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.

Skil 6716 Impact Hammer Drill Preview

Skil Impact Drill 6716 Preview

The Skil 6716 16mm Impact Drill is new and joins the 6002 and 6006 in the company’s lineup of products designed to provide more efficient and powerful drilling into masonry and metals such as steel plate. This new hammer drill extendings the company’s existing range of 10mm and 13mm impact drills. Positioned at the top of Skil’s lineup, the 6716 hammer drill has a powerful and reliable 710 W motor with an all-metal bearing system. It offers the highest rotation speed (up to 3200 rpm) and impact rate (51,200 bpm) in its class for efficient metal and masonry drilling.

Paslode T250A-F16 16-Gauge Angled Finish Air Nailer Review

Paslode T250A-F16 16-Gauge Angled Finish Air Nailer Review

The lightweight and compact Paslode T250A-F16 16-Gauge Angled Finish Air Nailer is a breath of fresh air in a market segment that is full of overweight and not so compact finish nailers. Even though this tool weighs in at just a little over three pounds, it is definitely a heavy hitter and will not wear you out after a long day of doing lots of trim. With a wide variety of fastener lengths, you can pretty much use this same nailer to install the smallest shoe moulding along with oversized crown.

Bosch Coil Roofing Nailer

Bosch Coil Roofing Nailer RN175 Review

Roofing nailers come in many sizes and shapes. Bosch’s Coil Roofing Nailer RN175 provides several advantages that we wanted to test out in the field. By evaluating it in practical use we hoped to see whether this relative newcomer could compete in a market that has been dominated by a relatively small number of stand-out manufacturers for a long time. The attraction of Bosch’s new line of pneumatic tools includes the advanced technology they use in order to eliminate a lot of the volume typically required in order to reset the tool during each firing of the pneumatic piston. In the case of the RN175, we found that while the tool absolutely has less girth than many competing products, the tool still overall has an equivalent heft and bulk to many of its competitors.

Porsadrill diamond drilling system

365Drills Porsadrill Diamond Drilling System Review

Drilling holes into tile is often a time consuming, frustrating experience. While tile saws, diamond saw blades and careful planning can reduce much of the hassle, there are simply many scenarios where you have to break down and put one right through the middle of a placed tile. Instead of this being a harrowing experience, filled with hours of planning, frustration and scratched tiles, Porsadrill aims to simplify the process with their diamond hole saws and anti-slip guide plate.

Porter Cable PC15TCSMK 15A circular saw rip guide

Porter Cable PC15TCSMK 15A Circular Saw Review

The new Porter Cable PC15TCSMK 7-1/4″ 15 amp heavy-duty circular saw packs in plenty of quality features and performance at a pretty fair price that both DIY and pro users will appreciate. Things like a long 10 ft cord, hard molded carry case, and a powerful 15 amp motor are just some of the goodies that are included.

Stanley 55-099L FuBar Utility Bar Review

Stanley Fatmax FuBar Utility Bar Review

Every now and then you find a special tool. The kind of tool you wonder how you ever did without. The kind of tool that really, truly, makes you want to go break something. The Stanley FuBar is that tool. We all know what FuBar stands for: Functional Utility Bar. Right. The, um, “original” meaning is a bit closer to the truth as this tool will wreak havoc on any demo project, allowing you to disassemble walls faster, pull off drywall with more efficiency, and punch through lathe and plaster like it was paper mache.

Black & Decker 18V String Trimmer & Edger NST2018 Preview

Black and Decker 18V String Trimmer and Edger NST2018 Preview

For power tools, battery technology seems to be making inroads and moving an increasing number of products into the realm of emissions-free, cordless technology. Yard tools have been understandably delayed, since the bettery power and sustained use periods make it difficult to transition over to a reliable, rechargeable solution. Black & Decker is still at the forefront, however, and has released a new 18V String Trimmer & Edger (Model NST2018) that eliminates gas in favor of NiCd batteries. While clearly more convenient than a corded solution, the real question is whether or not the power and usability will cause anyone not paranoid about emissions to switch to the new technology. Our guess is that it may take a few more product iterations before mainstream users pick up these new cordless tools over their more traditional gas-powered counterparts.

Black & Decker 18V 22" Cordless Hedgehog Trimmer NHT518 Preview

Black and Decker Hedgehog Trimmer NHT518 Preview

Battery technology is creating a seemingly endless sea of new and innovative products that are quickly placing emissions-free, cordless technology into the hands of consumers, where previously gas was the only available option. Yard tools are tougher than your typical cordless power tool because they typically demand sustained power over longer periods of time than a drill gun or even a product like a finish nailer. Because of this, we look favorably on products such as the new 18V 22″ Cordless Hedgehog Hedge Trimmer that uses NiCd batteries in place of gas or dragging a cord. Those who are adamantly against adding emissions to the atmosphere will jump at any new cordless option, but the real test is whether a tool has mass market appeal. At this point, most products, including this one will likely take a few more years and product iterations before mainstream users dump their gas products for new cordless tools.