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Honoring the People Behind the Tools
How to paint, even when you really don't want to.
Framers's tricks for getting sill plates square and level.
Nothing says 'custom' like having a 450-pound shaper stationed on your shop floor. You could try to pull off radius work, trim profiles, raised panels, and fancy mantels without one, but it wouldn't be easy. And it wouldn't come out nearly as well.
Wet/dry vacuums don't cut, shape, drill, shoot, or sand. In fact, some people hardly consider them to be 'tools' at all. Yet, we expect a lot from them when we have to clean up a jobsite, empty water from a sump-pump pit, or control dust and shavings from a random orbit sander. For a tool that...
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...
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...
Celebrating Tools of the Trade's first 10 years with special coverage of the tool industry's biggest decade and the tools, technology, and trends that point to an even more amazing future.
This month we focus on the most significant new hand tools on the market.
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...
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...
This isn't a super high-end cabinet saw for a dedicated woodworking operation, but it is a versatile tool and a no-brainer improvement to any growing shop or on-site operation. What's more, the price is fantastic. We give it high marks.
Dr. Bill Bell is a saw blade's worst nightmare. As the lead product-testing engineer for Irwin Industrial Tools, Bell is a self-described 'torture tester.' And there's no brand loyalty involved in these search-and-destroy operations; the testing goes way beyond Irwin's own products. 'I'm an...
My grandfather taught me something a long time ago: A good tool will pay for itself many times over. While that's true for almost every tool I own, it goes double for powder actuated tools, or PATs, as they're known.
You may not use compact drills every day, but they come through when you need to get out of tight jams.
Tool companies are still free to test their products as they see fit and report the numbers they think will put their products in the best light.
This is our fifth year bringing Tools of the Trade's Site Commander to construction workers across the country, and it has generated the same kind of enthusiasm and excitement as it did the first year. Our goal each year is to show contractors and crews the latest in work truck features and...
When I started in the trades 20 years ago, there were only a few pneumatic finish nailer brands to choose from. Features were functional but crude compared to today's tools. Nailers were still better than hand nailing, but they were expensive enough that not every carpenter could have one. Since...
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Necessity is the mother of invention–and tool hounds. Say you've got to cut curves into some huge oak timbers that weigh 400 lbs. apiece. Your bandsaw is out–or is it? Not if you're Mark Orwig and Dennis Smith. The two master carpenters loaded their bandsaw onto a dolly and moved the saw–not the...
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When shopping for power tools, most professionals want the same thing–reliable power at the best price. The prices are always clear enough, but how do you compare performance without dragging the tools onto the jobsite first?
Walking into a tool store and standing in the middle of a square mile of tools and equipment, it's hard enough to remember why you came in--let alone figure out what you should walk out with. Tool buyers now have so many choices between brands and features in each category, you could spend all day...
Production speed for trimming may sound contradictory to some, but it's not?speed is good. The trick is setting up a good cut room, measuring properly, and coping inside corners. Here's how we make trim fly.
I built homes for 15 years before closing up shop to focus on remediating moisture and mold incursion problems. While I have specialized moisture meters to cover every situation I face, I use two types of meters the most–surface and pin–and recommend them for builders to identify if there is a...
Celebrating Tools of the Trade's first 10 years with special coverage of the tool industry's biggest decade and the tools, technology, and trends that point to an even more amazing future.
I know this may sound strange.but do you ever think about your relationship with your tools?