Tool Challenges (cooperative tool tests)

[SteveHall]

Another thread got me to thinking... what if during a picnic or shop crawl we had one or two dedicated tool comparison runs? We could collect a representative sample of a specific kind of tool and run our own informal trials.

I don't know how many times I've seen lunchbox planer advice asked, but most of use have only ever owned one of anything and don't really know how our favorite REALLY stacks up to many others. We could even make it competitive, like an NCAA bracket, and pit each tool against the others on an identical test.

Example: lunchbox planer test
* Sample: 11" wide 60" long red oak board
* Each planer must take off 1/4" as quickly as possible.
* It is the operators' choice to determine how best to run his tool, such as hogging off about 3/16" in 3 runs, or making 8 at 1/32".
* Qualifications should be stated before each run... these are new blades, one blade is doing most of the work, etc.
* A respectable level of performance is expected, i.e., minimization of tearout, machine used in a safe manner, etc. Absolute speed is not important if the machine is not used in a manner that any of us would typically use it.
* Intangible qualities like loudness, built-in depth gage accuracy, ease of adjustment, can be discussed but wouldn't factor in to the win/loss.

Well, it's just a thought. I regularly wonder about our collective experiences of planers, joiners, ROS, Compound Miter Saw, sharpening machines... and whatever else that could be easily toted to a central meeting place. Hand tools, too. I see a big advantage of having actual experienced owners talk about and demonstrate their tools instead of the limited and/or heavily controlled environments I usually have to evaluate tools in. That was one great aspect of the Raleigh Shop Crawl.

Of course, we all know that a "winner" is more than just fastest, cheapest, or any other single measure. But it sometimes takes several opinions to recognize an understated advantage. Guess that's one reason this place is so popular, huh?