Milwaukee Fastback Flip Open Utility Knife - Review

As part of their steadily growing line of hand tools, Milwaukee recently released two new utility knives, the light and lean Fastback and a larger, submarine-style slider. Since, for years, we've been in a pathetic and forever-failing pursuit of the perfect utility knife, we were thrilled when Milwaukee sent us a Fastback to try out. Would it meet our apparently 'too-high-for-the-industry' standards and be the knife of our dreams? Or would it prove once again that the perfect knife is one made of unicorn horns and dragon scales?

Continue reading: "Milwaukee Fastback Flip Open Utility Knife - Review"

August 24, 2010

Ohio Power Tool Drag Racing...The Aftermath

This past weekend was the 2nd Annual Power Tool Drag Race put on by the Columbus Idea Foundry. It seems that it rained during the event, but that PBR got on board at the last minute as a sponsor, thus nullifying any discomfort created by the weather. Our experience is that PBR = siesta, regardless of the rain, snow, sleet, or slush. The event looks like it was a great time and you can check out photos, video, and a summary over at CopTool.

August 23, 2010

Win a Duo-Fast DF225C Coil Siding Nailer from Tool Snob!

The nice folks at Duo-Fast are supplying us with one of their new coil siding nailers to give away to a lucky reader. The new gun is lightweight (lighter, as far as we can tell, than any other pro-grade siding nailer on the market) and takes plastic-collated nails to reduce the nasty, rusty staining that can happen with metal-collated nails. It's got a street value of about $370.

We've had one for a while now and have been testing it out for an upcoming review (hopefully to be posted before the contest is over) and so far, it's been a champ.

So to enter, leave a comment at this post telling us two reasons why you should be the one to get the nailer. We'll choose the winner based on who we think is most deserving, or who makes us laugh, or who, at that moment, we think is the most sincere. It's a crapshoot, really, what exactly we're looking for, but we'll know when we find it, so just be yourself. We'll do the drawing on Tuesday, September 7th, the day after Labor Day.

More information on the tool is at Duo-Fast and the press release on the gun is after the jump. If you don't have the patience to wait for the contest to end, but you want one of these nailers oh so bad, you can pick one up at Amazon.

Continue reading: "Win a Duo-Fast DF225C Coil Siding Nailer from Tool Snob!"

August 20, 2010

Porter-Cable 12-Volt Max Clamp Saw

Just yesterday, Porter-Cable dropped the news of their new 12-volt line. Of the three new tools, the drill/driver and the impact driver look like pretty standard operators at a nice price ($140 for the combo set) but it's the third and final tool of this initial release that cause our ears to prick up a bit.

The 12-volt Clamp Saw carries with it the micro-recip vibe that is already establishing itself on the market, but this one appears to have a few characteristics that make it stand out from both the Milwaukee Hackzall and the Hitachi mini-recip.

First, the body has a hinge, giving the tool a close relationship to the Milwaukee Hatchet. This hinge should make for easier maneuvering in crawl spaces and other tight spots. We're generally in favor of handles that allow for 'between-the-joists' options.

And what will you be doing with the Clamp Saw in those cramped spots? Probably cutting out the broken 1/2" copper line that you let freeze, which leads us nicely into our next feature. The shoe of the tool is not only adjustable, but it can clamp small diameter items against the tool, holding them stable for the cut. Anyone who has had to cut an unsupported piece of pipe can see the benefit of this. If it works, it should remove all the clangity-clang and rattle-rattle-rattle associated with cutting small little objects.

The Clamp Saw will be available in October and will retail for about $130 for the tool, a bag, a charger, and two batteries.

The press release on all three tools is after the jump.

Continue reading: "Porter-Cable 12-Volt Max Clamp Saw"

August 18, 2010

Ergo Shoulder

In the mental tool rolodex, the Ergo Shoulder sits pretty close to the Extreme Balaclava that we talked about last week; looks silly, easy to make fun of, will probably need it some day, slightly jealous that we didn't come up with the idea first.

The Ergo Shoulder is a bullet-free bandolero-like strap with a pad on the shoulder portion. The premise is very simple: add a little comfort to your shoulder when carrying heavy items. Other benefits include not destroying your clothes and having a larger area to balance your load. We see all the good of this item and like we said, it makes sense. We just can't see someone saying, "oh wait guys, hold on a sec. Before we unload that truck lemme put my Ergo Shoulder on."

The Ergo Shoulder is just under $40 and is available at Nomic Designs

August 17, 2010

Crain 812H 13 Amp SuperSaw

Q: How do you make a router even more dangerous than it already is?

A: Put a 6-1/2" saw blade on it.

And that's sort of what the geniuses at Crain have done with their undercut saw. It's a tool that is meant to assist with all kinds of flooring (tile, carpet, wood, etc.), but from the looks of it, we think it's meant more for general ass-kicking.

So if you're putting a carpet down over a nice heart pine wood floor, you can use this tool to trim the bottoms of the doors as well as the jambs and baseboard for a nicer look. It's really a specialty tool, but it's nice to know that it's out there. It's the kind of thing that you'd never think of using, but if you're taking on a massive re-flooring project at your house, it may be cost effective to get one.

The tool has a 1-1/4" depth adjustment (from flush to 1-1/4") and it's able to fully undercut an inside corner which is a nice feature.

The SuperSaw sells for $340 and is at Amazon

August 13, 2010

Stanley FaxMax Xtreme Reversible Nail Set

Our deal with nail sets is that we'll go and buy the standard Stanley 3-piece combo kit (you know, the red one the yellow one, and the gray one), and then after about two months, we can only find the gray one. We have no idea what the hell happens to the other two, but it's happened enough times that there's something a little strange about it. True, nail sets are small items. True, they often get passed from carpenter to painter and back to carpenter. But we've never lost anything with the frequency of our nail set.

We've thought about this quite a bit (way too much actually) and decided that maybe fate says we can only handle one nail set at a time and that we lose the others due to some kind of freaky, we're-on-the-island-from-Lost black cloud that lives in our peripheral vision. So possibly our answer may sit with the new FatMax Reversible Nail Set. This nice looking 2-in-1 item houses a 1/32" and 2/32" nail set (the sizes we keep losing), and it looks like changing sizes is as easy as pulling the set out, flipping it over, and setting it back in.

The reversible FatMax costs about $10, which is $2.50 more than the standard 3-piece kit. If we don't lose it in the first couple weeks, it's worth the extra dough.

At Amazon

Hyde 10-in-1 Multi-Tool

We agree with our pal Mark Clement that the 5-in-1 (or 6-in-1) is one of the most useful tools that a guy can own. When we're on a site, ours spends a lot of time in our back pocket and does duty as a scraper, a pry bar, a chisel, a blade, a little hammer, and whatever else we need done. We also like that it looks like a Klingon weapon.

So we just stumbled across the Hyde 10-in-1, which has apparently been out for a couple years, and adds some functionality to the fantastic little tool. The big trick of the new 10-in-1 is that it comes with four screwdriver bits that can click into the rear of the handle. You're probably reading this thinking, 'who cares, I'll just use my regular screwdriver." But to a painter doing prep, this could be a real time saver, especially for removing switch plates and outlet covers.

It looks like there is some kind of on-board bit storage that flips out of the handle. Otherwise it's the same old 5-in-1.

The 10-in-1 costs $6, which is strange because Hyde's 6-in-1 goes for $8-$10. Huh?

At Amazon

August 12, 2010

Ergodyne Extreme Balaclava with Hot Rox Heat Exchanger

File this one under, "strange, but yeah, I guess it kinda makes sense." Ergodyne, a company serious about their work gear has recently released an extreme balaclava (bet you never thought you'd hear those words) with a little built-in heat exchanger called the Hot Rox. The gizmo works by trapping heat and humidity from your exhale (aka your nasty coffee breath) and adding it to your inhale, thus keeping your core temp nice and toasty. in a way it's like you're constantly kissing yourself.

It's pretty easy to make fun of this thing now, especially since we've been sweltering in about three weeks of 95 degree weather, but come February, we probably won't be laughing anymore (and if you think you hear us laughing, it's probably just our teeth chattering). There's going to be a time when we'll be needing warmth so badly, we're going to want one of these things, even if it does mean looking like a robotic ninja.

The press release is after the jump.

$26 at Amazon

Continue reading: "Ergodyne Extreme Balaclava with Hot Rox Heat Exchanger"

Rockwell JawStand

There is no question that the JawHorse has been a big success for Rockwell. We use ours in some fashion just about every day. It's been such a hit that earlier this year Ridgid even put a horse in the race with something called the SuperClamp. But if you've been paying close attention, you'd know that the original design came, not from Rockwell, but from an Australian company called Triton. Rockwell took a tool called the Triton SuperJaws, cleaned up the design and, with the release of a slew of innovative attachments (plywood jaws, log jaws, welding station, etc) transformed the clamping tool into a complete workstation system.

Well, if the concept worked for one tool, why not try it again? We just got word that Rockwell is going back to the Aussie well with the release of a new item called the ~~Triton Multistand~~ JawStand. Again, Rockwell has polished up the original design and added a number of nice looking features.

The general functionality of the JawStand sits somewhere between that of an out-feed stand, a sawhorse, and Juan, your apprentice who is always late for work and stands there and holds things for you.

There's a jaw on it, but as you can see from the image, it's more about stabilizing a door than crushing a watermelon (one of our favorite JawHorse pastimes). The top of the clamping area has some kind of glide material on it which allows for easy action as a table saw/miter saw out-feed. The stand can be adjusted in height from 25" to 41" and the top can pivot. To track these two movements, the stem of the tool has height measurements on it and the head has a built in level vial. The whole things folds up for easy transport and storage.

Just from looking at the image and reading the press release, this looks like a good tool to have around, especially if you're someone who spends a lot of time working alone. The only curiosity to us is that the clamp area has a maximum width of 1-1/4" which seems strange. You'd think that it would be able to at least hold a 2x4(UPDATE: The jaw actually opens to 1-3/4" and not 1-1/4" as the press release states. This makes much more sense).

The JawStand will be retailing for about $60. It's currently available at Sears and it will likely show up at Amazon and Rockwell Tools Direct.

The press release with more detailed info is after the jump.

Continue reading: "Rockwell JawStand"

Read More in: Benches, Stands, and Storage | Hand Tools

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