With the resources that are out there, homeowners are taking on more and more complex projects and are thus starting to use the tools that the pros use. With this move happening, it's no shock that Ryobi is on the leading edge of providing an affordable laser level to the general public. We recently tried out their AIRgrip Self-Leveling Laser and here's what we found.
First, a bit of general information on the tool. The laser itself projects from a little pendulum that hangs inside of the tool housing. The housing itself can rotate 360 degrees around, meaning that the level can be set in one corner of the room and even if the laser isn't projecting all around the room, one twist of a knob can move it. There is also a knob to move the housing up and down with about an inch of play here, so you can get the level all set up and you can still adjust some to get it to the desired height.
The prize for this month's DeWalt sweepstakes is a pair of 6” Hybrid GoreTex Boots, a value of $150. They'll be accepting entries until March 4th. You just have to register and fill out a short form and the winner will be drawn on March 10th.
We've been interested in Supplierpipeline's JacPac ever since we first laid eyes on it last month. It's a little portable pneumatic power source that clips on your belt, making you a one man mobile nailing army. It seemed to us that this might be one of those tools that really could change the way you work. Just imagine what it would be like to have all the ease and versatility of your nail guns without all the weight, noise, and hassle of the compressor setup. But we also had a nagging feeling that this whole thing would be a bit of a gimmick, that it wouldn't shoot nails very well, or that it be poorly made and fall apart after the first use. Well, thanks to the nice folks at Supplierpipeline, we got the opportunity to test one out and here's what we found.
The tank itself is filled with liquid CO2, which is easily available at any paintball supply store and it's pretty cheap. A quick google search located the nearest paintball emporium and $3.45 later the tank was ready to go. The rest of the setup is easy enough, just screw the tank into the regulator and you're done.
UPDATE: Festool has just released information on three new tools, available this spring. Details here.
We were just flipping through the latest issue of Tools of the Trade and saw that Festool will soon be releasing their Kapex Sliding Compound Miter Saw in the states. This is good news for anyone who not only values high quality tools, but also has a virtually bottomless bank account.
Assuming that the U.S. version of the Kapex is the same as the rest of the world's, it's going to quite a saw. The thing is loaded with features including a variable speed control, a new quick blade change system, and its own bevel gauge/angle finder. Other features include:
It really is impressive how much mileage Dremel has gotten out of, essentially, one tool. This is because of two things; first, their rotary tool is just about the best out there, and second, because the company does little else, they are able to devote a boatload of resources to making new attachments and accessories. Since each of these attachments alters the use of the tool, Dremel is constantly reinventing their rotary tool and finding new things that it can do. The latest and most involved of these is the Dremel Workstation. Part drill press, part tool stand, and part bench grinder.
Once your Dremel is fit into the drill press, it can bore holes up to two inches at angles between 0 and 90, in 15 degree increments. Like a full-sized drill press there is a depth stop as well as four clamping points to keep the unit stable while you work.
With the tool attached and completely horizontal, the stand also functions as a rotary tool holder, turning it into something of a bench grinder. This stabilizes the tool and frees up both of your hands for the really delicate work.
If you're tired of the giant pile of hand tools on your workbench and peg boards don't do it for you, you should check out this 24" Magnetic Tool Holder. It has a capacity of 50 lbs and can be hung either vertically or horizontally. The best part is that it's so cheap ($8), that getting two or three of them isn't out of the question.
Since there are other brands that can go for up to $30, we checked and there is a 1-year warranty if this thing turns out to be a piece of junk.
How to Raise a Building in Three Minutes and Forty Seconds
Here's a cool video we found of a construction site captured with time-lapse photography. The video spans the nine months that it took to build what looks like an office building.
It looks like it doesn't take long for a good idea to catch on. Just last month we were lauding Maxus for expanding their X-Lite series of aluminum air compressors into smaller, more compact models. Well now, it looks like Ridgid is also getting in on the game with their OL25135 2.5 Gallon Compressor.
We started investigating differences between the two brands in order to write this article and discovered something pretty interesting: The X-Lite and the Ridgid are the exact same compressor. The image on the left was taken from Maxus's website and the one on the right was taken from Ridgid's website. Notice how the labels and logos are actually photoshopped onto the Ridgid model (for a larger picture, click on the image here). Funny.
We don't see any need to cover old ground, so if you're interested in the Ridgid compressor, just read our review of the Maxus.
We assume that Ridgid's Compressor will be available at Home Depot, for what we imagine will be a reasonable price.
UPDATE: Kirk K. just posted a comment saying that he picked up a Ridgid Aluminum Compressor at Home Depot for $99. They told him that it was a limited, introductory price. What a steal. Read the comment here.
PartsSelect.com, an online retailer of appliance parts, is currently revamping their website and adding some things that we think are worth passing on. For one, they've put together a list of their top ten DIY websites. It's a great selection, ranging from the one-man-band of The Natural Handyman to the polished Better Homes and Garden's DIY site. The list has good descriptions of each site, letting you know what features they each have.
We're thinking about building some sawhorses and wanted to see what designs were out there. Well, we found a number of sites with a lot of different designs. Here they are:
The Sawhorse Workshop - This place has four different designs, each with different features (you have to pay to get one of the plans). It also has plans for making clamping tables.
AlterEagle - Here is a very detailed tutorial on how to make the kind of horse that we usually make. They're very durable and can hold a ton of weight, but they're bulky and don't fold up, so they can't be stored all that easily.
Popular Mechanics - Here is a detailed how-to for the classic time-proven sawhorse, the one your dad probably had.
Sawhorse Brackets - Or, if you're not interested in putting the time into building horses, you can pick up a set of inexpensive ($6) sawhorse brackets, like these.
The guys over at This Old House are gearing up for their big reader-generated issue, due out in June of this year. One of the cool things that they're doing for it is a section called, "What's in Your Toolbox." Here, they are inviting readers (you) to go to their website and submit a picture and a little paragraph of your favorite tool. It can be your most used one, the one you just like the best, or even that freaky one that your grandfather made and then passed down to you. If you're looking for inspiration, you should check out some recent postings at The Hardware Aisle, like this one and this one.
We're not sure what we would choose. Probably our old Panasonic drill that we finally put in the trash about a week ago (what a way to treat an old friend). Both batteries were dead and something inside was rattling, but while it was alive, that drill couldn't have been any more dependable.
If you're a weekend DIYer who constantly yearns for that feel of flipping through your rolodex, you're torture is ended. Worx, the makers of the interesting Revolver series of tools, have combined the feel of office drudgery with the freedom of fixing something yourself.
Their unique Rolabit Drilling and Driving Set comes with 100 accessories and can be mounted on a wall. The accessories range from spade bits to masonry bits to a magnetic bit holder. If you need something on the go, the cassettes can be removed, giving you eight small, individualized bit holders.
The Rolabit Set sells for around $50. It's a good price for what you get, but first you have to make sure you want the office vibe sitting on your garage workbench.
Stanley has just introduced their Fatmax 4-in-1 Pocket Driver. No larger than a ball point pen, the pocket driver comes with 2 double sided magnetically charged bits. One of the bits has a small flat and a small Philips (really small, eyeglasses small), and the other looks to be either #1 or #2. The screwdriver has a pocket clip and, we assume, on board bit storage.
Why this mini tool has the Fat Max name is beyond us, seeing as it is neither Fat nor Max. But one thing it is is cheap. Amazon is selling it for under $3. At this price, we don't see any reason not to pick one up.
It looks like Craftsman is trying to clear out the warehouse and there are some great deals to be had because of it.
Free 3D Sander with any tool purchase of over $49 - The sander is valued at $35 (although it's currently selling for $10). This is an online only offer.
10% off all air tools
Craftsman Closeout Sale - Looks like there's some good stuff here, particularly with regards to tool chests and storage units. For example, their 10-Drawer Storage Combo is now $260 (a savings of $150).
Online purchases save an additional 10%
We're not sure how long these sales are going to last.
The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article by Kay Hymowitz about the rise of female DIYers.
Because tools marketed for women are more and more successful, but the number of women in the construction trades remains at a very low number, Hymowitz draws this conclusion:
No, the pink-hammer brigade is less interested in expanding career opportunities for women than in enlarging the traditional art of homemaking. Not so long ago, custom limited women's activities in that area to cleaning, sewing, cooking and perhaps a few crafts projects for those with extra time on their hands. Installing smoke alarms and reconfiguring a closet are simply an extension of the old domestic urge. That helps explain why single women are twice as likely to buy homes than single men, despite having considerably lower median incomes. According to Fannie Mae, the number of single female homeowners will soon almost double, to 31 million by 2010 from today's 17 million -- at least that was the prediction before the recent mortgage meltdown. It seems that you can take women out of the kitchen and nursery, but you can't take them out of the nest.
Denali has recently released a 3.6-volt screwdriver set that looks to us like a nice little kit. The tool, weighing less than a pound, has a nose-mounted LED, a cushion grip handle, and a battery indicator light.
But what really makes this screwdriver look good is the wall mounted charger which also doubles as a bit storage unit. Not only is the unit very compact, but all of the bits and accessories are easy to see and access.
The screwdriver also comes with a storage bag if you'd rather not have the thing stuck to your wall for all eternity. And because the li-ion battery can hold a charge for up to 18 months, this might be the case. The entire package goes for about $25, which sounds to us like a pretty good deal, especially for someone living in an apartment who just need something for minor repairs and hanging pictures.
We were wandering around Home Depot the other night and this interesting little tool caught our eye. It's a pocket-sized multi-tool, but, as you can see, it's got a hammer. Who knew you could do such a crazy thing?
The multi-tool is made by Sheffield, a company that we know makes some pretty good knives. The price of this one is under $15 which raises a flag as far as quality is concerned (a Leatherman can go for up to $100), but Sheffield has a lifetime warranty, so they'll stand behind their product.
Husky has a new big light out on the market and if it's anything like their last one, you should be able to blind orbiting astronauts with it. Their latest portable sun is called the 20 Million (probably in reference to it's freakishly large candlepower) and it looks like it would be a good thing to have in the trunk of your car.
The light uses a replaceable 100 watt Phillips H-4 dual filament bulb. When fully charged, the light lasts about 25 minutes at full power. It comes with 12-volt DC and 120-volt AC adapters so recharging it shouldn't be a problem. Also included is a shoulder strap and a work stand. Since it's made for outdoor use, the 20 Million is weather-resistant.
We were just looking over the last year's traffic numbers and thought we'd let you know what the most popular Tool Snob reviews of '07 were. These rankings are just from the number of page views and don't account for how long the post has been up. That being said, the number two spot is occupied by a review that was posted on December 10th. So, in a just world, that one should really get the number one spot.
If you're in the market for a biscuit joiner (and who isn't?), you should at least check out the Lamello C3. Lamello is a Swiss company that actually invented the biscuit joiner and their reputation rests in large part on the shoulders of this tool.
The Classic C3 Plate Joiner looks like it has a lot going for it. First of all the slide shoe, fence, and stop square are each made from a single piece of machine milled metal. This gives the tool a high degree of accuracy and, from what we've heard, the high quality construction of the tool eliminates any wiggle in the fence (an ailment that we've seen many biscuit joiners succumb to). The C3 also has positive stops at the most common cutting angles as well as six different depth settings.
There is no doubt that 23 gauge headless pinners are on the rise. If you deal with any kind of precision work, just five minutes with one of these tools will convince you of their value. Last year, we took a really close look at the Cadex CPB23.50 and found it to be one of the finest tools we've ever used. Grex, a company devoted to pneumatic tools, also has a complete line of pinners. We played around with their P635 at a trade show a while back and were impressed with the tool.
The P635 can handle pins ranging in length from 3/8" to 1-3/8" which, if you don't deal with anything bigger than 3/4 stock, should be plenty. It's got a rear exhaust, a belt hook, a no-mar tip, and the double trigger that is standard with 23 gauge pinners. The gun weighs just under 2-1/4 lbs.
Read on to see what others have said about the P635.
This is our favorite time of year, not because of the non-stop holiday booze-fests, but because it's when the new year's Grizzly catalog arrives. And while we were recently out of town at one of said booze-fests, this momentus yearly event occurred.
To us, the Grizzly catalog is a one stop reference for tools for the entire year, and they've got everything. The catalog is the size of a small city's phone book and is crammed with power tools, shop tools, hand tools, bits, jigs, project plans and plenty more. Also, anyone interested in building their own guitar should start with this catalog, because they feature an extensive section on just that topic.
That said, we obviously think that everyone of you should have one of these kicking around the shop, by the nightstand, in the bathroom, or where ever it is that you have the time to flip through the Cadillac of tool catalogs.
We gave up reviewing magazines a while back because you guys just weren't all that into it. But we still held out that we'd review the occasional issue if there was something worth writing about. Well this month's This Old House is worth writing about. It's actually the best issue of theirs that we've picked up in a long, long time.
Lately it seems that their content has been getting pretty fluffy with too many of those awful articles on "how you and your spouse can survive a renovation." We say leave those to the pages of Glamour and give us info on tools, building materials, and workable ideas for our own renovations. This issue has all that and more. There's an article on crown molding, there's one on converting a guest bedroom into a large bath, also ones on steam showers, replacement windows, and a great router primer (written by or pal Harry Sawyers from The Hardware Aisle). And the list goes on and on.
We're not exactly sure why this issue is such a home run, but it is. Every single article is worth reading. Here's to hoping they'll be writing issues like this one all year long. Check out the table of contents here.
Right now, Amazon's got a few good deals in the works, so when you exchange all the junk that your family got you for Christmas, you should think about these sales.
The Big Tool Event - This is a sale on a general selection to tools, accessories, storage items, and a bunch of other categories. We checked it out and it's a pretty good selection, even if some of the items aren't the most up-to-date. For example, the Bosch table saw featured is last year's model, the one with the old blade guard. It's still a great saw, just not the most recent one. Browse the sale here.
Save on Black & Decker's VPX Tools - Some good deals here.
Up to 40% Off Flashlights - You can always use another flashlight. One by the bed, one by the front door, one in the glove box, one in the kitchen junk drawer, one in the basement, and pretty much one in every other room in the house. And if you're shopping around for a multi-purpose flashlight, we highly recommend checking out Stanley's new Tripod Flashlight. More info on the flashlight sale here.
10% Off Freud Tools - Great bits and great blades. This is one of those deals where you have to enter the code in at checkout, so make sure you do it right. We've done it wrong and it's a real pain in the ass to get it straightened out. Browse the tools here
Tool King is offering a few really good DeWalt deals.
Get a free cordless tool with the purchase of a 4-piece DeWalt combo kit. Or, if you're in the market for a 5, 6, or 9-piece kit, you'll walk away with two free tools. Details here.
Get $40 cash back with the purchase of select DeWalt routers. Details here.
Internet deals come and go like the wind, so these might be inactive by the time you read this. Just make sure that you know what you're buying and how much you're buying it for.
We've been really curious about the JacPac ever since we first heard about it back in early December. To us, it looks like it could be one of those rare tools that really might change the way people work. Can't you see a job site 10 years into the future with no communal air compressors and no air hoses routed all over the house? Instead, everyone has their own pneumatic power source hooked on to their belt and they only need enough hose to make it to the end of their arm.
But is this a reality? We'll be testing the JacPac and we'll let you know what we think. Also, we've got reviews coming of another Skil product as well as Ryobi's AIRgrip Self-Leveling Laser.
Even though we ended up taking the last week off, we still managed to pack a lot into the month of December.
Choosing our December tool of the month was tough. We thought the world of the Proxxon Detail Sander and think that it's a shame that the tool doesn't have a higher profile in the tool world, we also really liked the lightweight Maxus Aluminum Compressor. But, we have to give the prize to the Ryobi 4-Piece Li-Ion Kit. With the kit, Ryobi once again walks the line between contractor quality and DIYer price. Since reviewing the kit, we've kept using it and each time we use it, we like it more and more.
We would also like to thank all of you for reading the site this past year. We've been flattered by our traffic numbers and we're looking forward to keeping you up-to-date on all the latest tool news in the coming year.
Ryobi Procross AIRgrip Self Leveling Laser - Review
Continue reading: 
The prize for this month's DeWalt sweepstakes is a pair of 
There is no doubt that 23 gauge headless pinners are on the rise. If you deal with any kind of precision work, just five minutes with one of these tools will convince you of their value. Last year, we took a really close look at the 
This is our favorite time of year, not because of the non-stop holiday booze-fests, but because it's when the new year's 
We gave up 
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Megapro 13-in-1 Ratcheting Screwdriver - Review
