Power Tool Reviews & News For Professional Tradesmen

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Dewalt Adds New Heated Hoodies & Jackets for 2014-2015

Posted by Jay Amstutz on July 30th, 2014

Recently we announced the new line up of Milwaukee Heated Gear for the 2014-2015 season and it looks like Dewalt is following suit with their own expanded lineup which will mirror the Milwaukee offering pretty closely. Dewalt will now have their own options for a woman’s jacket, Safety Class 3 jacket and 3 hoodie versions. Dewalt will however be the only one to offer a stand-alone heated vest as Milwaukee’s new heated vest will be bundled in their new 3-in-1 Camo jacket unit.

It sounds like the Dewalt jackets that were carried over from last year will also receive some construction updates you can read about in the official Dewalt press release below. See current Dewalt Heated Jacket options. Continue reading →

Makita 18V Brushless String Trimmer XRU04Z

Posted by Jay Amstutz on July 22nd, 2014

We recently got our hands on a competitor to this unit, the EGO String Trimmer and made some pretty bold statements. First was that that it was the best battery powered string trimmer we had ever used and second that there was no reason for a home owner to ever go back to a gas string trimmer. Both of those statements are still true but that may just be because we have yet to get our hands on the new Makita XRU04Z unit.

We are pretty excited to see what the performance of this unit is and there are a couple of reasons we are confident they can deliver on the performance, even with an 18V platform vs others using 36V, 40V or 56V. Since Makita has had great success with their duel 18V battery to 36V platform the fact that they didn’t go that route with this unit probably means they didn’t need to. Also since they will be launching an 18V Brushless Hammer Drill XPH07M with 1090 in lbs of torque in the very near future it would seem they may have cracked the code for delivering on a lot of power from a small 18V brushless motor. If this unit can deliver the power we hope it can it would most certainly be the lightest unit to do so at only 8.6lbs. Continue reading →

Freud Diablo PERGO Blades for Bamboo, Hard Woods & Engineered Flooring

Posted by Jay Amstutz on July 21st, 2014

If you do a lot of flooring installation you are probably already aware of the Freud PERGO Blades, available in 10” D1012LF ($164) and the 12” version D1216LF ($199). We saw these blades in action late last year and were really blown away. While a little pricy upfront just one of these blades should save you thousands in replacement blades and wasted time. These blades are finally hit shelves a month or so ago and the initial reports have been very positive. Bad news for Freud however as it’s going to be pretty tough to get repeat sales on a blade that never dies…

At 5:42 PM | Posted in Freud / Diablo | Leave a comment

Sprayon Lubricants vs WD-40, PB Blaster, Liquid Wrench & CRC

Posted by Jay Amstutz on July 17th, 2014

When it comes to an alternative to WD-40 or even PB Blaster & Liquid Wrench we already know this may be an unpopular post. People love their WD-40 and would probably brush their teeth with it before giving it up. We are no exception; the flow chart above which has been floating around the internet for some time is frightenly accurate for solving many problems around here.

While these products have all found a way into our hearts over the years there are alternatives that might be better for specific applications. While the folks at Sprayon have done an excellent job of turning out some very high quality products they have certainly been far less successful in having people fall in love with them the same way. Continue reading →

At 11:40 AM | Posted in Krylon & Sprayon, Safety Equipment | Leave a comment

Makita Updates LXT 18V Tools to Get Ready for 4.0 & Up Batteries

Posted by Jay Amstutz on July 14th, 2014

Makita is getting ready for their LXT 4.0Ah battery launch coming in the next month or two along with some several new cordless tools. The delay in launching was mainly due to efforts of keeping charging times as low as possible which it looks like Makita has succeeded in having the shortest charge times. One other issue which they have worked through is that some of their older LXT tools will not be able to work with the new LXT 4.0 Ah batteries and moving forward to 5.0, 6.0, 7.0, etc which are pretty much inevitable.

You will be seeing many of the Makita 18V LXT cordless tools switching to new part number to indicate forward compatibility. These tool part number changes (see full 90 SKU chart below) are already under way, an example would be the LXT 4′ Concrete Vibrator Kit BVR450 is now XRV01 ($499). You may also start to see some smoking deals on the older Makita part numbers, just be aware of the possible future battery limitations if you go that route. Continue reading →

At 4:54 PM | Posted in Cordless Tools, Makita Tools | Leave a comment

Chicago Pneumatic Ultra Compact 1/2″ Air Impact CP7732

Posted by Jay Amstutz on July 11th, 2014

If getting onto tight spaces with the full power of a 1/2″ impact is what you are after, look no further. The Chicago Pneumatic CP7732 ($139) packs a lot of punch into a very compact design. At only 4.4” width CP really did a nice job of sliming the tool down but with 450 ft lbs in reverse it still gets the job done. The controls for power and direction are right in the trigger and are a true 1 handed operation which you could easily change even if you already had the gun in a tight space. Continue reading →

At 10:23 AM | Posted in Automotive Tools, Chicago Pneumatic | Leave a comment

Ridgid Drain Cleaning Promotion for New Industrial Sump Pumps

Posted by Jay Amstutz on July 10th, 2014

Recently Ridgid launched their full line of heavy duty Sewage & Sump Pumps which are designed to be some of the best on the market. These are very different units from the less expensive Ridgid Sump Pumps you’d purchase from the big box store so it is understandable if there is a bit of confusion understanding the differences. One of the very interesting new features available for these pumps is the AdvanTEXT alert system which will text up to 3 people when there is an outage. You can even text in for a status update, you know for those who just like to check in on their sump pump from time to time. Continue reading →

At 11:56 AM | Posted in Plumbing Tools, Ridgid | Leave a comment

2014 Milwaukee Heated Gear Unveiled Today with Several Updates

Posted by Jay Amstutz on July 1st, 2014

There are a few changes for Milwaukee’s 5^th season for Heated Apparel. The additions include 3 new hoodies black, Reatree Xtra and Realtree Max-1. For the jackets it looks like the Red and Black have been redesigned with a 2 tone design so the underside of the arm on the red jacket is black and may hide wear better. On the Realtree camo jackets the pattern has been changed to the Realtree Xtra from Realtree AP and there is a new 3-in-1 (heated vest/shell) option available which means the jacket will be even warmer in severe cold. Interestingly it looks like the “Carhartt” brown colored hoodie was dropped most likely due to slow sales and replaced with the black which should be far more popular. Of course all the new options will still be powered by the Milwaukee M12 battery system. Continue reading →

At 5:06 PM | Posted in Cordless Tools, Milwaukee | 1 Comment

New Generac Guardian 22kW Home Standby Generator Better Value & Fuel Consumption

Posted by Jay Amstutz on June 30th, 2014

When it comes to standby power for the home Generac is the leader with their Guardian series 8kW-22kW generators. Generac has continued to update this product line and just recently announced a new 22kW unit, configured with the whole house 200 amp smart switch as model 6551 ($4599). In a never-ending battle to improve the performance of their generators Generac has managed to get 22kW out of the same engine displacement, 999cc, as their 20kW 6244 (to be replaced by the 20kW 6729 model soon). The new higher output generator will also get better fuel economy, running at 100% 3.68 gal/hr vs 3.85 gal/hr or .167 gal/kWhr vs .1925 gal/kWhr. When you are talking about powering a whole house for a few days or even weeks this makes a huge difference. Continue reading →

At 3:16 PM | Posted in Generac | Leave a comment

Milwaukee, Dewalt, and Stanley Reach Out to Help Build America

Posted by Jake Baker on June 25th, 2014

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Milwaukee, Dewalt, and Stanley tools have decided to donate over $10,000 in tools to the Build America organization, which is a non-profit that makes improvements to public spaces such as parks.

According to A Concord Carpenter, the “Build America” program is a team of 21 recent, college graduates who travel the country, for 6-weeks, visiting camps and parks rebuilding and building accessible recreation for people with disabilities. During these six weeks, the team, will build accessible fishing piers, nature trails, climbing walls, wheel chair ramps and many other amenities providing opportunities for campers to experience everything summer camp has to offer.

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Throughout the summer, the team will log over 4,000 man hours, save camps and communities thousands of dollars in labor and materials and positively impact the lives of thousands of people with disabilities.

Our friend Rob Robillard of A Concord Carpenter is also involved with Build America. You can read his take here.

At 5:04 PM | Posted in Charitable Efforts, DeWalt Tools, Milwaukee, Off Topic, Stanley Black & Decker | Leave a comment