Woodpeckers Woodworking Tools

Woodpeckers woodworking tools help you lay out cabinet parts, check angles, set up machinery and fit shelves and stair parts. Buy them to carry the dimensions and angles of the job directly to your material: the Stair Tread & Shelf Gauge captures opening length and wall angles together. That is the right approach for a built-in shelf, where getting the length right still leaves a gap if you miss the angle at either end.

Start with the work you repeat. Square cabinet parts, angled joints, router setup and drilling each call for a different reference. Choose the tool that gives you that reference without making you work around the wrong head or blade length.

Angle layout tools: choose the protractor for changing angles

The Woodpeckers in-DEXABLE Protractor with an 18-inch blade is the pick for laying out and checking angles beyond an ordinary square’s fixed references. Its head adjusts from 0° to 90° in either direction, and an alignment pin registers at 22.5°, 45°, 67.5° and 90°. Those fixed positions are useful when the same angle keeps coming up across a batch of parts.

For other angles, you set the head against its engraved scale. Two knobs lock the setting, and the head provides an 8-inch reference edge. Buy this one for angled furniture parts and repeated angle layout: keeping the setting on the tool removes the need to establish it again for every piece. A fixed square is the wrong tool for carrying an angle it cannot reference.

Locked square, the protractor also works as a T-square with scribing guides. The Mini in-DEXABLE Protractor has an 8-inch blade; choose that shorter format for layout on smaller parts.

Woodworking squares: match the head and size to the work

For everyday woodworking hand tools, start with a square you can use comfortably on the parts you build. The Woodpeckers standard in-DEXABLE Double Square comes with a 6-inch blade and a compact head intended for work without miters. Buy it for square cabinet and furniture layout. Its sliding support tab helps support the head when it hangs over the stock edge.

The standard in-DEXABLE system has scribing guides on 1/16-inch centers, with inch graduations in sixteenths along one blade edge and thirty-seconds along the other. That gives you closely spaced layout references for repeated marks. The engraved scales have a stated accuracy of ±.004 inch; that figure applies to the scales.

Choose the head for the joint. The in-DEXABLE Combination Square provides both 90° and 45° references. The Double Square’s smaller head is the better fit for work that stays square; choose the Combination Square when miters are part of the job.

Woodpeckers square	Size
Standard in-DEXABLE Double Square	6-inch blade
Mini in-DEXABLE Combination Square	6-inch blade
Mini in-DEXABLE Double Square	4-inch blade
Stainless Steel Square	6 inches
Stainless Steel Square	12 inches
Precision Woodworking Square	12 by 8 inches

Choose the 4-inch Mini Double Square for small parts and the 6-inch Mini Combination Square when you want the combination format in a short blade. Among the fixed squares, buy the 6-inch stainless steel square for short checks, the 12-inch stainless steel square for more reach, and the 12-by-8-inch Precision Woodworking Square for checking across larger parts and assemblies. A square that barely reaches across the joint gives you less of the work to check.

For a beginner buying woodworking tools, the standard 6-inch in-DEXABLE Double Square is a strong starting point for square-edged cabinet and furniture work. You can buy in-DEXABLE components individually, so you can add another head or blade as the work changes.

For straight measuring work, choose a Woodpeckers Woodworkers Edge Rule with an Edge Rule Stop in a 6-, 12-, 24- or 36-inch length to suit the span you regularly lay out. For center-finding work on small parts, choose the Mini in-DEXABLE Center Finder with its 4-inch blade.

Auto-Line Drill Guide: keep the hole perpendicular

Buy the Woodpeckers Auto-Line Drill Guide for perpendicular holes where a drill press cannot reach. It guides the chuck carrier on two steel columns, with a spring to help control the cut and an adjustable stop collar. That guidance matters when a hole needs to stay square through the material; a good starting mark alone does not control the drill’s angle.

The Auto-Line has a 1/2-inch chuck. Its base opening clears bits up to 3/4 inch, and reversing the chuck carrier outside the base permits holes up to 2 inches. Choose the configuration for the hole you need. The chuck size and the clearance through the base are different dimensions.

Bright white index marks line up with your witness marks, and a V-groove in the base supports drilling round stock. The fence can present its broad face for support along a narrow edge or turn its thin edge outward for stability. Those are useful adjustments when the work offers little surface for the guide to rest on.

Pair the Auto-Line with a corded or cordless drill. An impact driver must not be used with it.

Setup Square: the hand tool for router setup

For router woodworking tools, buy the Woodpeckers Setup Square when the job is setting bit height or checking an assembly for square. Its stops hold it upright, leaving you a standing reference beside the cutter. That is a useful feature at a router table, where holding a rule upright while adjusting the bit adds another thing to manage.

The Setup Square comes in 12-by-8-inch and 300-by-200-millimeter sizes. Two arms and two stops retain two scribing dimensions at once, which is handy for laying out offset corners. The included caliper head fits either leg; facing it outward supports depth-of-cut setting on saw blades and other round cutters. Both stops, the caliper head and a wall-mountable Rack-It come with the tool.

In a Montana post-frame woodworking shop, put machine setup ahead of cutting a run of cabinet parts. Repeating a cut repeats the setting behind it. Buy the Setup Square when your work moves regularly between layout, router-bit height and assembly checks.

For shop-built jigs and fixtures that need adjustable attachment positions, use Woodpeckers quarter-inch T-track.

FullThrottle blast gate: choose it for 4-inch dust collection

The Woodpeckers FullThrottle inline blast gate controls airflow in a 4-inch dust-collection system. Its butterfly valve leaves only the gate’s knife edge across the airflow when open. Buy the inline version for a gate positioned along the duct or hose run.

The useful clearance figure is what happens beside the duct: opening the gate does not require 4 inches of space there. Its lever can face either side, up or down. That makes it a good pick where machines, walls and duct runs leave little room to operate a gate.

The tapered fitting accommodates quick-change couplers and permanent flexible-hose installation. Choose this gate for a 4-inch system and place the lever where you can reach it between operations. A gate buried behind a machine is a nuisance every time you change tools.

Stair Tread & Shelf Gauge: copy the opening you have

Buy the Woodpeckers Stair Tread & Shelf Gauge for shelves, stair treads and risers fitted between walls. Its stated shelf-template range is 17 to 64 inches. The bevel ends swing inward or outward to match the adjoining wall angles, and the length adjusts inside the opening. You capture the length and both end angles together, then use the locked template to mark the material.

That is the advantage over working from a length alone. Two openings can measure the same distance across and still need different end cuts. Capture each opening separately.

Montana’s winter interior-renovation season puts this tool to work on replacement shelves and stair parts in existing houses. When the walls are out of square, the adjustable ends carry that condition onto the new piece. Buy the gauge for that fitting work.

The gauge includes four 12-inch beam sections, one 6-inch beam section, two adjustable bevel ends, two flip-over edge stops and the connecting bars and knobs. The aluminum bevel ends are clear anodized, and the beam sections have the Woodpeckers Red anodized finish. The sectional beam lets you assemble the tool for the opening within its stated shelf-template range.

The Pick

Buy the standard 6-inch in-DEXABLE Double Square for everyday square layout, and choose a Combination Square for work that includes 45° miters. Buy the 18-inch in-DEXABLE Protractor for changing angles and repeated angled parts.

Choose the Auto-Line for perpendicular drilling away from the drill press and the Setup Square for router-bit height and machine setup. Buy the Stair Tread & Shelf Gauge for fitting between walls, and the FullThrottle inline blast gate for controlling a 4-inch dust-collection run.

Frequently Asked Questions

What woodworking tools should a beginner start with?

For square cabinet and furniture work, the Woodpeckers Double Square with a six-inch blade is a practical starting point. Its compact head gives you a reference for checking and marking square parts. Seat the head against a clean, straight edge each time; a square follows the edge you give it.

What are Woodpeckers tools used for?

Woodpeckers tools help you carry the job’s measurements and angles onto your material. For example, the Stair Tread & Shelf Gauge captures an opening’s length and end angles so you can mark a fitted piece directly. Lock the template before moving it to the workpiece, because keeping those settings is what makes the transfer useful.

What hand tools help with woodworking layout?

The Woodpeckers in-DEXABLE Combination Square gives you both 90° and 45° references, so it suits layout that includes miters. Its inch blades have holes that index the head at full-inch positions and scribing guides on 1/16-inch centers. Use the head against the stock edge and a scribing guide to carry a parallel line along the piece.

What woodworking tools help with router setup?

The Woodpeckers Setup Square stands upright on its stops for setting router-bit height, giving you a reference beside the cutter. Disconnect the router from power before making the adjustment. Check the result on scrap before cutting your project parts; the setting needs to produce the fit you want.