A good quality hand tool really does equal happiness.  I use hand tools…a lot. I often feel that woodworkers will spend tons of time setting up a woodworking task on a power tool when they could have done the same task multiple times over with a hand tool.  This doesn’t mean that power tools are bad, just that there are times when hand tools do the job better or quicker.  And truthfully there are just some hand tools that every shop needs to have.  That’s why we are happy to introduce the Narex line of premium chisels, rasps, mallets, and hammers.  We feel that these high quality, affordable hand tools are perfect for the novice and experienced woodworker alike.

Chisels

Every shop needs a chisel and they range in price from the “oh my god how much?” down to the “there’s got to be something wrong with them for that price!”. So where do you begin when buying a set of chisels?  You can go to the big box stores and get the standard everybody-has-them plastic handled type (and never understand why people who love their chisels really love their chisels) or you can spend a fortune on really expensive ones and wonder over and over if they’re worth it.

Chrome Manganese Steel factory ground to a 25° bevel, these chisels hold a very nice edge and feel great in your hand.

Let me save you some time – the Narex Premium Bench Chisels are a great choice because they let you enter the world of quality hand tools at a price that won’t break the bank. Forged in the Czech Republic from High Alloy Chrome Manganese tool steel with a nicely shaped hornbeam handle, they feel good in the hand, helping make paring and chopping a joyful experience.  If you’ve ever pushed a chisel through a dovetail paring, then you understand why a comfortable handle is so important.

The Narex chisels help make dovetails a breeze

The Narex chisels work nicely in mortising as well

Factory ground to a 25° bevel, they require a little more tune-up time than some higher priced chisels, but once flat and sharp they hold an edge very well and work great. Flattening the back of the chisel is where you will spend the majority of your time, but this is typically a one time thing and at these chisel prices, its well worth the time spent. Also, the Premium line of Narex chisels has a much tighter bevel allowing you to get into tight dovetailed corners much better than the standard line of their bench chisels.  The brass plated ferrule construction adds to their classic look and stays locked solid. These chisels are metric sized but close enough to imperial that it’s easy to find the right ones for you.  We carry 7 of the most popular sizes and sell them individually as well as in a great 6-pc set which includes a soft leather tool roll capable of holding up to 14 chisels.

This 6 pc. premium set (item #00-700) comes with a soft leather tool roll that holds up to 14 chisels.

Rasps

When I am shaping my furniture, one of my go-to tools is a rasp. There are few tools better in helping you get your preliminary shaping done.  The aggressive teeth on the rasp remove stock quickly and evenly making it easy for you to follow up with a file, scraper, and sandpaper to finish your work.  The Narex rasps are made with 45 HRc tool steel and stained hornbeam handles and really pack a punch for a value price.  With both flat and half round rasps to choose from in 6 different sizes, it is easy to find the right one for your needs, and if you just can’t decide, we also sell a 6 pc set featuring 3 half round and 3 flat rasps.

Rasps are the perfect tool to help you start shaping your furniture.

The Narex half round rasps come in three popular sizes; 16mm, 20mm & 25mm

The Narex flat rasps come in three popular sizes; 16mm, 20mm & 25mm

Mallets

Most of our first memories of woodworking involve a hammer and nail.  It was usually the first woodworking task we ever tried.  While these Narex mallets and hammers are not for driving nails, they have that same primal feel.  The bench mallets and carving mallets are perfect tools to help you drive home your chisels while the deadblow hammer will become a go-to assembly tool for you.

Traditionalists prefer a good heavy-duty bench mallet for chisel use and these Narex ones are no exception.  Made from hard beech wood with a well balanced feel, these mallets will have you pounding your chisel into the toughest hardwoods with no problem.  These mallets are the perfect tool for all of your hand mortising work.  For me though, I prefer to use a carver’s mallet with my bench chisels.  They offer me more control and feel lighter in my hand.  These turned and stained beech mallets work well and come in two sizes, large and small.  I have had mine for many years now and it shows no real signs of wear.

This heavy duty beech bench mallet (item #101-750)  will really help you drive your chisel home in mortises

The Narex Premium Large Carving Mallet (item #101-756) is good for carving or easy control of your chisels

The smaller Narex carving mallet (item #101-754) fits nicely in your hand for fine tuned carving and lighter hand tool work.

The Narex deadblow mallet is the perfect tool for assembling your joinery or cabinetry. Each hammer features an anti-shock counterweight which reduces bounce back on each strike, ensuring you don’t mar or damage your work surface.  Very helpful when assembling and dis-assembling furniture and cabinetry for dry fits and glue-ups.  No more having to hold up a scrap block of wood where you are hammering.   These mallets also feature replaceable faces to really help keep your work piece damage free.

Nothing helps you assemble joinery and cabinetry like a good deadblow mallet. This Narex (item #101-752) is an excellent choice.

We chose to offer the Narex brand of hand tools because they work great and don’t cost a fortune. You’ll find a multitude of uses for them in your shop doing everything from cutting and paring to shaping and carving. Narex hand tools will help you refine your hand work and we think they make a great choice for even the most discerning woodworker.

Please be sure to visit the Infinity Tools website for more great products and information.

A NEW WOODWORKER’S PERSPECTIVE ON TOOLS

BY MATT BRECKENRIDGE

Here is how the discussion went according to my recollection: “Hey Matt, I’m selling one of my routers. It comes with that blue table – the one on the rollers with the drawers – and a couple of other extras. You want it? Three hundred bucks.”

“I guess. What’s your layaway policy? Also, what’s a router? Also, I’m going to be a few days late on the rent this month.”

Six easy payments later and I was the proud owner of a quality router, which has proven to be one of the best investments I’ve made to date in the growth of my workshop. Surprising to say for a tool that at its core is just a small electric motor, but it is the router’s modular nature that makes it a must for the modern workshop. In my case, where said modern workshop space is fairly limited (and an operating budget that is even more so), a single tool that can be adapted to accomplish a variety of tasks will always find a place of preference in my toolbox.

So with all that in mind, you can imagine that I was quite excited to get my hands on the M Power CRB7 Combination Router Base, item #100-100 and its accessories. M Power packed a ton of potential into this addition to your existing router bases, and if you’re looking to expand your woodworking repertoire, it may be one of those investments to strongly consider.

The CRB7 Combination Router Base

MPower CRB7 Router Base Complete Package

For starters – and really, this is the crux of the matter – the basic package allows you to perform seven different router operations repeatedly with an extremely high degree of accuracy.  In this you will have one tool that takes the place of seven different jigs and includes a unique method for making fine adjustments to the position of the cut itself. Can anyone ask for more?

The CRB7 attaches to your existing router base by way of two guide rods which purportedly can be adjusted to fit any size router base. The router bit operates within the borders of the large square opening on the baseplate, allowing for adjustments along the length and width. These adjustments made with the knurled tuning nut allow the user to place the cutting head exactly where it is needed and lock it there until it’s time to make a change.  Initial setup can take a bit of figuring out as the instructions that come with the attachment are rather dense and can be a bit confusing (at least to this beginner) but I eventually found that switching between functions was typically a very simple matter, usually involving the movement of one or two pins, screws, this, that, or the other.

The first thing that I knew I wanted to try was to cut a few mortises. I have been working for the past few weeks on a simple chest for my apartment to place, well, all the crap that I don’t want to look at anymore that has followed me around since college.  You know the stuff: orphaned electronics, cable, DVD’s I never asked for, out of date reference books, an inexplicable boomerang. I’m basically making an Arc of the Future Yard Sale.

Anyway, after ruining one set of legs for this chest by improperly marking the borders of the mortises, I was keen to see if the M Power CRB7 would prove a more efficient means than just using my plunge base alone.  By using the CRB7’s hefty aluminum mortise pillars I was able to do just that.  The pillars rode the outside edges of each leg and hugged it tight without binding thanks to their polished finish, keeping the entire router, the base, and the bit perfectly in place. For each new cut all I needed to do was make small adjustments to the tuning knob and the bit rode straight and true with each pass.

Perfect for doing mortises

I found that using just the aluminum mortise pillars on a square piece of stock that had been clamped to my workbench was a very stable setup, and I didn’t experience any wobbling of the router. But lets say that I had. Perhaps the back of each leg was rounded over or the base of the stock was a bit narrow. In those cases I found that the anti-tilt leg worked very well at keeping the whole arrangement from tilting over and ruining the cut. Just drop it in and tighten a nut and the leg acted as an extra point of stability.

Anti-tilt leg

With the chore of mortising out those legs completed I went to another one of my sidelined projects, profiling the edge of a cherry and maple cutting board.  If there is any place that the CRB particularly shines it is probably here. By setting the cutting edge towards the farther side of the baseplate you’re able to keep a larger footprint on the workpiece itself. In my case, this meant that there was more in contact with the face of the cutting board than was hanging off the edge.  As such, I was able to run the router all the way around the cutting board and achieve a nice clean round over without risking a tilt. Sure, a bearing bit will help prevent unintended damage to your piece during a cut on its own, but by adding the CRB7 the entire operation feels rock solid and you can cut all the way around the piece with a decisive, confident motion.

The large base keeps you flat and secure on the workpiece

The rest of my tests went swimmingly, and if I sound like I’m gushing, it’s really because I am.  The M Power CRB7 is a solid expansion for my router that opens up a host of possibilities for me as a new woodworker. I’ve been able to cut perfectly sized holes to expand and modify my dust collection system. I’ve created a perfectly indexed series of dadoes without having to make constant adjustments to my table saw fence.  And I can do all of this with a greater feeling of control over the router – a tool which demands control.

Circles are easy with the M power CRB7

The Edging and Trim Kit

Perhaps one of the best features of the CRB7 is that it is expandable beyond the basic package, so you can effectively keep the majority of your router operations localized to one tool family.  The Edging and Trim Kit allows you to perform a new level of router operation that requires an extraordinarily fine touch and provides that extra bit of stability that can mean the difference between a seamless veneer job and a devastating error.

The idea for this expansion is solid: it’s essentially an additional baseplate with a large bearing that raises the base high enough to allow the cutting edge to trim edges and veneers.  While the riser plate keeps the cutting head at the appropriate height above the workpiece, the bearing keeps the cutting head tracking over the edge you wish to cut without wavering off course.

What does this really mean to you? Well, when you consider that edge trimming requires the tip of your cutting edge to essentially hover above the surface of your piece at a width of a little less than that of a sheet of paper, the last thing you want is to accidentally pull that cutting edge to, well, anywhere else on your workpiece.  The bearing eliminates that possibility, allowing you to stay perfectly in line with the edge of your veneer, leaving you with one less thing to worry about while you’re using the tool, and the whole system glides nearly frictionless from the start of your cut to the finish.  While it is possible to make your own edge kit without the bearing, that small but distinctive addition to the CRB7 creates a peace of mind worth paying for.

The Parallel Side Fence Kit

A second supplement to the combination router base you can purchase is the Parallel Side Fence Kit.  This 3/4″ thick piece of Perplex plastic attaches to the underside of the CRB7 to give you the ability to cut dadoes up to 7 1/2″ away from the workpiece edge. It’s very simple and performs a valuable function. It doesn’t hurt that its also very well engineered. The Perplex plastic has been CNC machined and polished to be quite smooth, so even should you try working it across a rough plywood edge you’ll be hard pressed to experience any snags or slow downs. It attaches to the CRB7 base by way of two screws and stays solidly in place, and should you need to get very close with your cuts to, say, create shoulders, it is possible to attach a sacrificial fence with the extra mounting hardware included with the kit.

Simple though this accessory may be, it really rounds out the hardware trio nicely. M Power has really created something special with this line of router hardware, and it goes to show that even in a profession as time-tested and traditional as woodworking can be, there are still people who see the benefit of approaching old problems and practices from new angles.

The optional side fence accessory makes parallel work along the edges easy. Perfect for dadoes

Please visit the Infinity Tools website for more great products and information

Give your portable planer an upgrade with Wixey’s digital readout.

How often do you use the height gauge on your portable planer?  I personally never use mine because it’s just not accurate enough.  I have found many times over the years that if I want true accuracy out of my planer I have to take very light passes until I ‘creep-up’ onto my exact thickness.  The factory scales on planers seem to always be an afterthought and tend to be cheap and shabby in my opinion.  The Wixey Digital Planer Readout changes that.

The Wixey Digital Planer Readout comes with all the necessary mounting hardware to fit most portable planers.

The Wixey Digital Planer Readout is a great upgrade to your portable planer. With it you can accurately set your planer’s height to achieve precise stock thickness to within +/- .0025″.  The easy-to-read display shows measurements in both millimeters and inches (both fractional and decimal). Now while it is super nice to have a digital display, what I really love about this little planer add-on is its ability to measure to exact dimensions (or at least as close enough to exact as you can really get with a planer). I came up with three examples of why you should add this little beauty to your machine:

Example 1:  I didn’t mill-up enough parts and totally messed up one of my pieces. With the Wixey I can simply put a micrometer on one of my existing pieces and set the planer height to that measurement.  Presto.  Easy to remake the old and busted piece.

Example 2:  I have to mill up a shelf to fit into my dado groove.  I hate a sloppy fit and I also hate having to creep-up onto my final dimension. With the Wixey Digital Planer Gauge you can avoid having to repeatedly plane your workpiece until you finally get the thickness you want. Just set your planer head to the exact thickness you need and stop wasting time on trial cuts and sloppy joints.

Example 3:  I don’t really have an example 3 yet, but I’m sure there is one.

The Wixey Digital Planer Readout gives you the ability to mill pieces to the exact sizes you need with a tolerance of +/- .0025″

The Wixey Digital Planer Readout features absolute and incremental measuring modes. The absolute measurement is the true thickness as it comes out the back of the planer.  In incremental mode you get the ability to temporarily zero out your gauge so that you can remove precise amounts of stock or figure out the exact thickness of a board that has an unknown thickness.

Easily switch between absolute and incremental measuring modes. In incremental mode you can temporarily zero out the scale which gives you a handy zero reference point.

In incremental mode you can find the true thickness of boards before they go into the planer so you know exactly how much material to remove.

Set up and calibration of the Wixey is very easy to do, but the procedure will differ from one brand of machine to the next. Installation for most portable planers will involve using double stick tape to replace the factory gauge. Installing the Wixey Planer Readout on our DeWalt 735 planer couldn’t have been easier since we were able to use the OEM scales’ mounting holes. Other makes and models of portable planer may require you to drill and tap new mounting holes. The Wixey unit comes with a drill bit, screws and additional mounting hardware to make this step painless.

Set-up of the scale is simple even if your planer isn’t plug-n-play like our DeWalt 735.

For most planers, simple double stick tape is all that is needed to install the scale. On some planers, you might need to drill a hole or use the included brackets.

You must align the foot of your scale with your planers bed during set-up. The closer you can get here means the tighter your calibration set-up tolerances will be.

To calibrate the machine for exact thickness, simply run your board through the planer (please note that it must be perfectly flat), lift the scale, place the freshly planed board on the foot of the gauge, lower the scale down onto the planed board, hold the on/off button for 3 seconds until it zeros out. This should give you your true calibrated measurement. You can double check the measurement using a micrometer at this time.  If you are off, try it again and this time make sure that the board is perfectly flat against the foot of the scale.

Calibration is done by laying a board between the reader’s foot and scale and zeroing out the device.

I’m not normally one for digital gauges, but I have to say that Wixey is really changing my opinion on them.  Wixey’s Digital Angle Gauge (item #DAG-003) and this Planer Height Readout have both changed and helped my woodworking practice immensely.

Have a full size planer? You should checkout Wixey’s 0″ – 12″ Digital Planer Readout (item #DRR-002) for your machine.

Please visit the Infinity Tools website for more great products and information

By Andrew Gibson from Sideways Eight Guitars and Ukeleles

Very rarely does a product come along that stands up to the hype, but I think Odie’s oil does. The Odie’s Oil Wood Finishing Kit, (item # 115-415) is an Oil and wax finishing system comprised of 4 products (the Oil, Wood Butter, Wax, and Solvent) that can be used individually or together to produce a beautiful hand rubbed look. The finish is a mix of oil and wax that is rubbed on and buffed off. It really is that simple.The Odie’s Oil finishes are a durable, non-toxic, easy to apply finish that when applied properly create a beautiful natural luster oil finish very similar to a danish oil with an added protective wax finish.  I’m going to walk you through my ways of applying the different types to get superior results for your finishing process.

The Odie’s Oil line of products produce a beautiful finish that can be customized to give you the exact results you are looking for.

Material Preparation 
If you want to get the best result out of Odie’s, your prep work is going to have to be on point. Just like any other finish your sanding will dictate how your project will turn out. Because Odie’s is an oil finish, it is not going to hide scratches or machine marks by burying them under a layer of varnish.  Start with a grit of sand paper that will get your machine marks out and then work up in grit without skipping grits. I typically start with either 80 or 120 grit and work up. For a low gloss satin finish sanding to 220 should work, but if you really want to pump up the gloss level keep sanding. On my instruments I typically sand to 400 or even 600 grit. I recently worked on a table that was sanded to 1200 grit and the resulting finish was simply amazing. Don’t be afraid to sand up to these high grits, the oil will penetrate into the fibers of the wood where film finishes may have trouble adhering to the surface. Higher sheen can be achieved without sanding to super high grits but you will need more coats to get there. At the end of the day, if you want a higher gloss level, I find it’s easier to just sand up and then finish, not to mention you use less finish. In my experience sand paper is cheaper than wood finish and I’m all for saving a little money when I can.

Applying Odie’s Oil
Now that we have done the hard work, it’s time to apply the finish. The Odie’s Oil is the main product in the finish line and the one you will probably use the most.  Remember that a little Odies Oil goes a long way, so use sparingly, you can always add more. My favorite way to apply Odie’s Oil is to use a piece of fine scotch bright, either gray or white depending on how far I sanded. I will rub the oil into the wood in a circular motion spending time to work the oil into the pores of the wood. When I’m done I want very little if any finish sitting on the surface, this only takes a few minutes.  I find this process to be enjoyable because I can watch the beauty of the wood come to life and the citrus based finish smells good to boot.  Once the finish has been worked in, simply let it sit for about an hour then buff off any remaining finish. This can be done by hand with a rag, a piece of white scotch bright, or for my power tool hungry friends a buffer with a cotton pad. Your goal is to remove all the remaining oil from the surface. Now simply let dry for 12 to 24 hours and repeat as desired, I typically like 2 coats.

With Odie’s oil a very little bit goes a long way, use sparingly and add more as needed.

Apply using steel wool, Scotch Brite pads, or even your finger. Work into the surface of the wood, let stand for a bit, then buff out.

Applying Odie’s Wood Butter.
The Odie’s Wood Butter is applied in the same manner as the oil. The difference being that the Wood Butter has more wax in it and will help you build a higher sheen faster. Simply rub the wood butter into the surface just like with the oil and buff it off. Just to repeat, use sparingly, a little goes a long way and you don’t want to spend a bunch of time buffing excess wax off of your project. Use one coat or more, it really depends on the look you are going for. I find two coats typically do the trick, especially if I have already done two coats of Oil. Remember, I am typically finishing an instrument like a guitar or ukulele, so one coat may be all you need or want.

Apply the wood butter in the same manner as the oil, see above for instructions.

Applying Odie’s Wax.
The Odie’s Wax is a very high quality finishing wax, it is used to put that final shine on your piece and provide a high luster wax sheen. Again we channel Mr. Miyagi and simply wax on and wax off. I like to let the final coat dry for a couple days, and then do my final buffing. To clarify, I buff off the surface after an hour then after a couple days I buff the surface one more time and call the project complete.

Make sure to buff out the finish for best results. I buff the Wax twice after applying, once after an hour and then again after two days.

How about that Safer Solvent?
The Odie’s Safer Solvent is a replacement for harsher solvents like mineral Spirits. Like all of Odie’s finishes, it’s non-toxic and smells good. But wait, there’s more! If you take some oil and mix it 50/50 with the Safer Solvent you get a Super Penetrating Oil. Now you may think that you would use this first, but it’s actually best used last. Simply wipe it over your waxed surface and it will act as a final polish. It helps level out any remaining waxes in the surface and bring out that last little bit of shine.

That’s it! No fancy tricks, just work it in and buff it off. If that’s not enough, once you are comfortable with the individual components you can combine them to create your own perfect finish for your individual projects. Most popularly would be to combine oil and wood butter to create a step between the two products. This is a great step for woods like maple or exotics that aren’t as thirsty as other species of wood.

A final question you may have is how durable is Odie’s Oil Finish? Odie’s was originally designed to be a finish for wide plank wood floors, so I guess it would have to be durable. In my experience it is very durable. I have instruments that have been handled by literally hundreds of people over the course of a weekend and not even a fingerprint shows. So if you are looking for a finish that is easy to apply, is food safe, non-toxic, and smells good; I think you should give Odie’s Oil a try.

On any of the Odie’s Oil products pages on the Infinity Tools website, there is a handy tips and tricks PDF available to help you out.

Andrew Gibson is a Florida based luthier and fine furniture builder over at Gibson Woodworking and Sideways Eight Guitars and Ukeleles.  Be sure to check out his amazing work over on his website.

Please visit the Infinity Tools website for more great products and information.

Jessem Dowel Jig Master Kit

I know a lot of woodworkers who bang their heads against the wall whenever they are trying to figure out joinery for their projects.  They struggle with the different hand cut methods or don’t have the funds to invest in some of the very expensive joinery systems on the market.  This is one of the reasons I’ve become fond of the JessEm Dowel Jig Master Kit.  This is an inexpensive joinery system that creates a strong joint that is perfectly aligned. When I first picked up this jig, I saw all of the tell tale signs of JessEm quality.  The Jig itself is machined from solid aluminum and hard anodized to protect it from bumps and jolts in your shop. The white alignment marks are easy on the eyes and the handy registration grooves on the bottom of the plate allow you to securely set your fence to prevent misalignment.  These grooves register the fence in 1/8″ increments for repeatable and accurate jig setup. The JessEm Dowel Jig Master Kit includes 1/4″, 3/8″, and 1/2″ dowel guides which are the most popular sizes on the market.

Jessem Dowel jig Master Kit includes 1/4″, 3/8″, and 1/2″ templates, drill bits, and indexing pins.

When I was trying to think of a good way to build a project using the JessEm dowelling jig, I instantly thought of James Krenov and his cabinet on stands.  Krenov was a huge proponent of dowel joinery and used it on many of his cabinets, so building a cabinet on a stand seems like a good choice.  We will go over the whole cabinet on stand build in a  future blog.

First off let me say that the JessEm Dowel jig is easy to use.  Set your fence to your desired position (you must use one of the 1/8″ registration marks), clamp it on, and drill away.  There is not much else to it.

I first used it when I glued-up the cabinet’s sides, top and bottom and it worked great aligning the panel glue-ups.

Simply align the jig and clamp it on to your work piece.

Using the pre-included drill bit with depth stop, drill your dowel holes.

The index pin helps you maintain accurate alignment and spacing.

The Jessem Dowel Jig creates perfect spacing to make it easy to assemble your work pieces.

Joining your parts is quick and easy.

The JessEm Dowel Jig Master Kit is perfect for panel alignment.

Next I did the cabinet carcass joinery.  Since I was planning offset joinery on this, I needed to figure out how far I would want the setback of my sides from my top.  I also would need to make sure that my bit stop depth was changed from side depth length to top and bottom depth length.  Figuring out those lengths and dimensions were the hardest part of that joinery (and that wasn’t hard at all).  The only thing I might recommend in the future would be to have two different drill bits set up so you do not have to switch back and forth between the bit depth stops.

For carcass Joinery, alignment is the same, but you need to be careful about stop collar depth on your bit.

Drill the holes making sure to remember how you did your spacing.

Insert your dowels.

Check your fit.

The Jessem Dowel Jig made easy work of this carcass assembly. It’s a strong joint that was simple to mill up accurately and quickly.

The cabinet fit together perfectly and feels very strong and secure when I dry fit the joints. It really shows the strength and ease of use that the JessEm Dowel Jig Master Kit helps you achieve. From simple alignment to full strength carcass joinery, this jig provides way more bang for the buck than most of the other joinery systems on the market.  We think this JessEm jig is a worthwhile addition to your shop if dowel joinery is in your future.

We also carry pre-grooved dowels that fit perfectly with the JessEm Dowel Jig.

Please be sure to visit the Infinity Tools Website for more great products and information.

Cutting thin strips of wood on the table saw can be a scary daunting task.  Not only is it hard to maintain accurate even pressure against the fence when pushing a narrow strip of wood past the blade, but there is the possibility of the wood getting bound up between the saw blade and the fence causing kickback. That’s why we like our Thin Rip Guide. It helps you safely make repetitive off cuts on the left side of the saw blade.

The Thin Rip guide makes it easy to safely and accurately cut thin strips of material on your table saw.

The Thin Rip Guide is easy to set up and use.  Working with any 3/4″ x 3/8″ miter slot, simply set the jig about 2-3 inches in front of the saw blade.  Using a squared piece of stock, set your fence so that the off cut (the part to the left side of the saw) is the desired width you want.  Next, extend the guide over to the piece of stock so that the bearing on the Thin Rip Guide is touching the wood.  Lock down the guide and rip the piece of lumber. Check the measurement on your piece of wood to make sure it is the desired width.  If not, adjust the Thin Rip Guide accordingly using the built-in scale on the guide.  For each successive cut, simply move your fence over to but the wood to the guide and rip away. Make sure your stock is wide enough to allow you to get out as many strips as you will need.

Set your piece of stock so that the desired thickness of your cut is to the left side of the blade. Lock your fence.

Place the Thin Rip Guide up to the wood so that the ball bearing on the guide rests snugly against the material.

Using a push block or stick, make a rip cut in your material.

The thin strip of wood will come off on the left side of the blade safely.

Check to make sure the piece is the desired thickness. If not, make an adjustment using the built-in scale on the guide.

The ball bearing guide on the thin rip guide also works similarly to a feather board helping you keep your material firmly against the fence while allowing your work to flow freely past it. You can also use the Thin Rip Guide in any of your tools that have a 3/4″ x 3/8″ miter slot such as your shaper, router table, or bandsaw.

The ball bearing acts similar to a feather board, insuring your workpiece is firmly pressed against the fence allowing for repeatability when moving the fence.

Re·peata·bili·ty – it’s hard to get confirmation that this is an actual word in the English language. Some text editing software throws the red flag when you use it while other software let’s you get away with it. What we can tell you for sure is that our Thin Rip Guide let’s you accurately make the same thickness of rip cut, time and time again. This, to us, is ‘repeatability’.

We would also like to remind you that when using the thin rip guide with the table saw, please always try to use a zero clearance insert, splitter or riving knife, proper push stick or block, and the table saws’ safety guard whenever possible.

Please visit the Infinity Tools Website for more great products and information

Born from an idea submitted by one of our customers, this new ‘Art Deco’ rail and stile set evokes the elegance of a bygone period.

Ogee, Round, Bevel & Radius, Shaker, Mission, Standard, and Traditional…these are all names that have been given to Rail and Stile router bit door making sets since the invention of the router. With no exciting new profiles in years, the cabinet door naming business has been stuck in a rut…until now. 

Infinity Tools is proud to present the newest edition to our 2-Pc. Rail & Stile router bit family: The Art Deco Profile Rail & Stile Router Bit set, item 91-506. When one of our good customers in North Carolina came to us with this router bit idea we instantly fell in love with the design and thought that it would make a beautiful cabinet door profile. This exciting new door frame profile echoes the classical Art Deco style seen in historical architecture from the 1920’s and 30’s, most prominently in downtown New York. The profile creates great reveal lines on the face of the door that help the cabinet stand out from the rest. The profile makes a powerful statement of elegance but the matched pair also produce a classically modern and timeless design.

A word about quality (our favorite topic): this profile is made with the same attention to detail as all of our Infinity Cutting Tools branded products. Which is to say, they cut very smooth, leave little to no sanding and feature a perfect factory fit, we guarantee it. Aggressive shear angle, three wing slot cutters and super hard micro-grain carbide all work together to help these router bits perform in your home or production shop. This door making router bit set (as well as our other 2 piece rail and stile sets) includes a 3/4″ set up block at no extra charge. The block will help you quickly and accurately setup both your rail and your stile bit when using 3/4″ thick material.

Our Art Deco Rail & Stile bit set creates an elegant double shadow line on the profile. This clean and modern look reminded us of the period Art Deco architecture made popular during the 20’s and 30′ in New York.

Included in the 2-Pc. Art Deco Router Bit Set is a 3/4″ thick set-up block to help you make accurate cuts on your first try.

The Art Deco Rail & Stile profile is one of the most versatile in our shop because it looks great with either a raised panel or a flat panel.  You could choose any of our Raised Panel Router Bits and make a great looking custom door or use a veneered flat plywood panel and make a truly timeless custom door.

And in case we failed to mention this in the past, we love working with our customers on new router bit profile ideas. If you have a great new router bit concept that your dying to tell us about, please fill in the contact form below and a customer service rep will be in touch. If we put your idea into production you’ll get the first one off the production line shipped to your home at no charge!

Please visit the Infinity Tools Website for more great products and information

I always tell people woodworking is in my blood. Many of my family members were woodworkers of some form or another. Not only that, quite a few were musicians as well. To top it all off my last name is Gibson. Looking back it all makes sense that I would want to build instruments. Even though I didn’t get the chance to spend a lot of time with my woodworking family members growing up, I have always been drawn to the wood shop and had the desire to make things with my hands.

A few years ago I decided to try my hand at making a ukulele. I thought to myself, I’m a woodworker and a ukulele should be fairly easy to make and play. It should be easy to carry around for trips to the beach as well. Instead of buying a ukulele I would much rather have one I built myself. So I jumped on line and started searching for information. Before long I found plans, YouTube videos, and blogs about instrument making and proceeded to read as much on the subject as I could digest. After a few weeks of research I ordered some plans, grabbed some scrap wood, and went to work. I was never one for making jigs and fixtures in the shop, so I tried to use methods to limit the jigs I needed to make… I wanted to build a Ukulele not Jigs. Let me tell you, there is a reason for every one of those jigs and they make an instrument go together faster and easier with then without. So I learned my lesson and before I started a second build I made myself a few of those jigs I had decided I could do without.

First and second ukulele side by side

I learned a lot building that first Ukulele. How to bend wood for instruments. How to make that instrument play in tune. But the most important thing I learned was that I could do it! It may not be pretty, it may not be refined, it certainly was not perfect, but gosh darn it had string and it sounded like a ukulele. Building that first ukulele gave me the confidence to push myself further. It taught me to be fearless in experimenting and trying new techniques and projects. It also taught me that if I look hard enough the answers to just about any questions is out there. The most amazing thing I learned was that there are more people in local clubs and on internet forums and blogs ready to help then you can shake a 2×4 at. So if there is a project you have always wanted to build and never made the leap, just go for it. Go find your local Woodworking club or guild, jump on line and find a few forums and blogs, and start searching for videos. If you don’t find what your looking for, start a blog and teach us as you learn and or fail. Thomas Edison is quoted as saying “I didn’t fail, I just found 2000 ways not to make a light bulb…” I’m sure someone else would love to learn from you. This is Andrew Gibson saying, Get Woodworking!

Here are a couple of my latest Ukuleles.

The Ancient Greeks are credited for creating the earliest form of the disk sander… some might say.

Some may be aware that the earliest known hand planes originated in Ancient Greece during the bronze age, but many don’t know that the Greeks were the early inventors of the disk sander! For the first Olympics a woodworker is reported to have donated the disk from his sander for use in the track and field discus event …ok, that my not be entirely accurate but the disk sander is an extremely helpful tool that has its place in every shop. The Greeks called it a discus sander.The problem with most disk sanders is that they are either too small, too light, too weak or they are simply too darned expensive. Rikon has solved this problem by creating their 12″ disk sander. It offers heavy cast iron construction all the way around and a powerful 1/2 hp motor at a price point that can’t be beat.

Rikon’s 12″ disk sander formed from solid cast iron and powered by a 1/2 hp motor powers through the toughest sanding and shaping jobs.

Rikon’s 12″ disk sander features the best dust collection system I have used. Hook it up to your dust collector or shop vac and see how well it works for yourself. I was impressed and think you will be to.

The Locking knob locks both the front and back trunnions in one easy turn making for rock solid adjustments at any angle.

The 17″ x 6-1/2″ cast Iron table on the 51-200 tilts 45° up and down.

The disk Brake on the 51-200 sander makes this machine safer and more convent. When you give it a try you will wonder how you lived without it.

This Rikon Sander gives you the power and stability of a big machine without taking up valuable space in your shop.

Call me crazy, but I find chopping a mortise by hand to be one of the more enjoyable parts of a project. I get to grab a big beefy mortise chisel, a mallet that Thor would appreciate, and take out all my aggression on a piece of wood that will actually be of use when I am done!

But it may surprise you to know that this wasn’t always the case. In fact, before I got a proper set of mortise chisels, I would put off the task for as long as I could manage. The right tool can make all the difference on your outlook about the work that we do, and once you make the step into a quality set of chisels the difference really is quite staggering. If you are ready to make that step, then I think that you’ll find these Narex Profi Mortise Chisels will make a world of difference…

Quality steel and excellent machining are the foundation of the Narex mortise chisels. I would expect these to be around for years of faithful service despite the abuse to which they will certainly be subjected.

Narex has a few different lines of hand tools that are all distinguished by the quality of materials. The standard line comes at the most economical price point, while the Profi line we’ll talk about here are intended to be for the more discerning, even professional woodworkers. When it comes to chisels, the biggest factor in quality comparisons almost always comes down to the steel, and quantity is probably the largest. When more steel is packed into the body behind the cutting edge, the chisel has more rigidity and strength, so you lose less of that edge with each swing of the mallet.

Like any chisel, the most important part of a mortise chisel is its ability to take and hold an edge. Narex uses chrome-managnese steel alloy for just this reason, and then hardened it up to HRc59, which is the perfect degree of hardness for the kind of work these chisels are meant to do. One of these mortise chisels is able to stand up to the workday abuse imposed on it without adding difficulty to the resharpening process later on.

The difference between a good mortise chisel and a bad one can be measured in degrees. The Narex have sides that taper in at 3°, allowing clearance around the body while embedded deep in the cut and preventing it from being wedged in the wood, similar to a properly sharpened and set handsaw.

The geometry of the blade is very important for a mortise chisel to work efficiently. First it must be thick in order to stand up to repeated mallet blows. The bodies of these chisels taper slightly from 1/2″ thick at the handle to 3/8″ at the base of the bevel. This thickness is also very important as it creates a long bevel that is used to pry away waste, think of it much like the rounded portion of a claw hammer for pulling a nail.

Without the slight 3° taper to the sides of the stout blade, the mortise chisel would wedge against the sides of the mortise and be difficult to use.

The sides of the Narex are beveled at 3°. This is enough of an angle to keep the chisel from binding in the cut, but not so much that the chisel will twist when struck. There is a fine line here and Narex seems to have walked it well.

The 25° primary bevel on these chisels makes for a perfect prying base. Following Narex suggestion I added a 35° microbevel making sharpening quick and easy and helped increase the durability of the cutting edge.

The bevel on these chisels comes out of the box ground at 25°, which is ideal for for the purpose of prying waste from a deep mortise. Narex suggests that these chisels be honed with a micro-bevel of 35° to increase the durability of the cutting edge, and I find this to be a very good suggestion as the micro bevel also makes for quick work at the sharpening station.

Strong and sturdy beech handles with steel ferrules and hoops finish off these robust chisels. The oval shape offers a comfortable grip that makes the chisel easy to manipulate and keeps it from rolling off the workbench.

All the quality steel and bevels in the world won’t help if the handle is uncomfortable. The Narex have a stained beech wood handle with a steel ferrule and hoop for durability.  The Oval shape makes it easy to control the angle of the cutting edge and makes for a comfortable grip even during prolonged chopping session – not to mention that they won’t roll off the bench.

If you have never had the pleasure of chopping a mortise with a well-made mortise chisel, do yourself a favor and pick up a set of these Narex Profi Mortise Chisels. The Five-Piece Set will be sure to give the right size for almost any project and take mortising from a task you avoid to one that actually you enjoy.

Andrew Gibson

Next time you hear someone say “nice drawers” assume they’re talking about the fine drawer box you made with the Infinity Tools Drawer Locking Router Bit and not your underwear.

When is the last time someone said to you “nice drawers”? If it’s been a while, it’s time to step up your game in the wood shop. When my goal is to make a strong and visually appealing joint quickly, I reach for the Drawer Locking Router Bit. The Drawer Locking Router Bit creates a strong interlocking joint with plenty of glue surface that only requires clamping in one direction during final assembly. The joint is also perfectly suited to be pin-nailed, allowing you to free up your clamps when making multiple drawers. New kitchen cabinets, anyone?

The interlocking profile of the Drawer Locking router bit increases the strength of the drawer from front to back.

The Drawer Locking Router Bit creates a an Interlocking joint that pulls both pieces of material together as clamping force is applied from the side. This geometric configuration means you don’t need to put any clamps on your drawer face, which has the added bonus of saving you from putting pressure marks on the face of your drawer.

Another nice feature of the Drawer Locking Router Bit is that the joint can be pinned from the side with a brad nailer, allowing the clamps to be immediately removed so they can be used on the next drawer in quick fashion.

The Drawer Lock router bit will also allow you to create full overlay drawer fronts without using two pieces of material for the drawer face. This is a recipe for for a cleaner, more visually appealing drawer.

With the Infinity setup block (item #SET-512) you’ll have perfectly fitting drawer fronts and sides in no time.

Infinity Cutting Tools also offers a setup block specifically for the Drawer Locking Router Bit. When it comes to material thicknesses, this block is designed to pull double duty. First, the block will help set bit height and fence setting when making drawers with 3/4″ faces, 1/2″ sides and with a 1/4″ overlay. Second, the same block will set the bit height and fence to create a drawer with a face flush to the sides when using all 3/4″ material for the box.

If you want to make drawers with different overlay or from material of different thicknesses you can still use the setup block to set the bit height and the fence setting for the drawer sides, leaving only the adjustment for the drawer face to be made via the fence setting. To add a greater amount of overlay, you’d simply move the fence away from the front of the table when cutting the drawer front. For a lesser amount of overlay, simply move the fence forward toward the front of the table when cutting the drawer front. It’s as simple as that.

If the joint is loose, raise the bit half the amount needed to tighten up the joint. If the joint is tight, lowering the bit is the key.

If for some reason the joint is not fitting together perfectly or you want a slightly tighter or looser fitting joint, the Drawer Locking Router Bit is easy to fine tune. If the joint is loose it means the bit is set too low. Simply raise the bit half the amount that is needed to tighten the gap, this will tighten up the joint. If the joint is too tight the bit is set too high. Lowering the bit will loosen the joint up. Remember any adjustment made to the bit height will be doubled when both pieces are cut.

Setting the fence for an inset drawer face is simple, use a piece of drawer side material as a guide and use a second piece of scrap to set the bit to project the correct amount.

If the drawer overlap is not lining up or a custom overlay is desired, all that is needed is a fence adjustment. A quick way to set your overlay is to use a piece of you drawer side material as a guide. Set you drawer side against your fence, then stack a second piece in front and simply set the fence to allow the bit to project the same mount as the side material thickness. This will set the bit perfectly for a flush face/side joint. If you want an overlay of say, 1/2″, simply add a piece of 1/2″ material to the stack and move the fence back accordingly and you are set.

If a custom overlay is desired, simply add a piece of material the same thickness as the desired overlay to the stack and slide the fence back the desired amount. If you are making a large overlay, it is always a good idea to make multiple passes.

The Drawer Locking Router Bit simplifies drawer construction by eliminating finicky jigs and time consuming setup. What is left is a strong, attractive and versatile joint that is easy to make, fine tune and assemble. Adding a Drawer Locking router bit to your collection is sure to simplify your next drawer making project. And don’t forget the drawer locking router bit setup block, it’ll make an already easy to use bit even easier.

There is nothing more satisfying than the sound of knocking on a real, solid wood front door, or interior door for that matter. But making these wooden portals can be challenging and expensive, especially if you want to make more than one style of door. At least, that was the case until now. We’re proud to introduce our new Insert-Pro Interior and Exterior Door Shaper Cutter System that will allow you to put custom craftsmanship on your front porch.

This new insert knife shaper cutter system gives you the ability to change the profile on your stiles & rails by simply swapping out the inexpensive replacement knives – an added bonus when they eventually become dull or damaged.

The heart of the system is the Interior Door Making Set. With these three heads you cam make five different profiles of door simply by replacing the C4 micro-grain carbide insert knives.

The cornerstones of the Insert-Pro Door Making System are quality and value. Each Insert-Pro shaper head accepts our C4 micro-grain carbide insert. These knives are sharper and last longer than the carbide cutters in standard brazed tooling. The knives are held in place by mechanical fasteners and not brazed directly onto the cutter head so they can be easily replaced when dull or damaged. No more throwing away a complete shaper set or waiting weeks to have a new tip brazed on because one of the knives hit the shop floor. With our Insert-Pro set you can quickly swap out the knives as necessary and go right back to work.

Installing an Insert-Pro Door Making Shaper Cutter set is as simple as arranging the heads in the correct order, setting the fence and spindle height, and going to work. No fussy shimming required.

When the time comes to add a different profile to the collection for that next door project, you won’t have to buy another complete set of heads. Simply pick up new profile knives for your Insert-Pro Door Making Set.

Say you have the Ogee Insert-Pro Set, but your customer (or significant other) wants a Chamfer profile. No problem. Just install a set of Chamfer profile knives in your heads and go to work. New project calls for an Art Deco Profile? Grab some of those Art Deco Knives and get back at it. We offer a selection of five different knife profiles for the Insert-Pro Door Making system, making it an extremely versatile solution for any serious woodworker or professional shop.

Making the cope cut is as simple as installing the correct knives, sliding the heads on the spindle and stepping up to the machine. Don’t have a 1-1/4″ spindle?  Just grab a set of T-bushings for your 3/4″, 1″, or 30mm spindle and you’re all set.

But enough about the knives, it’s the cutter head that lets those sharp parts do their job so well. The Insert-Pro heads are CNC machined from aircraft grade aluminum, then precision balanced, and finally anodized with a protective coating, making for a light, durable, and smooth running shaper cutter that lets those c4 micro-grain cutters shear away wood like a hot knife through butter. It’s important to note that the bore on all Infinity Shaper Cutters is machined to very exacting tolerances, which ensure a perfect fit on your shaper spindle. This fit allows the cutters to run smooth and without vibration. You can’t get a perfect fitting joint out of an unbalanced shaper cutter.

To get started with the Insert-Pro system, simply choose the Interior Door Making Set in the profile you like. Each of the listed profiles will allow you to make doors from 1-1/4″ to 1-1/2″ thick. Producing exterior doors from 1-5/8″ to a full 1-7/8″ thick is as simple as adding the Exterior Door Kit to your set. Want all the profiles in one convenient package? Just pick up the Insert-Pro Interior & Exterior Door Making Master System and you’ll be able to make both interior and exterior doors in all five profiles right out of the gate.

Wooden doors traditionally use Extended Tenons to add strength to the door. Going one step further and draw bore pinning the tenon creates a door that will last for generations, even without glue!

BUT WAIT – THERE’S MORE!

What is the only thing that could make a custom solid wood door better? A solid wood door with extended tenons. A door made in this fashion will suddenly be of heirloom quality so strong people will think you stole it off the front of a historic monument. The Infinity Insert-Pro Extended Tenon Head allows you to mill the extended tenon in a single pass (though we recommend taking a few, just to be safe) and create a full 2″ long tenon without flipping the material. This makes it ridiculously easy to produce perfect fitting cope cuts and draw bore-ready tenons that say “why even bother with glue?”

The Insert-Pro Extended Tenon Head allows you to make doors with full 2″ long tenons for both interior and exterior dimension doors. Because it cuts both sides of the profile in a single pass you don’t have to endure a finicky setup process to ensure the resulting joint will fit correctly.

Infinity has matching knives for all five profiles available in this door making system. No matter what profile door you need you can make the extended tenon to mach in both interior or exterior dimension. It doesn’t get any easier to make a bomb-proof door than that.

With a full 2″ tenon your door will be ready for decades of faithful service.

What are you waiting for? It doesn’t matter if you are setting up your shop for the first time or replacing your old worn out cutters, the Infinity Insert-Pro Interior & Exterior Door System will save you time and money in the shop and help you produce doors that anyone would be proud to have in their home or business.

Infinity Tools Football Bowl and Tray Templates

Handmade party platters and trays are a great way to add some spice to just about any event; from Halloween to birthdays to Christmas. One day, however, stood out as being neglected: Gameday! Infinity Cutting Tools has designed a pair of templates that will surely be a hit from training camp to the Pro Bowl and all the way through to your Draft Parties. These trays will  score one big touchdown with your guests when you break them out on Super Bowl Sunday. Making these trays is both easy and a great way to use up some of the scraps that are piling in the corner of your workshop. If you’re new to the tray making game, fear not, here is the Infinity Cutting Tools playbook that will help you get your trays done in time for the the big game!

It only takes a few basic woodworking tools to make an impressive serving tray for your next event, whether it be Gameday or Christmas Eve!

Making a tray regardless of design is easy and only requires a few tools. Here is a list of all the ingredients you’ll need to make any of Infinity Cutting Tools’ custom serving trays:

• One Fantastic Router (116-269 or 116-270)
• One Tray Template of choice (115-018 or 115-019 or both with 115-TK4)
• One Large Router Base Plate (115-032)
• One Bowl and Tray Router Bit
• A Dash of Sanding Supplies
• A Drizzle of Waterproof Wood Glue (115-522)
• And a slathering of a Food-grade Wood Finish (115-403)

Some cherry and a chunk of maple glued together kickoff this Football Helmet tray nicely.

The first step to creating any tray is to create a blank large enough for the tray. This is a great time to get creative and use up all those scraps that you have laying around the shop. When gluing up the blank don’t be afraid to get creative. Adding a detail like laces to the bottom of the football tray is a real game changer that doesn’t take any special skills.

Details like laces on the football can really make the project stand out.

To make the laces, you’ll start by cutting 1/4″ strips of a dark lumber for the football and a light lumber for the laces. In our case, we went with sapele for the leather and maple for the laces. Glue the strips together into two blocks as you see pictured below to start making the pattern for the laces.

To make the laces, start by gluing up contrasting 1/4″ x 3/4″ strips in an alternating pattern.

Once the glued strips dry, cut the new Dark/Light/Dark strip into 1/2″ long blocks, then cut the Light/Dark/Light strip into 1/4″ long blocks. Position these 1/2″ and 1/4″ blocks into the pattern you see below and glue them together. When dried, glue them into the middle of your blank with a solid color strip on either end and BOOM – you’ve got laces!

Cut 1/2″ long blocks for the center lace, and 1/4″ long blocks for the cross laces, glue it all up and boom – done.

Once your blank is glued up, It’s time to attach the template and start hollowing out the innards. A large diameter forstner bit in the drill press makes short work of removing the majority of waste to speed up the routing process.

When drilling out the waste remember to leave enough thickness at the bottom so that the router can remove the center mark left by the forstner bit. A 3/8″ to 1/2″ thick bottom should suffice for any tray.

Now that you’ve removed the majority of the waste, routing the bowl out is a clean sweep. Using a large router base plate and a bowl and try bit with a top bearing, simply follow the inside of the template, stepping down little-by-little with each pass until you reach the desired depth of cut.

A large Router Base plate and a Bowl and Tray bit with a bearing are used to remove the material left by the Forstner bit, and will leave a nice radius in the corners of the tray.

Depending on how much material was removed with the forstner bit, 1/4″ to 1/2″ per pass should do the trick. If you want to make a bowl that is deeper than your router is capable of reaching, you can remove the template after the first few passes to gain some extra reach. If the router still won’t reach to the bottom of your bowl, a router collet extension will get the job done. Remember when routing around the edge it is a good idea to make an initial pass to remove the majority of material, then clean out the sawdust and make a final pass to ensure you get a good clean cut. Sawdust likes to build up in the corners of these kinds of projects and can keep the bearing from contacting the sides of the template as needed.

Here is the helmet tray with the tricky parts of the outline routed away using the template, a 1/2″ brass bushing, and a 1/4″ upcut spiral bit. The rest of the outline is marked with a compass using the inside void of the tray as a guide… just connect the dots.

Once the guts are hollowed out, it’s time to define the outside of the tray. On a complex tray like the football helmet which has lots of twists and curves, The template is often made with a track to accept a 1/2″ guide bushing. This guide allows a 1/4″ straight bit to shape these intricate areas. An upcut spiral bit does a great job of plunging in and routing out these areas. Once the complex parts of the template are cut, use a compass or dividers to follow the inside of the bowl and draw a line that defines the outside edge.

A stationary belt or disk sander does a great job of removing the saw marks on the outside curves of the tray, and a Spindle sander is ideal for getting into the tight inside corners.

A bandsaw with a 1/4″ blade works best to finish cutting the perimeter, but patience and a jig saw can get the job done as well. Once you’ve finished with the bandsaw, you can remove the saw marks on the outside curves with a disk or belt sander. A spindle sander makes short work of the hard to reach inside curves. Sanding up the inside of the tray can be completed with sand paper and a can do attitude, but scuff balls can make the job go faster and getting into the tight corners easier.

You could stop here, but hit the edges with a 1/4″ roundover bit and you’ll really make your new tray a well-made piece of decor. If you want to get creative, don’t be afraid to substitute the roundover bit with something like an Infinity Cutting Tools Queen Ann bit to carry your new tray over the goal line.

Adding a small detail to the edge of your tray can add a little extra flavor to your game-day snacking.

When finishing your tray, don’t forget that you are most likely going to be serving food in your gameday masterpiece. If you’re going to be serving edibles out of any of these beautiful new trays, make sure to use a food-safe wood finish, like Odie’s Oil. It’s a great choice because it’s easy to apply and produces lustrous results.

While you’re at it, don’t forget to grab a set of ramekins. These ceramic bowls drop right into the round compartments of many templates so you can add dip or salsa to your platter without adding a messy cleanup later.

Complete your project with a food-safe wood finish like Odie’s Oil, and drop in a few ceramic ramekins to make serving salsa and dips a gameday hit.

That’s all it takes to score big at your next pigskin party! No smelly socks, tattered sweatshirts, or silly dances required to get the win next Sunday, Monday, or Thursday.

Raised panel shaper cutters tend to have some pretty inconvenient limitations, especially if you have a preference about  your feed direction and face orientation. Those days of compromise are over, though, because the Infinity Tools Insert Pro Raised Panel Shaper Cutter will let you run your material in whichever direction and orientation you want! These exclusive new shaper system will also let you stack two raised panel heads so you can run both sides of an interior/exterior door panel with a single setup, producing a perfect fitting tongue in one operation and setup only! Want a back-cut raised panel for your cabinet doors? No problem. You can use the Insert Pro System to get perfect fitting panels every time. Here’s how it works…

Infinity Tools Insert Pro Raised Panel Shaper cutter Head. Shown without carbide knives.

The Infinity Tools Insert Pro Raised Panel Head is superbly simple.  The main body of the raised panel cutter is made of aircraft-grade aluminum with anodizing for durability, and then is precision balanced for super smooth operation. All this ensures that the cutter head will run perfectly on any shaper that will accept a 6″ diameter cutter. All the cutters in the Insert Pro line have a 1-1/4″ bore for use on 1-1/4″ spindles, but will also run perfectly on a shaper with 30mm, 1″, or 3/4″ spindle simply by adding a set of T-bushings.

Insert Pro Knives: Available in five gorgeous profiles.

The beauty of our exclusive Insert Pro Raised Panel Head is that it uses replaceable C4 Micro-grain carbide knives. This system allows the user to easily swap out the knives when they become dull or damaged. Also, the single raised panel cutter head will accept any of the five available profiles of replacement knives (Ogee, Standard, Cove, Shaker, & Art Deco) allowing the user to simply swap out knives when a job demands a different profile. Yes, all five profiles are available in both clockwise (SX) and counter clockwise (DX) rotation.

And that’s really where this new design for the Infinity Tools Insert-Pro Raised Panel Shaper Cutter System sets itself apart, because the last thing that you want to do is change the way all of your other shaper accessories are set up just to accommodate a new cutter head. With this system, the cutter head changes to fit your regular workflow.

Let’s say that your shaper cutter is set up to run the spindle counter-clockwise and that your power feeder requires you to run the board face up. Simply use the SX version of the Raised Panel Cutter.

Choose SX knives in any profile to make raised panes in standard (clockwise) rotation with material face up.

Now let’s say you need to run a panel in in the same rotation but this time with the panel face down. Again, no problem; just use the same raised panel head and replace the SX knives with a set of DX knives.

Choose DX knives to make panels in standard (clockwise) rotation with material face down.

Best of all, if you are making interior/exterior doors and need to raise both sides of the panel, this system will allow you to shape both sides of the panel at the same time! Just get yourself two cutter heads, one set of SX knives, one set of DX knives, and one 2-3/4″ Infinity Rub Collar.

With a pair of raised panel cutter heads, a pair of both SX and DX knives, and one rub collar, you can make panels raised on both sides for interior and exterior doors, and eliminate all the otherwise tricky setup and shimming.

If you need to make a door panel for an exterior door, the Exterior Door Making Kit (84-058) eliminates all the guesswork and setup time. Simply add it between the rub collar and top panel raising head and go to work.

For the first time ever, our new SX & DX setup makes Interior / Exterior panel door raising a one step job.

Need to make a back-cut raised panel for your cabinet doors? Throw that 2-3/4″ rub collar and an Infinity Tools Insert-Pro Radius Back Cutter on the spindle and you’re good to go.

Need a back-cut raised panel? Just grab an Infinity Tools Insert Pro Radius Back Cutter and add it to your Panel raiser and rub collar to make 1/4″ tongue panels.

To complete your system, add an Insert-Pro 1 Pc. Rail and Stile Shaper Cutter Head so your cope and stick cuts will also benefit from the replaceable knife system.

The perfect mate to the the Insert Pro raised panel head is the 1-piece rail and stile head. It will allow you to take advantage of the insert knife system to interchange between all five  profiles and make quick, inexpensive swaps when knives go dull.

If you’re worried that changing the knives in these heads will be an undertaking – don’t be. Knife changes are quick and easy. Plus, each head comes packaged with the correct tool for the job. Replacing a knife in the Insert Pro Raised Panel Head is as simple as removing the two screws that hold the knife in place, dropping the new knife into the head, and reinstalling the two screws. The raised panel head comes with built-in stops that eliminate all the guesswork. Simply seat the knife against those stops and tighten down the screws. That’s it!

To install or replace knives, first use the included screwdriver to remove the mounting screws.

Next install the new knife making sure it seats fully into the head and against the stops.

Finally, reinstall the two mounting screws. You’re now ready to install the cutter in your machine.

Conventional shaper cutters cause downtime and are more expensive to run than our new system. Whether you’re a serious home enthusiast or a full service cabinet shop, making the switch to the Infinity Tools Insert-Pro shaper cutters will yield beautiful results while saving you time time and money.

Infinity Tools Vertical Router Sled VRS-100

Let me paint you a picture, and tell me if it looks familiar. You’re in your workshop,  on the workbench to your right there’s a stack of walnut blanks, dimensioned to a spindly two inches wide by twelve inches long and a half-inch thick. You’re making – I don’t know – a humidor for your niece; doesn’t really matter, just keep reading. Now, in front of you is your router table, and in that router table is a shiny Lock Miter Router Bit from Infinity Tools. In order to use that router bit, you’re going to need to prop these two-inch wide sticks of wood against the fence VERTICALLY, and run each of them along the cutting edge, one-by-one.

Scary, right? There’s a lot that can go wrong here. You could – and probably will – tilt the wood by accident as it passes over the spinning cutting edge, which will, at best, ruin your joint. At worst, it could kick back and ruin your day.

Relax. Thanks to Infinity Cutting Tools new Vertical Router Sled, this is no longer a scenario to sweat over…

You name it: lock miters joints, tenons, even custom moulding details are a breeze with the VRS-100 Vertical Router Sled

The Vertical Router Sled is comprised of 41 precision made pieces of the highest quality materials Infinity Cutting Tools can source; but don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s overly complicated. The key to the sled’s accuracy and repeatability is the pair of precision CNC machined aluminum brackets that hold the sled’s face firmly at 90° for every single cut.

The VRS-100 has a pair of precision machined aluminum braces that ensure that the jig stays square to the table top, and is built for the long haul.

The VRS-100 is incredibly accurate, yes, but it’s also staggeringly simple to set up and use. Wood is placed between the two vertical alignment bars and then clamped against the face with the included quick set toggle clamp. The alignment bars are fully adjustable, so you’re able to tilt your wood right and left between 90° and 45°, allowing you to make anything from straight tenons and rabbets to more complicated mitered joinery.

It also sports an adjustable stability foot located to the front of the sled and three inches above the table that is designed to ride against the fence and give it a second point of contact when working on narrow pieces.

The adjustable stability foot gives you a second point of contact with your machine’s fence, ensuring accurate cuts in narrow stock.

Because vertical cuts in wider stock can be tricky, the sled will accept material up to 8-1/8″ wide. If you plan to make these wide cuts often, Infinity Tools has made available an Accessory Clamp Kit (100-526.VRS) that adds a second quick set toggle clamp to the sled.

Stock as wide as 8-1/8″ is no problem for the VRS-100, especially when an optional second clamp is added

Cutting into wood that has to be cocked at a 45° angle would be a tricky operation by any other means, but the VRS-100 makes creating fancy mitered joints a no-brainer.

Miter cuts up to 45° are no problem for the VRS-100 in material up to 2-7/8″ wide.

To top it all off, this sled is incredibly safe to use. The sled itself stands as a protective shield between you and the spinning cutter while the two handles keep the user’s fingers far away from danger. You’re able to keep pressure directed into the fence and move through the cut confidently and cleanly.

The two handles on the VRS-100 ensure that your hands stay safely away from the spinning bit and also add great control while routing.

Even if you have a tall fence on your router table or shaper cutter, you’ll be able to use the Vertical Router Sled. Because the quick-set clamps are mounted to the alignment bars, they can be raised to allow for use with fences as tall as six inches without getting in the way.

If you have a tall fence on your router or shaper table, fear not, the VRS-100 will clear fences up to 6″ tall without any interference.

The moment you take the VRS-100 in hand, you’ll get a sense of all the possibilities it opens up. It feels weighty and dense, and that makes you feel confident in its ability to hold up against the spinning carbide tornado that is trapped inside your router table. It looks smart, too, because a lot of care has gone into its design. Put all of this together and you’re left with a tool that will make you a better, safer woodworker.

-Matt Breckenridge

A common task in the woodworking shop is creating a profile along the edge of a workpiece. And, by far, the most-used profile is a radius, or roundover. From simply easing the corners of a workpiece for more aesthetic and tactile appeal to creating roundovers as an element of the overall design, roundover bits make it all happen. You can even use roundover bits to create bullnose and thumbnail profiles, as well.

Infinty Tools 00-386 6-piece Roundover & Beading Router Bit Set

Our 00-386 Roundover & Beading Router Bit Set contains six of our Infinity Tools router bits in the most popular sizes: 1/4″, 3/8″, 1/2″, 3/4″, 7/8″, and 1″-radius. The set also includes two bearings that convert the bit into a beading bit to create a 1/16″ quirk, or shoulder. (NOTE: Our 7/8″ and 1″ bits should be used in a router table only.)

Infinity Tools 00-386 Roundover & Beading Router Bit Set includes a bearing set for converting the bits to beading bit plus a high-quality, wood storage box.

You can’t go wrong buying any of our Infinity Tools router bits. We guarantee that you’ll be 100% satisfied with their performance and quality of cut. And there are a number of reasons why we can stake our reputation on them. The illustration below points out some of the most important features:

• Engineered shear angles create a glass-smooth surface
• High-Quality sealed bearings and dust shield means a long life
• Thick micro-grain carbide cutting edges start out sharper and stay sharper longer
• Anti-kickback design limits the depth of cut for safer operation
• Stress-proof solid steel bodies eliminate chatter for smoother cuts
• Laser etching of the shank makes it easy to select the correct bit for the task
• Teflon coating to resist rust and pitch build-up

Infinity Tools Router Bits are manufactured using the latest materials and technology

Infinity Tools Router Bit Laser Etching: Complete bit specifications are permanently etched onto the shank of the router bit

As you can see from the photos, the proof is in the workpiece. All Infinity Tools router bits are designed for the most efficient, smoothest cuts. All of the features I mentioned above contribute to the quality of cut that will take your woodworking to the next level. Click here to check them out. And if you’re projects don’t require large roundover bits, we also sell a 3-piece Roundover and Beading Set that includes the three smallest bits listed above. You won’t be disappointed.

Infinity Tools Roundover & Beading Router Bits produce a quality cut that add eye-catching appeal to your woodworking projects

Have you used Infinity Tools router bits? What are your most common applications for roundover and beading bits? Let us know in the comments. We’d be happy to hear from you!

Vacuum clamping has become quite popular in certain aspects of woodworking over the past several years. Instrument-makers and custom furnituremakers who like to work with veneers and bent lamination find vacuum clamping to be especially helpful. The biggest problem with vacuum clamping has been the cost of getting started. While many woodworkers have an air compressor, few have an expensive, dedicated vacuum pump in their shop.

Infinity Cutting Tools offers an affordable Venturi Vacuum Switch that easily converts your air compressor into a vacuum pump. It even includes the correct fitting to connect your air compressor hose directly to the vacuum switch. Let’s take a look at how this little switch works and why it is the perfect solution for almost any shop.

You can purchase the optional gauge kit to monitor the amount of vacuum generated.

A venturi is a pretty simple device. It works on the same concept as an airplane wing. A wing has a rounded surface on top and a flat surface on the bottom. As air moves around the wing, the air that goes over top of the wing must travel further and is moving faster than the air going under the wing. This causes a low-pressure area above the wing creating lift, or suction.

A venturi works using the same principle. Air is forced through a cone causing the air to move faster as the  opening of the cone tightens. At the smallest point of the cone there is a hole where the “vacuum” hose is attached. Because the air at the smallest part of the cone is moving so fast it creates a low-pressure area. This low pressure sucks air in through the vacuum hose. When you attach the other end of the vacuum hose to a sealed apparatus like a vacuum bag, the air inside the bag is sucked out and the air outside the bag (atmospheric pressure) applies pressure the item inside the bag.There is a drawing of how the venturi works right on the side of the vacuum generator itself. Pressurized air from your compressor enters one side of the venture and is vented out the opposite end. This creates a vacuum at the bottom hose port.

The drawing on the apparatus shows what is happening inside the venture.

Here’s how it works. At sea level, atmospheric pressure pushes down with a force of about 14.7psi. In vacuum clamping we are using this weight to clamp our project. This may not sound like much but if you have a workpiece 12″ square in your vacuum bag, when all the air is sucked out you would have roughly 2116psi of pressure on your project. Your average bar clamp can produce 300psi of clamping force so you would need 7 clamps on that 12″ square to get roughly the same amount of force.

Vacuum clamping provides more evenly distributed clamping pressure than traditional clamps.

In a real-world situation, a perfect vacuum would be measured on a vacuum gauge as roughly -30 InHg (inches of mercury). Think of a barometer which is measuring the barometric pressure of the air around you. This is the potential amount of pressure you can apply to your project with a vacuum. The venturi is not able to create a perfect vacuum (-30 InHg on a vacuum gauge) but it can get close. Using a portable 6-gal. air compressor rated at 2.6 scfm @ 90psi, we were able to produce a maximum of -26 InHg with 70psi output pressure from the air compressor. The amount of scfm needed is unknown but it was less than the 2.6scfm the compressor was capable of. In other words the venturi maxed out before the compressor. If you have a larger compressor it would simply cycle on and off fewer times per hour while using the venturi.

With 70psi of air from the compressor, you can generate a vacuum of -26Hg, more than enough for any clamping job.

The nice thing about the Infinity vacuum switch is that you can adjust how much clamping force is created by adjusting the output pressure of your air compressor. 7 clamps may be a little excessive for your project. To make this adjustment easier Infinity has created a vacuum gauge accessory for the Venturi so you can add the gauge in order to monitor exactly how much vacuum and therefore how much clamping pressure you are applying to your project. At -26 InHg you are producing 12.77 Psi and at -15 InHg you are producing 7.32 Psi, still more that 1000 pounds per square foot. Here is a cool calculator that makes the math easy. As you can see having the gauge is a very useful addition To the Venturi.

The Infinity Vacuum Switch Includes the specially-made fitting to attach your air compressor hose to the venturi.

The Infinity Venturi Vacuum Switch includes a custom air compressor quick-connect fitting making it easy to attach your air hose to the Venturi. This special fitting is made for us with the proper threads to fit the Venturi body and eliminates stripped threads or leaky connections, ensuring an air-tight seal.

Andrew uses the Venturi Vacuum Switch with the vacuum gauge kit all the time in the Infinity shop with tools like the Oval and Circle Cutter with Vacuum Base. You can easily make shop-made vacuum clamps, and you can make or purchase vacuum bags to fully take advantage of the Vacuum switch. The uses for the Venturi are only limited by your imagination and the projects you create.  #InfinityTools

If there’s one thing I’ve learned as a woodworker, it’s that having the right tool for the job can make the difference between an average project and one that you can really be proud of. One of the tools (or sets of tools) I have in my arsenal is a set of slot-cutting router bits. Slot-cutting bits open up joinery possibilities that are difficult or impossible with other tools. For example, cutting a stopped groove in the bottom of a curved chair rail to hold slats. Turning your router into a biscuit joiner. Not to mention other joinery options like grooves on the inside of drawers to hold the drawer bottom. Or making perfect-fitting, smooth tenons on the end of a workpiece for joinery.

Woodsmith Magazine Features Infiinity Tools 11-pc. Slot-Cutter Master Set (00-236)

Woodsmith magazine features our Infinity Tools 11-pc. Slot-Cutter Router Bit Master Set in the February/March 2016 issue (No. 223). They used this set to create splined groove joinery for a tabletop. The extra-long arbor allows you to stack more cutters for making wider grooves, dadoes, and slots.

The Infinity Tools Slot-Cutter Master Set (00-236) can create a wide variety of joints, as illustrated in this article from Woodsmith magazine, No. 223.

What’s so special about our slot cutters? First, we use three-wing cutters instead of two, as you’ll find on some competitors’ cutters. That’s 50% more carbide for faster cutting and smoother results.

If you take a look at the photo below, you’ll notice how “beefy” the cutting blade assemblies are. The steel used on our cutters is extra-thick to add mass. This means less vibration and a smoother cut. You can also see the anti-kickback pawl in front of each carbide tooth. This limits the amount of material removed by each tooth and makes for a safer cut without grabbing or causing kickback. This safety feature is one we’re pretty proud of.

00-236 Infinity Tools 11-pc. Slot-Cutter Master Set

The extra-thick, micro-grain carbide ensures that the cutting edges start out razor-sharp and stay sharp longer. When the edges become dull, you can touch them up with our credit card-size diamond hones.

You can cut a wide range of joints with the Infinity Tools 00-236 Slot-Cutter Master Set

All of our Infinity Tools slot cutters and arbors are also available separately. Check them out by clicking here. #InfinityTools

If I hadn’t seen it myself, I wouldn’t have believed it. Andrew was out in our shop the other day preparing to shoot another video for our Rail & Stile Combination Shaper Cutterhead. He needed to make some new MDF fence faces for the shaper since the old ones were kind of chewed up and rather ratty looking.

Zero-Clearance Shaper Fence

The fences are made of two layers of 3/4″ MDF. Andrew glued the two layers and added a few screws to keep the layers from shifting with the wet glue. After trimming the fences to their final size, Andrew decided to make a cove cut on the back side of the fences that are near the cutterhead. This is to provide more clearance for the cutterhead when using the shaper. He used the Infinity Tools 3/4″-rad. Cove Router Bit. You can see the cove in the background of the photo below.

Auxiliary Shaper Fences with Infinity Tools Rail & Stile Shaper Cutterhead

You my have guessed by now what happened. As Andrew was making these cove cuts on the router table, he forgot about the screws he used to secure the layers of MDF. As he made the cut, it was pretty obvious when he hit the screw. But you know what? The router bit cut cleanly through the screw and continued making a smooth cove cut.

I examined the router bit and you can just barely make out where the micro-grain carbide cutting edges contacted the steel screw. To see if this affected the quality of cut, we made a pass through a cherry workpiece. You can see the results below. There’s no evidence of any damage to the cutting edges. The router bit cut as cleanly as a brand new bit.

An Infinity Tools Router Bit will keep on cutting even after hitting a screw

To me, this is a testimony to the quality of Infinity Tools router bits. The extra-thick carbide and design of the steel body of the bit make for a smooth-cutting router bit. Now, I certainly don’t recommend intentionally cutting metal with router bits. But it’s nice to know that the Infinity Tools router bits can stand up to occasional, accidental abuse.

Most of my woodworking is sometimes labeled “straight” or “square” work: Cabinets, tables, bookshelves, and other pieces that consist mainly of straight workpieces assembled into a square or rectangular shape.

But there are times when the design calls for curved or shaped workpieces. These add visual interest to the project and are a nice departure from the boring straight lines common in a lot of woodworking projects.

Shaping a workpiece with Narex Fine-Cut Rasps by Infinity Tools

Shaping a curved piece can be frustrating — if you don’t have the proper tools. And sometimes power tools like a router can’t get the job done, especially if it’s a freeform shape or a workpiece that consists of complex curves.

When shaping a piece by hand, I’ve had bad experiences trying to work with cheap, hardware store rasps. They did a better job of catching or ripping out the grain than they did at smoothing the wood. Granted, technique has a lot to do with using a rasp, but I’ll talk more about that in a minute.

When I first tried the Narex rasps, I wasn’t sure what to expect. These aren’t your expensive, high-end, hand-stiched rasps but they aren’t the cheap rasps you’d find at the local big-box store either. But when I put the Narex rasps to wood, I was pleasantly surprised. These rasps are aggressive. The teeth are sharp and cut quickly. You can vary the amount of wood removed with each stroke simply by varying the amount of pressure applied.

I find it’s best to use a two-handed grip. The large, round, wood handle on the rasp makes it easy and comfortable. A two-handed grip gives you better control over the amount of pressure and angle of attack. Use a lighter touch if the grain has a tendency to blow out when cutting across the grain.

Using a two-handed grip with a Narex Fine-Cut Rasp from Infinity Tools

The final smoothing before the sanding process is best done with the Narex fine-cut rasps. You can see the difference in the smoothness of the cut between the standard rasp and the fine-cut rasp. And that brings me to my next point: You need these rasps. Especially if you’re like me and don’t enjoy sanding. These rasps get you one step closer to the final smoothness you’re after with a lot less sanding required than after using standard rasps.

The difference in smoothness of cut between a Narex standard and fine-cut rasp from Infinity Tools

Our Narex Fine-Cut Rasp Set consists of three rasps that you’ll find handy: flat, round, and half-round. Narex rasps provide a good value and excellent performance. They’ll make a great addition to your toolbox.

#InfinityTools