THIS WEEK, Tools and stuff shows us what Makita has planned for 2022, Robillard Looks at the Gen 2 Milwaukee Nailers, Bill take DeWALT new Atomic Rotary Hammer to task, And the Samauri Carpenter reveals his first game changer of 2022. THIS is Your Power Tool Week in Review.
VCG Construction | FLEX Vacuum
Welcome back Power tool fans, because there’s tool news to get to, and not all of it sucks!… well, except for this one.
Vince over at VCG decided to pick up the new FLEX Cordless 24V 1.6-gallon portable wet dry shop vac, and he hasn’t set it down yet! Vince not only unboxes and sets it up but decides to test it on a bunch of nuts and bolts just in case you drop a bunch on the floor. Then he moves on to a stump-ton of sawdust and pulls up a bunch of sand through a rubber mat. Besides the abundance of power, Vince points out how useful a small vac can be, when it’s small enough to carry anywhere around the shop or jobsite. And thanks to the included strap, you can do just that. For the full review, head over to VCG Construction.
731 | Kreg Track saw
Matt over at 731 Woodworks took a break from building awesome stuff, to help us choose some awesome tools. This week he showed off his Kreg Track Saw, which really jumped out at me after Milwaukee released their mower this week, instead of a track saw. You’re pushing me into the arms of KREG, Milwaukee. Matt ended up using the track saw, a first for him, for over 3 weeks, and after putting it to work, I’m not sure he really likes it all that much. Alright he loves it. And if you haven’t used a proper plunge cut track saw before, this will be a good introduction. Obviously, it’s on a track but bonuses like a riving knife and this splinter guard very quickly make these more appealing than a traditional circular saw. Of course, at $399, this is competing with the Makita corded track saw, which is going to be hard to ignore. But if you like the Kreg as much as Matt, you might want to subscribe to his channel, because he’s planning to give it away soon.
Samurai Carpenter | Makita Circular Saw
I don’t know if you guys are familiar with the Samurai Carpenter, but he’s a popular and talented woodworker, who recently has been living out my dream of living WAY off the grid, far away from all the junk and stuff. But to do that, he’s been building his own cabin, and decided that it was time to upgrade his Makitas. To do that he naturally picked up an all-new Makita 40V XGT, and promptly got lost in the Musical Makita Charger. That goes on for 20 more minutes, but worth it. Eventually Jesse finished charging the battery and got to work comparing the new XGT to his old LXT, and the results, were pretty predictable, but just as fun to watch as his build videos. You can find him at the Samurai Carpenter.
Tools & Stuff | New From Makita
I feel like it’s been 3 seconds since we talked about Makita, fortunately for us Tools And Stuff released his part 2 of Makita Tools coming in 2022, and this time he’s got a few tools that cut, drill, trim, edge, and even a couple that blow. As always, he smuggled these tools out of Japan using some underworld contact that goes by the name of Ebay, so there’s no guarantee all of these will come out in your area of the world. And if you’re here in the states, they’ll probably hit the stores, but they’ll be told not to sell them to me. Just how it goes. There is also a cool router, and other teal treats on the way. For the full titillating tease, head over to Tools and Stuff.
Hayes Machinery | Husqvarna Chainsaw
Our favorite band of Merry ‘ole men from England are back outside, this time making a huge mess with Husqvarna’s smallest, and biggest chainsaws, the 120 and the 592XP. And while the fight isn’t a fair one, that never stops James from having a good time. After cutting a LOT of cookies, the boys compare all the stats, and point out that while the 120 obviously lacks the power of the 592, if you simply let it do its thing, it’ll still get the job done, just not as fast. I can’t help but wonder what it’s like to be their neighbors. Hopefully like me, they love the sound of chainsaws. You can find the full review at Hayes Machinery.
Mastering Mayhem | SKIL Starter Kit
Marius, making a staggering 4th week in a row appearance, once again found a great set of tools, at an unusually good price. This time he opened up the 5-tool combo kit from SKIL. Over the last 3 years, SKIL has been making a remarkable come back from the old Robert Bosch days. Now under the management of the same brilliant team that brought us FLEX and EGO, SKIL is now offering powerful and capable solutions for DIYers, including this line of PWR Core 12 tools that are as compact as they are tough. This kit which includes a drill, impact, Multi tool, Bluetooth speaker, and a light, is normally a good deal at $199, but Marius found it at Lowes for only $99. And these aren’t cheap entry level tools. These are all the brushless versions, which make this a really good investment for anyone needing their first set of tools for the house. But he’s not keeping this kit, because it was already picked by a winner of the Saturday Night Mayhem giveaways, which if you haven’t checked that out yet, you should. You can find it all at Mastering Mayhem.
Tool Box Buzz | Milwaukee Nailer
Rob Robillard is back with another detailed tool review, this week giving us HIS insight into the all-new Milwaukee Gen 2 Finish Nailers, including the 15 and 16 gage options. Rob makes it very obvious up front, that once again, Milwaukee has stepped up to make their own tools even better. Now, as Rob points out, they offer a better, redesigned striker, better nail positioning, and better weight distribution makes sure the striker doesn’t slip off the nail head, leading to larger holes. I thoroughly enjoyed this review, although Rob really disappointed me this week. If you look closely at the bottom of the nailer, you can see that he stole his M18 Batteries from Kyle at RR Buildings. And that is NOT nice. You return those batteries. The rest of you should watch his review over at Tool Box Buzz.
Workshop Addict | DeWALT Mini Rotary Hammer
Let’s get this done, I want to get to the Production Crew shelf. Last of all, we have dueling reviews of the same DeWALT tool, being the all new DeWALT Atomic 20V ⅝” compact Brushless SDS plus Rotary Hammer, which I happen to have here, It’s literally the same size as the 12V Extreme version, which is crazy. And the reviewers thought so too. First up, Brian from Workshop Addict put the tiny terror to work, and even tried out a few different sized batteries for good measure. He found the drill to be capable with a 2ah, but it really shines when you put on a bigger one, or even a new Power stack battery.
Sparky Channel | DeWALT Mini Rotary Hammer
Bill over at Sparky Channel reviewed the same drill and was pretty happy with its small stature. Although comments on both videos often pointed out the lack of a chisel mode, but I’m not sure how useful that would have been on such a small tool. Either way, if you find yourself mounting shutters into a brick wall, 2 stories in the air, you’ll be grateful for the small weight, and the belt clip too. You can watch both reviews at Workshopaddict and Sparky channel.
Production Crew Membership
Our Production Crew is our Channel Membership program here on YouTube. Every month, we’re picking a random member and letting them choose a shelf with over $2,000 worth of new power tools. And this week, Sarah is going to show you what’s on the Makita shelf.
Ok guys, as you can see, we decided that if you’re going to have a Makita shelf, it should have the new 40V XGT tools. First up, we have the Makita XGT Cordless Combo Kit which includes the the XGT Brushless ½” Hammer Drill, and the XGT Brushless 4-speed Impact Driver. The kit comes with 2 2.5ah batteries and a rapid charger for $449. Next, we have the Makita XGT ½” Cordless Impact Wrench for $349, PLUS the XGT ¾” Cordless Impact Wrench for $399.
We have the XGT 5” Angle Grinder for $229, and the awesome XGT 7 ¼” Rear Handle Circular Saw for $239. Well of course have the XGT Reciprocating Saw for $229, the XGT LED Lantern for $69, and an XGT Cordless jobsite fan for $119.
But of course, there’s no point shelling out big money for pro tools, if you don’t have pro accessories. Fortunately for us Spyder, our Production Crew Sponsor, has provided us with the perfect pro accessories specifically for these Makita Tools, including their 10pc Mach Blue bit set, a 7 ¼” framing blade, a 4 ½” cut off wheel, and their 7” Diamond cut off wheel you can actually use on the rear handle which is nuts.
All of that together, comes to a grand total of $2,212. And we are only 8 days away from our live show where our winner will pick which shelf they’re taking home.
Outro
Next week, we’ll finally show you the contents of our Milwaukee Shelf! I held it for the last week, just for you Bryce. And as Sarah just said, we’ll be going live on Saturday the 29th, for our very first member giveaway. So if you liked the show, please give it a thumbs up, and if you loved it, we hope you subscribe. I want to personally thank William H Macy for watching the show. Remember guys, if you can, do something kind for someone else this weekend, and we’ll see you next week.