to hand it to them for having the nerve to put out new specialty products in this economy.

Another one of these new products is their pattern marker — so called because it’s primarily used for tracing patterns. The long nosed marker also lets you trace around other objects without resorting to tilting the pen at a funny angle. Another use would be transferring the locations of small holes where everything but a scratch awl would be too thick.

The long nosed pattern marker actually is two permanent, waterproof markers in one. One end has a  1-1/8″ narrow extension tip for getting into tight spots, and the other has a wide chisel tip for normal marking uses.

FastCap’s long nosed marker will run you $5 when it becomes available.

Long Nosed Marker [FastCap]

FastCap’s Joist Clip holds joist hangers in place, leaving your hands free to secure the hanger and out of the way of the hammer or nail gun. Even if you don’t have the joists in place yet, you can use the clip with a stub piece to help correctly align the hangers on the header.

Designed to work with hangers for standard 2x dimensional lumber, the Joist Clip slides over the joist hanger and squeezes against the joist, keeping the hanger in place.

FastCap claims there’ll soon be other sizes available for larger joist hangers, but for now you can purchase this set of two joist clips for $10 from Amazon.

Joist Clip [FastCap]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

To borrow a phrase from Dirty Harry, “Do I feel lucky?” While a caulk gun can’t do as much damage as a .44 Magnum, you might think so after hearing a homeowner scream as you leave gobs of caulk on the new carpet. With the FastCap Caulked N’ Ready holster you’ll always have your caulk gun at the ready and won’t depend on luck to contain the mess.

Made in the USA from high-impact plastic, the Caulked N’ Ready measures 17″ long and has an inside diameter of 2-3/8″. When you slide the caulk gun into the holster a spike enters the tube tip, plugging it closed. A reservoir around the spike holds the excess caulk that inevitably seeps out of the tip, keeping it off hard-to-clean surfaces.

Cutouts in the top of the holster capture the caulk gun trigger so the gun won’t spin around, and a 6″ adjustable wire clip allows you to hang the holder from your pants, belt, five-gallon bucket, workbench, ladder, or wherever else you decide to dangle it.

Right now the only place we can find the Caulked N’ Ready holster online is McFeely’s for $12.

Caulked N’ Ready [FastCap]
Caulked N’ Ready [McFeely's]

Do we really need more stuff in our pockets?  We already have keys, cell phones, knives, multi-tools, wallets, change, and even Pocket Chisels.  So now FastCap recently introduced yet another tool we can stuff into our bulging pants: a pocket diamond sharpener.  This double-sided 300 and 600 grit diamond sharpener sports the same folding handle FastCap uses on their pocket chisels.

Even if you don’t have room in your pocket, the folding handles do serve another purpose. They fold over the diamond stone on heavy-duty stainless steel pins to protect it from unintentional wear or, possibly, to protect everything else in your pants, pouch, or toolbox from the diamond stone.

Fastcap makes the Pocket Diamond Sharpener in the USA and claims it’ll last a lifetime. It’ll run you about $25, or you can buy it with a set of four pocket chisels for about $80.

Pocket Diamond Sharpener [FastCap]
Street Pricing [Google]
Sharpener only Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Pocket set Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Some glue dries clear, some dries yellow, some dries brown.  Regardless of what color it dries, one thing’s for sure — it’ll be the wrong color.  If you need color-matched glue, FastCap sells a colorant kit for their 2P-10 two-part adhesive that might do the trick.

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I can see the benefits in wearing an apron in the woodshop — for one thing, it’s nice to keep my often-used stuff close at hand — but half the time I forget I’m wearing it, and my pockets just end up full of sawdust. That’s not a problem with FastCaps’s Ballistic Apron, because its pockets are attached with Velcro for easy emptying.  Another plus:  the Ballistic Apron is “self healing.”

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Another cool idea from FastCap, the Blind Nail System allows you to hold stuff together without any visible fasteners.  They could replace a small clamp, holding small parts while the glue sets — all kinds of applications with molding and casework come to mind as well. Whatever you do with ‘em, you’re saving yourself work in the future by not having to fill nail holes or plug screw holes.

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This tool sounds like a robot that’ll hunt down an attractive “associate” for you, but really the Babē-Bot from FastCap will only help you with gluing. The Babē-Bot is the 4oz baby brother of the 16oz Glü-Bot, and you might think the larger bottle would be the better choice, but I don’t use a ton of glue so refilling the smaller bottle every few days is better for me.

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While FastCap’s My Grip probably won’t win any beauty contests, it might just be the most comfortable grip you’ll find for your power tools, hand tools, yard tools, or sporting equipment.  That’s because you mold the grip with your own hand.

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Stop thinking with your stomach — we’re not talking about the candy bar, but the abrasive product from FastCap that lets you break or relieve the sharp edges of sheet goods, hardwoods, or softwoods with just one pass.

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Tired of collecting old wax sticks to repair furniture scratches?  FastCap’s SoftWax kit contains twenty wax colors, as well as a furniture-safe WaxWedge and a buffing pad, all in a hard case.  You can apply the waxes straight-up or mix ‘em to get the perfect color.

The SoftWax kit starts at about $25, and you can get refills for $2 per color or $20 for the whole set.

Softwax [FastCap]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Why should J-rollers get all the fun?  Although it looks like a toy race car, the SpeedRoller Pro from FastCap fits comfortably in your hand to roll on laminates with pressure-sensitive adhesives, such as edge-banding or veneers.

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At some point, drilling shelf-pin holes became rocket science. You’d think most woodworkers would have enough skill to lay out a line of equally spaced holes, but it seems everybody has a trick or a new product to save us from our shortcomings. To give us yet another way of laying out equally spaced holes, FastCap created their layout tape.

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