Coming up next, SARAH is back! We get a closer look at a pair of chainsaws, a pair of new DeWALT Tools, and a Milwaukee employee says a little too much. This is your Power tool week in review.
Welcome back power tool fans. It’s May 8th, 2020, and today we’re going to do the power tool news, and share some tool videos you won’t want to miss. Let’s get to it.
You bet. This week Skil revealed their new Pro Core 40v battery platform, and PTR gave us our first look at their new OPE. Skil’s new outdoor power equipment is a pleasant surprise. The 40v battery design, and the cool futuristic look are both echos of Skil’s brand brother, EGO, who’s dominated the premium OPE market for some time now. Kenny from Pro Tool Reviews showed off the new Skil PWRCore 40 Chainsaw. The 14” blade made quick work of a 12” oak, leading the PTR team to recommend it for homeowners. The saw with a battery and charger is only $219. For the full review, head over to pro tool reviews on youtube.
Just a couple weeks ago Kobalt put on it’s big boy pants and launched it’s new XTR platform, and the Very Cool Gang is still putting it to the test. This week Vince gave the new Kobalt XTR 7 and ¼” Circular saw a spin, running it through a ton of 2 buh 4s, and plywood. He teases us with a feature “Never seen on a circular saw before”, but I’ll leave that for you to find out on your own. He doesn’t say so directly, but I’m guessing 99 percent of you don’t know about it. You can learn more about the Kobalt XTR and join the 1 percent at VCG Construction on YouTube.
Robert Archibald Robillard started a new series this week where he hosted a virtual town hall featuring a ton of great guests including Joe Canning, Murray Kruger, Eric Aune and many more. These guys are all pros in their field, and had a lot to say about their jobs, their tools and their techniques. But most importantly, Matt Vargo, a Milwaukee product manager for the packout product line, joined the group to talk packout. And Talk he did. Rob pressured him to reveal upcoming plans. Did Matt Vargo of Milwaukee Tool just confirm packout drawers? The meeting is over a half hour long, and well worth the watch. You can find it at ToolBoxBuzz on YouTube.
And our last stop on YouTube, is in one of my favorite spots for power tool reviews, the tool review zone. DeWALT’s 20v Max XR Portable Bandsaw has been a popular tool for a while now, but recently they launched a new version, that features their new Perform Protect dual safety switch. Finally making it safe enough for even Clint. Which keeps him safe, and of course drives him crazy. By the end of the review, Clint agrees that there’s a place for this kind of safety system on a job site, but maybe not in his garage. You can decide for yourself in the Tool Review Zone on YouTube.
Let’s do the industry news with construction junkie. This week the nation has slowly started to reopen some of it’s doors in the face of a still growing pandemic, and that includes reopening some previously closed jobsites. Shane, the Construction Junkie himself, shared a few safety tips for returning to the jobsite.
Pennsylvania, one of the first states to deem construction non-essential, has begun allowing projects to continue again, and released a guide for doing so safely. The list includes some basics such as practicing social distancing, providing hand washing stations, and cleaning high traffic areas. But it also includes guidelines for cleaning power tools, and limiting the number of construction employees based on the square footage of the jobsite. The full list, and the rest of your construction industry news is available at constructionjunkie.com.
Over to Instagram where we find our favorite french Canadian, French MTL Carpentry, showing off his new Festool HKC 55 Saw.
The ToolProsPodcast was also playing with Festool this week. This time giving us a 6 month update on his multitool, and it’s still awesome. He Bought it for the dust collection, but he’s keeping it for the DUST collection.
Bevelish_Creations, right here in Central Ohio, announced the completion of this awesome new shop cabinet he made in conjunction with Saw Stop. He said the full plans are available for free.
And finally, Paul, or “The ToolPig” if you’re nasty, is using a pair of DeWALT cordless leds to light up his Yamaha Raptor 660 with a high compression piston, hot cam, yoshimura full exhaust, elka suspension and raxer 2 tires. And… more cool stuff like that.
Ohio Power Tool promised us last week that they’d have some super cool Milwaukee deals this week, and they didn’t disappoint. Looks like everything from Milwaukee is free…. If you buy certain Milwaukee things that are not free…. Make sense? Batteries, tools, accessories, they’re all there. You can see all the details at OhioPowerTool.com
Special thanks to Skilsaw and Ohio Power Tool for sponsoring this episode!