April 30, 2012

StirWhip - Review

This is one of those odd little tools that has been floating around the shop for some time now. Prazi sent us one a looong time ago (probably close to a year, yikes), and we've used it off and on since then. We've always liked it, but it wasn't until our recent tile-a-palooza that we really got into the StirWhip way of life. Over the course of about two weeks, we tiled two bathroom floors and a tub surround. That was a month ago and now we're starting another bathroom and we realized it's well past time we spread the word on this valuable little item.

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April 26, 2012

Husqvarna Fast Tractor

Husqvarna has announced the release of something called the Fast Tractor. It's apparently the fastest riding mower in its class (mowers under $2500). And it's not just a little faster, it's quite a bit faster. Regular boring mowers top out in the turtle-like range of 5-6mph, but this cheetah can chase prey in the 7-8mph range.

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April 24, 2012

Furniture Society = Insanity Society

Because of all the tool writing I do, I've ended up on just about every single email distribution list that is even vaguely associated with the idea of a home. I've gotten pretty good at hitting the delete button, but this one made me stop and read...

Apparently there is something called the Furniture Society (not to be confused with the great band from the early 90s, The Information Society) and they have an award called The Award of Distinction. This year's winner is someone named Rosanne Somerson, who is the Interim Provost of Rhode Island School of Design.

Here are some of her award-winning designs....

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April 11, 2012

Makita 15 Amp Reciprocating Saw - Review

We've been meaning to write about this tool for a long time now, a few years actually. Back in 2009, we had two of them on a site and they were worked so hard and treated so abusively that everyone was stunned they somehow survived. Pictured is one of those two tools as it looks today; a little ragged and worn, but still a complete warhorse.

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April 9, 2012

Festool T18+3 Li-Ion Cordless Drill - Review

Oh Festool, what are you going to do to us next?

Festool has a certain way of reimagining a tool and messing with our heads while they're at it. They've done it with circular saws and they've done it with sanders. Now, they're taking a stab at cordless drills. They sent us one of their new 18 volts to check out and it didn't take long for us to see that this time the Fes-mojo is centered around their FastFix chuck system. This feature basically makes the drill a PTO with a trigger. The removable chucks (of which there are four) click on and off a couple of ways and all of them are beyond useful (and all of them are quite durable). We have...

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Read More in: All Reviews | Cordless | Lithium-Ion

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April 6, 2012

Makita LXPK01 18V LXT Li-Ion Cordless 3-1/4" Planer - Review

So there's this crusty old bastard of a carpenter that we've been working with. (And don't get all offended, because we tell him that to his face. "You know, you're a crusty old bastard." "Grumble....grumble...") Like all crusty old bastards, this one is completely set in his patterns and nothing, and we mean nothing, is going to change the way he does things.

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April 4, 2012

Goo Gone Pro Power - Review

So a while back (over six months....) we were contacted by the peeps at Goo Gone. They said, "yo, we're gonna send you something smeared with some nasty goo and along with it, we'll include a bottle of Goo Gone so you can clean up the mess and keep whatever is is we're sending you." (note: heavy paraphrasing going in). We said, "yo, honestly, don't bother, we've been meaning to write about your great product for years, we'll just write about our previous experiences with it." Then they said, "yo, this is already in the works, you got some of our product coming your way." At which point we said, "yo, thanks!"

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Read More in: All Reviews | Glues and Adhesives | Painting

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April 2, 2012

Ye Olde Makita Orbital: R.I.P.

One of the first tools we got when we decided to take the plunge and live the life of the construction donkey was a Makita orbital sander. It came right after our DeWalt drill, our Makita circ saw, and our Bosch jigsaw. We've had this fella for a while and while we were clearing out the garage last weekend, we decided it was time to say goodbye to our old pal.

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March 30, 2012

Sola Focus Vial 4' Level - Review

So when you think "high-end level," you think, "Stabila." Right? Well, yeah, but as it turns out there is another player in the arena. We were contacted by Sola Levels last year and thought, "why not, we'll give anything a try." Honestly we had never heard of the brand and thought it was just another mid-range level vying for some market space. We got to talking to them and it wasn't long before we were convinced otherwise.

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March 27, 2012

Back in Action

While the renovation is by no means done, Tool Snob HQ is back in operational conditions. There is no casing, certainly no paint, no baseboard, no floor in one room, no sink in the half bath, no tile in the master bath, and hardly any doors at all (including the bathrooms). But there is plumbing, electric, two toilets, a nice looking kitchen, and a heating system. Enough for us to move back in and get things going again.

So we're officially coming out of our long exile (pictured). We'll be posting more regularly and reviewing the mounds and mounds of tools that we've backlogged here (if you're a PR person who has sent us something in the past six months, please feel free to drop a line to badger/remind us). There are all kinds of good things coming...

February 17, 2012

Now That's a Beam....

So yeah, we had a little structural work to do at our place, and when I say, "little structural work" what I really mean is, "we rebuilt 80% of the house from the inside out."

Here's a shot of the new beam that spans the kitchen ceiling. It picks up half of the roof ridge one floor above it. I'd say it's never going to budge. I'd even go as far as to say, you could park a truck on my roof with no problems. The 16' beam consists of two 7"LVLs, two 7" SPF, one 7" chestnut, and just to make sure it's still standing after nuclear Armageddon, a 3/4" steel plate. The whole thing is bolted through with two 10-1/2" bolts every foot, top and bottom. Substantial.

February 16, 2012

Lamello Invis MX

So while we were floating around the web researching an upcoming post, we stumbled across this interesting little item. It's a joining system by Lamello called the Invis. Lamello is known for two things; 1) inventing the biscuit joining system and 2) manufacturing the most badass biscuit joiners on the planet. It's a Sweedish company and they have their niche (high end joining) and they're sticking to it.

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Read More in: Fasteners | Jigs | Power Tool Accessories

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February 9, 2012

Festool Planex LHS 225 Long Reach Drywall Sander

We felt we had to emerge from our renovation coma to spread the word on this one. Festool's new (new to the US, at least) drywall sander. Even though it kinda looks like it was designed by H.R. Giger, we have the feeling that it might be pound for pound the most time/agony saving tool ever invented. We've never even touched the thing, but we've sanded enough joint compound in our time to know what a tedious, dusty, pain in the arse it is. Combine that horror-show with Festool's core belief in the eradication of jobsite dust and their freakishly high quality standards and you're talking Planex.

There's a lot to say about this tool. But first off, one of the accessories is a body harness. How wild is that?

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Read More in: Power Tool Accessories | Power Tools | Sanding

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January 19, 2012

The Renovation Continues....

The renovation marches on and has gobbled up about 120% of my free time. I've got a whole lot more in the way of thoughts on the general aspects of the project, but I'll save that for later.

Here's a shot of the nightly tool storage area. Through the project, I've discovered a number of MVP tools that I'm going to cover in more detail in the coming days. These are tools that I've been using that have really helped things along. You can pretty much see them all here: the Milwaukee M12 Jacket, the DeWalt worm drive, the Bosch Impact Driver, the Makita 15 amp Recip Saw and the Hardcore Hammer. There are others, but those are the ones at the top of the mind (probably because I used them all last night).

December 12, 2011

Win $1000 For Tools and Loot

Amazon, the place where we buy about 50% of our tools, is giving away a $1000 gift card that can be used on anything in their ginormous store. Info is at their facebook page here.

Or you can just browse their tools and hardware here.