May 5, 2008

Skil Benchtop Tools

Lately Skil has been showing a good eye for innovation. They jumped right into the li-ion market with tools like last year's Power Wrench and the new Power Cutter, and now they're on the verge of releasing a whole new line of benchtop tools created specifically for the casual and first-time user.

Late last week, we had the opportunity to check out these new tools, and we have to say that we were very impressed. There are ten tools in all; two table saws, two miter saws, a miter saw stand, a scroll saw, a band saw, a drill press, a bench grinder, and a belt disc sander. Like all Skil tools, they're durable (but not indestructible), and priced at a very reasonable level. Because they are all designed for the beginner there is an added emphasis on safety as well as ease-of use. Although they did have more features, they are similar to Delta's Shopmaster Series.

The bad news is that you're going to have to wait until September to see them in stores. They will be available exclusively at Lowes and, with a few exceptions, they're going to cost about $100 (one of the table saws and one of the miter saws will be in the $150-160 range and the bench grinder is somewhere around $40).

In the days and weeks ahead we'll be looking at each tool individually, but for now, we'll just say that for the price, these are going to be tough to beat.