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I've been testing tools for years and am on a lot of mailing lists, so new tools frequently arrive on my doorstep unannounced. Most of these tools end up gathering dust in my shop but a recent arrival from the Swanson Tool Company has earned a coveted spot in my tool belt...
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If you're a longtime reader of Tools of the Trade, you have probably noticed some differences in the way we look. Like you, we had to do some belt-tightening after the economy tanked in 2008 – the magazine got thinner and went from six issues per year to four. When I became editor late last year we...
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My name is David Frane and I am the new editor of TOOLS OF THE TRADE. This is a dream job for me because I have been fascinated by tools since the age of five, when my father gave me a hammer and handsaw and turned me loose on a pile of scrap wood. As an adult, I spent 20 years doing new...
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To say 2009 was a tough year for auto-makers would be something of an understatement. But you could also say it was a very good year for truck buyers who managed to stay in the market. When the construction industry went into a skid, prices for pickups and other work vehicles plummeted, and nearly...
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Makita is bringing its high-pressure nailer line to the U.S., and we were the first framing crew in the country to get our hands on its framing and siding coil nailers and brand-new 400-psi compressor. High-pressure nailers are more common in Japan, where the affinity for efficiency and compactness...
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Out West where I build, the Big Three of framing nailers are Hitachi, Paslode, and Senco; if you've shot a 12d nail here, chances are it's been through one of these. There is no shortage of companies making framers, as I found out in our test of 19 full round-head nailers last year, but an...
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Tools of the Trade rounded up nine waffle-faced framing hammers from around the globe and put them out on a Colorado jobsite with 15 framers, lead by regular contributor Michael Davis, to see how they'd stack up. Here's what we learned, in order of increasing appreciation.
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Thanks to the Defense Department, we civilians have free access to the Global Positioning System (GPS), also known as Navstar. GPS is a network of 24 satellites, 11,000 miles up and orbiting the Earth about twice daily. By latching on to any three of them at the same time, a GPS receiver can...
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It was a bumpy ride for U.S. pickup and medium-duty truck makers in 2007, no doubt about it. Daimler divested itself of ailing Chrysler. Ford picked an outsider to replace its founding-family CEO. General Motors faced a labor challenge that threatened to send it into bankruptcy. Even seemingly...