THIS WEEK… TTC spits in the face of California and common sense by mating a 2 stroke to a Milwaukee Impact Wrench. The Dirt Monkey is let loose in the Makita booth at WoC, Ryobi goes full Milwaukee mode, and we are no longer EGO’s biggest fans. So, a slow week. THIS is your power tool week in review!
Welcome back power tool fans this IS our 200th episode! To celebrate we’re NOT going to tell you about our new secret giveaway shelf, with secret new tools you’ve never seen, creating a shelf so great, only Belts And Boxes could pull it off.
Project Farm | Best Grinder
On to the tool news, where Todd is back to his old shenanigans, this time comparing a stack of angle grinders from Milwaukee, DeWALT, Makita, fake Makita, Ryobi, Craftsman, Ridgid, Bosch, Metabo and Workpro. So… a few. To test them Todd cut through ½” rebar, measured the Breaks, vibration, noise, rpm, the usual stuff. The real surprise in this test, is Todd’s take on the Fake Makita. Not what I was expecting. To see what I mean, head over to Project Farm.
Tools & Stuff | Makita 40V Router
Tools and Stuff is back to his Kiwi mischief, this time unboxing the 40V XGT Router from Makita. His primary goal was to compare it to the 18v LXT version, to once again see if this XGT will be the tool that convinces us to switch. After testing, this was his best pitch “you get 1,000 extra bloody spinny things” And who doesn’t need 1,000 extra bloody spinny things? Amirite? Tools proceeds to run them through multiple materials with several passes at different speeds, and yes, there’s a winner… but does it win by enough? Find out at Tools and stuff.
731 Woodworks | Festool Track Saw
Now we saw Matt over at 731 Woodworks, review the Kreg Track Saw way back in January, and he even had us thinking it was time to take the plunge. Cause it’s a plunge saw. But this week, Matt went just a weeee bit up the track saw scale, and reviewed the Festool TSC 55 KEB Track Saw, and it was good.
But instead of his traditional review, he decided to focus on 5 features that he loves best, including it’s Weight, clever storage, dust collection, and anti kickback. Now obviously the Festool isn’t exactly in the same class as the Kreg, evident by it being over double the price. But as with all Festool tools, you spend a lot but you get a lot. And the TSC 55 is no different. But is it enough to justify that price? Matt has the answer for you at 731 Woodworks.
Belts And Boxes | Ryobi Cutting Tools Launch
Speaking of track saws, Ryobi, in its never-ending quest to earn a seat at the big boys table, continued to scream for attention by releasing even more tools this week. But this time, they might have gone too far.
Yup, that’s a Ryobi Track Saw. They just walked right in, and dropped this on the table without ever making eye contact with it’s older brother, Milwaukee. Why? Because Milwaukee still doesn’t have one. Imagine if you’ve been training and playing hard all through college, determined to make the draft, only to have your middle school brother sign with the Rams. It’s gonna be an awkward picnic at the TTI family reunion this summer.
The new Track Saw appears to have all the adjustment and functional features you’d need in a decent saw, but they’re somehow doing it for only $399 in a kit, with a battery charger and two tracks. Many of our viewers pointed out the much-appreciated riving knife on the back and considering this is part of the HP line of tools, I fully expect this to have the power needed to get the job done. And they didn’t even stop there. They also announced a new HP jobsite table saw, and an HP sliding compound miter saw. How are they doing this?
Less than a week before, they announced an entirely new 80V OPE platform that powers a bunch of zero turns, one with 35HP. Based on the comments on our Ryobi video, there are a lot of people who are suddenly welcoming Ryobi to the big boy table, whether their big brother likes it or not.
Production Crew Giveaway Shelf
Last Saturday we gave away our second monthly Production Crew Shelf to one of our channel members. That left an empty space that desperately needs to be fixed. Fortunately, you see, I knew we’d need something special to replace that last shelf, so I FLEXED all of our Belts And Boxes Muscles…. and I was able to secure a shelf full of tools, and batteries, that haven’t even been announced yet. But obviously, we can’t show it to them yet, because they’re still a secret. Since they are PRO tools, you will also need pro accessories from Spyder.
Completely Unrelated, are you guys signed up for the FLEX Faceoff, Round 2 event coming up on March 7th at 8pm EST? FLEX is going to be showing off their all-new power tools for 2022! We will be there watching!
Torque Test Channel | Gas Powered Milwaukee Impact
So, the state of California is banning small gas motors starting in 2024, which has our friends at Torque Test Channel, who happen to abide in said state, a bit on edge. So, before the ban goes into effect, they figured now was the time to turn dead dinosaurs into ugga duggas.
To do that, they attached a 60cc two stroke motor to a Milwaukee M18 High Torque Impact Wrench. Now I know this seems insane, but there’s a reason they’re doing something this ridiculously awesome. They said it was a gift to all of us for watching their content and helping them get to 100k subscribers. When the video went up, they had 97k subscribers, and only a few hours into it, they leapt past 100k. Few channels deserve the growth that TTC has enjoyed, but they’re certainly one of them. Congrats to Torque, Test, and channel for over a full year of hard work, dedication, and commitment to testing tools on a level playing field and sharing performance figures we can all understand. Thank you for this special episode, guys, and here’s to the next 100k.
Stanely “Dirt Monkey” Genedek | Makita WoC Booth
If you’re like us and didn’t make it to the 2022 World of Concrete this year, no need to miss out on your favorite Makita content, because Stan the Dirt Monkey has us covered.
Whenever Stan takes a break from conquering landscapes and snowscapes, to visit power tool shows, you know you’re in for a treat. He has a knack for not only finding the good stuff, but always asking the questions we’re all thinking. In the Makita booth this year, he found a bunch of interactive head 2 head demos, but instead of the typical grey painted competitors, this time they had examples on full display from Milwaukee, DeWALT, Bosch, Hilti and more. Stan was quick to jump in and try them all out himself, that includes the XGT Recip saws, Circular saws, Hammer Drills, a concrete saw and even a 28lb xgt 80V Demo Hammer. There is a ton of great info in here, even if you’re not a Makita fan. You can watch the full booth visit at Stanley “Dirt Monkey” Genadek
Kite Army | EGO 18″ Misting Fan
Until today, I thought I was EGO’s biggest fan. Nope. Turns out this thing is. This is the all-new EGO 18” Cordless Misting Box Fan, and while it’s too cold for us to play with ours yet, Andrew, the leader of the Kite Army, got one of his own, and immediately put it to work.
First off, this thing is big. The fan is huge, it has 4 misting nozzles, and of course it runs off of an EGO battery. It has a built-in handle and wheels for easily moving it around, but most surprisingly, it has a built-in water pump! That means you simply carry a bucket of water with you, and it will pull from it all on its own. That gives you a completely self-contained misting setup, which is pretty freak’n… cool… on your skin. Because it’s a misting fan. Unfortunately, the fan still isn’t available, but you can pre order one today at Ohio Power Tool for only $279. I’ll put a link below. But if you’re still not convinced, you can see Andrew’s full review over at Kite Army.
I want to Thank FLEX, and Ohio Power Tool for sponsoring this episode. We couldn’t do this without you. If you liked this episode, I’d appreciate the thumbs up, and if you loved it, you should subscribe and watch some old episodes. There are 200 of them now! If you can do something kind for someone else this week, and we’ll see you next week.
