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.

Craftsman Professional 10-inch Jobsite Saw

Craftsman Professional Table Saw

In 2010 it will be mandatory for all table saws to have riving knives in order to meet UL approval. Craftsman, while not the first to do so, has added theirs early and done it in a way thatreally makes for some seriously advantageous upgrades to an already decent table saw. The new Craftsman Professional Jobsite Table Saw has a lot of the power and features of a full-size table saw, but in a much more compact and portable design. Regarding portability, a telescoping handle and 6-inch wheels ensures that you can roll this saw around like a piece of luggage.

Stiletto Titanium Pry Bars

Stiletto Titanium Flat Bars

Stiletto is getting ready to launch a new line of high-performance, super lightweight, titanium pry bars. These Stiletto Titanium Flat Bars combine […]

Iron Dog Tool Gear

Iron Dog Tool Gear

Iron Dog Tool Gear offer amazing quality and a unique ability to set up your work belt rig the way you want it. With their Versa Clip system, you can configure your gear on the move using the many clip points located on the belt and the bags. Beyond the ability to configure your tool belt, you can now actually get the right size and type of pouch you need. With a vast array of sizes, styles, and tool specific pouches and holders you now will be able to have a place for everything and everything in its place.

Evolution RAGE 4 Multipurpose Saw

Evolution RAGE 4 Multipurpose Circular Saw

The Evolution Power Tool RAGE4 is a multipurpose saw that is more portable then a cut off saw and easier to use than a hacksaw. The RAGE4 Advan-Saw will easily cut Steel, Aluminum, Wood and Plastic, using just a single blade. With the Evolution RAGE technology, cuts are fast and clean. No coolant is required when cutting steel and yet the edges are left burr free with no heat build up so the material is instantly workable and there are very few sparks produced during the cut.

Flair-It Plus Plastic PEX Fitting Assembly Tool

Flair It Plus PEX Fitting Assembly Tool

We met with a representative of Flair-It Plus who demonstrated to us a new tool for joining PEX tubing to an all-new range of plastic fittings. The tool is going to be priced at under $50 and will be available later this year. What’s exciting is that it eliminates all brass fittings and seems perfect for markets such as California, Nevada and other states which have extremely corrosive water and eat brass fittings quickly.

DeWalt DC927KL 18V Hammer Drill Preview

DeWalt DC927KL 18V Hammer Drill Preview

DeWalt showed us a product that has been on the market for a while, but which is still pretty impressive in its own right. The DC927KL is a 1/2″ hammerdrill/drill/driver that is built for high power, high speed use. The high efficiency motor delivers 425 unit watts at max power to ensure that all drilling and fastening applications are met with plenty of power and speed.

RYOBI WS730 7-inch Tile Saw

RYOBI WS730 7-inch Tile Saw

Perfect for tiling projects in and around the house, the Ryobi WS730 tile saw includes a 7-inch diamond cutting wheel, wheel wrench, hex key, rip guide, bevel block, end of cut reminder, splash guard and operator’s manual. Ryobi has a motto: “Pro Features, Affordable Prices”. Since this is the first overhead motor tile saw to be offered at under $200 they’ve certainly seem to be delivering.

Hitachi NT65MA3 15 gauge nailer

Hitachi NT65MA3 15 Gauge Finish Nailer Review

With a nifty color scheme and futuristic styling, the Hitachi NT65MA3 2 1/2-Inch 15 Gauge Finish Nailer has the good looks to back up its strong performance and fancy features. With the 34 degree nail magazine, you will be able to get the head of this nail gun into the tightest corners. Don’t let its light weight of 4.4 lbs fool you either because it packs enough power to drive 2-1/2” finish nails into almost any material.

difference between cpvc and pex

Copper Piping vs PEX Tubing

Dealing with copper plumbing is a job I love to hate. Not because I don’t understand it. Not because I can’t accomplish the plumbing tasks that I set out to achieve in various projects. No, I hate dealing with copper because it’s unashamedly unpredictable.

delta unisaw table saw

Delta Unisaw Table Saw

Delta Machinery, which introduced the industry’s first and only 10-inch industrial cabinet saw with the Unisaw name in the 1930’s, announced that it has completely re-engineered and re-designed its flagship table saw from the ground up. One of the unique features of this new saw is the riving knife. A lever on the front of the saw can be pulled to instantly (and toollessly) drop the riving knife down for non-through (blind) cuts.You can even remove the riving knife as needed, simply by pulling it out.