Tool Blog

When a bridge was washed out in Siberia there was only one way to get people across. The water was moving too fast for people to use small boats, so another way had to be devised. So what did they turn to? You already know, because you read the article title—excavators.

Nobody likes to spend their hard earned cash on driver bits or sockets, only to have them break after a few uses in your impact driver. This used to be a big problem when impact drivers were first introduced and people might be noticing it again now that impacts are offering even more torque. Irwin has introduced a new Impact Performance Line that has been designed with today's impact drivers in mind.

Kreg is making using their products a bit easier and a bit faster with their new line of Automaxx self-adjusting clamps. Best of all, they came out with a self-adjusting AutoMaxx Klamp that works with their existing Klamp line, like the Klamp Table or Klamp track.

Does your mom use power tools? Does she ask to borrow yours? Mother's Day is less than 10 days away and is coming upon us fast, so why not buy her a drill of her very own? Skil makes one in pink, so she will automatically love it.

It may not be very well known, but Makita as a worldwide company has a pretty extensive line of outdoor power equipment. Still, I was surprised to see a couple of cordless chainsaw SKU's make an appearance on their U.S. website.

This month Tool-Rank has teamed up with Weller to give away one of their newest LED soldering irons. If you have ever done any soldering you may have noticed that if you do not have light in exactly the right place, it can be hard to see what you are doing. Even if you have light right above your work space, your soldering iron can cast shadows where it is most inconvenient. Weller's new LED soldering iron features three built in L.E.D's that are spaced around the soldering iron to shine light evenly towards the tip of the iron...

We don't see deals like this very often, but Sears has their Craftsman Nextec line 12-volt Multi-Tool (tool only) for sale for less than ten bucks. This is just the bare tool and doesn't come with any accessories, but what would you expect for only pocket change. The regular price for this tool is $59.99, and kit sells for just under $80. This deal is probably only worthwhile to people that already own Craftsman Nextec 12-volt tools, as a separate purchase of a battery and a charger will cost you nearly $50. You would be better off...

A year or two ago I was given a Makita BCL180ZW 18-volt cordless vacuum cleaner, which I normally use around the house for small clean-ups. The other day I glanced over at it and a thought popped into my head—"I wonder if that will fit onto my circular saw?" Only one way to find out.

If you want to nail into concrete using pneumatics, usually you need a special high-pressure compressor to go along with a high-pressure nailer. Senco's new SCP40XP concrete nailer lets you use your regular air compressor yet drives up to 1-1/2-inch nails into concrete.

If you rely on cordless power tools, one of the best ways to improve their usability is to purchase additional batteries. But why purchase batteries when you can get them for free? I found a couple of deals that can get you free Bosch or Milwaukee batteries.