Archive for the 'Milescraft' Category

A Better Offset Router Base

Thursday, July 10th, 2008
Offset Router Base

Edge routing can be tricky if your router doesn’t have a large enough base. The router’s center of gravity hangs over the edge of the workpiece, making it easy to accidentally tip the router and ruin your crisp profile. An offset router base gives you more leverage to keep the router from tipping.

Milescraft offers an affordable 13″-long offset base made of clear polycarbonate. It sports an oversized knob to make the base easy to grab, and the scratch-resistant surface helps ensure the base’s transparency.

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Posted in Power Tools, Home Depot, Amazon, Milescraft, Accessories | 6 Comments »

How-To: Cut Angles With A Circular Saw

Friday, March 28th, 2008
angleedge.jpg

This Dodecasub makes a great DIY project for a Toolmonger, but cutting the angles can be a problem. After reading this post on the All-In-One Clamp, and this post on the MilesCraft Saw Guide, I still had no solution for how to cut long, straight lines that’re at odd angles to the edge of a board. A table saw with the guide set at an angle will do the trick, but here’s a way to manage it if your shop hasn’t grown that big yet.

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Posted in How-To, Project Garage, Milescraft, Homemade Tools | 5 Comments »

Milescraft Mobile Tool Workcenter

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008
milescraft-450.jpg

With this mobile tool workcenter, you can keep your Dremel (or other mini rotary tool) close at hand, along with accessories, work space, and extra storage. You can even sketch out ideas on a whiteboard on the box’s lid. The website mentions an “integrated vacuum hose port” but doesn’t provide much information about it — it looks like the unoccupied bench-dog holes might function as a downdraft table for dust control. Do any of you Milescraft MobileX1 workcenter owners care to fill us in on the details?

MSRP on this little beauty is $75, and street pricing is a pretty uniform $60, but I ran across it at All Electronics for $45, with shipping in the $7 range.

Milescraft Portable Hobbyist’s Workcenter [Digimode10]
Rotary Tool Workcenter [All Electronics]
Via Amazon (B000KIASXG) [What’s This?]

Posted in Amazon, Storage, Milescraft, Accessories | 3 Comments »

Finds: MilesCraft Saw Guide

Thursday, March 8th, 2007
milescraftsawguide.jpg

A good all-purpose straight edge guide is helpful in making your cabinetry or woodworking projects turn out for the best, and while there are many different models and types, often they might not fit your rig — or if they do they won’t fit another saw you have around the shop.  The MilesCraft saw guide system is a universal edge guide and circle system for all saws. 

It works by attaching directly to your circular or jig saw to provide an edge following fence for controlled cutting.  The preset holes in the guide head allow for clean circular cuts with your jigsaw, and the measuring scales on the bars provide quick and easy cutting measurements.  The guide allows for up to 10″cuts with left- or right-hand usage and includes a circle compass for making round cuts with a jigsaw.

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Posted in Woodworking, Measuring, Milescraft | 9 Comments »

The Milescraft Drill Orbiter

Saturday, July 22nd, 2006

post-orbiter.jpgIf you’ve ever tried to cram your drill into a tight or odd-shaped space, you’re a candidate for Milescraft’s Drill Orbiter — an extreme extension of the 90-degree drill attachment concept.

The Orbiter consists of a spherically-shaped rotating head assembly with a drill input shaft, chuck, and handle.  What makes the Orbiter special is that the head assembly is split into two hemispheres, each of which can rotate separately to create an incredible range of extension angles.  The handle also makes it easy to control the drill once you’ve created an angle shape that’ll let you fit it in the spot where you need it.

The Orbiter features a 3/8″ hex shaft for drill drive, which means you can use it with 3/8″ and 1/2″ chuck drills.  It includes a 3/8″ keyless chuck, and the handle has a soft rubber grip.

Street pricing starts around $30, and you can find the Orbiter online and in most big-box home improvement stores.

The Drill Orbiter [Milescraft]
Street Pricing [Froogle]

Posted in Power Tools, Milescraft | No Comments »