THIS WEEK… The Best of the Brits try the most powerful handheld blower yet, PTR reviews a massive Graco sprayer powered by DeWALT, Milwaukee drops a ridiculous 24 wet/dry vacs on us, and Rob Robillard finishes our shelf of 2,200 dollars worth of tools, that we’re giving to one of you! And we almost died driving back from Milwaukee, THIS is your power tool week in review!
Intro
Welcome back power tool fans. We DID almost die driving back, see? But we’ll get to that later.
There was a lot of great power tool content this week, but we are CRUSHED getting ready for our LIVE show tomorrow! Saturday February 26, at 3pm eastern time, we’re going LIVE for our monthly power tool giveaway. We’ll be calling one of you live, and letting you pick one of our 4 shelves, each with over $2,000 worth of power tools, so set your timers!
Belts And Boxes | Milwaukee M18 Wet/Dry Vacs
Rob Robillard is back to finish building his giveaway shelf, but first, we have to talk about Milwaukee. On Monday, they announced their first line of M18 Wet/Dry vacs, and they decided one vac was too few, and 25 would be too many.
So 24 was the magic number they settled on. Between 2 carts, 3 bin sizes and 4 power motor heads, that’s how many options you end up with, and that’s just for your vac. Think you need an accessory or two? Milwaukee has you covered there! Besides the usual suspects, they launched an entirely new line called Air-Tip, which includes 19 unique attachments, each one aimed at a different trade, with a different problem. Rob and I were invited to Milwaukee to try each one, and my personal favorite was the Flexible Long Reach crevice tool for flexing and reaching, longly, into crevices. Rob published a video on Monday detailing every tip, trick and oddity, which you can find right here on Belts And Boxes.
VCG Construction | Milwaukee MX Core Drill
Speaking of Milwaukee, Vince over at VCG construction, spent some extra time in their booth at World of Concrete this year, and ended up getting some hands-on time with several tools, including their near mythic MX Core Drill.
The MX line still feels a bit like a superhero looking for someone to rescue. Fortunately, this week they found Vince, who seemed pretty impressed by not only it’s power and capacity, but in the safety features that ensure you don’t break an arm or get yeeted off a ladder. The feature is impressive, but the demo… Not all of us need a hyper powerful, entirely portable diamond core drill, but then again, some of us do. Wink. Vince didn’t stop there. He also got the inside scoop on their new framing nailers, and gen 2 sidewinder and rear handle circular saws as well. If you missed out on World of Concrete 2022, you can catch all the things you missed over at VCG.
Pro Tool Reviews | Graco/DeWALT Sprayer
The Pro Tool Pros, were reviewing pro tools, over at Pro Tool Reviews, the YouTube channel where pro tool reviewers, review pro tools. This time, they grabbed a serious graco sprayer, that’s powered by DeWALT Flexvolt batteries.
This is the Graco 390PC Airless, Cordless sprayer. This isn’t one of their popular portable guns we’ve used before on our channel. This is a proper production sprayer designed for serious commercial jobs, and I want one. The 390PC is a floor standing model, and can handled up to 0.47 Gallons per minute, with a range of 0 to 3,300 PSI. Not bad numbers, especially considering it’s all running off of a single DeWALT 9AH flexvolt battery, moving up to 3 gallons of paint on a single charge. This is a legit FLEXVOLT tool. Not a 20V flexvolt advantage tool, but an honest to god 60v beast, which makes this more than powerful enough for commercial work. Now sure, you may be like me, and you’re not a professional painter, but I figure if you can just find a wall big enough, then why not get the right tool for the job. To see just what this thing can do, head over to Pro Tool Reviews.
Hayes Machinery | EGO 765 CFM Blower
You know, when Ryobi launched their stat shattering 40V HP Brushless 730 CFM Whisper Series blower, it felt like a direct shot across EGO’s bow. Previously, their 650 CFM handheld was the easy power king, but Ryobi jumped it by 80 CFM, and we wondered how long they’d hang on to that title. Turns out it was about 20 minutes.
THIS is the all new EGO LB7650E in the UK, or the LB7654 here in the states. While the brits are excited about 1300 m3/h output, we prefer to brag about CFM and MPH. And this thing comes in at a Ryobi shaking 765 CFM, and air speed of 200 MPH. Now we’ve used the old EGO 650 around here for years. My daughter once used it to propel herself on a office chair at Ohio Power Tool. It’s VERY strong. But this new one, well it’s something special, and James was absolutely giddy for the chance to play with it. He ends up clearing gravel, dancing through the leaves, and even manages to float a regulation football, which appear to be shaped differently in the UK. Weirdos. When we first saw this for ourselves, we asked the EGO product manager just how fast can they make these things, and he pointed out that they’re reaching their limit. Not because of power or batteries, but because it’s getting too difficult to hold still in your hand. Answer of the year if you ask me. To see this beast do things I promise YOUR blower can’t, head over to HayesMachinery.
Rob Robillard | Production Crew Shelf
Ok there were several other videos we wanted to cover, but we’re running out of time this week, and we still have to let Rob finish filling out his prize shelf. It’s already that time again! Tomorrow Sarah and I will go live at 3pm to randomly call a member, and let them choose one of our 4 shelves, each stacked with over $2,000 worth of power tools. PLUS, we’ll be announcing our first shop class, to join the Shop Class Heros! We’re not getting into that until tomorrow. But right now, we have Rob Robillard waiting to show us the rest of the tools he chose for our shelf.
Ok we’ve got all of Rob’s tools out here. Some of his choices were sold out, so we have them on backorder. No matter what, if our winner chooses Rob’s shelf, we’ll be sure they eventually get the missing items as well. These are some awesome pro tools, but what are they really worth if you don’t have the proper pro accessories.
Fortunately for us Spyder has sponsored our Production Crew and insisted on providing the pro bits and blades our winners will need. That includes their Mach Blue Stinger bits, their 7 ¼” Carbide Tipped Tarantula blade, and their 7” Diamond Edge Cutoff Wheel. Special thanks to Rob Robillard for helping us with this shelf. If you’d like to see one of your favorite YouTube Tradespeople choose the next shelf, mention them below, and then go hound them on their social channels. They know how to reach us.
I can’t wait till tomorrow. Not just because we get to give away another $2,000 worth of tools to a channel member, but because we get to announce our plans for Shop Class Heroes. We’ve picked our first class, and we’re going to spend March collecting new tools for them to use in the classroom, and even send them some shirts, and we’re designing posters to put up around their school that promote Shop Class and the many opportunities waiting for them in the trades. It should be awesome.
We Almost Died
Before we go, Rob and I wanted to give a shout out to a new friend of ours named Anna. On our way back from Milwaukee a week ago, we were involved in the 100-car pileup on route 65 in Indiana. We were literally about 5 or 6 vehicles from the front. We watched the first two semis jackknife and by the grace of God, Sarah and I somehow slid our vehicle to a stop, without a scratch on it! As far as we could see, we were the ONLY car that was so fortunate. After we stopped, we watch a Honda civic slide past us and into the rear of a semi. It was terrifying.
We jumped out to see if we could help, and that’s where we met Anna. Though Anna’s car was a gonner, somehow Anna was fine. With permission from first responders, we eventually moved her to our car to stay warm, and she kept us company until EMS came to get her. We are thrilled to tell you that Anna is doing well.
It took them over 29 hours to clear all the cars and reopen 65. But a kind police officer who noticed we were untouched and being so close to the front of the accident, helped us navigate out, and we were able to get safely off the road after only a couple of hours. Anna, thanks again for keeping us company and we’re so very glad you’re home.
I want to Thank EGO, and Ohio Power Tool for sponsoring this episode. We couldn’t do this without you. Don’t forget to like and subscribe so you don’t miss a thing. If you can do something kind for someone else this week, we will see you tomorrow at 3pm for our giveaway! Let’s GO!