PutnamEco

To big and bulky and you need access from both sides, I can just dive write in with the chainsaw, disc griders can work well too, with the write disc installed.

Milwaukee has seemed to favor battery protection over letting the tool work hard, it has been this way with all the Lith-Ion they have come out with, real pain in the butt with circular saws. This is one of the reasons I switched to other brands.

They are kind of funky and the ring gear eventually wears out, other than that they work fairly well. They can be used with the V18 battery system as well as the other 18v NiCd tools.

My prediction, even more tools will end up being made in China....

I like to write my reviews with a chainsaw.

How so? I like the LAR 120. For cross line I like the PLS 180.

I don't own any but, they seem pretty well made. I have never had any problem with my Stabilas and don't really see a reason to change.

The Milwaukee M28 has not really been updated other that a slight modification over the V28 tool to accommodate the newer battery. This is one of my chief complaints. I can just imagine how much better it would be with a brush less motor and some 4 Ah batteries. I had to go with Hilti for my big circular saw a few years ago because only they had high amp (3.9 Ah) battery even back then. It still kicks butt over any 18v tool in both power and runtime. I won't even consider ripping any 2x wood with an 18v tool while my Hilti will take care of it with almost as much ease as a corded saw.

Sounds like an ambitious project, to swap out blade holders. It might be considerable less frustrating to just get another tool. Bosch and Festool make some really good jigsaws.

Not much better over here on this side of the pond, as for availability of any Metabo tools.

Some of my first tools were hand me down Craftsmans, they were kind of course but they did get the job done. Their tape measures were the hot ticket a while back, before Stanley took over the market, the lifetime guarantee was one of the strong selling points back then. One of the reasons I think Craftsman tapes are getting hard to find now. I think Craftsman/Sears is not honoring/offering their warranty like they once did. I don't believe I have any Kobalt tools other than a utility knife. I don't believe I have any Husky tools, although I have bought unbranded tools from Home Depot before. I have one of their florescent work lights that I am rather fond of, Of course they have discontinued it now. I do have some other commodity tools, like Stanley and Crescent sets that I pick up as disposable/beater tools or for tools that will do things like sit under the seat of my truck for on road emergencies.

About the only thing I could see these being useful for is for things like shelf pin holes and keyhole slots, other than that I just don't really get them. About the only other base I like for these compact routers is the angled base.

I'm wondering if the next generation of power tool users is intimidated by larger more powerful power tools. Could this be what is causing the trend towards all these downsized tools and the lack of the tool manufacturers catering to those of us who really rely on our tools for serious work to be shortchanged in the advancement of larger more powerful tools?

If you want people on the bleeding edge of social media you should be trying to reach people there. Try Reddit or Slashdot if you want an opinion on what kind of chance you will have. They both have many posters who have considerable experience in online communities from both sides of the fence. The tool/DIY type forums people are late adopters and DON'T like change. There is always a falling out when ever any of the forums change, and it takes considerable time and effort to build any community. Even more so among the professional building trade communities.

Just noticed that Bosch has come out with a plunge base for their Colt router. Can routers this size really benifit from a plunge base? I just use my little router for trimming laminate and the like and usaully go up to a full size router when I need to do any plunging work.

What is the backstory on this? Sometimes critters have to be culled when we kill off all their natural predators.

http://www.vannattabros.com/plomb/plombtool.html is the link

I thought it was th opposite, the war finish tools were supposed to be a comodity item and as such were not warranted for life. I don't have the link handy, one of the plomb history pages spelled it out. It was not on alloy artifacts but some other site.

There other style o pliers look as if they could be handy if you were to spend your day working with one size a pipe all day.

Don't get me wrong, there is a time and place for everything, it is just when they start putting them on everything it starts to get annoying.

Any thoughts on those SharkBite fittings. I'm afraid to try them any place that may end up flooded, and most of what I work with could end up that way.

I had heard at one time, I don't know if it was true or someone was trying to pull one over on me, that the pebble finish tools were cheap version that used shot peening as the method of case hardening the tool rather than the more traditional heat treatment. This was told to me by someone who was known as a fine BS artist, though it does have a slight ring of truth to it.

Thanks,

I run into some minor SNAFUs and probably won't be able to get online much for a little while. Nothing to worry about, I'll be back soon enough and will check in when I can.

While looking around for some locking pliers that were not made in China I came across Rennstieg tools. they look like they have an interesting line up. They do have locking pliers that are made in Germany, I could not find them on their website, they can be found on page 28 of their catalog. They do have an interesting take on water pump pliers.