Pocket hole jigs and combi tools.

I feel as though I'm really letting this, my first blog site, down due to the lack of posts however I have many projects ongoing but nothing finished yet to actually post, it's slow progress at the moment.

Among my current projects are a coffee table completely from pallet/scrap wood so it's going to take a hell of alot of sanding but needs to be ready asap due to the new sofa arriving, a mahoosive clock for the wall - I think it's about 3ft round - which has been sanded and needs the numbers adding but I've just realised I should have checked that I can obtain the correct size clock arms first and also a round pergola for the garden. When I say round it's actually several pieces set in the ground to give the illusion of being round.

To complete the coffee table project I treated myself to a pocket hole jig. I've wanted one of these forever but absolutely refused to pay Kreg prices for what is essentially plastic, no matter how many DIYers rave about them. It was kind of cutting off my nose to spite my face though because my projects just never had that finished look that they could have had. In the end I decided to have a go at making one having watched a 'youtube' video on how to do it but the end result was me almost losing my hand to the miter saw and that's when I decided the expense of a jig was nothing compared to the loss of a finger or limb!
I did a bit of research and found another pocket hole jig that does exactly the same as the Kreg jig but is half the price AND it's of a metal construction plus the reviews on it were awesome, so I'm now waiting for it to arrive and hoping it will do so before I go on holiday next week.
The jig I chose was this Draper model

Once I have used it for the coffee table project I will post a review on it as I think it's important that we have info on all the tools available and not just the most popular ones - which for some reason are more costly also.

Another new piece of equipment I have that I will shortly write a review on is this Makita combination table / miter saw

Ordinarily I wouldn't have entertained this tool because I prefer individual tools as opposed to combi's but Mr CH bought this for me because he could see it would be useful to me as a space saver.
One of the few power tools I have never really used to any great extent is the table saw - hubby has 2 of them with long tables but they scare the bejesus out of me. I mean, they literally terrify me though I have no idea why. I have an irrational fear of me falling on one face down while it's in use but where that fear has come from I really don't know.
I'm currently making an extension table with stop block for the miter part of the tool but will then be making a few table saw sleds to be able to use the top saw, so far I've used the miter part alot but haven't even had the guts to switch the table saw on yet - I'll be making plenty of push sticks and push blocks for using this!