These guns allow you to fasten the smallest trim pieces without splitting, and they leave nearly invisible holes.
Q. What's the advantage of using a router fitted with a template guide bushing to cut hinge mortises? Why not just use a flush-cutting pilot bit and a flush-type template?
Like most finish carpenters, I've had my share of countersink bits. In the last 10 years or so, I've grown very fond of one brand of two-piece tapered countersink bits because they cut just the right size and shape of hole for drywall screws. But controlling the exact depth of the countersink so that the screw heads end up at precisely the same depth relative to the surface has always been frustrating. Plus, when the pilot bits break, it's not always easy to get replacements, and they're expensive. Besides, after heavy use, the countersink cutters dull, too, so why buy new parts?
If Steve Phipps can't find a tool from his collection to use in building custom cabinets, doors, and windows, he'll make one. When I'm looking for a special radius jamb and entry door or a houseful of bifold windows and doors, or the sweetest hardwood kitchen, Phipps is the guy I turn to first. He makes some of the finest circle-top sash available, even those fancy radius muntins for Gothic tracery.
Gary Katz (who has hung a few thousand or so doors over his career) doesn't always use shims. Read why.
