THIS week, Milwaukee Takes Over The Shop, Makita’s 36V just disappoints, Australia finds the best upside down Circular saw, and I am doing this solo today…Let’s Go!
Welcome back power tool fans I am Sarah and Rob is out sick today. Since we have a live show giveaway tomorrow he’s been banished from the studio to recover so he can be here for that. Before we jump into the news I want to remind you to look for Jay’s head. If you find it hidden somewhere in the show, within the first 60 minutes of it going live send me an email at [email protected] with the time stamp for a chance to win a $50 Ohio Power Tool Gift Card!
OZ Tool Talk | Circular Saw Head to Head
Moving on to the news, My absolute favorite humans from down under are back at it, this time testing circular saws, which also happens to be my favorite tool. Besides chainsaws.
The duo grabbed a DeWALT 54V Flexvolt DC-S-578 and the new Makita XGT 40V HS-003-G and wasted no time shoving the two of them into a ring to duke it out. After countless cross cuts, rip cuts and then cruss cuts, and rip cuts at a bevel they are very pleased with both of the saws. They are comfortable, have good grips, they are well balanced, not too heavy and they are both pretty great. Though the new Makita took the cake on features, the DeWALT was favored for its power. To find out more, go to Oz Tool Talk.
A Concord Carpenter / Tool Box Buzz | Milwaukee PACKOUT Shop Storage
Our friend Rob Robbilard and his team have been working with Milwaukee’s new PACKOUT Shop Storage solutions and I’m not gonna lie, being a sucker for organization and good shop workflow, this option is so satisfying to me.
Rob walks us through a few proper ways to install your mounting plates to make sure you are not cleaning up a giant mess down the road. He said the set up was intuitive and overall really easy. Once he got it installed he had this to say (7:40 “the best thing about the PACKOUT Shop Storage system is that it’s completely customizable and recustomizable at any time.”) Milwaukee is launching them with 20 new SKU’s which makes customizing easy. For the full in depth review and all of Rob’s opinions on the different attachments, you can find it at Tool Box Buzz.
Shop Tool Reviews | DeWALT 20V XR Mid Torque
Tim Johnson takes a closer look at DeWALT’s new 20V XR Mid Torque Impact Wrench this week. Though it looks exactly like its earlier model, it is NOT the same thing and Tim is excited to show us why.
This updated little beast is boasting claims up to 800 ft lbs of break away torque and 600 ft lbs of tightening torque. It has a variable speed trigger, 3 power modes, a max RPM of 2,000 on speed 3, and 3,000 IPM. It has of course an LED light, rubber overmolding, great ergonomics and comes in just over 3 lbs as a bare tool. It has a 4th power mode called “Precision Wrench Mode” that will help stop the tool for a moment once the fastener is tight. But that 800 ft lbs of torque claim is what really caught Tim’s attention. After running it through some tests this is what he had to say. 18:43 “Very Impressed with the DCF 891. To be able to take that power stack battery, this little guy right here, and break free 800 ft lbs as they claimed, in their marketing of 800 ft lbs of break away torque, very impressive 18:57” For the full review head over to Shop Tool Reviews.
Tools & Stuff | Makita 40V Power Head vs Makita 18V Power Head
Next up we head to New Zealand, which I totally know where it is on a map, to find a battle of the Makita Power Heads.
Tools & Stuff dove deep into the blue Power Head pool from Makita with the 18v model, the 18v x2, or 36v model, and the 40v model. Firstly, which is apparently a word now, he looks at every feature from top to bottom on every power head and those initial impressions leave him less than impressed with the 36V model for many reasons. Nextly, he puts them to work and dives into the testing with a blower attachment. He tests speed, distance of air flow, runtime, and the battery and motor temp after it’s been used. Now, he is planning to test as many attachments with these power heads as he can get his hands on in the near future so be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss any of those at Tools And Stuff.
Production Crew
Tomorrow is our 4th Production Crew Live Giveaway! Join Rob and I here tomorrow, Saturday May 7th at 3pm where we will randomly choose a member and call them live to let them choose a set of power tools worth over $2,000, and of course pro accessories to go with them from Spyder!
Sorry for the short show today guys, but doing this by myself just isn’t that fun, so please wish Rob well so I have him with me tomorrow!
I want to thank SKIL and Ohio Power Tool for sponsoring this episode, and Spyder for sponsoring our Production Crew, guys we couldn’t do any of this without you.
If you can, go do something kind for someone else this weekend. See you tomorrow!