Ten Tools You Never Knew About

Welcome to my list of ten tools you never knew about! I know, that’s a big claim HA! However, over the years that I have been posting to social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, I get asked a lot of question about techniques, and tools. But some tools tend to bring more questions than others, especially if they look odd or are just something completely unique that a beginner in the craft of woodworking might not have seen before.

So, this post is my attempt at showcasing some of my favorite and most asked about tools that you probably haven’t seen or used before. Check out the list and let me know in the comments below if you find something that is new to you and leave me any questions you might have. I’d love to share my experience using these tools!

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Affiliate Links to All the Tools in This List

Undersized Plywood Router Bits – https://amzn.to/3maeR9O

Amana Countersink Drill Bit – https://amzn.to/3954tN7

Wixey Digital Angle Gauge – https://amzn.to/2J7VfVy

Mag Switch 165 – https://amzn.to/3pUmQu8

Starrett Center Punch – https://amzn.to/2HrshiI

Centipede Work Holder – https://amzn.to/3pRr9pX

Bessey Clamp Extenders – https://amzn.to/3kYo18e

CMT Router Collet Extender – https://amzn.to/35Uoy6Q

Digital Calipers – https://amzn.to/3nPfJBs

Bosch Laser Measure – https://amzn.to/2UU8dsw

*I use affiliate links, please see details on my disclaimer.

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Ten Tools You Never Knew About

First, Let me state that I have purchased all these items with my own money and am not currently sponsored by any of these brands. These are truly items I find valuable and use in my shop every day. I will have affiliate links for all these items down in the description below if you’re interested in picking up any of the items you see. Alright now lets get to the list.

Undersized Plywood Router Bits

Item number one on my list of ten tools you never knew about is this set of undersized plywood router bits from Whiteside.

If you’re making cabinets or build things out of plywood on a regular basis then this is a great set of router bits to have on hand. As you most likely figured out early on in your woodworking, ¾” plywood is never ¾” and half inch is never half inch. They are all thinner and so when you make dadoes or grooves in plywood using regular ¾ or ½” router bits, you’ll always get sloppy loose joints.

One way around this is to make a ¾” dado using a ½” bit and just do it in multiple passes. But this set of bits eliminates the need to do that. You can make the cut in one pass and have a snug fitting joint.

This set comes with a bit for use on  ¾, ½ and ¼” plywood. You can see here the nice snug fitting joint I got from the 3/4″ bit!

Amana Counter Sink Drill Bit

Item number two on my list of ten tools you never knew about is probably the tool I get asked about the most in DMs and comments and that’s the Amana Tools countersink drill bit. I think because it looks so different with this adjustable stop collar people always want to know what I’m using.

As the name suggest this drill bit will drill a pilot hole and add a countersink all at once. The stop collar is adjustable with this little wrench and stops your cut at the desired depth.

If you are assembling projects with screws this is a super handy drill bit to have on hand.

Here you can see the perfectly countersunk screw neatly tucked out of the way on the side of this cabinet!

Wixey Digital Angle Gauge

Item number 3 on my my list of ten tools you never knew about comes from my 5 ways to up your table saw game video. If you want a quick and convenient way to set a bevel angle on your table saw or your miter saw, you should consider a digital angle gauge. Most of the one’s I’ve seen come with the same set of features.

There’s a way to zero out your gauge on a reference surface like your table saw top.

And they have magnetic bases so they can be placed on your saw blade and read as you tilt the blade to dial in the exact angle you want.

This angle gauge from Wixey has always been accurate for me and I’ve gotten great results on my work from using it.

For this operation I need nice crisp 45 degree angles to make my corners match up perfectly.

If you have a nice square board and a precise 45 degree angle on the blade, the results speak for themselves.

Mag Switches

Next in my list of ten tools you never knew about was eye opening to me when I first discovered them and if you have tools in your shop with cast iron tops then these are a game changer. This is a mag switch. If you turn the little switch on top it becomes a super strong magnet. Turn the switch off and its back to being a paper weight ..HA!

These guys are so handy for use with your saws. Use them at the end of your cut on the band saw like a positive stop for repeatable plunge cuts.

You can buy or even make your own accessories like feather boards or fences. This eliminates the dependence on the miter slot if you don’t have one or it’s too far out of reach for your task.

I’ve even used mine just to keep a work piece from moving around while I worked on it. Like when I use my slab flattening jig to flatten this butcher block.

Automatic Center Punch

Tool number 5 on my list of ten tools you never knew about is the automatic center punch.

A key skill to have in woodworking is locating and accurately drilling holes in your work pieces. Center punches allow you to make an indentation that can acts like target for your drill bit and gives you a place to reference with the brad on the end of your drill bit.

It will cause your bit to sink in right where you made your mark.

And when you press down on the automatic center punch it will give your punch some extra….. punch.

Hear that click? Oh sorry, you cant LOL. It’s driving the center punch into the work for you, so no need to have a mallet in the other hand to tap the top center punch!

These work in metals like aluminum too.

Here I needed to mark and drill precisely placed holes for a jig I was making for my router table.

Centipede Work Holder

Alright, next we have maybe the oddest and most expensive tool in the list, but hear me out on this one. This is the centipede work holder. This tool changed the way I work with plywood.

I don’t have big work bench in my shop and I HATE cutting plywood on the ground.

The centipede is a collapsible work holder that allows you to get your work up off the ground.

I like to put a piece of rigid foam insulation on top to act as a work surface and it gives my saw blade a safe place to go when breaking down plywood.

So I guess this is actually TWO useful tools and not just one. BONUS! And when I’m done, The centipede folds up and gets the heck out of my way.

Bessey Clamp Extenders

The next item I have for you is really only useful if you’re a fan of Bessey clamps and that is the clamp extender.

This simple tool works with your Bessey Parallel clamps to allow you to double them up to get twice the clamping capacity, which can save you money on buying larger clamps.

Or if you have larger clamps like these big 50” clamps, these extenders allow you an eye popping 100 inches of clamping ability! That’s way bigger than even my biggest pipe clamps.

So if you’re looking for a way to increase your clamping capacity without adding new clamps, consider these clamp extenders.

CMT Router Collet Extender

Speaking of extenders Item number ocho on my list of ten tools you never knew about is the CMT router collet extender.

Basically, what this little guy does is extend the reach of your router bits by adding extra length to the collet.

This is great when you need to rout extra deep grooves or when you’re using a slab flattening jig like I am here and you need extra reach beyond the normal plunge depth of your router.

By the way, if you like this flattening jig I have plans available HERE.

Digital Calipers

• OK, item number 9 on my list of ten tools you never knew about are good (not eye bleedingly precise) digital calipers. Being able to accurately measure the thickness of your work piece when a precision fit is needed is key.

I have owned some junk calipers in the past. One thing I can say is that you typically get what you pay for with any tool. These calipers from iGaging aren’t the cheap calipers but they also aren’t the crazy expensive machinist level calipers. They are accurate enough IMO for woodworking and I’d save my money on buying anything more expensive than these.

If you need more accuracy you can definitely pay for it, but for woodworking you wont need better than this.

Bosch Laser Level

That brings us to number 10 on the list. This laser level from Bosch is awesome.

This model gives you horizontal AND vertical reference lines for plumb and level up to 40 feet in bright green lines. I used it on my floating shelf install and was super happy with it. I was able to put it on my camera tripod for easy adjustability up and down.

OK that’s it. Ten tools I use in my shop all the time! Again, here are the affiliate links to all these items in the comments, so if you want any of these for your shop please consider supporting my channel by using my links. Also please leave me a comment below if you have any questions about these items that I didn’t answer. I’m glad to share more specifics about them or my experience with them.

Affiliate Links to All the Tools in This List

Undersized Plywood Router Bits – https://amzn.to/3maeR9O

Amana Countersink Drill Bit – https://amzn.to/3954tN7

Wixey Digital Angle Gauge – https://amzn.to/2J7VfVy

Mag Switch 165 – https://amzn.to/3pUmQu8

Starrett Center Punch – https://amzn.to/2HrshiI

Centipede Work Holder – https://amzn.to/3pRr9pX

Bessey Clamp Extenders – https://amzn.to/3kYo18e

CMT Router Collet Extender – https://amzn.to/35Uoy6Q

Digital Calipers – https://amzn.to/3nPfJBs

Bosch Laser Measure – https://amzn.to/2UU8dsw