I bought myself something nice for the holidays – a small Sherline lathe and micro drill press. But now that the winter holidays are behind us, it’s a good time to think about what we’re all looking to buy in 2013.
Here are my top 5 wants in no particular order.
- Bark River Mini Fox River Fixed-Blade Knife (Bark River)
- Compact and Affordable No-Learning-Curve Odorless 3D Printer
- Klarus AAA LED Flashlight (Preview)
- Fiskars 14-Inch Hatchet (Fiskars)
- Lab-Grade Inspection Microscope with Digital Camera
Numbers 6-10 would be for a milling machine, CNC router, CNC mill, vises, and tooling. But more than anything, what I really want is more time to work on projects.
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Tom Bailey
Stuart:
I’ve been following your website for many months now, but have never posted until now, when you mentioned your new Sherline lathe. About nine months ago, I acquired a Sherline lathe. I had no particular machining projects in mind; just always wanted to learn how to “make chips”. It took only a few weeks to discover that a Mill (also Sherline) is virtually a necessity to actually do anything. I also found that the mill is very useful for general “hole-drilling”. So far, I haven’t done a lot of machining, but I have produced several lathe tools, a brass hammer, a brass naval cannon, and a small wobbler engine that does not yet wobble on its own! I have an advantage in that I live 3-4 miles from the Sherline factory in Vista, California – it’s quite an experience to visit the factory and showroom, and to tour the close-by Craftsmanship Museum.
Tom
fred
Being semi-retired starting in 2013 – I’m hoping to have more time for hobby woodworking projects. My home shop is fairly complete – and I will still have access to 2 commercial shops – but still have a few new item’s I’d like to try out.
I make small boxes making box joints on the table saw with a home-made jig and a Freud SBOX8 saw blade set.
I think I’d like to try out the Incra I-Box Jig – which is at the top of my wish list.
I also do a number of pieces that have curves that benefit from planing. A couple of old (1 Record and 1 Stanley) curved sole planes are my go to tools for cleaning up bandsaw cuts – but I’d like to try a Makita 1002BA for concave planing and a Virutex CE96Hfor convex planing
Mike
In my twenty years in the machining trade Ive always bought the items needed if I had to borrow something more than a couple times. Unfortunately good precision tools arent cheap,so on my wish list this year for sure are a few of the mitutoyo micrometers I need. I have 0-3 inch ranges,and really want to get the 3-6 inch ranges this year. Im always upgrading hand tools and adding on to the collection.
Spent alot of my tool budget this year on upgrading alot of things so I could have a better selection of stuff in the garage. I also need to concentrate on my Metric gearwrench selection for working on the vehicles.
Thanks for your time you put into this site Stuart,ive purchased several things based off of your recommendations and couldnt be happier.
Mike
Should have mentioned 4sevens preon flashlight is on my list this year as well as the Klarus.
joe
i would like to get my hands on the new coming up dewalt 12v wall scanner…the one on the right in the picture.
http://www.coptool.com/whats-new-at-2012-stafda-tool-trade-show/stafda2012-dewalt1/
Tyler
I can’t wait for m12 brushless!!!!
Charles parsons
I got to play with the Dewalt wall scanner the other day when a couple DeWalt product managers and a designer visited my job site so I could evaluate a few ideas. It is an awesome tool! I will be buying one, my plumber will too, he was blown away by it. They had quite a few other cool tools they showed me also. It is good to see DeWalt stepping up their game and doing there research and trying to deliver relevant, insightful products that are going to put them ontop again. Their new insights website/forum is definitely a step in the right direction and something all the companies should be doing, you have to know what your customers need and want.
Noah
Something Impact, brushless and 18v, likely DeWalt or Milwaukee. And maybe a Leatherman Rebar or ST300.
Brian Buehler
I’m really looking forward to the Milwaukee Fuel (M12 and M18).
I am a huge Bark River fan myself and love their 3V offerings. BTW, there is a great Bark River sub-forum at http://www.knifeforums.com/
Jay
Maglite aaa tactical flashlight-Over 300 lumens!!! And of course m12 brushless…
Don Miller
Stuart –
My wishlist is for a corded 3/8″ drill motor with a torque clutch (like the battery powered drill motors have). I know Ryobi makes one (I have worn out 3 already). I would like to see an offering by one of the big boys (DeWalt, Hitachi, Makita, etc).
Have a grand and prosperous New Year!
Don
James C
For power tools, I want to expand my M12 collection. I think the Hackzall will be my next purchase. I’m drooling over the upcoming brushless M12 line, but I personally can’t justify the upgrade considering my budget and that I’m just a DIYer.
As for hand tools, I’m still looking for a quality ratcheting screwdriver. I also want to do more chiseling / planing, so I will probably look into sharpening options soon.
My theme for 2013 will be “quality.” I already have most every tool I would regularly need, so now I’ll begin to gradually replace my poor-quality tools with high-quality ones.