Australian Wood Review - June 2018

16 Australian Wood Review

TOOLS & EQUIPMENT

Carpenters and woodworkers often

need to accurately drill holes for

mounting items or other specialised

purposes. For some building work

a near-enough round hole may be

sufficient, however my quest was for a

large hole cutter that would be quick to

use and leave a clean finish.

My first attempt was an adjustable drill

tool purchased from eBay that turned

out to be pretty useless. With steel

cutters and solid construction it looked

good, but struggled in 12mm plywood

to drill a hole that was almost round.

The Star-M tool from Japan is ruggedly

built with a thick pressed steel body

that holds two tungsten tipped cutters

which are mounted on adjustable arms

running on thick threaded rod.

The arms can be dialled in to drill holes

25–75mm in diameter. A fairly accurate

etched scale reads the diameter, although

for precise work you will need to check

the measurement setting with a ruler.

For safety I only test drilled with the tool

in a drill press, but providing you use a

slow speed, hand drilling would be fine.

For work in plaster board and cladding

this is of course the only way to use it.

The tungsten cutters give a very clean

cut and I found the walls of the hole

to be square at 90°. The hole drill is

quick to set up and the cutters can

be locked tightly in place with large

knobs. I found the maximum depth

of 28mm was perfectly adequate.

A cheaper version is available with

HSS cutters but I suggest going for

the tungsten version for longevity

and accuracy.

Review tool from

http://www.japanesetools.com.au

With a bright backlit LCD display the

new Wixey angle gauge is ideal for

setting mitre and tablesaws as well

as workfences.

Simply turn on, zero in and relax,

knowing that angles to 1° can be

confidently set, plus there are

magnets in the base to secure it

to the workpiece.

Accurate to 0.1°, the Wixey uses a

single AAA battery (not included) and

also features auto shut-off.

Download the Wixey App on your

phone (Apple or Android) however

and a new function comes into play.

The phone will now display the angle

readings, with Siri able to talk you

through it. This means if you are fixing

a cabinet to a wall for example, you

can place the gauge on the cabinet and

adjust it for vertical whilst the app reads

out the actual angle. A great digital

assistant indeed.

Priced very reasonably, and the app

is free.

http://www.woodworksupplies.com.au

Star-M Adjustable Circle Cutter

Reviewed by Raf Nathan

Wixey Digital

Angle Gauge

Reviewed by Raf Nathan

$

$

Showing the cutters

mounted on adjustable

arms which run on

threaded rods.