layout News & Reviews

Swanson, the makers of the ever popular Speed Square, have come out with a new layout tool that does it all, or almost all. Their new Speed bevel has all the features and looks of their classic Speed Square, but with a little transformer magic, turns into a T-bevel. With a little more transformation you have a try-square; in total the Speed Bevel offers 5 different layout tools in its one small fold-able package. Heck, the fact that you can fold down and make a Speed Square smaller, is all it took to sell me on...

When is a Stabila level not a Stabila level? When it is a Masterforce level that is made in Germany by Stabila. That's right, the Menards hardware store line of Masterforce levels are actually made by Stabila. The Masterforce levels look like they are an old model of level that Stabila no longer sells under their own name, but if you go to any large jobsite, you would be sure to see these same level in Stabila yellow. There are a couple of advantages to purchasing a Masterforce level over a Stabila, the first...

Math gets in the way of great woodworking projects. Yeah, I know it might be hard for some of you to believe, but amazing looking furniture was being built long before the masses knew the wonders a+b=c and all that jazz. Sure a tape measure comes in handy when you need to divide 73-3/16 by 5, but that is only because we were never taught the ways of old. So what can replace a tape measure and the knowledge math? How about two sticks and a hinge, or what is commonly known as a "sector". So...

Unless you are using a standard angle crown molding that matches you saw's presets, and you are only doing 45 degrees corners, calculating the correct angles for your crown is no walk in the park. This is why miter finding tools are so handy. But if you are a DIYer, you probably don't want to spend money on a tool you will probably only use once or twice. Good thing for you, with a little bit of work, Google SketchUp can calculate those angles for you. All you have to do is photograph the profile of...

The one thing that makes or breaks a level for me is the ability to accurately read the vials. The easier the vials are to read in varying lighting conditions, and against different backgrounds, the better the level. This is why the new Opti-Vision levels from Kapro look really impressive. With this level they have ditched the normal green vials and have gone with a clear liquid that somehow produces a red bubble. Kapro has taken the Opti-Vision to the next level by removing the variable of different vial backgrounds, by using their own permanent white...

Woodpeckers, makers of precision woodworking tools, has announced that for this week only they will be accepting orders for some pretty cool limited run T-Squares. The squares are machined from solid billet aircraft grade aluminum and can be purchased in both metric and imperial sizes. Each square is machined with precision in mind and features micro-fine 1mm holes that the tip of a pencil can fit through. These holes are spaced 1/32nd of an inch apart for the imperial version, .5mm apart for the metric version and run the length of the the square. Users are...

Craftsman has just entered the laser measuring market, which would normally be good news, but in this case, Craftsman has me wondering why they even bothered. It is not as though the new laser measurer is a bad tool, it is just a tool that has too little to offer for its price in today's market. A mispriced tool, as it were. At a price just shy of $100, the Craftsman Accutrac laser measurer can measure distances of up to 100 feet, calculates length, area, volume, does Pythagorean measuring and even has a backlit LCD screen....