Introducing another new product just in time for Handworks 2026, the Sterling Tool Works Fishtail JawsTM.
The Sterling Fishtail JawsTM was an idea that I had for many years to help hone Fishtail Chisels. The nature of fishtail chisels makes them notoriously difficult to hone and create secondary bevels. Most makers encourage people to free hand hone fishtail chisels. I had this idea to hold these types of chisels about 10 years ago. However, my idea was quite cost prohibitive as machining the jaws would require a 5 Axis mill that is very expensive. My recent use of 3D printing for our honing guide kit and customer acceptance of this material encouraged me to finally bring this idea to a product at a reasonable price. End your frustration with honing your fishtail chisels with these Fishtail Jawsä. Repeatable results achieved with the right tool for the job!
The Sterling Fishtail JawsTM are designed to mount on the Lie-Nielsen honing guide. We regard this honing guide as the absolutely best in the market and perfect for mounting these accessory jaws. The jaws are manufactured by 3D printing PTEG (Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol) filament to our design. PTEG is a 3D printing material that blends the ease of use with the strength and heat resistance of ABS plastic and is a great material for these jaws.
The Sterling Fishtail JawsTM provide solid clamping of Lie-Nielsen Fishtail Chisels allowing for about 1/3 of an inch of travel to hone the existing angle of the factory chisel angle or steepening up for a secondary bevel. The texture of the clamping surface that contacts the chisel shaft helps grab the chisel securely without marring the shaft or socket of the Chisel. The hardware of the jaws is stainless steel so the entire jaw set is fine to be used in the wet environment of waterstone sharpening stations.
We will have a LIMITED number of these Jaws for sale Handworks but will be taking preorders for delivery by the end of September as we ramp up production.
For years I have tried to bring back one of our most popular products, the Double Square Kits with graduated rulers. Unfortunately, we lost one of our crucial vendors during COVID that helped make our graduated rulers. We are annoucing that we are now BACK in the graduated ruler market!
More importantly we have been able to bring a product that we have wanted to make for years to fruition, introducing the Sterling 2R Woodworking RuleTM.
The Sterling 2R Woodworking RuleTM is made especially for Woodworkers to alleviate the years of frustration when using the common graduated rulers for sliding squares.
Most woodworkers do not use the 32nd and 64th graduations, and the way the graduated rules are laid out on sliding squares have the graduations coming from different ends of the rule on each edge. When you are using these common rules, you end up playing gymnastics flipping the square or the ruler (OR BOTH!) around trying to get the graduations you need in the position you want, with the square in the right orientation for the operation you are trying to complete! If you know you know!!!
The Sterling 2R Woodworking RuleTM has 1/16th graduations on one side and 1/8” on the other side of the ruler both edges have the same graduations on each side. Both sides index from the same end, if you flip the square over its reading from the same end!
Made from Hardened Steel with a beautiful satin Chrome Finish, the etchings are precision etched with a fiber laser producing a rule that is beautiful and exceptionally easy to read. The Sterling 2R Woodworking RuleTM are 100% made in the USA to exacting standards.
We have a EXTREMLY LIMITED number of these 4″ and 6″ rules from our first run for sale Handworks but will be taking preorders for delivery in a few months. We will be bringing more popular larger sizes to market in Early 2027.
Our newest tool organization product the Sterling Honing Guide Kit came from a conversation with one of our friends who was lamenting about all the jaws for their Lie Nielsen honing guide. If you haven’t used one of these guides they are worth every penny as they are VASTLY superior to all the import “eclipse” style honing guides.
Since we have introduced other tool organization wallets to help woodworkers keep all their accessories in one place and not be lost, we took on the challenge. My son purchased a 3D printer recently and this technology is a perfect application to bring this product to market. He wanted to launch his own side hustle doing 3D printing so Sterling Tool Works is his first major customer.
The center of this kit is the HoningJawPlate, this plate organizes all the different jaws that are available for the Lie-Nielsen Honing Guide (link here) ). This plate allows you to mount all the jaws and the positions are printed right into the plate. The plate can be mounted to your bench, put in a box, or mounted along the other items we offer on a plywood mount. Deneb Pulchaski of Lie- Nielsen designed an angle setting jig that many woodworking have built including myself (link here). Above is a picture of a Honing Jaw Plate mounted to my angle setting jig. Included with the plate are 4 Stainless Steel ½”counter sink screws to screw this down to where you feel its best.
The next accessory is kit is the HoningGuideStand, this very handy block provides a dedicated home for both the honing guide and the No 9 screwdriver and No 4 Screwdriver that is needed for changing the jaws and removing the cap iron respectively (Link here) Includes two stainless steel screws to mount the Honing Guide Stand next to your Honing Jaw Plate and honing station.
We went a step further to help those woodworkers that didn’t want to spend a few hours making the angle and stoneblocks. Included in the set are the 2 stone blocks and 5 angles blocks with 25°, 30°, 35°, 40° and 45° printed in the tops of the blocks. Includes 14 stainless steel counter sink screws, to mount the blocks to your honing station.
You can purchase the entire kit in our STORE or click here, or select only the parts you need for your application using the selector buttons.
(I really cant beleive that I have to include this! The hoining guide, the jaws, the screwdrivers are not included in this kit, they must be purschased seperatley from Lie- Nielsen Toolworks)
We offered our First Tool Wallet in 2014, the Original Router Plane Wallet pictured above. Over the last 12 years we have refined the design to its third Generation the RPW-3, and added a new Wallet for Beading Planes Specifically the No66 that was orginally made by Stanley and now in production by Lie-Nielsen.
Sterling Tool Works Router Plane Wallet – RPW-3
The Sterling Router Plane Wallet was first introduced at WIA2014 and is a collaboration with Jason Thigpen at Texas Heritage Woodworks. Jason has brought this idea to fruition with his impeccable leather and sewing skills for a premium product that will last a very long time. Made from 14.7 oz waxed cotton canvas, with hand peened copper rivets at all the stress points to ensure long life.
The 3rd Generation RPW now has 9 spaces for accessory blades or blade adaptors and two router plane fences, so you will no longer misplace the small but very important accessories for your Router Plane with this excellent wallet. Since Lie Nielsen expanded its router plane blade designs to include 4 more last year, this is Wallet helps you keep them all in one place.
Sterling Tool Works No66 Beading Plane Wallet
With the success of our Router Plane Wallet, we were inspired to help woodworkers keep all their beading plane accessories in one place. The newest addition to Sterling Tool Works is another collaboratioin with our great friends at Texas Heritage!
With spaces for 8 accessory blades and the two plane fences you will no longer misplace the small but very important accessories for your No-66 Beading Plane with this excellent wallet.
The Sterling Beading Plane Wallet was first designed after Hand Tool Haven in 2025. Just like our other Wallets that we have designed, this one is also a collaboration with Jason Thigpen at Texas Heritage Woodworks. Jason has brought our design to fruition with his impeccable leather and sewing skills for a premium product that will last a very long time. Made from 14.7 oz waxed cotton canvas, with hand swaged rivets and grommets at all the stress points to ensure long life.
Beading Plane accessories can frequently get misplaced, now you can store all your No66 Accessories in one convienent wallet.
Sterling Dovetail Rule DTR -5 Installed in a Vintage Starrett 12″ Combination Square
For those woodworkers without smaller squares we have now made the DTR-5 which is designed and made for popular 12″ cobination squares that most woodworkers have in thier toolkit. The DTR-5 is .089″ Thick and .445″ tall on the larger end and .090 on the smaller end. We have tested its fit on several vintage and modern 12″ Combination sqaures like Starrett, Brown and Sharpe, PEC and others. While we cant garuntee that it will fit ALL 12″ combination sqaures it should fit most.
With my introduction of the DTR-3, I have received many questions recently about what Dovetail Rule (DTR) is best for squares you may already own. I have written this blog post to help people check their existing square to find the DTR that is the best fit for their existing square. You can always purchase a Dovetail Square (DTSQ-2 ) which is a complete Square with a DTR installed. You Can purchase a complete Dovetail Square here. Many woodworkers go this route so it’s always setup and they don’t have to go through changing their graduated rulers to the DTR in their square.
Dovetail Square
However, we also understand that many already have some squares and would rather use one they have. In some cases, we could already have more than one square and can leave a DTR setup as a Dovetail Square, which is ideal.
Starrett makes a quality square that is very common in the marketplace either as a used item or brand new. NOTE that Starrett 6” double squares and 6” Combination squares use thicker rulers than their 4” squares (both combination and double).
Combination squares have a complex head, one side at 45 Degrees and the other at 90 degrees to the ruler. A double square has both sides of its head (casting) at 90 degrees to the ruler. The picture below is a Starrett 6” Combination Square (part number 11H-6-4R).
Starret 6″ Combination Square
I will now show how to measure your square by using popular Starrett 6” and 4”squares. The 6” Rulers measure about .076” in thickness as shown here.
6″ Starret Ruler Thickness
This is about the thickness of our Dovetail Ruler DTR-1 which is nominally .075”. Note that the slot in the cast head on the Starrett 6” Combination Square measures at .0845” That’s wider than the ruler by about 10 thousandths of an inch. You can purchase a DTR-1 here that will fit 6” Starrett squares with rulers and slots this size as well as many other brands 4” Squares; such as Lee Valley, PEC, Pinnacle. Please post Comments to this blog as a community we will continue to list brands that are compatible with the DTR-1.
6″ Starrett Slot
The other measurement we are concerned about is the “height” of the ruler groove. Measuring the Starrett Ruler, the edge to the slot is around .342”. The groove to the edge distance is the “throw” of the clamp shoe. The clamp shoe tightens down with the spinning of the thumbscrew drawing the ruler tight against the groove in the square head casting. DTR-1 units are nominally .330” tall which is .012” less than the groove height. (It could be helpful to think that the DTR is half a ruler tall) Most squares have no issue with this small difference in height as the threads on the clamp shoe make up this difference with a very small extra turn.
DTR-1 units work VERY well in 6” Starrett squares as they are .075” thick and .330” Tall. DTR-3 units can also work well since they are about .080” thick and .335-.340 Tall. DTR-3 Units can be purchased here.
Which Dovetail Ruler (DTR) is best for you? You will need a Vernier caliper and measure your square ruler and slot to make the best decision. NOTE: A digital caliper is helpful, like the one in the picture – inexpensive ones can be about $10-25. Machinists will spend $100-200 for higher quality calipers. (If you know how to use and read an “analog” dial caliper you probably are not reading this blog.)
Note that you need some clearance in the width of the slot to the thickness of the ruler, it’s not as forgiving as the height.
Below is a Starrett 4” Double Square, this unit I purchased used and cleaned up in my shop. This unit is still in production in 2023 (Starrett 13A).
This unit has a ruler that is about .064” Thick (.0645 in the picture) and The height is about .300” (.2995” in the picture).
The Slot in the cast head is slotted at .0715”, for this particular square the clearance is .007” Our DTR-2 is .064” thick and .300” tall. The DTR-2 was made specifically for 4” Starrett Squares. I do not know of any other 4” squares that use rulers this thin.
13A Slot
I hope you all find this blog helpful to choose the best Dovetail Ruler for your existing square.
It’s been a LONG time coming but the picture above is the first set of Series I Roubo Curves that have been made since 2019. Roubo Curves are stainless steel french curves that are large scale for use on full size furniture.
The pandemic lockdown made these a very hot item. Then the supply chain issues, and inflation made them unavailable for about 2 years! Now that stainless steel has moderated and supply more regular, we will have these in stock again very soon!
I am turning on ordering for “Pre-orders” today and we will start shipping the pre orders the week of Thanksgiving in the order that they were placed. I also have a short run of the Roubo Series II Detail Curves coming in the shipment as well.
The response for Dovetail Squares was just awesome, thank you all for your support. I am currently working on a small batch of DTR-1 and DTR-2 units so look for those in the next 4-6 weeks.
Best wishes to you all, we really appreciate you all!
Hello everyone! We are excited to have shipped our preorders last week ahead of schedule and have the DTSQ-2 in stock for sale on our website. You can purchase your Dovetail Square DTSQ-2here.
Dovetail Square
The second run of these units is nearing completion so we should stay in stock at current order pace. We are thrilled with how these new Dovetail Squares came out, the technology of laser marking has improved where we can now have our whole logo marked and be legible on the DTR (previously the “Tool Works” looked like a line).
We have a limited number of “oops” DTR-3 (the DTR-3B) units for sale. We had one batch of 12 have the profile down to the .090” “skinny end” be .086” shorter than spec. These units are 100% functional but are not to our full 1.375” length so we are discounting these units for customers that would like a deal. The picture below shows the DTR-3B behind the standard DTR unit, to show the difference in the “skinny” length. You can purchase one of these units here.
We also found 12 DTR-2 units for Starrett Squares in our travel show kit so we put them up on the website as well. You can purchase the DTR-2 units here.
In my last blog I shared that we were working on new Dovetail Squares and that they should be available in Late October. We have made great progress and are happy to share that we will be shipping the new version DTSQ-2 squares about a month early. Here is a prototype with a group of DTR-3 units behind it. The DTR units are now out getting plated, and then they will go to laser etching of the Logos.
Since the Fine Woodworking Article by Frank Strazza (read in our last blog) we have been deluged with inquires. We have turned on the DTSQ-2 in the store so people can place their orders. PLEASE NOTE that orders placed now will be shipped in the order they are received the first week in October!
A note regarding DTR ruler availability; they will take some additional time to get back in stock. With the new material we have sourced, there is additional grinding time to make the DTR-1 and DTR-2 units and we need to make sure we get ahead of the demand for the DTSQ-2. We will also be stocking the DTR-3 in the future which is .080 -.082” thick and .340” tall.We thank all of you who have been so patient and supportive, it’s been rewarding to have the support. We are beyond excited to to be back with one of our flagship products in Stock!
I met Frank Strazza (http://www.strazzafurniture.com) at Hand Works in 2015 where we were setup next to each other in the Amana Furniture Shop. Frank makes exquisite woodworking benches and has featured Houndstooth dovetails on them for many years. Frank was one of our first customers at Handworks to purchase a Dovetail Square when they were first released back in 2015.
This month when my Fine Woodworking Magazine (October 2022 issue #298) arrived in the mail, the cover immediately caught my eye as Franks work. Opening the cover of the magazine, I confirmed the article was indeed written by Frank. On Page 54 and 55 Frank explains how he cuts his tails and checks them for square before marking his pins with the Sterling Dovetail Square. We are honored that such a craftsman who is known for his dovetailing work cite our tools in his writing.
We posted recently about the 18+ months of challenges the pandemic and supply chain issues from the pandemic have impacted our business. We are working on a new Dovetail square with newly sourced steel for the rulers and castings for the square heads. Should everything continue to go well, we expect to have stock of the DTSQ-2 available in our online store in late October.
The castings are slightly larger with our DTSQ-2 units (over the DTSQ-1) but still have a great balance and heft in the hand. We are very pleased to have found a new source and believe that you all will too!
