🔧 General Tools 130: Precision 175mm x 12.7mm Woodworker’s Essential Review

I have one of these from 2005, made in India. This one is sharp but the heat treatment wasn't good and the top where the tommy stick is gripped broke in half when the piece of plastic was unwrapped. Welded, it's been working ever since. I bought this new for guitar pencils and other woodwork. Looks nice but only cuts off an edge or two. Most cutting edges are beveled about 0.010 inch at the tip of the cutting edge, allowing the cutting edges to be lower than the rest of the tooth and only…

This tool is good value. Unfortunately I would rather pay for a higher quality tool like this. I was dismayed at the edge quality of the reamer blades. They were roughly chopped and then crushed. To hide tool marks, the inside of the grooves have been blackened. I was surprised by the jagged edges, but when I sharpened the edges the blackening went away and I understood why the quality of the edges was poor. The handle also slides in and out too easily during use, so I had to heat the end of…

Reamers are expensive. Check out Starrett, B&S, etc. For one-time or occasional use, I would recommend the General Sweep. The T-handle is detachable and the reamer body fits snugly on a cordless drill with a 1/2" chuck. It's sharp, cuts well, but you have to be careful with the drilling method. The base end of the reamer is 1/2 inch. an end that is the size of most acoustic guitar end studs, and the drill bit should be even and straight. Avoid swinging your arms and clean the flutes more often…