Utility knife – Great gadgets: more new tools for less than $100 Bruce Guertin This is one tough knife. The slide action for the blade is smooth and stays locked out for a cut. The blade change/body opening system opens wide so you can reach the blades easily. The knife is comfortable to hold and […]
Lock & load: coil nailers will keep you framing, instead of reaching for nails – Tool test: coil framing nailers Mike Guertin I wouldn’t trade my coil flaming nailer for a strip nailer if you made me. Coil flaming nailers carry so many nails that sometimes it feels like whole days go by before I […]
Pencil holder – Product watch: keeping you on top of the latest tools and accessories An innovative accessory for tape measures, the Pencil Boy from C.H. Hanson attaches a carpenter’s pencil to any flat-sided tape measure, making it easier to make marks and draw lines when measuring. According to the firm, the gadget allows users […]
Tile saw – Product watch: keeping you on top of the latest tools and accessories The Core Cut CC1000T wide-cutting tile saw from Diamond Products can rip-cut to 24 inches and diagonal-cut to 18 inches. Designed for large pieces of tile, marble, granite, stone, and masonry, the tool has a 10-inch blade capacity and features […]
Top-down sundecks: framing sundecks from the top down gets you up and running – Site lines: dispatches from the field Mark Clement Raised sundecks are one of the few projects I know of that can be built from the top down. Oddly, building them this way is fast and efficient because the deck’s ledger board […]
Where do you fit in? – Your source for trade news – reader survey – Brief Article We want to thank you for your outstanding response to our latest reader survey. We received a 64 percent return of completed surveys–10 times what others might consider acceptable. The truth is, TOOLS OF THE TRADE readers rock. […]
Tool hounds: we just love tools. Is that a problem? – timber framing hand tools – Brief Article Mark Clement Talking to 33-year-old Scott Carlson is like stepping into a time machine that takes you into the early 19th century. Carlson is a joiner, or timber framer, who builds frames in Ohio the way they […]
Ridgid TS3650: a lot of saw for your money Fred Tellier Ridgid’s TS3650 10-inch contractor saw caught our attention right out of the box. The castings for the heavy iron parts are very high quality and the extruded aluminum rails and fence seemed sturdy and promising. The instruction manual is well-written and easy to follow, […]
Hack saw – Product watch: keeping you on top of the latest tools and accessories DeWalt’s DW3970 hack saw frame features a quick-change blade system with a trigger that allows users to swap blades by squeezing the lower handgrip and an oversized high-tension knob to ensure a tight fit. The tool is made with die-cast […]
Concrete pinner Powered by 400-psi high-pressure technology, Max USA’s HN120 PowerLite pneumatic concrete pinner is about 40 percent lighter and 20 percent smaller than competing tools without sacrificing power. The tool can drive .300-inch head pins into concrete with little recoil. It weighs 6.4 pounds and comes with attachment parts for wood to concrete, drywall […]