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Tool Reviews & Buying Guides by Trade

If you want to read articles and reviews that are trade-specific, try our Tool Reviews by Trade section. This organizes our site into topics suited particularly for a specific trade such as plumbing, electrical, framing, roofing & siding, concrete/masonry, and carpentry.
Tool Reviews by Trade Craft
Roofing and siding pros will find pneumatic roofing nailers as well as tools like cap staplers and hammer tackers. Tile & Flooring Pros will gain easy access to our tile saws, flooring staplers, and floor scrapers. As a painting professional, reviews of airless sprayers and cordless sprayers may interest you the most. You can count on one thing: whatever your craft, you need good tools. Our tool reviews by trade will help you drill down to quickly find the information you need. If you want to avoid anything that sits outside of your trade, this way helps you do it. If you can’t find a tool here, let us know.

Channellock Code Blue Long Nose Pliers 318CB Review
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Channellock Code Blue Long Nose Pliers 318CB Review

by Clint DeBoer

Channellock pliers have been a staple of many tool bags for years. Their signature blue “dipped” handles are easily recognized and have served the trades well for decades. This year, Channellock released a new line of tools it’s calling “Code Blue” which, ironically is one of the hospital terms for someone in cardiopulmonary arrest. I don’t think anyone will have a heart attack over these tools, but the new heavy duty Long Nose Pliers (318CB) may be just the thing if you’re looking for a new pair of rugged pliers.

Bosch BlueGranite Turbo Carbide Hammer Drill Bits
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Bosch BlueGranite Turbo Carbide Hammer Drill Bits

by Clint DeBoer

Earlier this summer we got a chance to go hang out with the folks at Bosch and check out some of their new tools. While the power tools were fun to play with, we didn’t want to leave out the new accessories we learned of as well. Roger Amrol, president of Bosch’s accessories division in North America, announced the availability of several new accessories for the company this year. What this preview focuses on, however, is concrete. For this, Bosch rolled out lots of new products, but the most innovative of these were the BlueGranite Turbo Carbide Hammer Drill Bits. These bits are the same BlueGranite you’ve come to love and use, but Bosch did something different with the shank.

Milwaukee M12, M18 Force Logic Press Tools
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Milwaukee Force Logic Press Tool Preview

by Clint DeBoer

We don’t do a lot of copper and steel pipe pressing, but we know plenty of high-end plumbers who do. For them, pressing tools are either laborious hand tools that take a lot of effort, or expensive solutions that bolt onto existing tools or come in oversized packages which are less than ideal for repetitive use. Milwaukee interviewed a lot of plumbers and then delivered what we believe to be one of the (if not “the”) smallest, lightest tools for copper and steel pipe press connections. Milwaukee is calling the new tools their ForceLogic Press Tool line. We’ll explain the “Logic” part later, but the tools all feature a one-handed, in-line design, so they are super-easy to wield. For offset piping, the inline design is also indispensable. And that “logic” part? Milwaukee also designed an intelligent press solution that delivers exceptional accuracy and reliability.

Milwaukee M12 600 MCM Cable Cutter Preview
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Milwaukee M12 600 MCM Cable Cutter Preview

by Clint DeBoer

My electrician friends frequently tell me of their exploits cutting large-diameter cable. It’s almost a right of passage with some of these guys and I have yet to find anyone who enjoys the process, particularly those who buy their own tools… and everyone I know owns their own tools. Apparently, Milwaukee must talk to the same people – of course they have rapid prototyping and a few factories, so they could actually, you know, do something about it. The new M12 600 MCM Cable Cutter is what happens when Milwaukee “does” something about a problem.

Max-Lok Carbide SDS-Max Bit Extension System
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Milwaukee Max-Lok Carbide SDS-Max Bit Extension System

by Clint DeBoer

So Milwaukee is into innovation – everyone who is even remotely familiar with the company and its product lines can attest to that. But what’s always surprising (to me, at least) is the diversity of areas that innovation touches. Take their new Max-Lok Carbide Extension System, for example. This falls smack dab in the lap of serious concrete professionals who use SDS-Max bits day in and day out. The Max-Lok system is designed to extend SDS-Max rotary hammer bits up to 82.5″. That means you can take your existing SDS-Max bits and bore deeper and into more places than ever before. And you’re not buying expensive and dedicated extended length bits to do it.

Kobalt 27-Piece Xtreme Access Socket Set Review
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Kobalt 27-Piece Xtreme Access Socket Set Review

by Clint DeBoer

The new trend in sockets, which Kobalt has fully embraced with its 27-pc Xtreme Access Socket Set, is the universal SAE/Metric spline drive that fits 6 & 12 pt, spline, star, square and even most rounded sockets. But Kobalt also utilized a new 4-in-1 solution that has the ratchet surrounding the socket, leaving the center open. Why is that important? With the center open , your bolt can pass right through, letting you use the same socket for both shallow and deep applications. Combined with the specialized drive system, this 27-piece socket set covers nearly all the bases for most general socket use.

Duo-Fast DF175-CN Cap Nailer Review
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Duo-Fast DF175-CN Cap Nailer Review

by Clint DeBoer

We typically avoid roofing whenever we can. There, we said it. It’s a grueling job that, in Florida, takes everything out of you. Of course, in the home renovation world, the more we “avoid” it, the more we end up doing it anyway. Roofing in the South is a job best left to those who don’t mind charging a fair wage to live and work out under the hot sun, bent over a black felt-papered roof driving thousands of nails until you feel as if there’s no conceivable way that much water could have possibly poured out of your body without rendering you into a living, breathing piece of beef jerky. Yes, that last sentence was long – just like every roofing job we’ve ever done. If I want to take every opportunity to shorten the time up on a roof, then certainly the guys who only do roofing need a tool like the Duo-Fast DF175-CN Cap Nailer. Why? Because, like all great tools it saves you time and energy. If you can shave an hour or more off that hot roofing job, in Florida, in June, you’re going to want to do that. You’re REALLY going to want to do that.

Stinger CN100 Cap Nailer fastening
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Stinger CN100B Cap Nailer Review

by Clint DeBoer

When we got to check out a preview of National Nail Corp’s Stinger CN100 Cap Nailer at the 2011 International Builders’ Show, we were impressed – and that was before their product manager, Rocky Stroud, sent us one for a proper review. When you live in Florida, roofing is something you have to deal with on a regular basis – but it’s not exactly the most enjoyable form of employment – at least not in the summer. When the humidity is at 98% and the sun is beating down on you in June, anything you can do to get off that roof more quickly is going to be music to your ears. The Stinger CN100 Cap Nailer is the brainchild of National Nail Corp which is in the business of manufacturing high quality fasteners for the commercial and residential construction markets. The Stinger CN100 is their latest product, and it positions itself as a way to speed up the job of fastening underlayment, felt paper or Tyvek-style housewrap while still adhering to most local building codes that may not yet accept staples.

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