My name is Chris and over the last 20+ years, I've been a passionate woodworker. You may know of me as Flair Woodworks, from my woodworking blog, magazine articles, podcasting days, or from the time I spent working in the Ultimate Tools store. I now work with the Ultimate Tools Marketing and Operations team.
In this series, I’ll be sharing my favourite picks each month – from shop essentials, to new releases and items that are on my personal wishlist.
I love my Festool
My first Festool was a CT 26 dust extractor. It usually lives next to my bench with a D36 hose connected for better extraction. I've since added a CT MIDI so the CT 26 can live in the shop. (I love technical details, organization, and spreadsheets so I made this chart to compare dust extractors).
But I'm a big Mirka fan
I bought my Mirka sander from Ultimate Tools back in 2011. I love the balance, intuitive paddle switch, and dust-free operation. If I were to buy a random orbit sander today, it would be the DEROS kit which is a great value.
#1 on my wishlist: Mafell P1 cc
I make sculptural woodwork, and that involves lots of curves. Whether cutting curves or heavy chamfers before sculpting, the jigsaw is my tool of choice (it's easier than setting up the bandsaw). What the Mafell P1 cc can do blows me away - I still get chills watching the demo video.
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What's next? In future instalments, I want to talk about more of my favourite tools, hidden gems, and other things I find interesting. For now, I'll leave you with my April Fool's Day video from 11 years ago.
