The Ti 15 brushless impact driver is also a drill/driver.
DeWalt DCF895 Brushless Impact Driver – shown here with compact battery. Let the teardown begin.
Today's cordless drills are significantly better than the ones I used four or five years ago — they have more power and greater runtime, and take less time to charge. Many of them are lighter, too. The most obvious change has been the move from nicad to lithium-ion batteries, with lithium-ion...
For this article my crew and I tested 18 lithium-ion impact-driver kits. Some companies sell the same tool in two kits – each with different batteries – and in such cases we tested both versions. We used all the drivers for several months, trading them around so that everybody had experience with...
The Makita drill/driver is short & a mere 7-9/16 inches from chuck to tail. With the battery attached, it weighs 3.3 pounds, which is lighter than the vast majority of 18-volt drill/drivers. Its small size and weight make for easy handling overhead and in tight spaces like cabinets and narrow joist...
Subcompact tools are the fastest growing segment of the cordless market. The number of available models has grown from a mere handful four years ago to more than 100 today. The tools in this category are defined by their small size, light weight, and 10.8-volt lithium-ion battery packs (which for...
We love the way this category has continued to evolve, especially in terms of performance features previously seen only in industrial assembly tools.
Nail Jack extraction pliers have an 'anvil' behind the head that you pound on to drive the tips into the wood surrounding a nail.
Irwin's newest Vise-Grip pliers have a 'self-energizing' jaw design that shifts under load and self-tightens, similar to the action of a pipe wrench.
Kunz has a new premium plane line.
Tile contractors spend a lot of time standing over a 5-gallon bucket mixing various setting materials, and most just use a 1/2-inch drill for the job. That's not an ideal approach, because the tool isn't purpose-built for the application. Always on the lookout for something better, we found the...
Years ago, when I started out as a young plumbing apprentice, the venerable Milwaukee Hole Hawg was the only right-angle drill used throughout the trades. It was big, heavy, and powerful. I went for more than one ride on that drill, and the countless smashed knuckles I endured were a real lesson in...
Cordless drill/drivers have come a long way since the first one I purchased more than 20 years ago. It's interesting, though, that some have come full circle and ended up about the same size as those small, early tools, but with much better performance.
We set out to test the latest 18-volt lithium-ion impact drivers, but we made a few exceptions to round out the field. All but the Bosch are LI-powered, but a few different voltages and tool configurations are in the mix.
The first drill press I ever used was 40 years ago in my grandfather's workshop, and the ones I've used since, during my 22 years as a woodworker, haven't changed much. Woodworkers have always struggled with basic machines designed for metalworking.
Electric-powered breaker hammers have found a niche in the construction trades. In a wide variety of circumstances, these convenient tools fit the bill for small-scale demolition work.
Cordless drill/drivers seem to be shrinking; everywhere you look, brands are coming out with smaller and lighter versions
Following in the lithium-ion subcompact trend is the new Ridgid Micros, but it has an important difference: a 3/8-inch drill chuck.
A T-Drill is a unique, incredible plumber's tool that I've relied on to give me a competitive edge for nearly a decade, yet most people–including many plumbers–have never heard of it. So when I was asked to review the new T-35, I was eager to see what kind of improvements they made to this amazing...
As a self-employed contractor in New England for nearly 30 years, I've relied on rotary hammers for as long as I've been in business. As a concrete foundation contractor, I've used them to drill holes for placing rebar into existing foundations to tie into a new pour, and occasionally on new...