This week Kobalt takes a serious shot at the King of Impacts while our Ozzie friends choose the best track saw of 2021, TBB looks for the best Mid-Torque impact, and Ryobi shocks everyone involved. THIS is your Power Tool Week In Review!
Torque Test Channel | Kobalt Impact Driver
Welcome back power tool fans! Our first stop is over at the Torque Test Channel to find out if the current King of Impacts is about to be dethroned. This is the Kobalt XTR 24V ¼” Variable Speed Brushless Cordless Impact Driver. Until now, this model had yet to be featured on the TTC, but if you asked their commenters, this boy should be ranked number one on the Impact Driver leaderboard. So this week, the trio set out to test if the not so little impact could be crowned king over the current FLEX Champion. The FLEX claims 2,500 In lbs of torque, and is currently sitting at the number 1 spot. Milwaukee’s Gen 3 claims 2,000 in lbs of torque bringing it in at number 2, but this Kobalt is claiming a bold 2,400 in lbs, for a LOT less money. But can you believe those numbers? And does Kobalt take the throne from it’s bigger manufacturing brother? I’ll tell you what Kobalt, if you take a shot at the king, you better not miss. Head to TTC to find out.
Finish Carpentry TV | Milwaukee 15 and 16 Ga Nailers
Richard from Finish Carpentry TV got his hands on the all new 15ga and 16ga Finish Nailers from Milwaukee. Right out of the box his first impression of the nailers were good. He immediately compared them to his Milwaukee Framing nailer suggesting it feels like it’s little brother. After driving several nails through ash and then again through some thinner pine he seems pretty smitten with his newest additions to his cordless power tool team. “Yeah, it’s like a dream.” There are a lot of features that he likes about the nailers but one in particular seems to stand out…it’s cordless. The very thought of leaving his compressors and hoses at home has Richard pretty excited. For the first time, a truly cordless jobsite is within his reach. To see the full review head over to Finish Carpentry TV.
Man Caver Tools | Ryobi Duration Test
Dave from Man Caver Tools launched a new format for his testing this week adding duration in addition to his normal head to head format. To measure this he drove lag bolts of all sorts of lengths and diameters into, you guessed it, a giant tree cookie. The first contestant in this new test is the Ryobi ONE Plus HP 18V ½” Impact Wrench. He gathered every lag bolt he could find, loaded up a fully charged 6ah battery and got to work. After driving 12 lags deep into the stump he let the impact take a quick break before pulling each one back out. He continued this process until the battery finally gave up. This is of course the first of many similar tests to come, so over time he’ll be able to chart out the difference between brands and their many batteries. To see how long the Ryobi lasted you can watch the results at Man Caver Tools.
Philly Fixed and TTC | Blowers
The leaves have officially hit the ground, and the best way to get rid of them, is to blow them away. But with things like CFM, MPH, Nozzles and Turbo Buttons, how do you know which one to get? Well Jim from Philly Fixed decided to test a series of blowers himself, and when he was done, he sent them over to TTC to find out if the marketing matches the might. Jim fortunately found himself in a pile of leaves this week, and setup a clever test in his own back yard to decide which blower did the best job. In the end, he personally chose the loudest one, which makes sense if you’d ever heard him ramble on about D-Handles. But the testing wasn’t done.
Jim shipped all 5 models out to Torque Test Channel, where they bought a Pitot tube to test each one, which is the same technology used by airplane and race car engineers. Their goal, typical of TTC, was to get accurate performance numbers, and then compare them to the marketing hype on the boxes. You quickly realize who’s being honest, and who’s being optimistic… for profit. The findings are really enlightening. Now I know what you’re thinking. Rob, I already blew all my leaves. Me too. But here’s the deal, right now, no one is buying blowers, which means this is the perfect time to get a crazy deal on one. OR you can wait until next fall and pay full price, assuming you can find one. I’d shop now. For the full review, visit Philly Fixed and Torque Test Channel.
Shop Tool Reviews | DeWALT Vs Milwaukee
Tim Johnson got his hands on a new DeWALT DCF 921 Atomic Impact Wrench a few weeks ago and the first question that seemed to flood his comments was how does it compare to it’s Milwaukee competitor? Good news, he heard you guys and decided to find out. Tim ran through the specs and features for both, and then put them to the test to see what they could do. There are pros and cons to each, but one thing is true for both, “however we’re very surprised at the amount of power these little impacts are putting out.” They have an absurd amount of power considering how compact they are. So which one is best? That totally depends on you and your situation. If you already bleed red, go Milwaukee. If yellow is the platform filling your truck or shop buy DeWALT. From Tim’s review it sounds like you can’t go wrong with either, meaning neither is worth changing battery platforms for. But yes, it also sounds like he is refusing to declare a winner, which we hate around here, so if you want to go yell at him in the comments, head over to Shop Tool Reviews and tell him I sent you.
Tools & Stuff | Most Powerful Recip Saw
The guy behind the Tools & Stuff channel seemed to get bored covering Makita tools that I can’t have here in the states, so instead set out to determine which Recip Saw is the most powerful of 2021. The contenders include a DeWALT Flexvolt Advantage, Hikoki 36V, Makita 36V, and Milwaukee Super Sawzall. To determine which is the most powerful, he beats the ever living crap out of them. He runs them all through a variety of tests cutting hebel blocks, “nail embedded framing timber”, am I saying that right mate? And slicing through some steel tubing. Before he finished testing he started to favor the Hikoki, even before using the oscillating features. Speaking of, only two of the saws HAVE oscillating features. To test that, he chose a pressure treated 4×4. To find out if the Hikoki remained his favorite through the final testing head over to Tools & Stuff.
Oz Tool Talk | Best Cordless Track Saw
My Ozzies are back! And this time Mike and Dwayne got their aussie hands on 5 fantastic track saws to decide which one is best. They included examples from Metabo, DeWALT, Bosch, Makita and of course Festool. Oddly, they couldn’t find a Milwaukee track saw in Australia either. All 5 of them feature brushless, variable speed motors, plunge cut design, and of course, glide on a perfectly straight track. They tested each one for power, cut quality, and user experience, but keep in mind, the users are Mike and Dwayne, who naturally use all of these tools upside down on the other side of the planet. After a rigorous round of testing, two tools tied for first place, which would normally make my blood boil, but the two that took the top position… well, they both have ridiculous… Track… Records…. So it’s reasonable to see them share the top spot. But of course YOU know better than they do, so be sure to head over and share your wisdom, and maybe learn a thing or two, at Oz Tool Talk.
Tool Box Buzz | Best Cordless Mid-Torque Impact Wrench
Rob Robillard and his merry men are back again, this time they’re testing the best Mid-Torque Impact Wrenches they could find. That included Craftsman, Ryobi, Ridgid, Milwaukee, Makita, DeWALT, Metabo, and Porter Cable. And of course because this is Tool Box Buzz, they dug deep into each one, testing Power, Speed, Ergonomics, Features, Noise, Price, and even a torture test that involved driving 5 ½” by 8” lags into a stack of douglas furs, that frankly made me tired just watching. As usual, Rob’s team went way above and beyond in their testing, resulting in a 25 minute video, and a HUGE detailed article that’s so big, Sarah is still reading it a day later. So if you’re in the market for a mid-torque impact wrench, the Tool Box Buzz head 2 head is a must watch.
7 Days of Giveaways!
If you haven’t been watching our channel this week, you’ve been missing out on our 7 Days of Giveaways! We just launched DAY 4 earlier today, and we still have 3 more yet to come next week. We’ve got prizes from EGO, SKIL and FLEX, and to enter you just have to answer a question in the comments. Our final Day of Giveaways will include 6 FLEX Tools! And you can get an extra entry, simply by commenting on the other 6 days, so be sure you don’t miss one. We’ll link to the playlist below.
I want to thank EGO and Spyder for sponsoring this episode, we couldn’t do it without you. If you can, do something kind for someone else this weekend, and we’ll see you next week.
