Many woodworkers will tell you that D.R. Barton produced some of the finest steel ever put into edge tools. As one of America’s earliest toolmakers, he was well ahead of his time, and his chisels still hold their own against plenty of modern makers. That said, today’s metallurgy has advanced far beyond what was available in Rochester, New York, back in 1832.

I was gifted an old bandsaw, and the bottom tire hops off when it gets up to speed! Is it supposed to be glued to the wheel?

I struggled for years, trying to work with planes and chisels that were only "factory sharp," which isn't sharp at all. Sharpening them wasn’t a lesson my dad passed on to me and it turned out that I didn’t have anyone else to do so either. First, I started "freehand" sharpening them by hand, with nearly disastrous results. Since that didn't work, I eventually bought one of those sharpening jigs with a wheel on the bottom. While better, the end result was that the angled portion of my blades, where you sharpen them, ended up with a whole bunch of different “facets,” from a lack of consistent angle setup. It worked... sort of. Then I found our sharpening jig, and that changed everything for me. Now I've got planes and chisels sharp enough to take shavings off of Ebony with. That may just sound like braggadocio, but the reason we're carrying this sharpening jig, is that it's the best thing I've found. I'm so sure you'll be as impressed with it as I am, that I'm offering our Skool community a $20 coupon for the jig. Just use the coupon SKOOL20 on checkout. Plus we give you a lifetime warranty and free shipping. Attached a video showing exactly how to use the sharpening jig + some reviews from existing customers below. Check out the sharpening jig here: https://www.sawinery.net/products/plane-chisel-sharpening-system Happy Woodworking!

Most difficult tool that I use is the common Imperial-marked tape measure! Once I’ve passed the 1/4” markers, I develop severe brain smog calculating 16ths, 32nds and beyond. Solution? Use a metric scaled device! They’re FAR more accurate; don’t require an engineering degree; and are much easier to read. 🤓

Does anyone have any good advice for what a good machinist square and ruler would be for wood working?