AMAZON TOOL HAUL: The Best Gadgets I've found.

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Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/AnCnS2leZmU

Black Friday sales often drive out new and innovative products for the new season and into the future, it is also a time when we can save a bit of money on things ... or so I thought, when one item from my purchases of three was lost, I canceled the order and re-ordered about 2 weeks later, only to find that the small item I ordered was $15 cheaper than the Black Friday Sale - buyer beware I remind myself. But there they are, a new version of a clamping device that I often use when assembling or dry fitting projects, a very innovative speed square with some new kinds of features, that was surprisingly accurate, and the jig I will find most useful, a series of round-over templates for using my palm router to round over the corners of tables and similar items and get perfectly matched rounded corners. So check out tool deals from this Amazon Haul!

What's In Colin's Drawers? (Hint: It's Not What You Think!)

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I understand why so many people are interested in what's in my drawers because I am often interested in what other woodworkers have in their drawers that are not obvious, like what tools they have and how they arrange their drawers .. or even if they do arrange them. 

Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/3ermPNvgKxU

I have seen them all, drawers that are neat as a pin and organized like fine jewelry and drawers that are helter-skelter with seemingly no rhyme or reason, except in the mind of the woodworker ... and that is really all that counts ... 

Fix Woodworking Mistakes Like a Pro! Episode 4

Read Time: 7 mins

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Wood has many variables that affect the outcomes of using it, like knots, checks, cracks, wood chipping out, wormholes, cross-grain, and more ... then there are the woodworker variables, like things we don't make accurate cuts on, or use the wrong piece and make mistakes with, in my workshop, they are called "a Colin glitch" and I make my fair share of them. 

Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/fvzA5xy4MbI

When I first started woodworking, of course, I made mistakes, but I didn't worry too much about them because I knew I could rely on "wood filler", either shop-made or commercial versions that would bail me out. What I learned over the years, at least for me, all of the wood fillers I have ever used have left me disappointed ... 

JUNK Combination Squares - Can You Use Them?

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For many years I have had a somewhat skewed idea of just how valuable inaccurate combination squares are. I readily admit that I learned the hard way just how bad these things can be, and during my very frustrating learning process, I wasted a lot of wood and a ton of time.

Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/dBlPoVUB_nY

My biggest problem was simply "assuming" that every combination square was true and accurate. Sadly, most of the cheap ones are NOT, you might get lucky and end up with one that is accurate, but probably if you paid $20 or so dollars or less, or maybe even more if it came with attachments ... it is not accurate, but go ahead and check it your self to see ... hopefully, you will get better results with yours than I did with mine.