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Tool companies have increased cordless tool voltages, broadened their lines, and fine-tuned their efficiencies. Now they're focusing on battery technologies.
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Beads of sweat collect on my brow whenever I hand out belt sanders during the boat building classes I teach. In the wrong hands these powerful tools can easily do more damage?like sanding through the hull of a boat in seconds?than good. The same is true for belt sanders on the jobsite. A racing...
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Router conversion kits are the latest evolution in router design and utility. By using a detachable, exchangeable motor that can be transferred in and out of either a plunge-base or a fixed-base configuration, tool manufacturers provide two routers in one package.
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For large jobs, I run from four to six framing nailers per crew, and I need a compressor that keeps up as those carpenters are nailing like crazy. Whether we're gang?nailing sheathing or sinking nails into LVL, when the compressor tank is drawn down, waiting for a weak compressor to cycle on or...
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You can't flip open a window in a skyscraper, so we usually end up working in enclosed spaces where using cut-off saws with abrasive wheels will fill the air with acrid smoke and airborne filings. And if that's not bad enough, hogging through a bundle of metal studs in a closed room is...
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My college rugby coach used to encourage the small guys on our squad (me) by saying, 'It doesn't matter how much dog is in the fight. It only matters how much fight is in the dog.' While Coach Ortale's phrase fired me up in my rugby days, it's also an apt description of cordless impact drivers...
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I tested eight saws: the Bosch 1590EVSK, Craftsman 27719, DeWalt DW321K, Hitachi CJ120V, Makita 4340FCT, Metabo STEB105 Plus, Milwaukee 6266-22, and Ridgid R3120. I used them for three weeks on boatbuilding and cabinetmaking jobs, and dialing-in finish carpentry. I noted features that made the saws...
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Sliding Compound Miter Saws
I tested five 12-inch sliding compound miter sawsmthe Bosch 4412, DeWalt DW708, Hitachi C12FSA, Makita LS1212, and Ridgid MS1290LZmout on framing and trim jobs, and then back in our shop. While expecting one saw to serve these three distinct purposes simultaneously is unreasonable, I do expect to...
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You may not use compact drills every day, but they come through when you need to get out of tight jams.