Would you choose this MILWAUKEE even if a Makita beat it? Let’s Go!

THIS WEEK, we’ve got string trimmers, Right angle drills, Surge Hydraulic Impact Drivers, Festool Rot0ex, Super Fancy Metabo saws, the best string trimmers, safety glasses and a very special guest from 731 Woodworks. It’s Matt. THIS is your Power Tool Week In Review!

We have a lot of stuff today! I’m Sarah and this week we’re going to quickly recap the power tool news, restock our empty power tool giveaway shelf with the help of Matt from 731 woodworks, but first, Tim Johnson wants to know what makes the DeWALT DCF891 so special, so he decided to look inside.

Shop Tool Reviews | DeWALT DCF891

THAT is the DeWALT DCF891 Mid-Torque Impact Wrench on the right (0:07) and it’s older brother, the DCF894 on the left. As Tim points out, the new 891 has already been tested and showed up with a whole heap of power, but he wanted to know why. So he did what any sane tool head would do, and carefully weighed each one, tore them open, blew them apart, and played with the insides. It’s always fun to watch Tim do this, because he finds interesting variations and insight into the manufacturing process of some of our favorite tools. To learn WAY more about both of these drills than you knew you wanted to know, head over to Shop Tool Reviews.

Tools & Stuff | Makita 40V Right Angle Drill

Speaking of people concerned about tools, our favorite kiwi tool reviewer is back, THIS time, with a Makita!

Of course it’s Makita. Living in New Zealand means he can get to Makita tools that we simply can’t here in the US. But not always. Once in a while he gets me excited about a tool I can actually buy! THAT is the Makita 40V XGT Right Angle Drill, and if you’re going to test something like that, it only makes sense to put it in the ring with the already capable, Makita 18×2 36V version which, looks like the exact same tool. The stats are almost identical too. So it’s already looking like a boring race…So to spice things up, Tools added in the Milwaukee M18 Super Hawg. And after putting them all to work making some very, VERY, very big holes, it quickly becomes clear which one you should buy. To find out, watch the full thing at Tools And Stuff.

Last Best Tool | Milwaukee M12 Surge Impact

We love watching LAST BEST TooL for detailed looks at hand tools, but this week,  he got his hands on the Milwaukee M12 Surge Impact and wanted to know if it was just as nice as it’s M18 Brother.

When we meet people buying their first pro tools, we’re often asked about M12 vs M18 platforms. It’s easy to simply buy the biggest most expensive tool you can, but time and time again we find pros using the smaller M12 platform to get everything done at a lower price, and in a smaller form factor. And the surge is another great example. To review the M12 Surge, he not only compares it to the M18 Surge, but gives you a side by side with it’s standard M12 Impact as well. And yeah, the surge is plenty powerful, but it’s also incredibly quiet. He finds a lot to love in both surge impacts, and notes that if you’ve never used a surge before, you really don’t know what you’re missing. You can see the full review at Last Best Tool.

731 Woodworks | $60 vs $660 Sanders

Now sure, it’s nice to find a good $60 sander that gets the job done. But if we’re being honest, we’d all much rather spend $660 on one right? Well Matt over at 731 Woodworks did just that, picking up a Festool to see if it’s worth the 10x price.

Now before you jump into the comments to call Festool a boujee poser, let’s mention a few things. First of all, Matt’s a pro. And as he points out, he’s not building one project a month, but multiple per week. And if you’ve got enough projects to sand, well, there’s a reason why $500 plus sanders exist. That is the Festool Rotex RO150 6” sander. And Festool has been using this line to dominate high end sanding for more than 30 years. It’s extremely powerful, and claims to not only tackle huge material removal, but also provide super fine results thanks to it’s eccentric motion design. It’s also a really good polisher. To illustrate these cash worthy features, Matt not only compares it to a far more affordable DeWALT, but even tosses in the smaller Festool 125. It’s often hard to understand why a simple tool like a sander can reach such expensive heights, but Matt does a great job not only demonstrating the value, but helping you decide if it’s valuable to you. You can watch the whole thing at 731 Woodworks.

New Production Crew Giveaway Shelf

Speaking of Matt, as we mentioned last week, we gave away another shelf of pro power tools and Spyder accessories to a random channel member, so we have to restock it with more tools! We asked you guys last week, who we should ask to pick out this month’s tools, and several people asked us about Matt at 731. And who better to help us build a woodworkers shelf than him.

Thanks so much Matt! So guys, like he said, if there are any tools you’d like to see him put on his Production Crew Shelf, let him know in the comments below. We will of course also include a ton of Spyder bits and blades, because what’s the point in winning a bunch of pro tools, if you don’t have the pro accessories? Matt will be back next week to wrap up his choices.

FLEX Promo

If you’re ready to upgrade to FLEX, Lowes is running a promotion right now, that gets you 10% off a $300 purchase, 20% off a $400, or 30% off a $500 purchase. Let’s be honest people. You can’t afford NOT to save that money. Try that line on your wife.

Project Farm | String Trimmer Comparo

Moving on. Todd over at Project Farm was back testing outdoor power equipment this week, this time testing the best string Trimmers he could find.

That included examples from EGO, Milwaukee, DeWALT, RYOBI, Kobalt, Makita, Atlas, and Echo. And yes, Todd’s reviews are always thorough, creative and useful. They also have this wallet draining effect we just can’t identify. But once in a while, I think he just test tools so he can bash them on the ground. He also weighs each one, and takes them into a field of deep grass to see which is fastest. There are tests for startup torque, and he even compares their debris shields, because who doesn’t love grass and dirt in their eyes! If you’re thinking of getting your first battery powered string trimmer, be sure to visit the farm first. 

Torque Test Channel | Impact Adapters

It’s time again to visit our friends Torque Test and Channel the Torque Testing Trio of tool torque testers who test tool torque on the Torque Test Channel.

The TTC Team took a break from testing torque to play with a ton of impact adapters, because as they point out, you may have the right socket, but don’t always have the right tool for the job. So of course they do what any tool torque testing trio would, and put like 10 of them on an impact driver and see just how much torque they lose, and as always, there’s way more to learn here than you think. You can catch it at the Torque Test Channel.

Kruger Construction (IG) | Metabo KS18 Track Saw

Metabo recently launched the KS18 track saw, and we want to know why we haven’t seen any of you review this yet. Our buddy Murray got his hands on one over on Instagram, and this clever setup makes it easy to cut very precise miters right on the jobsite while you’re framing. It’s a saw track…  built into a saw. Can I have this please? Let us know when one of you review it here on Youtube.

Donut Media | Safety Glasses

I don’t know if you guys know this about Sarah and I, but we love cars and motorcycles. So we watch a lot of Donut Media here on Youtube. These guys are knowledgeable, informative, but most of all, very entertaining. So when they started a new summer series called Tool Party. We were here for it. 

Every week they choose a tool in their shop, buy a cheap one, an expensive one, and usually one in the middle of the road, and proceed to test them in creative and entertaining ways. This week they took on Safety Glasses, like only Joe and Jeremiah could. They shoot them, burn them, and force them to watch grinding wheels explode at very close range. Now I realize these guys make tool testing look cool, but remember… “definitely don’t try this at home, even though it looks super fun” Good advice. This Tool Party series has already covered Torque wrenches,  impact wrenches, and even Dremel tools, each one worth a watch. You can find them over at Donut Media.

Thank you sponsors

I want to thank EGO and OPT for sponsoring this episode, we couldn’t do it without you. If you enjoyed this episode, please share a free thumbs up, and if you loved it, well I hope you subscribe. If you can, go do something kind for someone else this weekend, and we’ll see you next week. 

Production Crew Axe Throwing

Really quick, during the last production crew meeting. That’s our weekly private live stream for our channel members, Sarah and I got into a bit of a… fight? So Sandy, one of our members, suddenly tipped us $20 so she could buy a nerf gun to Shoot me. Super thoughtful Sandy! But when Sarah went to buy the gun, the rest of our members started throwing money into the pot so Sarah could buy a bigger gun. And it… got out of hand. We have $220 to spend on nerf guns. But we had a better idea. We’ve decided to build an axe throwing booth right here next to our studio, and we’re going to use the money to buy some really nice throwing axes, so our Production Crew can throw axes with us when they eventually come visit! We have adventures with this group, every week, and we love it. If you’d like to be a part of our community of tool fans, we hope you consider joining our channel. That’s it. See ya next week!

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