Power Tool Reviews

Often, power tools are where it’s “at”. When people visit the site, they want to know who makes the best corded and cordless power tools. This includes drills, drivers, hammer drills, saws, lights, sanders, multi-tools, best shop vacs, and more. These powered tools have reduced the time it takes to complete many jobs and tasks tradesmen work on every day. Our power tool reviews take the most recent tools and talk about how they rate and rank in the industry. Our reviews are targeted and written for the tradesman and business owner. Our goal is to allow the Pros a chance to see which recent developments in the industry are increasing productivity and which are just gimmicks. We also want to help you know which power tools are best overall. For this, we have round-up articles to find the best cordless hammer drill, best impact driver, and the best reciprocating saw. If these don’t help you find the best power tools, we don’t know what will.

Makita 18V LXDT01 Brushless Motor Impact Driver Kit Preview

Makita LXDT01 18V Brushless Impact Driver Kit Preview

Makita has just released its newest 18V LXT product, the Lithium-Ion Cordless 3-Speed Brushless Motor Impact Driver. That’s a mouthful, but the name is also incredible informative. First off, you know it’s a Makita, so it’s built by pros, for pros. On top of that, it utilizes a brushless motor – and that really brings the level of build quality and power capability to a new level. Brushless motor technology has proven to provide a ton more usable torque in tools like hammer drills and impact drivers and wrenches. While brushless technology isn’t new, even for Makita, the company’s new LXDT01 impact driver is built to be both powerful and efficient. So efficient, in fact, that it gets up to 20% longer battery life per charge.

Bosch PS11-2A 12V Angle Drill

Bosch PS11-2A 12V Angle Drill Preview

Bosch doesn’t like leaving things alone – and it rarely considers anything “good enough”. That’s apparently what happened when they developed the new PS11-2A 3/8″ Angled Drill. Bosch took their existing 12V Max I-Driver and mated it with the chuck of their newest PS31-2A 3/8″ 12V Drill/Driver. Now you get a 3/8″ drill that has a 5-position articulating head. The adjustable head allows the standard keyless chuck to move from 90 degrees to 180 degrees in 5-steps, providing almost limitless flexibility for when you find yourself working in close quarters.

Porter Cable PC60TCTAG 4-1/2 Inch Cut-Off Tool and Angle Grinder Kit Review

Porter Cable PC60TCTAG 4-1/2 Inch Cut-Off Tool and Angle Grinder Kit Review

The Porter Cable PC60TCTAG 4-1/2 Inch Cut-Off Tool and Angle Grinder Kit comes equipped to tackle just about any grinding or metal cutting project you can throw at it. Given that two different blade guards are included, one that is optimized for grinding and the other one for cutting, you can be sure that not only can to complete the task at hand but also do it safely. Just to sweetened the deal and get you started on your projects they threw in 5 general purpose grinding wheels and 5 cut off wheels in the box! With 6 amps of power, a compact size and a rock bottom price, we are pretty sure that this is angle grinder combo pack is a winner.

Masterforce 18V Lithium-ion circular saw

Masterforce 18V Lithium-ion 4 Tool Combo Kit Review

The Masterforce 18V Cordless Lithium-ion 4 Tool Combo Kit intrigued us when we first saw it. Masterforce is a midwestern brand sold exclusively through Menards, so we were anxious to see how well these tools would perform in the real world. It was certainly one of the biggest boxes I had ever seen for a 4-piece tool kit, so we knew we were in for a treat. I was very impressed when I opened the box and started to notice, in particular, all the thoughtful and forward-thinking features that came on all the power tools. We were definitely anxious to put them to the test.

Rockwell Model 4420 Type 2 Finishing Sander Circa 1971

In continuing our “Old Tools” mini-series, we wanted to follow up on our last installment and cover a Rockwell 4420 (96) Type 2 1/3rd sheet Finishing Sander that was purchased for a penny back in 1971 and has been in use ever since. It was purchased alongside a Black & Decker 7301 Circular Saw and a corded drill for $19.99 (for the pair). When you purchased the two Black & Decker tools you received your choice of another tool for just a penny. Needless to say this was a good deal at the time – in 2011 dollars that would equate to around $120 for three tools – and this was before the advent of Chinese manufacturing and cheap parts and materials. Add to this the fact that both the Black & Decker Circular Saw and the Rockwell Finishing Sander are still in usable operation and you really have a great deal!

Mall drill

Mall Drill Model 143-T Circa 1947

This “Old Tools” mini-series has gotten pretty popular, so we went deep down and pulled out an antique drill from 1947 a Mall Drill Model 143-T one-speed corded drill. This tool was actually purchased when my grandfather got out of the Army right after World War II ended. He used it for his antenna installation business where it was employed heavily up until 1969. After that, this tool saw part time usage for the next 20 years. For the past 20 or so years it has seen only occasional use, mostly due to the advent of cordless technology and variable speed tools with integrated brakes.

Bosch DDS181 Compact Tough Drill/Driver Review

Bosch DDS181 Compact Tough Drill Review

We don’t normally romance our tools, but it’s hard not to fall in love with Bosch’s new DDS181 Compact Tough Drill/Driver. It’s sleek, ergonomic, and will literally run all day long on one battery. The design is new from Bosch and the tool presents itself as a super-compact drill/driver that will run seemingly forever when set to work on fasteners or drilling pilot holes in dimensional lumber or furniture. This compactness and power come at a price to be sure, but with the benefits, it’s actually still a pretty good value for professionals looking to get the most dependability, features, and power-to-weight ratio out of their tools.

Chicago Electric Rotating Handle Reciprocating Saw Review

Chicago Electric Rotating Handle Reciprocating Saw Review

Everybody – and we mean everybody can use a cheap reciprocating saw to accomplish household maintenance and repair projects (well, OK, maybe not your mother-in-law). It’s just a super-convenient tool that lends itself well to being a multi-purpose “grab-it” solution. Harbor Freight’s Chicago Electric Tools 4-1/2″ Rotating Reciprocating Saw looks to be the cheapest product we’ve seen in some time, retailing for $25 and often being on sale for less than $20 (we know, that’s less than a combo pack of recip saw blades ). We had wanted to review this product for some time and finally were able to procure one – on an out of town trip, no less. Never truly off the job, we latched onto the tool and opened up the box to begin our testing. Within, we quickly found the 6-amp 4-1/2″ reciprocating saw, a 10 tpi wood-cutting blade, 24 tpi metal-cutting blade, and even a pair of replacement brushes. Lifting the saw from the box to feel how well it was made, our initial impression was that it was not exactly top-notch in the build quality department, but it did feel like a great occasional-use power tool.