Tools of the Trade called and asked if I’d be interested in reviewing some work boots from Keen. I was sent a list of boots from their Industrial Line, and I ordered a couple of pairs each.
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Can you get a decent track saw for $180?
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Piher is a Spanish company that makes clamps – all kinds of clamps.
Late this summer Bosch will release the MXH180, a cordless version of their MX series oscillating multi-tool (OMT).
The Lenox plant in East Longmeadow MA produces recip saw blades, hole saws, band saw blades, and a number of other items. This story focuses on recip saw blades.
Move over expensive European hand tools, here's a plane that will give you a run for someone else's money.
My crew recently switched from a pneumatic caulking gun to an M12 battery-powered model from Milwaukee.
Here are some Dewalt specialty tools that promise to make life easier and more pleasant on the jobsite.
Truck sales were up sharply in April over the year before. Who came out on top? Let me put it this way, if you bought a Ford F-Series you have plenty of company.
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I hope you enjoy yours as much as Kerry McLean seems to enjoy every day of his life – riding around on a home-made monowheel vehicle.
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I’ve seen carpentry and cabinet making contests before, but I’ve never seen anything like the wood planing contest that takes place each June in Japan.
At this year's NHS show I saw number of odd and unusual tools – some of which will be useful to tradesmen.
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According to a recent article in Forbes, the recovering US housing market and reconstruction of areas hit by Hurricane Sandy have made the chairman of tool manufacturer TTi into a billionaire.
Pull with all your might but the nut or bolt won't budge? Enter the striking wrench.
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Evidently, this UK carpenter did not get the message.
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Ronald Walters has two hands. But he wanted a third. So he made one.
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The first time I saw the Domino XL I said to myself, "where was this thing when I was building doors in a millwork shop?"
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Who says you need power tools?
Hanley Wood LLC, the premier media, event, information and strategic marketing services company serving the construction industry and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced today a strategic partnership whereby Hanley Wood has acquired the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo.
Here are 12 more tools I could not live without.
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The doctors didn't think he would survive, and that if he did he’d have extensive brain damage. Fortunately, they were wrong.
In 2008 Nissan released sketches of a radical concept van. I’m not surprised they never built it or that an individual cabinet maker built something similar on his own.
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Why is it so hypnotic to watch wooden gears turn?
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If you are familiar with modular tool organizers, then you know about Systainers.
I recently traveled to DeWalt headquarters in Towson, Maryland, for the annual unveiling of new tools and accessories.
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Late last year Orchard Supply sued Home Depot, Makita, and Milwaukee for running what it says was an illegal group boycott.
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The manufacturer refers to these tool organizers and as the Click and Go System because of the way they clip together.
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If Ron Paulk's original portable workbench was excellent (and it was), then this new and improved version is beyond excellent.
Don Williams describes searching for a vise that is cool enough to be called Studley-esque.
I stumbled across a picture of this uber-cool Metabo LED light on Facebook and decided to find out more about it.
These sub 8-pound nail guns are comfortable to use and surprisingly powerful.
Modular organizers share the same footprint and can be stacked and latched together for storage and transport.
Modular Tool Organizers
Modular organizers share the same footprint and can be stacked and latched together for storage and transport.
The solution I settled on was a set of pullout drawers that deliver reach-and-grab accessibility.
If the Liberty Tool Store is not unique and unusual, then I don’t know what is.
More from the department of boring corporate news: Home Depot stomps Lowes. If you shop in those stores you may have contributed to the following not-so-boring statistic.
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Hate breathing dust? Well here’s a machine that can help solve your problem. And if I heard correctly, it goes up to 11.
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Here’s a quick video I shot of a dual-action sander, which can be set to rotary mode for heavy sanding/grinding and random orbit for finer finishing.
I saw this tool online and immediately ordered one. It was not a choice; I had to have it.
Skil recently announced a new wormdrive saw that they say is 4 pounds lighter than their Mag77. That grabbed my attention because the Mag77 is one of the lightest inline saw around .
This self-cleaning HEPA vacuum is designed to collect the fine dust produced by sanding drywall, demolishing plaster, and cutting, grinding, and drilling concrete.
This bed insert turns a pickup into a dump truck.
This durable job-site radio has a dock that is compatible with most iPods and iPhones.
This shop-built router jig allows the operator to accurately cut ellipses.
Diamond particles prevent these driver bits from slipping out of screws.
A high-end fiberglass cap that fits into the bed of a pickup.
A small and quiet 2 1/2-gallon air compressor.
This 12-volt model has a brushless motor and a half-inch chuck.
This hex-drive reamer fits in drill and impact drivers.
A powder-coated aluminum square with easy-to-read markings.
Precision router bits with thicker-than-average carbide that can be sharpened multiple times.
This rechargeable LED work light is bright and durable.
A step that folds out from the truck's trailer hitch.
A compact circular saw that weighs less than 9 pounds.
A jab-saw attachment for oscillating multi-tools.
The excess webbing disappears into the cover of this ratcheting tie-down strap.
A small pinner with dry-fire lockout and a very small tip.
A lock that can be keyed on site to match any key you already have.
This thin kerf hole saw is said by its maker to cut faster than standard models.
A grinder attachment that uses carbide teeth to remove wood.
It looks like a razor blade and fits in a utility knife but it marks lines like pencil lead.
The Ti 15 brushless impact driver is also a drill/driver.
The curved head of this pry bar can be pivoted and locked into 16 different positions.
These plier-like snips trim edge banding flush to the edge of the piece.
These are not the only tools in my bag; they’re just the ones I like or use the most.
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Carelessness led to Florida’s problems with defective Chinese drywall.
Don Dunkley traces the history of the Framing Square and his history using it.
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Here are three of the Graco sprayers that were on display at the JLC LIVE tradeshow.
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No one at Milwaukee spoke those words, but that’s how I interpreted what TTi CEO Joe Galli said during a speech to investors in March.
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The newest tool in this category is Bosch’s OS50VC, which I got to see the JLC LIVE tradeshow.
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Here’s a quick video of a new accessory from Bosch that allows you to turn their ever-popular trim router into a plunging model.
It had to happen; sooner or later someone was bound to invent a tool that goes both ways.
I was at the World of Concrete (WOC), looking at machinery, talking to tool manufacturers, and what do you know, I find myself photographing T-shirts.
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It’s the long-lost original World of Concrete in 60 Seconds.
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The Equipter is a self-propelled dumpster that can be towed to the jobsite and then driven under its own power (it has a gasoline engine) to wherever it needs to be.
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When Festool developed the TS 55 REQ, there was no need to go back to the drawing board. They already had the best track so the redesign was a matter of the New Festool Track Saw.
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This year's NCAA final four will be playing on a portable wooden floor that was manufactured in Michigan, sanded and finished in Tennessee, and then temporarily installed in the Georgia Dome.
This tape probably won't last half a century on the jobsite but in a sense, it already has.
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Well you’d better have dust shrouds on your tools; otherwise, you won’t have anything to connect to. Here are a couple of shroud-equipped tools from DeWalt.
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Here’s a blast from the past, a 1998 JLC review of two cordless finish nailers. One of these products is still going strong; the other died an early death.
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I can’t decide whether this guy is a genius or a wacko with too much time on his hands. I’m leaning towards genius…
It’s not easy to earn a place in my tool bags. Here are 11 tools that make the cut.
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Just when I think I’ve seen every strange thing there is to see on the web, something like this pops up on YouTube. All I know about this video is that it involves a cordless impact driver, a fluoroscope, and I’m willing to bet — some guys in their early 20s...
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I remember when men were men and we didn’t mind breathing the clouds of dust that shot out the back of the vacuum while we suctioned up gnarly construction debris. Fortunately — or not, if you’re into old-fashioned manliness — vacuums have improved to the point where that cloud of dust is s thing...
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What does a stand-up comic have in common with an unlucky test subject and a tradesman with “helpful” co-workers? In this case, they are all...
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Here’s a quick video of an accessory from Metabo that allows masons to remove mortar without creating choking clouds of dust.
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A couple of weeks back there was an interesting radio program about a tool expo in Dalton, Ohio that caters to Amish woodworkers. Although most of the attendees live off the grid and arrive in horse-drawn buggies, they are not there to look at retro tools — far from it.
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I used to think that if you’ve seen one rotary hammer bit you’ve seen them all. But this bit is different – way different.
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Andy says boredom is a terrible thing, so to keep from getting bored he built himself a home-made dump truck. Not a truck with a home-made dump bed, an entire home-made truck.
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The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with One World Technologies has announced the recall of 4.0 Ah 18-volt lithium-ion Ryobi tool batteries after several reports of packs busting into flames on the charger.
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During a recent visit to DeWalt’s UK website I stumbled across a type of tool that the company hasn’t sold here for 25 years.
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It’s one thing to see photos of a new tool, but there’s nothing like seeing it in action. That’s certainly true of Makita’s new HRH01ZX2, the only 36-volt tool that can be run off of two 18-volt batteries.
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In response to an unfair trade petition by U.S. manufacturers of hardwood plywood, the U.S. Commerce Department is going to impose up to a 27% duty on imported Chinese plywood.
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Newell Rubbermaid, the parent company of Irwin and Lenox, is launching a new brand of tools aimed at the professional HVAC mechanic.
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Canada has done away with the penny and Home Depot announces...
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This mechanic’s creeper is so awesome you’ll WANT your truck to break down so you’ll have an excuse to work on it...
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One of the major trends in recent years has been for more and better dust collection – especially for tools that generate fine dust and silica. Dust of this type is hard on vacuums because it tends to clog the filters.
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Here’s a new mid-size breaker that is light enough to be used horizontally but configured in such a way that it can also be used like a jackhammer.
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According to its maker, this small 7 1/2-pound rotary hammer packs a very big punch.
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Earlier this month I was in Las Vegas for my favorite tool show of the year, the World of Concrete.