The first time I heard about Kickstarter was when someone told me that multi-bazillionaire Zach Braff was drumming up money to make some unwatchable art film. I think he got 3.1 million dollars or something. I thought the ridiculously high ticket prices were donation enough, but I guess I'm wrong.
But anyway, recently I've found some worthy projects at the site, including my old friend who just raised enough coin to start bottling her own whiskey (now, THAT is worth donating to). And then, this morning, I got an email directing me to another campaign, this one for the Flipout Electric Screwdriver.
Last week I was lucky enough to get invited to the annual Milwaukee Tools Product Symposium. It's their yearly event where they showcase all of the new things they have coming down the pipeline. And lets just say that this time around, it was a seriously big pipeline.
We've been holding on to this review for a while. We've had the new Milwaukee M18 Fuel Hammer Drill/Driver for months and months and we kept thinking we'd find its breaking point, but no such luck. We've tried hard to bust it up, wear it down, and simply burn it out. But we can't, it's a champ. A real heavyweight. Maybe the most powerful 18 volt drill we've used. There is no stopping it.
UPDATE: We realized that we failed to mention the most impressive thing about the Boa and that is the fact that the 'laces' never loosen. We really like our boots to fit snug around our ankles and these deliver the good all day long.
***
As soon as we put on our first pair of Red Wing 606s, we were hooked. To us, they're the ideal work boot; durable, comfortable, and completely devoid of 'features.' We like the old fashioned feel of them. It's little that a few pieces of leather and a really nice sole. Perfect for our simple sensibilities.
But Red Wings also can swing the other way towards the hi-tech and they've just introduced a pair of boots, the 4216s, that utilize the Boa Closure System in lieu of laces. It's a funky set-up and it looks pretty strange. If you're a snowboarder, you're already familiar with it because it's been used in that industry for years. But now it's taken it's first foray into the world of construction. Red Wing sent us a pair to check out and because of our undying devotion to the 606s, we were pretty excited about it.
We've had the boots here for a while and we've come to our conclusions....
Paslode has the reputation as the go to company for cordless nailing. Their guns have really become the standard of the category. We even hear the word "Paslode" used in a generic sense, like Kleenex and Sawzall. The company has to be aware of this dominance and they likely take great pride in their position. So along with that comes the overriding need to remain current and fresh. Enter: the new Paslode 16-Gauge Li-Ion Finish Nailer. They sent us one to review and here's what we thought...
Next month, Black and Decker will be getting into the modular tool arena with something called the Matrix. It's sort of their version of the Ridgid JobMax. It's a battery-powered handle with a PTO end that can accept a variety of different tool heads ranging from a sander to an oscillating tool to a router to a mini-circular saw. It looks like B&D has two different bodies to choose from; one powered by a 12 volt battery and one powered by a 20 volt battery. An AC version in en route and will arrive early next year.
The kits come with a drill/driver attachment and the other available heads are...
From the B&D website:
Impact Driver Attachment
• Up to 1,300 in-lbs of torque** for tough fastening applications
Oscillating Multi-Tool Attachment
• Up to 18,500 OPM (oscillations per minute)** for precision and performance when sanding, cutting, scraping, grinding, or paint removal
• Tool-free release that allows users to quickly change between accessories
Jigsaw Attachment
• Up to 2,800 SPM (strokes per minute)** for fast straight cutting or detailed curve cutting in wood, metal and plastic
Detail Sander Attachment
• Compact tool for access into tight spaces
Router Attachment
• Up to 9,000 RPM (revolutions per minute)**- ideal for use on decorative edging projects, small woodworking projects and more
Trim Saw Attachment
• Up to 3,400 RPM (revolutions per minute)** for use on plywood, paneling and fence boards
One thing that's funky about the Matrix is that they've opted to go with a screw gun-like base, rather than a 'lightsaber' base like Ridgid used. Not sure how easy the router head will be with the Matrix, but we'll see. There are always drawbacks with the 'one-tool-does-everything' scenario and here the handle may cause some issues.
It's doubtful that the Matrix will be able to handle the abuse of a construction site, but that's OK. If it functions as advertised, it could be a nice item for a DIYer looking to consolidate or an apartment dweller who is looking for a lot of functionality but only has room for one or two tool boxes.
Imagine if a Dremel mainlined Human Growth Hormone and anabolic steroids for weeks on end. The result of such an ecstatic binge of doping would be a massive, bulked-up handle with a spinning head capable of whirling an abrasive bit into thick metal. It would be a durable tool that could withstand the constant abuse of a jobsite and remain unfazed at being casually thrown into the back of a pick-up truck. This newly engorged tool would look exactly like Bosch's new cordless die grinder.
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...
We were at Home Depot the other day and got a glimpse of where Ridgid is heading with their new JobMax system (our review here). If you're unfamiliar with it, it's a powered handle with a PTO at the end of it, and a series of interchangeable heads. Thus far, the heads have stuck with the standard fare, mostly fastening tools like impact drivers and right angle drills, but now they've branched off into cutting tools with a cool looking jigsaw head.
We checked out the tool a little (but not too much, due to the annoying lasso that Home Depot uses to ensure no one steals their display tools) and it seems like a neat item. The fact that there is now a corded JobMax makes us more comfortable with this kind of thing. It's our experience that cutting tools and 12-volt cordless systems don't pair up too well.
In the late summer we met with one of our pals from Ridgid and they let us know that we should expect a lot out of the JobMax system in the coming year and beyond. Sounds like there is an over abundance of accessories heading down the pike.
It's a cool tool (we closely examined it's capabilities at Popular Mechanics) and it's looking like Ridgid wants to go to the "only tool you'll ever need" realm.
Should be available at Home Depot online, but we can't find it. HD's website ain't the greatest.
Judging by how much we use our Milwaukee 12 volt right angle drill, we'd assume that if we had one one of these new Bosch tools, we'd give it a pretty good workout on a weekly basis. We're not plumbers or electricians, so we don't need a high-powered tight angle drill for chewing 2" holes through 2x4s. We're carpenters, so we need them for hinge tightening, small awkward duct adjustments, and working up on top of door casings and other strange places.
The Bosch takes the right angle concept but, like one of their older 12V tools, adds an articulating head to the mix. The head has five locking positions, which should be enough for whatever it is you want to do. We're down with the whole articulating head idea seeing as there have been a few times when the straight-up right angle drill has been a tad limiting in a constrained space.
This fella is sold with two batteries and is going to set you back about $150-$160.
Our pals at Duo-Fast are handing over a few of their Cordless Roofing Nailers for us to off load onto you guys. If you're unfamiliar with the tool, it's the first legit cordless roofing nailer on the market. This cordless action is good for a lot of reasons, chief among them is the lack of a compressor setup and no air hoses to deal with once you're up on the roof.
Because it can only shoot about 2 nails per second (far slower than a pneumatic-powered roofing crew is used to), the Duo-Fast is meant for small job, and repairs. So it's good for the pro roofer and if you're part of the DIY crowd, it'll probably be the only roofing gun you'll ever need.
We're going to accentuate the cordless nature of the tool, so to enter to win you only need to leave a comment at this post finishing this sentence, "An unnecessary airhose on the roof is as dangerous as..."
If you're drawing a blank, here are a few to get the creative juices flowing:
...applying ammonia-based shellac in a room with the windows closed (trust us on this one)...?
...the guy I used to work with who wrapped wire around his circ saw so the blade guard couldn't close (true story!)....?
...a neck-height tripwire on the bike path....?
Also, if you 'like' Duo-Fast on Facebook, we'll enter your name five additional times in the drawing.
In a week we'll announce a winner and at that time, we'll cook up another ridiculous way to win the second gun.
Duo-Fast has info on the tool here and our original write-up of it is here.
The gun has a retail in the $500 range, so if you judge by price alone, this is a pretty sweet prize.
Last week we had the honor of attending this year's Milwaukee Product Symposium. It's their big annual to-do where they announce all of their new tools for the coming year. There were big tools, little tools, new tools, classic tools, and most of all embargoed tools. It's this last category that is driving us a little batty at the moment. These are the tools that Milwaukee is on the verge of releasing, but they're not 100 percent ready to make the public announcement yet, so all of us press types got to look at them, play with them, hear about them, but we can't talk about them. It's killing us too, because some of these tools are great. As in really great. One in particular (to us the highlight of the show) is so bizarre and off the beaten path that it makes their 12-volt Pex Expander look like a common everyday item. But enough about the things we can't talk about and on to the things that we can...
Some cool news out of Paslode HQ, especially if you own one of the older model cordless framers...
Now Fuel + Nail Combo Packs Work With
ALL Paslode® Cordless Framing Nailers
Fuel Cell Adapters Allow All Nailers To Use Combo Packs
VERNON HILLS, IL - Paslode® is introducing a new Fuel + Nail Combo Pack with twist-on adapters, allowing users of all Paslode cordless framing nailers to take advantage of the convenient combo pack concept.
Now all Paslode cordless framing nailers can achieve optimized performance with the PowerBoost™ Black Tip Coated Nails (3" and 3-1/4"), which are only available in the Fuel + Nail Combo Packs. The PowerBoost™ Black Tip Coating is a proprietary coating that allows Paslode cordless framing nailers to drive the nail flush into the hardest engineered lumber, such as LVL, something many pneumatic nailers cannot do.
In our post on the JLC show the other week, we mentioned Festool's new 10.8-volt drill. Dave Frane, the editor of Tools of the Trade, was at the same show, and thankfully he had a video camera with him so he hit record at the Festool booth and got a nice run-down on the new drill. Here it is...
RainDog: I do a lot of stained glass work and go read more DaveP: Mostly use my soldering iron for melting ptex to repair read more Dave: I think this is a good iron for larger stuff, read more Steve Cecil: I have a very old soldering iron, that I use read more Philippe Jegues: I do the usual with soldering irons, soldering electrical connections. read more
Flipout 7.2-Volt Cordless Screwdriver
Continue reading: 
Newsletter
Subscribe - RSS
Klein MM5000 Electrician's TRMS Multimeter - Review
