Do you have a good Gadget tool......?

[Bill Huber]

There are a lot if different type gadget tools out there, you know the ones I am talking about. They just are not the tools that you found in a shop a few years ago and they look kind of funny at times...

You kind of feel funny when you sucker in and buy one.... but then you find that its a really great thing to have and you like it and use it a lot.

I have 2 of them that I really like at use a lot.

The first is the 3-Dimensional Square.
I don't use all the features of it but it is so nice to bring lines around a corner and also have the little wing out of the end that helps keep it flat on what ever you are checking.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=72063

The next is a center ruler I got from Rockler, I use this little ruler all the the time. Its a good metal ruler for general work but the really nice thing is the centering. Just measure the item and then on the bottom scale go to the same measurement and that is the center, nice and fast.
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?p...78&filter=rule

So do you have a gadget tool that you really like and use a lot.

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[Dave Lehnert]

The center ruler rocks!


I like my spring loaded center punch. Pick them up on sale at Harbor Freight for like .99

[Doug Shepard]

The first is a set I got for Christmas a couple years ago. I put it on my wish list as I thought it would be nice to have. Now I wonder how I lived without them cuz I'm constantly reaching for them.
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...92&cat=1,43456

Then there's the Incra 3" Tiny T-Rule
http://www.hartvilletool.com/product/10841
I've only ever sen the 3" ones at Hartville, and between the 3", 6" & 12" ones I have the 3" gets far more use than the others. Very handly little gadget.

[Lee Koepke]

Originally Posted by Dave Lehnert

The center ruler rocks!


I like my spring loaded center punch. Pick them up on sale at Harbor Freight for like .99

one of them HF gems ..... I got one too and use it alot.

[Jim Kountz]

Originally Posted by Bill Huber

You kind of feel funny when you sucker in and buy one.... but then you find that its a really great thing to have and you like it and use it a lot.

Well for me its a (gulp) Kreg Jig. I would be one to rant and rave about them being cheesy cheater ways of joining wood. I fought gallantly for the mortise and tenon over pocket screws. Then...........I bought the Kreg Master Kit. Whoo Boy was I ever wrong!! I love this thing, I still go traditional for some things but for face frames on kitchen cabinets and such its the berries man, great tool!

[Mike Heidrick]

Whiteside brass setup bars. I love these things.

[Greg Hines, MD]

I bought a GripMaster about 10 years ago, now called a Z-vise. I don't use it that much nowadays, but I used to use it all the time. You can use it for holding all kinds of things, from small items to, as they said in the infomercials years ago, something as big as a mast.

http://www.advmachinery.com/default....roducts&grp=56

I was disappointed in the rise in cost. When I got mine, it was nowhere near the prices that website quotes, but if you can find one at a garage sale or someplace, I would grab it.

Doc

[Greg Sznajdruk]

Originally Posted by Greg Hines, MD

I bought a GripMaster about 10 years ago, now called a Z-vise. I don't use it that much nowadays, but I used to use it all the time. You can use it for holding all kinds of things, from small items to, as they said in the infomercials years ago, something as big as a mast.

http://www.advmachinery.com/default....roducts&grp=56

I was disappointed in the rise in cost. When I got mine, it was nowhere near the prices that website quotes, but if you can find one at a garage sale or someplace, I would grab it.

Doc

Greg:

I bought one of these at a garage sale for $10. It is useful at $10 but $400 not.

Greg

[Kurt Strandberg]

Originally Posted by Greg Hines, MD

I bought a GripMaster about 10 years ago, now called a Z-vise. I don't use it that much nowadays, but I used to use it all the time. You can use it for holding all kinds of things, from small items to, as they said in the infomercials years ago, something as big as a mast.

http://www.advmachinery.com/default....roducts&grp=56

I was disappointed in the rise in cost. When I got mine, it was nowhere near the prices that website quotes, but if you can find one at a garage sale or someplace, I would grab it.

Doc

I bought one of them, maybe 20 years ago, I still use it for holding long boards to drill for dowels before glue-up

I wonder what I paid for it back then?

[Greg Hines, MD]

Originally Posted by Greg Sznajdruk

Greg:

I bought one of these at a garage sale for $10. It is useful at $10 but $400 not.

Greg

I would agree. I would get another one if the price was right, but anything over about $25 would be too much.

That said, it did come with a great number of attachments that made it more versatile.

Most of the time when I use it these days, I use it with the lower jaws up, for holding boards flat on my workbench.

Doc

[Jim Becker]

Originally Posted by Bill Huber

The next is a center ruler I got from Rockler, I use this little ruler all the the time. Its a good metal ruler for general work but the really nice thing is the centering. Just measure the item and then on the bottom scale go to the same measurement and that is the center, nice and fast.

Yes, a center guide ruler is great to have. Mine is 24" and I love to have it handy at the bench.

[Dave Lehnert]

Originally Posted by Greg Hines, MD

I bought a GripMaster about 10 years ago, now called a Z-vise. I don't use it that much nowadays, but I used to use it all the time. You can use it for holding all kinds of things, from small items to, as they said in the infomercials years ago, something as big as a mast.

http://www.advmachinery.com/default....roducts&grp=56

I was disappointed in the rise in cost. When I got mine, it was nowhere near the prices that website quotes, but if you can find one at a garage sale or someplace, I would grab it.

Doc

I remember Harbor Freight and the like use to have a knock off of that vice. Wish I had purchased one at the time. Like to have one but not at that price.

[Dewey Torres]

Mine is like this but has 4 prongs on the end.

I have:

-pulled rings (and other items) out of the sink trap
-unclogged the sink(s)... grabs hair good
-got things from behind heavy appliances without moving them
-retrieved my arbor nut about 1000 times

You can put a rare earth magnet into the claws and find metal items in a pile of sawdust! (don't ask)

PLUS HF has it for $1.99

Top that!

Dewey

[Lloyd McKinlay]

I have a couple sets of different lengths of bar gauges. Easy to make and they work exactly as advertised. A great way to check square, especially those of us who occasionally mis-read a tape measure, and very useful for getting an inside measurement.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...85&cat=1,43513

[J. Z. Guest]

For me, I have three favorites:

1) Dowelmax
2) Kreg K3 Master System
3) Incra 6" T-rule

I used Dowelmax yesterday to ensure an accurate edge-edge glue-up, and it was very nice to not have to sand down a joint line.