[Music] welcome to our 35th edition of cool tools where i get to show you some of the clever and innovative tools that we work with in our shop today i picked seven relatively small items that i think have really improved my shop time since i've been using them many for several years now most of these tools with a couple exceptions are pretty inexpensive too so be sure to stick around until the end for them all i think you find the last one particularly interesting as always if any sponsors are involved they're disclosed at the beginning of the video and down by the links below please use those links to learn more about anything you see including the current price some have limited time discounts so it's definitely worth checking out those links you'll find them by expanding the video description and they're also pinned to the top of the comment section now let's get started i've been using diamond plates for manual sharpening for many years and i still love them but they are expensive and some of my viewers just aren't willing to spend that kind of money well some time ago i came across this eight inch stone that has many of the features that i insist on such as a solid steel substrate that's perfectly flat with dual sided grip except it's not diamonds it's cbn i discovered cubic boron nitride for sharpening several years ago at a woodworking show i met a guy named ken rizza he's widely respected especially among the woodturning world as the cbn guru and he set me up with some cbn wheels for my bench grinder that changed everything for me i would never go back to regular bench grinder wheels so are cbn crystals better than diamond crystals for sharpening well for high speed application i could say absolutely on your dry bench grinders they are definitely better for sharpening but what about a bench stone like this one honestly they seem to cut just as fast and wear just as well as diamonds in my experience but the cost is significantly lower as much as 50 percent they also come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes the credit card size is great for things like router bits and forstner bits the pocket homes are especially popular among hunters and fishermen for knives and tools one of my favorites is the slipstone that has radiused edges for gouges and other curved tools the dowels are really useful for turning in carving gouges as well and for knife sharpening and if you do still prefer water stones for sharpening and i personally use sometimes shapton's really fine stones instead of stropping well this huge four by ten flattening plate is ideal for maintaining those i just spritz on some water and my shapton is dressed in just a few seconds really the quality of these cbn stones are superb for the price but i do try to find something to complain about whenever i review tools and in this case i find that the edges of the larger stones are a little sharp especially on the coarser grits because those cbn crystals go all the way to the edge you could cut yourself i solved that problem with just a little bit of sandpaper if you want to check these out give ken a visit over his website it's woodturnerswonders.com i'll link to it below this video ken runs a small business with great people that are really worth supporting especially with products like this do you ever get tired of breaking your shot pencil lead i've been using thick lead holder type pencils for years they hold up to the rough lumber surfaces and they can take a beating there are lots of brands making them i've used others in the past but the fast cap versions have become my favorite for a couple reasons first they come from a great small business and as you know i like to support small businesses whenever i can and like pretty much everything that fastcat makes these are full of clever little features for one thing each pencil comes with three different leads you have graphite for wooden paper soap stone for dark woods like walnut as well as for marking metal objects and red crayon which works well in dark woods too and things like tile and concrete they advance easily they never jam up and if you need a fine line there's a handy sharpener under the eraser the body is lightweight hard-wearing aluminum there's an eraser on the end and a handy little clip really what more could you want on a job site or a workshop well how about a permanent marker with a long nose to get into tight spots this is another really clever fast cap idea they come in three colors black silver and gold as well as an extra fine black i love these for tracing templates for marking inside holes and getting into other tight spaces the ink is permanent and waterproof and each also has a standard wide chisel point on the opposite end when you need something like that it's just some really clever ideas that prove genuinely useful in my shop in fact these may be some of the handiest tools i've ever had on this show you really should check them out at the links below this video it's no secret among our regular viewers that i'm a big fan of isotunes bluetooth hearing protection i've been using them for many years everyone in my shop has been using them we've tried just about every model they have so while i was excited to get their new air defenders headphones i wasn't expecting them to be much different from the link muffs that i wear every day but i was wrong these are by far the most comfortable over-the-ear muffs i have ever worn not that i have complaints about the other ones but if you wear any large muffs for a long time they can get a little heavy on the head my ears get a little sore from the pressure after several hours of non-stop use it's typical of every over the year headset that i've ever worn but the air defenders are significantly lighter they have a fully padded headband the ear padding seems a bit softer and they have less clamping pressure on the sides of my head still enough to properly keep my ears safe from noise but not so much that they become uncomfortable over time so now i'm torn i used to wear these most of the time because i can put them on and take them off really quickly as compared to wearing earbuds in the ears but when i know i was going to spend a lot of time in the shop i go ahead and put in the earbuds because they were lighter in weight now i find myself wearing these all day long because they're just so comfortable and convenient i know it's a good dilemma to have and there is a downside to these the battery seems a little bit smaller so you get 40 hours between charges instead of the 50 you get from these but it's a whole work week right if you're looking for a really comfortable way to protect your ears and to listen to music or youtube or podcasts whatever you want to listen to whenever you want to listen to it both inside the shop and outside when you're mowing the lawn or wherever it's noisy you may want to check out the isotune air defender bluetooth earmuffs do it right after you finish 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