Why not give, and get, the good stuff! Here's an eclectic list of goodies that don't cost the earth and cover a range of serious wood needs and satisfying usages. We've organised them in three price brackets. Buy them for the woodies in your life...give yourself a well deserved treat. More info is at the underlined links.
UNDER $50
Surprising what a range of useful tools and items fall into this dollar range, many of which are well below $50. Here's ten of the best!
1. Cool Folding Knife $30 Springless, blue paper high carbon steel, made by Ikeuchi.
2. Shinto Saw Rasp $38 Many sawblades joined together make this great for general shaping.
3. Brass 160mm Rule $18 Solid 2mm brass, precision routered, put it in your pocket.
4. The Essential Woodworker, author Robert Wearing $44 Read up and finesse those hand-tool skills.
5. Digital Woodworker's Snap Check Gauge $39.90 Accurate machine setups are cheaper than mistakes!
6. Lost Art Press T-Shirts $37 Show others you are one cool wood dude. Choice of styles.
7. Restoration product pack $41.80 For those jobs you really do need to get done in the holidays...
8. Dovetail Master Tool Kit $43 Have the fun of making your own useful brass/blackwood 1:7 dovetail guide.
9. One Year Subscription to Australian Wood Review $38 Of course we had to put this on the list!!
10. Liquid Beeswax $18.70 Easier to use than the hard stuff on large areas or on the lathe.
UNDER $100
A few more dollars gets you quite a bit more...
1. Shear Force Bandsaw Blade $55+ From Laguna Tools, alternating 3–4TPI toothpitch, smooth results.
2. Hatagane Solid Brass Clamps $60 Set of 4, 2 x 180mm, 2 x 300mm, boxmaker's dream.
3. Titanium-Nitride Forstner Bits $75 Set of 10 bits stay cooler, extra sharp edges, for tooling connoisseurs.
4. Rentetsu Chisel $76 Made from 100 year old anchor chain, good edge retention, Japanese of course.
5. Deluxe Router Guide Kit $79.90 Circle compass, edge fence, offset base – all in one, very handy.
6. Flexcut Pocket Jack for Carvin’ $96 You get a detail knife, straight gouge, gouge scorp and V-scorp.
7. Leather handled secateurs $99 Hand forged in France by Arno. Woodworkers can be gardeners too.
UNDER $200
Still affordable, these are what some would call essential items.
1. Narex Chisels $125 Set of 6, 12, 16, 20, 26, 32mm. Great tool kit starter.
2. MicroJig Grr-Ripper $135 Use in all kinds of machining operations. Hand safety is everything.
3. Kakuri Precision Saws $174 You get a 175mm red oak handle, four sawblades and a canvas bag.
4. Flexcut 6 Piece Mallet Set $186 Also a great starter set, use by hand or with mallet.
5. Metal Detector $195 Perfect for the recycled wood user: Lumber Wizard #4 with laser.
6. Shapton Glass Stones $199 1000 and 8000 grit ceramic stones with tempered glass bases, think sharp.