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I was on “cool stuff” overload by the time I finally made it to the General & General International booth at IWF 2006 in Atlanta. So I have to admit, at first I didn’t pay too much attention to what I feel now is one of the coolest new products for the home woodworker at IWF.

I’m talking about the “Hoverpad,” which will be available soon from General. The Hoverpad is General’s solution to the problems faced by those of us who need to maximize our shop space by moving tools around from time to time. Since I do my woodworking at home in a 380 sq. ft. shop, this little dandy may just be the answer to my prayers.

The Hoverpad moves your heaviest tools around on a cushion of compressed air. It’s made out of a durable plastic with a rubber base that is only about an inch thick. You’ll need a compressor with a capacity of about 100/in. at 5CFM. The inventor, Arra David, came up with the idea and patented it when he realized that he had something good for industry and home shop users alike.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Hoverpad, be sure to check out the video at the Brentwood Machinery & Tools website.

The folks at General couldn’t tell me when the Hoverpad will be available. It will come in two sizes, priced at around $170 and $250. But, the Hoverpad is now available through Brentwood Machinery in Brentwood, New Hamphire. Supplies are limited though. I’ll let you know as soon as I know if the Woodsmith Store will be selling this product.

Note: Sizes and pricing at Brentwood may be different than those quoted by General.

Scott Phillips, host of the American Homeshop, has been promoting Porter-Cable tools for quite a few years now, so it’s not surprising when he gets excited about a new product. It’s part of the job, right?

Well, after watching him at the Porter-Cable shop (a part of the huge P-C booth at IWF 2006), even I was surprised by the excitement he showed while demonstrating the new Compact Belt Sander (shown at left) from Porter-Cable.

This belt sander has a lot of neat features including removable dust port and auxiliary handle. The small belt size (2-1/2″x14″) and a flush-side sanding feature allow you to do some aggressive sanding in places that it used to be impossible to reach with a standard belt sander.

Although I’m seeing the belt sander in advertisements, the web page says the sander won’t be available until October 2006. This should allow Scott a little time to calm down!

If you were to sit down and try to redesign any tool so that it’s exactly what you’d want as a woodworker, what tool would it be?

Two of the first tools to come to my mind are the drill press and a contractor’s-style table saw. Most drill presses are made for the metalworker first and foremost. Features that a woodworker would find beneficial are an after-thought, if they’re thought of at all. And the contractor’s table saw, with its motor sticking out the back, is the price you paid for an affordable saw that supposedly is light enough to lug around to the job site.

But, a few manufacturer’s are starting to come around to offer tools with wood shop features. I’m talking in particular about the Powermatic® 2800 VS Drill Press, and the Jet® Pro-Shop line of contractor style table saws. I got a quick look at both of these new tools at IWF — 2006 in Atlanta last week, and are they impressive.

The Powermatic 2800 VS Drill Press has so many features that are great for woodworkers it’s hard to list them all. But I’ll try!

* Single handle variable speed adjustment (with a digital readout)
* A 5/8″ keyless chuck
* Twin LED lights
* And, a new dual laser guide system.

These are all welcome features that provide ease of use and accuracy that is rare on a standard drill press.Best of all is the extra-large table (it has dual extension wings to provide additional support for long work pieces). The table also tilts 90° and has a positive stop at 0°. Its large adjustment handle makes lowering and raising the table quick and easy.But that isn’t all, twin T-slot grooves for a miter gauge, hold-downs or shop-made jigs are milled right into the table top and an adjustable split fence with dust collection port is included.Finally, it doesn’t matter if you’re right or left-handed, because the feed handles can be mounted on either side of the drill press. Whew, that’s a lot of great features!

One of the more impressive new tools I saw at IWF is the Jet Pro-Shop Contractor Style Table Saw.

This table saw has a couple of features more commonly found on cabinet (or hybrid) style table saws. First, is the enclosed cabinet with a 4″ dust port for improved dust collection. The stand makes assembly of this saw significantly easier than a regular contractor’s-style table saw.The Pro-Shop saw has a new Pro-Shop fence with extruded aluminum side boards with T-slots and either 30″ or 50″ rails. The saw below is shown with steel wings, but cast iron wings are also available. A large paddle-style switch is also a nice safety feature on this saw. Once again, you can turn to Workbench Magazine for reviews and much more on these new tools and lots of others in future issues.

I got on the elevator after leaving the IWF show at the Georgia Congress Center last week and overheard this comment: “If I had a hundred thousand dollars, I could build a heckuva woodworking shop.”

Earlier in the day, I overheard a product rep explain to a young lady who was interviewing him for a promo video, “All you need is a table saw and a Kreg jig and you can build any piece of furniture.”

Which explains the two extremes I experienced at this huge woodworking show — you can spend $150 on a pocket hole jig, or you can spend literally thousands on industrial machines and each will bring you to the same destination. Read the rest of this article »

Try to forget the obviously exclusionary nature of their slogan and you soon realize that Steel City Tool Works is out to “steal” away a big piece of the market with their brand new, full line of woodworking machinery. From what I saw at IWF in Atlanta, the goal is to hit the ground running with the introduction of 35 new tools ranging from dust collection to bench grinders to table saws.

When I first saw the steel gray and black paint scheme I was reminded of another manufacturer of woodworking machinery. That may have been done on purpose, but I doubt it. They made no secret that quite a few of the people working for Steel City formerly worked for the competition, including Delta, Powermatic and Jet. But they’re not out to copy anyone. Their goal is to offer quality machinery without all the gimmicks.

When asked what it is that they hope will set them apart from the competition, the answer was — service. All of the tools are backed by a full, 5-year warranty and they promise to deliver the best customer and technical service and support possible.

From what I could see, they’ve made a good start. Look for more on Steel City Tool Works in future editions of Workbench magazine.

Here’s a few of the new products (and their features) at IWF 2006 in Atlanta:

The Porter-Cable 342 1/4 Sheet Palm Grip Finishing Sander has improved ergonomics and a new rubber palm grip that reduces vibration. Dual dust ports allow you to hook up either a 1″ or 1-1/2″ dust hose. Or leave the dust canister in place. The canister is more durable than the old cloth dust bag.

Also from Porter-Cable is the 343 Random Orbit Sander. It has many of the same features as the Finishing Sander, including a new top cap design that allows you to get inside to clean and service the unit without having to totally dissasemble it.

Then there is the Delta 17-950L 16-1/2″ Drill Press. The “L” stands for….laser. This drill press was actually introduced in January, but I got my first look at it this week. It’s bright laser crosshairs highlight the drill point. And the table is one of the first that is actually designed for woodworkers. It includes T-slots, a removable insert and it tilts from 0° to 45° forward and 0° to 90° left and right with positive stops at 0°, 45°, and 90°.

Finally, I haven’t had a chance to stop at the Bosch booth yet, but I’m looking forward to seeing Bosch’s Litheon® tools — a new line of lithium ion powered cordless hand tools. These tools are great for the woodworker, homeowner and professional thanks to a complete line of 10.8-volt and 36-volt tools that Bosch claims is the most advanced lithium-ion battery technology available. The Bosch PS20-2 is a 10.8v drill/driver that offers 80 inch/lbs of torque in an extremely small package.