Bob Cleek

Just hearsay here, but I've heard nothing but good things about them over the years.  Little Machine Shop seems to be oriented towards serious machinists, which is a good thing.  They have a wide range of machines and tooling.  It's a demanding market.  If an outfit isn't pretty good, they aren't going to be in business long and TMS has been around for a while now.
 
As for buying Sherline, or any "micro" machines, I'd offer the observation that it's really important to get as much information up front as possible.  (Which you are doing here.)  I'd suggest you check out the "home shop machinist" type forums and ask your questions there.  Those guys have a huge amount of knowledge to share when it comes to machine tools.  While I won't call myself a machinist by any stretch of the imagination, the advice I got was to get the biggest machine I could fit in my shop (and afford) and to get good used "old Amurricun 'arn" which is a lot less expensive than questionable new Chinese stuff.  I scored a late-model Craftsman/Atlas 12" X 42" with all the tooling anybody could hope for thanks to Craigslist and I've been very happy with it. (The tooling it came with is probably worth three or four times what the lathe itself is worth.) I paid probably a third of what a basic Sherline or Taig set up would run.  The Atlas isn't the top choice for doing serious production machining because it is somewhat light weight for a 12X lathe, but it's entirely serviceable if you don't get impatient and try taking 1/4" cuts!  It does anything I need for modeling, as well as general shop use and properly set up is as accurate as I will ever be able to need..  The big advantage is that the tooling is standard and readily available.  There's plenty for sale used as well, which means big savings.  Figure to spend at least as much on even basic tooling as you do on the machine itself.  That's where the problems I've heard of arise with the Sherline and Taig type of machinery.  Sherline's tooling, at least when I checked it out, was pretty much all proprietary.  In other words, if you want a widget, you will have to by a Sherline widget because none of the standard widgets will fit on your Sherline machine.  That makes the Sherline hugely more expensive.  Somebody may want the Sherline and that makes the expensive justifiable for them, of course.  I'm not saying Sherline makes a poor machine, one way or the other, but If you buy a machine that is based on standard tooling, i.e. standard Morse tapers, standard T-nuts and so on, you will probably be a lot happier and a lot richer.  The thing to remember about machine tools is that an accurate big machine will do small work, but a small machine can't do big work and the small machines don't cost all that much less, either.

I hear you!  I've encountered the same problem.  The fact is, most of the "tools," using the term loosely, that are offered by "modeling" mail order houses are bottom-of-the-line junk.  (Yes, that means you, Model Expo and Micro-Mark!)  I can't blame them that much, though, because good tools are always expensive to buy, but cheaper in the long run.  Tool buyers are often new to a craft and hesitant to lay out the big bucks, so the retailers offer what sells... and often at rather high prices when all is said and done.
 
If I were in the market for a jeweler's saw, I'd go to any of the big commercial jeweler's supply houses.  In fact, that's where I go for any miniature tools these days.  I've found Otto Frei to have a particularly nice selection.  Here's their saw page:  http://www.ottofrei.com/Store/Saw-blades-and-Saw-Frames/ 
 
Rules for buying tools:  1) Never buy a tool unless you really need it.  2) If you are going to use the tool more than once, buy the best one you can possibly afford.  It will hold its value, be a joy to own, and improve your craftsmanship because you won't be able to blame your shortcomings on your tools!
 
Buying the best is always the most economical way to go, unless you know a cheapo throw-away tool will serve the purpose in the short haul.  And, if you amass a nice collection of really good tools, they will hold their value and perhaps make your widow's cleaning out your shop worth her while!

I hear you!  I've encountered the same problem.  The fact is, most of the "tools," using the term loosely, that are offered by "modeling" mail order houses are bottom-of-the-line junk.  (Yes, that means you, Model Expo and Micro-Mark!)  I can't blame them that much, though, because good tools are always expensive to buy, but cheaper in the long run.  Tool buyers are often new to a craft and hesitant to lay out the big bucks, so the retailers offer what sells... and often at rather high prices when all is said and done.
 
If I were in the market for a jeweler's saw, I'd go to any of the big commercial jeweler's supply houses.  In fact, that's where I go for any miniature tools these days.  I've found Otto Frei to have a particularly nice selection.  Here's their saw page:  http://www.ottofrei.com/Store/Saw-blades-and-Saw-Frames/ 
 
Rules for buying tools:  1) Never buy a tool unless you really need it.  2) If you are going to use the tool more than once, buy the best one you can possibly afford.  It will hold its value, be a joy to own, and improve your craftsmanship because you won't be able to blame your shortcomings on your tools!
 
Buying the best is always the most economical way to go, unless you know a cheapo throw-away tool will serve the purpose in the short haul.  And, if you amass a nice collection of really good tools, they will hold their value and perhaps make your widow's cleaning out your shop worth her while!

Yep, sounds like what we call "contact cement" here in the US.

I hear you!  I've encountered the same problem.  The fact is, most of the "tools," using the term loosely, that are offered by "modeling" mail order houses are bottom-of-the-line junk.  (Yes, that means you, Model Expo and Micro-Mark!)  I can't blame them that much, though, because good tools are always expensive to buy, but cheaper in the long run.  Tool buyers are often new to a craft and hesitant to lay out the big bucks, so the retailers offer what sells... and often at rather high prices when all is said and done.
 
If I were in the market for a jeweler's saw, I'd go to any of the big commercial jeweler's supply houses.  In fact, that's where I go for any miniature tools these days.  I've found Otto Frei to have a particularly nice selection.  Here's their saw page:  http://www.ottofrei.com/Store/Saw-blades-and-Saw-Frames/ 
 
Rules for buying tools:  1) Never buy a tool unless you really need it.  2) If you are going to use the tool more than once, buy the best one you can possibly afford.  It will hold its value, be a joy to own, and improve your craftsmanship because you won't be able to blame your shortcomings on your tools!
 
Buying the best is always the most economical way to go, unless you know a cheapo throw-away tool will serve the purpose in the short haul.  And, if you amass a nice collection of really good tools, they will hold their value and perhaps make your widow's cleaning out your shop worth her while!

Yep, sounds like what we call "contact cement" here in the US.

Not to hurt feelings here, but...  Those of us "of a certain age" can remember the time when every boy's education in how to hone and dress a fine edge on a cutting tool began around age seven or eight when he was given his first pocket knife, an item of personal kit every male carried in his pocket for the rest of his life.  Sadly, with all the metal detectors around, few men carry pocket knives anymore and few mother's would tolerate their seven year old son having a pocket knife of his own.  (I suppose they are strictly forbidden on the grounds of any grammar school these days. Parents today seem ignorant of the fact that what "can put your eye out!" is really the most fun when you're a kid.)  Consequently, outfits like the good folks at Lee Valley have made quite a business of selling all sorts of slick gizmos that promise to ensure success in an endeavor which, up to maybe fifty years ago, most kids had mastered by age ten or twelve.  Strange how one generation can master operating a personal computer without a second thought, but can't sharpen an edged tool without all sorts of guides and machines and so on.
 
Honing guides are like training wheels on a bicycle.  They ensure greater success on a first effort by the inexperienced, but encourage dependence.  I'd encourage folks to take off the "training wheels" and learn to sharpen "freehand."  It is an easily acquired skill, regardless of whether you rely on an Arkansas stone, a Japanese waterstone, a "diamond" stone, or even a piece of emery or aluminum oxide paper taped to the (flat) top of a table saw or whatever and giving it a few licks on a strop or steel.  There's lots of instructional videos on YouTube for those who don't have grandfathers to show them how to sharpen an edge and fettle and adjust a plane, spokeshave, or whatever. (The trick is "feeling" for when the bevel is flat on the abrasive surface and keeping it there.)  This was the second thing any apprentice learned, after how to sweep the floor.  You can spend lots of money on electric shop vacuum systems, honing guides and machines and the like, or serve an "apprenticeship" learning the basics instead of buying tools sold to make people believe they will make them better craftsmen.  Unfortunately, the woodworking hobby seems to be going the way of golf, where slick marketers are always trying to sell you a club that's going to improve your game.  Don't let them play you for a sucker!
 
(Okay, rant over!)

Not to hurt feelings here, but...  Those of us "of a certain age" can remember the time when every boy's education in how to hone and dress a fine edge on a cutting tool began around age seven or eight when he was given his first pocket knife, an item of personal kit every male carried in his pocket for the rest of his life.  Sadly, with all the metal detectors around, few men carry pocket knives anymore and few mother's would tolerate their seven year old son having a pocket knife of his own.  (I suppose they are strictly forbidden on the grounds of any grammar school these days. Parents today seem ignorant of the fact that what "can put your eye out!" is really the most fun when you're a kid.)  Consequently, outfits like the good folks at Lee Valley have made quite a business of selling all sorts of slick gizmos that promise to ensure success in an endeavor which, up to maybe fifty years ago, most kids had mastered by age ten or twelve.  Strange how one generation can master operating a personal computer without a second thought, but can't sharpen an edged tool without all sorts of guides and machines and so on.
 
Honing guides are like training wheels on a bicycle.  They ensure greater success on a first effort by the inexperienced, but encourage dependence.  I'd encourage folks to take off the "training wheels" and learn to sharpen "freehand."  It is an easily acquired skill, regardless of whether you rely on an Arkansas stone, a Japanese waterstone, a "diamond" stone, or even a piece of emery or aluminum oxide paper taped to the (flat) top of a table saw or whatever and giving it a few licks on a strop or steel.  There's lots of instructional videos on YouTube for those who don't have grandfathers to show them how to sharpen an edge and fettle and adjust a plane, spokeshave, or whatever. (The trick is "feeling" for when the bevel is flat on the abrasive surface and keeping it there.)  This was the second thing any apprentice learned, after how to sweep the floor.  You can spend lots of money on electric shop vacuum systems, honing guides and machines and the like, or serve an "apprenticeship" learning the basics instead of buying tools sold to make people believe they will make them better craftsmen.  Unfortunately, the woodworking hobby seems to be going the way of golf, where slick marketers are always trying to sell you a club that's going to improve your game.  Don't let them play you for a sucker!
 
(Okay, rant over!)

Try this one for limited production runs.  Perhaps it will work. (It will depend on the metal you want to cut the disks out of.)  Take a piece of tubing made of metal harder than the metal you want to cut your disk out of. (Or, at least, anneal the disk material, which you should probably do in any event.)  The tubing should have an inside diameter the same as the size of the disk you want.  Cut the tubing square across (or grind the end flat.)  Then grind the edge of the tubing at about 60 degrees, forming a sharp edge at the end of the tubing, which will be a circle the same size as the inside diameter, and hence the same size as the disk you want.  Put the tubing in your drill press.  (Put it far enough in the chuck that it will not "whip" or flex.)  Put your disk material on a block of wood.  Drill the disk material with the tubing "hollow point drill" you have made.  Apply pressure slowly and evenly, but not so much that you deflect the disk sheet material. (Rig an effective method of holding the disk material sheet.)  Use lubricating oil (WD-40 should be fine.)  You should be able to cut a disk the same diameter of the inside of the tube every time.  Keeping the cutting edge of the tube at right angles to the disk material goes a long way towards ensuring success.  When you've got enough disks, remove the tube and poke the stack of disks out of the "hollow point drill" tube.  I've done this frequently with a variety of materials, but can't ensure it will work with the material you are using.  The keys are having a harder "drill" than the material you are cutting and patience.

Yes, dust vacuums do have their place and if you are extensively using power tools they become something of a necessity unless you can work outdoors or have fans that will circulate the air, and thus the micro-dust, out of your shop.  That said, the problem of dust is hugely reduced in direct proportion to the reduction in power tool use.  A sander is not really a shaper, but most use them for this purpose.  On the other hand, for example, a plane takes a shaving that doesn't add a bit of dust to the air.  A knife or a chisel doesn't add dust to the air, either.  On the other hand, a router, table saw, wood lathe and so on make a real mess!  It's a bit of a trade off, I suppose.

Try this one for limited production runs.  Perhaps it will work. (It will depend on the metal you want to cut the disks out of.)  Take a piece of tubing made of metal harder than the metal you want to cut your disk out of. (Or, at least, anneal the disk material, which you should probably do in any event.)  The tubing should have an inside diameter the same as the size of the disk you want.  Cut the tubing square across (or grind the end flat.)  Then grind the edge of the tubing at about 60 degrees, forming a sharp edge at the end of the tubing, which will be a circle the same size as the inside diameter, and hence the same size as the disk you want.  Put the tubing in your drill press.  (Put it far enough in the chuck that it will not "whip" or flex.)  Put your disk material on a block of wood.  Drill the disk material with the tubing "hollow point drill" you have made.  Apply pressure slowly and evenly, but not so much that you deflect the disk sheet material. (Rig an effective method of holding the disk material sheet.)  Use lubricating oil (WD-40 should be fine.)  You should be able to cut a disk the same diameter of the inside of the tube every time.  Keeping the cutting edge of the tube at right angles to the disk material goes a long way towards ensuring success.  When you've got enough disks, remove the tube and poke the stack of disks out of the "hollow point drill" tube.  I've done this frequently with a variety of materials, but can't ensure it will work with the material you are using.  The keys are having a harder "drill" than the material you are cutting and patience.

Try this one for limited production runs.  Perhaps it will work. (It will depend on the metal you want to cut the disks out of.)  Take a piece of tubing made of metal harder than the metal you want to cut your disk out of. (Or, at least, anneal the disk material, which you should probably do in any event.)  The tubing should have an inside diameter the same as the size of the disk you want.  Cut the tubing square across (or grind the end flat.)  Then grind the edge of the tubing at about 60 degrees, forming a sharp edge at the end of the tubing, which will be a circle the same size as the inside diameter, and hence the same size as the disk you want.  Put the tubing in your drill press.  (Put it far enough in the chuck that it will not "whip" or flex.)  Put your disk material on a block of wood.  Drill the disk material with the tubing "hollow point drill" you have made.  Apply pressure slowly and evenly, but not so much that you deflect the disk sheet material. (Rig an effective method of holding the disk material sheet.)  Use lubricating oil (WD-40 should be fine.)  You should be able to cut a disk the same diameter of the inside of the tube every time.  Keeping the cutting edge of the tube at right angles to the disk material goes a long way towards ensuring success.  When you've got enough disks, remove the tube and poke the stack of disks out of the "hollow point drill" tube.  I've done this frequently with a variety of materials, but can't ensure it will work with the material you are using.  The keys are having a harder "drill" than the material you are cutting and patience.

Try this one for limited production runs.  Perhaps it will work. (It will depend on the metal you want to cut the disks out of.)  Take a piece of tubing made of metal harder than the metal you want to cut your disk out of. (Or, at least, anneal the disk material, which you should probably do in any event.)  The tubing should have an inside diameter the same as the size of the disk you want.  Cut the tubing square across (or grind the end flat.)  Then grind the edge of the tubing at about 60 degrees, forming a sharp edge at the end of the tubing, which will be a circle the same size as the inside diameter, and hence the same size as the disk you want.  Put the tubing in your drill press.  (Put it far enough in the chuck that it will not "whip" or flex.)  Put your disk material on a block of wood.  Drill the disk material with the tubing "hollow point drill" you have made.  Apply pressure slowly and evenly, but not so much that you deflect the disk sheet material. (Rig an effective method of holding the disk material sheet.)  Use lubricating oil (WD-40 should be fine.)  You should be able to cut a disk the same diameter of the inside of the tube every time.  Keeping the cutting edge of the tube at right angles to the disk material goes a long way towards ensuring success.  When you've got enough disks, remove the tube and poke the stack of disks out of the "hollow point drill" tube.  I've done this frequently with a variety of materials, but can't ensure it will work with the material you are using.  The keys are having a harder "drill" than the material you are cutting and patience.

Yes, dust vacuums do have their place and if you are extensively using power tools they become something of a necessity unless you can work outdoors or have fans that will circulate the air, and thus the micro-dust, out of your shop.  That said, the problem of dust is hugely reduced in direct proportion to the reduction in power tool use.  A sander is not really a shaper, but most use them for this purpose.  On the other hand, for example, a plane takes a shaving that doesn't add a bit of dust to the air.  A knife or a chisel doesn't add dust to the air, either.  On the other hand, a router, table saw, wood lathe and so on make a real mess!  It's a bit of a trade off, I suppose.

Yep, silicone sprays are death to fine finishes in the shop environment.  The silicone "dust" gets into the air and settles on things.  Then it transfers to the finish surfaces and coatings (particularly varnish) will form "fisheyes" wherever they come in contact with the slightest bit of silicone.  (It seems to affect the surface tension of the coating material.)  Just don't go there!

Not to hurt feelings here, but...  Those of us "of a certain age" can remember the time when every boy's education in how to hone and dress a fine edge on a cutting tool began around age seven or eight when he was given his first pocket knife, an item of personal kit every male carried in his pocket for the rest of his life.  Sadly, with all the metal detectors around, few men carry pocket knives anymore and few mother's would tolerate their seven year old son having a pocket knife of his own.  (I suppose they are strictly forbidden on the grounds of any grammar school these days. Parents today seem ignorant of the fact that what "can put your eye out!" is really the most fun when you're a kid.)  Consequently, outfits like the good folks at Lee Valley have made quite a business of selling all sorts of slick gizmos that promise to ensure success in an endeavor which, up to maybe fifty years ago, most kids had mastered by age ten or twelve.  Strange how one generation can master operating a personal computer without a second thought, but can't sharpen an edged tool without all sorts of guides and machines and so on.
 
Honing guides are like training wheels on a bicycle.  They ensure greater success on a first effort by the inexperienced, but encourage dependence.  I'd encourage folks to take off the "training wheels" and learn to sharpen "freehand."  It is an easily acquired skill, regardless of whether you rely on an Arkansas stone, a Japanese waterstone, a "diamond" stone, or even a piece of emery or aluminum oxide paper taped to the (flat) top of a table saw or whatever and giving it a few licks on a strop or steel.  There's lots of instructional videos on YouTube for those who don't have grandfathers to show them how to sharpen an edge and fettle and adjust a plane, spokeshave, or whatever. (The trick is "feeling" for when the bevel is flat on the abrasive surface and keeping it there.)  This was the second thing any apprentice learned, after how to sweep the floor.  You can spend lots of money on electric shop vacuum systems, honing guides and machines and the like, or serve an "apprenticeship" learning the basics instead of buying tools sold to make people believe they will make them better craftsmen.  Unfortunately, the woodworking hobby seems to be going the way of golf, where slick marketers are always trying to sell you a club that's going to improve your game.  Don't let them play you for a sucker!
 
(Okay, rant over!)

Yep, silicone sprays are death to fine finishes in the shop environment.  The silicone "dust" gets into the air and settles on things.  Then it transfers to the finish surfaces and coatings (particularly varnish) will form "fisheyes" wherever they come in contact with the slightest bit of silicone.  (It seems to affect the surface tension of the coating material.)  Just don't go there!

Not to hurt feelings here, but...  Those of us "of a certain age" can remember the time when every boy's education in how to hone and dress a fine edge on a cutting tool began around age seven or eight when he was given his first pocket knife, an item of personal kit every male carried in his pocket for the rest of his life.  Sadly, with all the metal detectors around, few men carry pocket knives anymore and few mother's would tolerate their seven year old son having a pocket knife of his own.  (I suppose they are strictly forbidden on the grounds of any grammar school these days. Parents today seem ignorant of the fact that what "can put your eye out!" is really the most fun when you're a kid.)  Consequently, outfits like the good folks at Lee Valley have made quite a business of selling all sorts of slick gizmos that promise to ensure success in an endeavor which, up to maybe fifty years ago, most kids had mastered by age ten or twelve.  Strange how one generation can master operating a personal computer without a second thought, but can't sharpen an edged tool without all sorts of guides and machines and so on.
 
Honing guides are like training wheels on a bicycle.  They ensure greater success on a first effort by the inexperienced, but encourage dependence.  I'd encourage folks to take off the "training wheels" and learn to sharpen "freehand."  It is an easily acquired skill, regardless of whether you rely on an Arkansas stone, a Japanese waterstone, a "diamond" stone, or even a piece of emery or aluminum oxide paper taped to the (flat) top of a table saw or whatever and giving it a few licks on a strop or steel.  There's lots of instructional videos on YouTube for those who don't have grandfathers to show them how to sharpen an edge and fettle and adjust a plane, spokeshave, or whatever. (The trick is "feeling" for when the bevel is flat on the abrasive surface and keeping it there.)  This was the second thing any apprentice learned, after how to sweep the floor.  You can spend lots of money on electric shop vacuum systems, honing guides and machines and the like, or serve an "apprenticeship" learning the basics instead of buying tools sold to make people believe they will make them better craftsmen.  Unfortunately, the woodworking hobby seems to be going the way of golf, where slick marketers are always trying to sell you a club that's going to improve your game.  Don't let them play you for a sucker!
 
(Okay, rant over!)

Not to hurt feelings here, but...  Those of us "of a certain age" can remember the time when every boy's education in how to hone and dress a fine edge on a cutting tool began around age seven or eight when he was given his first pocket knife, an item of personal kit every male carried in his pocket for the rest of his life.  Sadly, with all the metal detectors around, few men carry pocket knives anymore and few mother's would tolerate their seven year old son having a pocket knife of his own.  (I suppose they are strictly forbidden on the grounds of any grammar school these days. Parents today seem ignorant of the fact that what "can put your eye out!" is really the most fun when you're a kid.)  Consequently, outfits like the good folks at Lee Valley have made quite a business of selling all sorts of slick gizmos that promise to ensure success in an endeavor which, up to maybe fifty years ago, most kids had mastered by age ten or twelve.  Strange how one generation can master operating a personal computer without a second thought, but can't sharpen an edged tool without all sorts of guides and machines and so on.
 
Honing guides are like training wheels on a bicycle.  They ensure greater success on a first effort by the inexperienced, but encourage dependence.  I'd encourage folks to take off the "training wheels" and learn to sharpen "freehand."  It is an easily acquired skill, regardless of whether you rely on an Arkansas stone, a Japanese waterstone, a "diamond" stone, or even a piece of emery or aluminum oxide paper taped to the (flat) top of a table saw or whatever and giving it a few licks on a strop or steel.  There's lots of instructional videos on YouTube for those who don't have grandfathers to show them how to sharpen an edge and fettle and adjust a plane, spokeshave, or whatever. (The trick is "feeling" for when the bevel is flat on the abrasive surface and keeping it there.)  This was the second thing any apprentice learned, after how to sweep the floor.  You can spend lots of money on electric shop vacuum systems, honing guides and machines and the like, or serve an "apprenticeship" learning the basics instead of buying tools sold to make people believe they will make them better craftsmen.  Unfortunately, the woodworking hobby seems to be going the way of golf, where slick marketers are always trying to sell you a club that's going to improve your game.  Don't let them play you for a sucker!
 
(Okay, rant over!)

Yep, silicone sprays are death to fine finishes in the shop environment.  The silicone "dust" gets into the air and settles on things.  Then it transfers to the finish surfaces and coatings (particularly varnish) will form "fisheyes" wherever they come in contact with the slightest bit of silicone.  (It seems to affect the surface tension of the coating material.)  Just don't go there!

Not to hurt feelings here, but...  Those of us "of a certain age" can remember the time when every boy's education in how to hone and dress a fine edge on a cutting tool began around age seven or eight when he was given his first pocket knife, an item of personal kit every male carried in his pocket for the rest of his life.  Sadly, with all the metal detectors around, few men carry pocket knives anymore and few mother's would tolerate their seven year old son having a pocket knife of his own.  (I suppose they are strictly forbidden on the grounds of any grammar school these days. Parents today seem ignorant of the fact that what "can put your eye out!" is really the most fun when you're a kid.)  Consequently, outfits like the good folks at Lee Valley have made quite a business of selling all sorts of slick gizmos that promise to ensure success in an endeavor which, up to maybe fifty years ago, most kids had mastered by age ten or twelve.  Strange how one generation can master operating a personal computer without a second thought, but can't sharpen an edged tool without all sorts of guides and machines and so on.
 
Honing guides are like training wheels on a bicycle.  They ensure greater success on a first effort by the inexperienced, but encourage dependence.  I'd encourage folks to take off the "training wheels" and learn to sharpen "freehand."  It is an easily acquired skill, regardless of whether you rely on an Arkansas stone, a Japanese waterstone, a "diamond" stone, or even a piece of emery or aluminum oxide paper taped to the (flat) top of a table saw or whatever and giving it a few licks on a strop or steel.  There's lots of instructional videos on YouTube for those who don't have grandfathers to show them how to sharpen an edge and fettle and adjust a plane, spokeshave, or whatever. (The trick is "feeling" for when the bevel is flat on the abrasive surface and keeping it there.)  This was the second thing any apprentice learned, after how to sweep the floor.  You can spend lots of money on electric shop vacuum systems, honing guides and machines and the like, or serve an "apprenticeship" learning the basics instead of buying tools sold to make people believe they will make them better craftsmen.  Unfortunately, the woodworking hobby seems to be going the way of golf, where slick marketers are always trying to sell you a club that's going to improve your game.  Don't let them play you for a sucker!
 
(Okay, rant over!)

It's obviously a poor second to the Horror Fright "Mini Mite table saw" alternative.  (Sorry, this site won't permit pasting the URL... go to "Harbor Freight" on-line catalog and use their search box.)  I have one of those and it's pretty much gutless for sawing and offers poor accuracy unless you want to start modifying it.  It lists for $37, but with the usual Harbor Freight discount coupons and all, can probably be had for $29.  Comes with regular and a diamond edged blades about 4" or so.  I bought it on a whim to play with.  I ultimately cut a flat disk to mount on the arbor and glued sandpaper to it.  It makes a serviceable disk sander, but I wouldn't advise expecting much from it as a table saw.

I've previously encountered overheating problems with battery powered Dremel tools.  Not related to this recall, but my wife used a rechargeable Dremel with a sanding drum to manicure her show dogs' toe nails.  (It's a common practice in that endeavor. ... sheesh!  Don't get me started!)  This required continuous running under load for five minutes or more and the battery contacts would heat up and melt.  Obviously, this wasn't one of the "1001 Things You Can Do with Your Dremel Tool."  After exchanging a few burned up batteries, she "confiscated" by corded Dremel.  I still have the battery one, but rarely, if ever, use it.  When she took my corded Dremel, it gave me an excuse to buy a Foredom system.  As most probably know, there's just no comparison between the Dremel and the Foredom.  While the Foredom is more expensive, of course, it will probably outlast a half-dozen Dremels.

Both blocks contain hooks.  It certainly could be used as a gybe preventer, but that ignores the fact that there are reef clew line turning blocks on the aft end of the boom, yet no other cleat upon which to belay them.  There is an eye at the end of the boom to which the main clew could be fastened, which would permit the tackle to be used as both a preventer (when the main was fully set) or a reef clew tackle when sail was shortened.  My money remains on it being a clew reefing tackle, though.  Preventers are generally single part lines without any blocks for purchase.  They are not set up to haul under tension, but rather just tied off once the main boom is run out on a run and cast off before hardening up or commencing a controlled gybe. They aren't intended to apply any forward tension to the boom, but rather to simply prevent the boom from swinging aft.  Also, any rigger worth his salt wouldn't use a full length tackle as pictured even if he wanted purchase on a gybe preventer.  It would be a waste of line.  He'd run a pendant from the end of the boom and then clap on a short tackle (a "handy billy") only long enough to provide the purchase.  There'd be no point to using up all that line running through the blocks to the extreme ends of the attachment points. Capice?  Gybe preventers are not to be confused with boom downhauls rigged on modern jib-headed mainsails, which are intended to pull down on the boom to flatten the main on a reach or run and so do require purchase.

At the end of the day, I prefer to leave the mast slightly loose and adjust its rake and centering by "eyeball" it, and adjusting it with the standing rigging, the same as is done in full-sized construction. (I bring a lot of my full-sized wooden boat building experience to my modeling work.)  A plumb line from the ceiling or wherever provides a handy reference if need be.  I prefer also to adjust the masts with wooden wedges in a hole slightly larger than the mast diameter, as in full size practice, but not rigidly so, unless I am lucky enough with a solid block hull to be able to set it up in my drill press and drill a dead-accurate hole.  The wedges allow for "fine tuning" with the tap of a small jeweler's hammer on one side or the other and permit further adjustments which may be required as the standing rigging is set up (and if I can still get to them inside the shrouds at that point!)  I like to ultimately set up the rake and athwartships alignment of masts conservatively adjusting the tension on the standing rigging with as little tension as is necessary, again as in full sized practice. (When a sailing vessel is underway, the leeward rigging always goes slack while the windward rigging hardens up and so the masts are never exactly plumb in real life except when standing still anyway.) 
 
The point of watching the tension on the standing rigging is that the forces generated by the rigging are cumulative as the various elements are added and at the end one can have considerable forces locked into the whole structure. A loosely stepped mast gives you some room to move. Short of an hermetically sealed case, wood always moves with the ambient humidity, to one degree or another, no matter how stable one thinks its environment might be.  Structural damage to full size vessels due to overly tight standing rigging is quite common. (Think "bow and arrow" forces where the mast is the arrow, the standing rigging the bowstring and the mast heel is concentrating all that force to one isolated point on the keel causing the adjacent garboard seams to open up or "pant" in heavy weather.)  With models, the same principle can result in snapped spars, pulled out eyes and other rigging attachments, chainplates pulled out, and so on, as both the wood and the cordage shrinks and swells.  Stretched, saggy rigging is often found in old models (of ships and people!)   They weren't built that way.  The cordage just stretched over time.  Modern synthetic cordage holds up much better with less stretch, but again as with the full sized vessels, the trade-off for longer lasting low-stretch synthetic cordage is that the forces are transferred more efficiently to the model's structure and afford less elasticity as the wood may expand.  If I asked for a show of hands of all those who have had the experience of an inexplicably broken bit of rigging on a cased model or upon tightening that last bit of standing rigging on their model, hearing something somewhere go "snap!"... but I won't.