Tools

Tool Review: DeWalt DW734 12-1/2″ Thickness Planer

Tool Review: DeWalt DW734 12-1/2″ Thickness Planer

Weighing in at eighty pounds, the DW734 is the smaller of two bench-top planers that DeWalt offers. You can pick one up from a big box store for around $360-$400. The 15A, 120V electric motor spins the three cutting blades at 10,000 RPM and the automatic feed system uses two rubber drums to grab the workpiece and steadily feed it through the blades at 96 cuts per inch. The blades are reversible and produce a nice finish, however due to the mounting hole configuration they are very difficult to re-sharpen. You can buy a pack of three replacement blades for around $45 online.

Continue Reading Nick Raymond5
Adobe Touch Apps Released

Adobe Touch Apps Released

Decent mobile tools for creative professionals are slowly starting to appear. Graphics powerhouse Adobe recently released a set of touch focused apps targeting Android tablets that appear to take advantage of the format. This first group of six tools, called Adobe Touch Apps, include a vector drawing app, raster photo app, color palette explorer app, presentation app, moodboard app, and wireframing app.

Continue Reading Adam Flaherty6
Three- vs. Four-Jaw Lathe Chucks

Three- vs. Four-Jaw Lathe Chucks

Three-jaw chucks, of the same general type used to hold bits in most power drills, are also common equipment on metalworking lathes. Though it is not necessarily so, three-jaw chucks are so commonly of the self-centering variety, in which the jaws are not independently adjustable, that “self-centering” is generally assumed from the term “three-jaw chuck.” But…

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan16
iPhone Acoustic Ruler

iPhone Acoustic Ruler

Here’s a novel way to take measurements using sound waves with an iPhone. German developer Florian Student’s Acoustic Ruler Pro for iOS will measure distances up to 25 meters by clocking the time delay of emitted sound waves. You can use the app with either a pair of headphones or with another iPhone to measure the distance between the two handsets.

Continue Reading Adam Flaherty12

Circle Skirt Calculator

After sewing my Emmy dress, the mere thought of hemming a circle skirt—especially one made of satin—is enough to give me nightmares for a week. But, even though it’s a giant pain to evenly hem all of that fabric, there’s still no denying that circle skirts are incredibly flattering and incredibly versatile. So, if you’re […]

Continue Reading Haley Pierson-Cox