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.

Rockwell RK7321 BladeRunner with Wall Mount Review

Rockwell RK7321 BladeRunner with Wall Mount Review

The Rockwell RK7321 BladeRunner with Wall Mount might be a good choice for the hobbyist or do-it-yourself type because of its ability to adapt quickly to different materials and types of cuts. For many casual project people, the lack of adequate work space, along with cost considerations, make it difficult to have a band saw, scroll saw, and table saw individually. Thanks to its ingenious use of t-shank jigsaw blades, the BladeRunner gives you the ability to do scroll cuts, rip cuts and cross cuts in many different types of materials. With a smooth stainless steel table and a unique material tension system, guiding materials though the cutting area is very easy. The ability to free up bench space by use of the included wall mount bracket is a significant feature as well that we really liked.

Bosch D-Tect 150 Wallscanner plumbing

Bosch D-Tect 150 Wallscanner Preview

We recently got back from Bosch’s Global Leadership Tour media event and were fascinated by all the new tools they are working on. One tool that we saw LAST year, however, was the Bosch WallscannerD-Tect 150. This tool uses Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) radar technology and is the first detector at a sub-$1000 price point that detects rebar, water-filled PVC, copper piping (non-ferrous metal), wood studs and live wiring. The BoschD-Tect 150 does more than detect these materials, though, it gives the user material type, depth, and relative width information. The D-Tect 150 works through concrete, wet concrete, and even deep concrete up to 6″. In fact, you can use it in any of seven surface modes.

DeWalt DCD985L2 20V MAX Premium Hammer Drill Review

DeWalt DCD985L2 20V MAX Premium Hammer Drill Review

With almost 500 in-lbs of torque, a three-speed transmission, ratcheting chuck and a new level of ergonomics, the new DeWalt DCD985L2 20V MAX Lithium-ion Premium Hammer Drill kit is a must-have tool. This new five-pound drilling and driving machine can handle just about any fastener, drilling, and hammer drilling application you can think of. With the smart battery technology of the 20V MAX platform and the built-in electronics, you can be assured that your cordless DeWalt tools will last and preform better than the current 18V tools. We suspect that this drill will quickly become the tool of choice for many of the tradesmen and contractors that opt for the new 20V MAX lithium-ion battery platform.

DeWalt DCD780C2 20V MAX Lithium-Ion Compact Drill/Driver Review

DeWalt DCD780C2 20V MAX Lithium-Ion Compact Drill/Driver Review

The DeWalt DCD780C2 20V MAX Lithium-Ion Compact Drill/Driver shows off that bigger is not better by demonstrating that power, speed and features can be combined in a small package. This drill is ideally suited for anyone that has just about any kind of drilling and fastening requirements – within reason, that is. Equipped a 1/2″ ratcheting chuck, variable speed motor and a two speed transmission, you will have the flexibility you need to do many different drilling and driving tasks. Since it weighs in at a very manageable 3.4 pounds, even extended overhead work can be done with less fatigue.