What Tools are Best - Where to buy them

This is a new section and I will be adding to it as I go along. The tools and places I recommend are my opinions only, not to be confused with fact. They are based on years of use and or experience as a happy customer. I am compensated in no way for any links or recommendations. The only thing I expect of these tool makers and suppliers is to maintain their exquisite quality so that all woodworkers can be well served.

Router Bits

There is only one place to go for router bits of all types and that is Ridge Carbide Tools based in New Jersey. If you call you will, in all probability talk to John, the son of the fellow that started the company. I have never met an individual more dedicated to customer service than John. He will take exquisite care of you and if you have any questions about router bits, he is the guy to ask. You can get to their web site by clicking here.

This is a professional industrial supplier that also takes the time to talk to the small folks who do woodworking for a hobby.

Random Orbit Sander

The best sander I have found, and I have tried most of them, is the Makita BO5010. It has a very powerful motor making it a very aggressive sander and this coupled with the very flexible hook and loop pad makes it an ideal sander for sanding curved transitions because the edge of the pad will follow the curve very nicely.

If you can not bend the edge of the pad on the sander you are using like I am in this photo then your sander is not going to be as good at sanding curved transitions.

The little dust collector bag that comes with it is useless as are most that I have seen. I attach a three foot length of bilge hose to the dust outlet port and that transports the dust away from my face and eyes very nicely without any need of additional vacuum.

This sander is a real work horse, you can use it for hours and it will not get even the slightest bit warm. I have used some sanders that get almost too hot to hold after sanding for fifteen minutes or more straight.

The one problem with this sander, as with all hook and loop sanders that I have used, is that the hook and loop pad eventually looses enough hooks that it will not hang on to the sand paper. I have discovered in the last 10 years of using this sander that a light touch removes wood just as well as pushing hard and the hook and loop pad will last five or six times longer. When I first started using this sander I would replace the pads about every three or four months. (I sand a LOT) Since discovering that pressing hard serves no good purpose my pads now last well over a year with very heavy use.

Best Table Saw Blade

The best ten inch table saw blade, hands down, is the Tenryu Gold Medal. Before using that blade I went through about 10 Forrest Woodworker II blades. I liked the Forrest fine and thought when they were new that they made quite a nice cut. The problem with Forrest was that I had to send them off to be sharpened every month to two months as I cut a great deal of 8/4 hardwood. After being sharpened three times the cut on the Forrest blade degraded significantly.  When I tried my first Tenyru Gold Medal blade I found that the cut was as smooth as the Forrest but it took significantly less force to push the wood through the blade.

The real advantage of the Tenryu is that I can easily use a Tenryu blade for a full year and longer before taking it off to get sharpened! That is a phenomenal accomplishment as far as I am concerned. You can purchase this saw blade, GM25540, at a very good price at Karman's tool and supply:   www.karmans.com

If you want to get your nice Tenryu Gold Medal sharpened the best place to send it is to Ridge Carbide Tools, They do an exquisite job! With an excellent turn around time. Ridge Carbide Tools

Best Band Saw Blade

The Best place to go for band saw blades is Constitution Saw in South Windsor, CT 800-444-8041

The saw blades are the best I have used and Peter's service is so fast you don't need to order until the old blade is off the wheels!