This week, A tool fight breaks out amongst Makitas, Clint tries an all new battery platform, Vince has a game changing circular saw and Snap On thinks they have Milwaukee beat. Plus Rob Robillard adds another $560 worth of his favorite tools to our giveaway shelf. This is your Power Tool Week In Review.
Welcome back power tool fans, Before we get to the new SKIL saw, why don’t we want to go over Jay’s head again. If you’re here within the first 60 minutes of the show being live, then keep an eye out for Jay’s head. If you find it, you can email the time stamp to [email protected]. After 60 minutes, we’ll randomly pick a winner from those of you who email us, and one of you will get a $50 gift card to Ohio Power Tool.
Awesome Framers | Rear Handle Circ Saws
If you’re interested in framing at all, you’ve no doubt run across Tim over at Awesome Framers. This week he took a break from teaching us best build practices, to turn his attention to a very large group of Cordles Rear Handle circular saws.
No you’re not dreaming, that is indeed an absolutely beautiful collection of top tier rear handle saws, with just about every brand represented, from Hilti, to Metabo HPT, DeWALT, Milwaukee and of course Tim even has a monstrous 10 ¼” Cordless Sawsquatch. Rob and I are both suckers for a really good head 2 head tool test, and when they’re conducted by a tradesman with over 20 years of experience, you know it’ll be good. After a thorough overview of each contender, Tim uses each one to cut a bunch of compound miters into some seriously large beams, stopping to point out both pros and cons of each one. In the end, Tim actually chooses a winner! So refreshing. And I’m willing to bet, most of you will be pretty surprised by who he picks as his winner. But before you make your assumptions, Tim explains a few caveats that come along with it. To find out which rear handle comes out on top, head over to Awesome Framers.
VCG Construction | SKIL PWR Core 20 XP Brushlesss 7 1/4″ Rear Handle Circular Saw
Speaking of overpowered rear handle circular saws, I swear I start most of my conversations that way. SKIL is a very sneaky power tool brand.
Over the last few years they’ve been slowly working their way up market with increasingly powerful tools, and this week, Vince found a new saw from SKIL, that proves they’re not slowing down anytime soon.
That is the all new SKIL PWR Core 20 XP 20V Brushless 7 ¼” Rear Handle circular saw. That XP designation is new, and it refers to the dual battery setup, which is a first for SKIL. By combining 2 20V batteries, Skil aims to offer a proper overpowered rear handle saw, and according to Vince, they’ve pretty much done it. After unboxing and reviewing the features, Vince sets out to test the power and true depth of cut in some pressure treated lumber. He even tosses in a few plunge cuts for good measure. It seems like SKIL is aiming to punch way above it’s weight, and to find out if they’ve succeeded, stop by VCG.
Oz Tool Talk | Makita Tool Fight
Our favorite Ozzies are back and they’re forcing innocent tools to fight again. This time, they’re pitting brother vs brother. Have they no decency?
That is a Makita 18V LXT Hammer Drill on the left, and its new 40V XGT brother on the right. And the boys wanted to know if the LXT faithful should stand their ground, or if the new XGT was worth crossing family lines.
Now this is a follow up to their recent hammer drill head to head, where they omitted the XGT drill, seemingly just to get everyone upset. And it worked. So they instead made a separate video to highlight the improvements the 40V offers, by putting it through many of the same tests. That includes comically large auger bits, the ever prescient oversized lags, and even a step bit that ends up causing more trouble than it’s worth. Really shouldn’t wear sandals guys.
In the end, they not only make a great case for the XGT, they also reveal where it lands in the results of their previous video. You can find both over at Oz Tool Talk.
Torque Test Channel | Snap On Vs Milwaukee
Snap-On, doesn’t seem too happy about Milwaukee walking all over their impact wrenches, with better looking, more affordable models, so they responded by releasing this hideous green thing, for still more money. That didn’t work.
So now they’re launching another ½” impact wrench, this time in Red. Maybe that’ll help. Either way, the team at Torque Test channel put it on their dyno, to find out if they finally made a worthy competitor. This is the CT9050, which is smaller, lighter and cheaper. It’s even smaller and lighter than the Milwaukee, which is a pretty good start for a high torque impact. On paper, it’s a real contender, claiming 800 ft-lbs of operating torque, and 1,000 ft-lbs of bolt breakaway torque, which isn’t too bad. Those aren’t Milwaukee conquering numbers, but hey, it is more affordable. Of course, the proof is in the pudding, so TTC sets it up against the Milwaukee, and the RIDGID, to see if the Snap-on belongs in this group. For the results head over to Torque Test channel.
Production Crew
We’ve got a few more videos for you, but before we get to that, Rob Robillard is back again this week. If you missed last week, we sent Rob shopping to buy $2,000 worth of his favorite tools, so we could add them to our giveaway shelves.
Last week he added over $800 bucks worth of Milwaukee and a bunch of random things he keeps in his tool belt, and this week, he aims to add another $560 to the shelf. So, we’ve got the Milwaukee Multi Tool, The Barrel Grip Jigsaw, The Random Orbit Sander, The Empire square, The Channel Lock Screwdriver, and a Stanley square.
Now that’s just one of the shelves that this month’s winner will get to choose from. We still have a full Milwaukee Shelf that includes their popular 5-piece M18 FUEL kit, the multi tool, jigsaw, trim router, and a bunch of PACKOUT pieces filled with accessories, we have a Makita shelf with ALL XGT tools including their Rear handle saw, a drill and impact, 2 impact wrenches, a grinder and more.
And finally, we have our DeWALT shelf with their drill and impact, Their circular saw with FLEXVOLT advantage, their recip and a jigsaw, and of course my favorite, their 9” concrete saw. Every month we randomly choose a channel member, then we call them live here on YouTube, and let them pick which shelf they want.
Plus, last week we asked you to reach out to us if you knew of a shop class that could use some tools, and the response has been overwhelming. We expected contact information, but instead got some truly heartwarming stories about dedication, inspiration and achievement. This month we’ll be sending a bunch of tools to a shop class who needs them, and we’ll tell you all about it next week.
Tools And Stuff | Makita 40V XGT Chainsaw
Ok back to the news! Tools And Stuff got his hands on the new Makita 40V XGT Chainsaw, but when he goes to unpack it.
Tools was pretty excited to get the new XGT chainsaw, and immediately put it to use against the popular Makita LXT 18V version. And how does he do that? By immediately cutting down his neighbors’ trees without permission. He goes on to steal his neighbors tiny LXT saw and uses that too. This kind of shenanigans goes on for nearly 30 minutes. For what it’s worth, there are a ton of features to go over, and Tools does a great job of covering each one. He also takes the time to compare the various sized batteries to see if they make a difference. But when he’s done, he heads back outside and proceeds to bend all of his neighbor’s posts, I really don’t get it. If you’re deciding which Makita chainsaw to buy, and you can stomach his social faux pas, head over to Tools & Stuff.
Quick Reviews
The team over at Pro Tool Reviews who brought out the all new DeWALT Compact 2100 PST Pressure Washer for a test drive in the sun, because they live in Florida. Jerks.
Tim Johnson installed a brand-new Wall Control Metal pegboard system that’s so great, we’re going to do the same for our Maker Break set.
And finally, Clint over at tool review zone decided to review the new entry entry level tools from Greenworks, and it looks like he doesn’t know why anymore that we do. Still fun to watch.
I want to thank SKIL and Ohio Power Tool for sponsoring this episode, and Harrison Ford for watching. If you liked this episode, we’d appreciate the thumbs up, and if you loved it, we hope you subscribe! If you can, do something kind for someone else this weekend, and we’ll see you next week.
