khariV

I hate to be a wet blanket, but this looks really fishy. Consider: 1. The seller only has a 38 rating and has never sold anything before 2. The seller account has been active since 1999, but has made all but one of their purchases more than a year ago 3. The item is significantly under other prices on EBay 4. The seller mysteriously came into several hundred (?) batteries and is dumping them cheap? This auction raises all sorts of red flags. In fact, it really looks to me like a scam that is run with a hacked EBay account that someone never bothered to secure years ago. I think it might be a crapshoot as to whether they'll send out real batteries, chinesium fakes or nothing at all, but I wouldn't be too fast to hop on this "deal" if it were my $$$.

Not to be too obvious but... have you thought about contacting a service center? If you just bought it, though, it will probably be easier to bring it back and get it exchanged for another one.

Yes, but they're Knipex - made in Germany! You should expect to pay more for shipping...

95 degree days are nothing to sneeze at, though I remember a few 120+ degree days in Phoenix back in my youth. -30 (f) however is insane. What are you doing outside in that weather?

They still sell it and I imagine that they will continue to sell it for quite some time. It's a workhorse. Before I turned to the dark side and started buying everything battery powered, I bought a super sawzall, though without the rotating handle that yours has. It's still going strong and the orbital mode puts the cordless model to shame.

Not to be cynical, but when was the last time a tool company released (and actually had available in store) a new tool on time? The new Bosch Colt was announced more than two years ago and is still showing up as a "pre-order" on acme.

The sad truth is that there will always be someone willing to do the work without the proper safety equipment and procedures in place. A worker living paycheck to paycheck has to decide if they’re going to risk getting fired by standing up to the boss and telling them they won’t do something dangerous or idiotic. Given the choice of definitely not feeding your kids this week or possibly getting injured at some point in the future, most aren’t going to hold out for what’s “right” no matter how justified they actually are. Unless the company owners get slapped with serious fines and consequences, nothing is going to change and there just aren’t enough inspectors to catch every violation.

I'm actually on the fence as to whether it's a scam or not. Looking at some of the other things they've got for sale, I think they're selling cheap chinesium rip offs of well-known tools. Take a look at the self centering dowel rig for example. https://www.mywoodtools.com/products/self-centering-dowel-jig Blatant rip-off of the Woodpeckers One Time Tool. You can find the same ripoff on eBay (ship direct from China / HK / Taiwan) and other sites for not much more than this site is selling. Some even advertise using the Woodpeckers promo materials. So, if you ordered, I think you'd probably get something but it would be a cheap copy of the actual tool and who knows how well it'd actually work. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be getting a Kreg Jig though.

Do those big concrete saws even have blade guards on them? As far as the idiot with the chain saw - I can't tell you the number of people that I've seen using chain saws with zero protective gear and every one of them will defend themselves by saying that people that are hurt by chain saws are the ones that don't know how to use them. *sigh*

That cordless sander dust performance really is quite impressive.

Like most shop vacs, you can run the Festool dust extractors with or without the disposable dust bag installed. The bags aren't cheap, but you don't buy into Festool to cut costs. Personally, I always run with the bag to cut down on mess when changing time comes, but then again, I've got a dust deputy on top of my CT36, so I've yet to have to change the bag on the DC itself.

Does Zoro actually sell anything for competitive prices to where the 20% off would be a good deal? Every time I've checked something on their site, it's been so overpriced that the discount almost brings it down to the price you can get from any number of other online retailers.

From the promo materials, this light, like the bucket light, is targeted for utility workers that probably don't buy their own equipment. I'm guessing you're right that they're not expecting to sell as many, so they're more expensive. Now, why they'd think that the average home owner wouldn't want a crazy bright light that collapses down to nothing, lasts all night long and is waterproof, is beyond me. This one is pretty much everything I want in a portable light for doing work around the house in the dark corners.

Definitely tools. You only have to buy one phone every two years. When was the last time one of us went two years without buying a new tool?

I love the Eureka Zone stuff. I always wanted to get into their system. Recently, however, I've come to the realization that I'm just not as much into tinkering as I was when I was younger. I have so little time to enjoy my hobbies that hacking together a solution from a box full of parts just isn't the fun that it was back in my 20's when I'd swap out speed crystals on my video cards to squeeze a few extra MHz out the chips. As I watched more and more of the EZ videos and read posts on their forums, I kind of got the impression that there's a lot of hacking that goes on to get the most out of the EZ system and I honestly just don't have the time anymore.

Perhaps, but there's always the contingent of people that want freedom above all else and bristle at anyone (especially the government) telling them that they can't do something. Whether it's riding a motorcycle without a helmet, building whatever you want to where ever you feel like building it or screwing a circular saw underneath a board and calling it a table saw, there's someone who wants to do it. Sometimes these people get away with it for a long time and then think that there are no consequences, but other times they end up with massive TBI from hitting their head on a curb, missing fingers from their "invention" or entire cities that are under 4 ft. of water because they paved over all of the prairies and wetlands that would absorb excessive rain. I'm not going to pass judgement on whether we should or shouldn't have mandated active protection tech on table saws, but there are lots of people opposed to it on a fundamental and personal level and just as many that are in favor of it because the rest of society eventually pays the price for some people's "freedom."

In theory, yes you could. The problem is going to be that routers are designed to go up and down / back and forth, are built to include an adjustable base and have bit depth setting capability. There's just no easy way to do this with an electric hand planer as it only goes in one direction and has to have the front base plate at the correct depth. You would essentially have to mount the planer from above on a jig that could set the depth and then run it across the wood. The depth setting component would itself probably be more expensive and complicated than buying a consumer grade planer. I admit that I don't have tons of experience building these sorts of jigs and I image the mounting of the planer itself would be problematic unless there's empty space to screw into the body of the tool without hitting something important inside, but I am quite certain that it could be done.

You sure? This certainly looks like it was shot in their garage and not at NPS.

I really wish I could use baltic birch - it's got so many more layers than the plywood I can usually get but most everything I build is for little people and I don't want to use plywood with formaldehyde in the glue. I've found one decent yard here that sells some nice maple faced plywood that's formaldehyde free but it's not BB.

A few months? Do you have a buddy that works there to squirrel it away so no one else swoops in and buys it?

I really wouldn't build anything out of MDF. It isn't very strong structurally and will swell up if there's any humidity at all, even if laminated. I can't tell you how many kids cabinets and cheap shelves I've replaced because the MDF had swollen or doors had torn off with use. I'd go with plywood if you can and save the headache.

It doesn't look like it'll plug in or charge batteries. Some pics and specs: Unmatched Performance, All Day Runtime. The M18 ROCKET Dual Pack Tower Light with 1 Key can get light to any environment on any terrain with its 3 leg position options, whether you need quick deployment, or maximum stability, or need to get the light off the ground with its 7 second setup and 5 ft. 5 in. deployment height. It also offers maximum portability with its stowed 22 in. size perfect for carrying long distances to a scene. Its rotating light head offers 5400-Lumens of high output light and can run up to 26 hours with its dual battery design giving users the ability to use 1 or 2 M18 batteries. It can withstand the harshest environments with its sealed battery design making it waterproof and dustproof. The Dual Pack Tower Light is 1-Key capable allowing users to track and set runtimes for unmatched customization. Its high quality LEDs never need to be replaced and are backed by a limited lifetime warranty. 5400-Lumen up to 26 hours of runtime 7 second setup 5 ft. 5 in. extension 22 in. when collapsed Waterproof and dustproof Dual battery design: use 1 or 2 batteries 3-leg positions: stowed, tripod, 180° 1 key capable 3 output modes for optimal brightness and runtime High mode: 5400-Lumen for up to 7 hours with 2 M18 high demand 9.0 batteries Medium mode: 3100-Lumen for up to 12.5 hours with (2) M18 high demand 9.0 batteries Low mode: 1600-Lumen for up to 26 hours with (2) M18 high demand 9.0 batteries Includes: 2120-20 M18 Rocket dual pack tower light, (2) M18 redlithium high demand 9.0 battery pack, M18/M12 rapid charger, shoulder strap

I don't really even know what this is but I want one!

It always has been. My guess is that the 3/8 is used more, so they want to make the price of entry a bit lower, but I really have no idea if there's any actual difference in the tool itself other than the mounting point.

This. When I was starting out, what made the difference for me was the 5 year warranty that Milwaukee offers and their eRepair program where they pay for shipping both ways. I got burned in the past buying a bosch drill and having it crap out after a year and a half of sitting on the shelf in the garage only to find out it only had a 1 year warranty.