As much as I love my Rockwell Jawhorse, there are many times when I prefer the precision and rigidity of a bench vise. At last year’s STAFDA trade show I was initially lured into the Wilton booth with their unbreakable BASH (Bad Ass Sledge Hammers). After learning about these brutish sledges, my attention was drawn like a tractor-beam to a brawny line of sleek vises. I’m not one to lust after the rear end of vise, that would be totally creepy, but there I was, transfixed to the rear end of the Wilton vise lineup. Not only did they sport a unique design, but they are made a country you’d never expect for beefy metal tools. Wilton graciously sent us a Trademan 1745 vise to review, and I’ve had some time to put it through its paces. Since I already used up all my Vanilla Ice “Vise Vise Baby” humor on my State of the Vise Grip post, I’ll stick (mostly) to the facts and dive right into how the Wilton vise fared. [click to continue…]
Marc
Aside from providing important tool company party coverage at last year’s STAFDA, I reported on the emerging trend of using brushless motors in power tools. Although brushless tech has been around for years, I think it’s safe to say the rush to roll out power tools using brushless motors is on. Before I was even on the plane home from a media event breaking brushless tech hosted by DeWalt at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando, I received a press release from Milwaukee announcing the release of their FUEL 18v ½” Drill/Driver and Hammer Drill/Drivers brushless tools. If you’re excited by the prospect of more efficient, more reliable and longer running tools, expect to see an onslaught of brushless tools coming out in the coming months and years. I predict it’s the next biggest tech rollout since the transition to Lithium Ion batteries kicked off. Aside from their new 20v Max Brushless Impact Driver, DeWalt also announced a whole slew of new products in their corded, 12v Max and 20v Max product lines. [click to continue…]
No matter what style of house you’re in, there are lots of tricks to enhancing the style and vibe of your home. Some architectural styles like Spanish Colonial, Craftsman, Victorian, Gothic, Greek Revival, and even Modern have distinctive characteristics you can use to your advantage. When it comes to either staying consistent with your home’s architectural style, or further enhancing that style, it’s all about the details. One little detail that can make a subtle but important impression is the style of the address numbers you use. By choosing a style of house numbers that’s consistent with the look of your home you can add some serious but relatively inexpensive curb appeal. In the case of our Spanish or Mission style home, I went on the prowl for some cool tile address numbers, and then documented a how-to of a simple installation option. [click to continue…]
I was an early adopter when it came to LED flashlight technology. Like most early adopters, I also experienced some of the inadequacies of the first few rounds of products. I still have a LED pen light I bought eons ago that was just slightly brighter than a match. Even the cool and versatile Joby GorillaTorch we reviewed left a bit to be desired with a CREE LED that was blindingly bright at the center of the beam, but much dimmer around the perimeter. When Coast sent us their HP7 LED flashlight and their HL7 Headlamp I expected to see similar limitations. While LED has huge advantages in terms of efficiency and durability, beam and light quality just wasn’t an area I’ve been impressed with. [click to continue…]
I’ve been known to use my full size reciprocating saw for all kinds of tasks, including some slightly unconventional. Armed with a toothy long blade, I’ve made short work of trimming shrubs, trees and large plants. Let’s face it though, a reciprocating saw is not exactly a pocket tool. I’ve wielded them from a ladder one-handed (not recommended), and I think my forearms needed to be about two to three times as big as they currently are. For some smaller tasks, like cutting small pipes, hard to access nails, etc. the reciprocating saw is not only overkill, but it’s often impractical too. What’s the alternative? Usually the hacksaw. I have a confession to make; I’ve never really liked hacksaws. For what they cut, they’re big, cumbersome, hard to keep on-track, and blade changes are a pain. If you’ve ever had a task where a hacksaw just doesn’t do enough and a recip saw does too much, you’ll want to check out the Bosch 12v Mini Reciprocating Saw. [click to continue…]
