I recently purchased an "iGaging Heavy Duty Automatic Center Punch 36-S302".

I really like it! It is heavy duty. It feels good in my hand. It is big enough to allow me to easily push it down hard enough to trigger the punch. It is strong enough to make a nice hole in the end grain of hard maple wood.

Automatic center punches create a center punch hole when you push them down with your hands. They make a POP sound when you trigger them. You don't need a hammer to trigger them.

I recently purchased a battery powered chainsaw after it was recommend by a friend. I have been using it for roughly one month to cut up logs for my woodturning classes and I really like it.

It is an Echo (brand) model DCS-5000 with an 18" bar. The $327 price is a little higher than I would like but it includes the larger 56 volt 5.0Ah battery and a spare chain. I ordered mine from Home Depot with Free Shipping. Beware of lower prices on the web that are for the "bare tool" (aka no battery) or with the smaller battery. Continue reading Battery Powered Chainsaw →

When making boxes, pepper mills, etc you often need to drill DEEP holes with a Forstner Drill Bit. Thus you need to use an "extension" to make the shaft of the drill bit longer.

Last year, I got frustrated with the wimpy drill bit extensions that were available commercially. The 1/4" shafts were way to wimpy. The set screws were to small and wimpy. They would not accept a Forstner Bit with a 3/8" shank. I gave up and decided to make my own heavy duty drill bit extensions with my metal lathe.

Then, recently, I came across these real nice heavy duty drill bit extensions make by Swozzto (brand) at a good price. $19 for two on 8/2025. I purchased a set and tried them out. I needed something, that I could recommend to my students. I really like them. Continue reading Stout Extensions for Forstner Drill Bits →