Woodworker's
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Woodworker's Gazette
Gazette Archive 12/21/97SlipStops - A Tool Review:
by Mike Bridges
The "SlipStop" is an assortment of Forstner bit depth stops. They work by easily, locking onto a forstner bit shank and are made to fit about any size shank by any manufacturer.The pieces are well made in the USA and after a few minutes of figuring out what goes where they make a fine depth stop.
 The SlipStop in action clearing debris before the Teflon tripod contacts the work surface. |
 Once the tripod makes contact with the surface it stops spinning. |
This is one of those gadgets I wished I would have thought of but don't honestly know how much I'll use as all drill presses come with their own depth stop.They work with bits from 1/4" to 2 1/8" simply by snapping on a different tripod foot (no tools required) although I don't think I would want to run a 2 1/8" Forstner bit out of a drill press.
The three Teflon feet on the stop do help to clear the debris from the hole and they stop spinning when the desired depth is reached. I tried the depth stops on some finished drawer faces and they stopped before marring the finish. It's a pretty tough finish I use but they do stop easily.
The directions which came with the SlipStops were actually pretty good.This is a kit that fits virtually any shank size so they included lots of parts you may not need, but they were good enough to get the pieces together.I don't like paying for 30 parts when you are only going to use 6 or 8 from the kit and I will usually pass up a product for this reason. BUT, it's the only way I know of they could have accommodated a lot of drills from various manufacturers.
Bottom line: if you often use Forstner bits out of a drill press or your depth adjustment is broken these are a must have.They are simple to use and the setup for different size bits only takes a few seconds.
Mike Bridges
SlipStops are available from Woodworker's Supply who provided the kit for this evaluation. Their toll-free number is: 1-800-645-9292. The part number for the kit I used was 915-975 and cost $29.95