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Tool Reviews & Buying Guides by Trade

If you want to read articles and reviews that are trade-specific, try our Tool Reviews by Trade section. This organizes our site into topics suited particularly for a specific trade such as plumbing, electrical, framing, roofing & siding, concrete/masonry, and carpentry. Roofing and siding pros will find pneumatic roofing nailers as well as tools like cap staplers and hammer tackers. Tile & Flooring Pros will gain easy access to our tile saws, flooring staplers, and floor scrapers. As a painting professional, reviews of airless sprayers and cordless sprayers may interest you the most. You can count on one thing: whatever your craft, you need good tools. Our tool reviews by trade will help you drill down to quickly find the information you need. If you want to avoid anything that sits outside of your trade, this way helps you do it. If you can’t find a tool here, let us know.

Metabo STA 18 LTX 18V Cordless Jig Saw Preview
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Metabo STA 18 LTX 18V Cordless Jig Saw Preview

by Clint DeBoer

Metabo Corporation is a company we’re at least familiar with, though we haven’t done too much hands-on with their tools to-date (something we hope to remedy soon). The German company has been around for decades and specializes in pro-grade electric and cordless power tools and abrasives for the industrial, construction and welding industries. This week, Metabo introduced the 18V STA 18 LTX Cordless Jig Saw which is part of the company’s PowerMaster Series of 18V lithium-ion cordless power tools. Metabo is focusing on power and run-time, stating that the new saw can cut more than 98 feet of chipboard with a single battery pack charge. The tool seems ideal for all the expected roles of a jig saw, like HVAC duct cutting, cabinet making and fitting, and just about any plywood application you can think of.

DeWalt DWX726 Rolling Miter Saw Stand Review
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DeWalt DWX726 Rolling Miter Saw Stand Review

by Clint DeBoer

While the thought of a “portable” miter saw is appealing, carrying one around by hand is not my favorite past-time. I’d rather use a dedicated miter saw stand. We’ve used a bunch of these over the years, and when DeWalt announced it had put out a new gas-assisted model, the DWX726, we thought we’d give it a try to see how they might have improved upon what was already on the market. First and foremost, the job of a good miter saw stand is to support the saw, while also providing a consistent feed and support for the work material. There are two basic types of miter saw stands, the compact fixed stand (with or without roller feeds) and the heavier-duty rolling stand that is made to be a more permanent yet portable solution. DeWalt has both, but the new DWX726 promises to be both robust and highly portable.

Milwaukee 2210-20 Fluorescent Lighting Tester
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Milwaukee Fluorescent Lighting Tester 2210-20

by Clint DeBoer

New tools are often nothing special. Most of the time they are incremental updates, but occasionally, they alter the makeup of an existing idea enough to be considered original – like the one-handed reciprocating saw, for example. But other times, they are downright original. I mean, truly original – as in “the first of its kind”. Milwaukee pulled this off when it saw a need for identifying and fixing fluorescent lighting. There simply wasn’t a meter on the market that could troubleshoot and fix this style of lighting quickly and easily. What the new Milwaukee 2210-20 Fluorescent Lighting Tester does is allow maintenance professionals to extend a probe, turn to the lamp function, press the test function and check to see if the lamp is good or bad. But how? The meter emits high frequency voltage when it contacts the glass. This process “activates” the bulb because the rod acts as a ballast which will energize a good lamp.

Paslode IM250A LI Cordless 16-gauge Angled Finish Nailer Review
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Paslode IM250A LI Cordless 16-gauge Angled Finish Nailer Review

by Clint DeBoer

We already did a pretty thorough review of the Paslode 900600 Cordless 16-gauge Angled Finish Nailer last year. That was an excellent tool (still is) and it transformed, in my mind, the potential for what a finish nailer could be. Apparently, however, that was the dry run – regardless of how great a run it was. This year, Paslode released an update/replacement that has more than a few tweaks to the former tool. They’ve been listening to their users and we have to say, these tweaks – present in the new IM250A LI – really refine this tool into something special.

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