Tool batteries don't get a "Memory"

In our recent Makita training, we learned something interesting. Tool batteries aren't subject to the "Memory" effect like other cordless items are.

Memory Cause
So, what is it that causes the memory effect? Well, Makita explained that it is the repetitive use of a battery at the same drain level. Basically, if you consider a cordless phone it has 3 levels. Standby is one level, on a call is a second level, and the 3rd level is ringing. Since a phone spends most of its life in standby, or (if you continually charge it) always on a call, the end result is that the battery gets the same load level repeatedly. A camcorder is a more extreme example, since playing and recording are almost exactly the same level of draw.

Why doesn't this affect tools?
Since tools work on different types of material, run into knots in wood, use different size bits and are variable speed, there is a wide variety of draw levels for the batteries to get accustomed to. The result is that the memory effect is minimized or even eliminated. Chances are that a tool battery will have a cell go bad and quit taking a charge long before it can develop a memory.

Why newer technologies?
In cell phones, the newer battery technologies (Ni-MH and Li-Ion in place of Ni-Cad) were primarily to deter a memory. Each technology was less prone to memory than the technology before it. So why do tools need the upgraded batteries? Runtime, power, consistency and the environment. The Li-Ion tools have a longer runtime, in many cases twice that of previous technologies. They also offer more power that is much more consistent through a charge, making the first use similar in power to the last use of a charge. Ni-Cad is also extremely harmful to the environment, although the others aren't really "good" for it. They are just considerably less harmful than Ni-Cad.

Blue Blades - Unbreakable Utility for your Knife

A utility knife blade isn't exciting or newsworthy, is it? It is, after all, just a piece of metal with a razor sharp edge. Nothing complicated and not a real technically challenging tool, right? That's what I thought until recently.

Nearly unbreakable
What's the most dangerous part of a normal utility knife blade? Well, I've had a few of them break on me and it can be a bit scary. Chunks can fly at you, making for a very dangerous situation. It can also leave pieces that you'll need to extract in hard to see places. Iwrin has come out with a blade, known as the "Blue Blade", that doesn't break from normal use. In fact, abnormal use (such as in the picture) doesn't always break them either. They can break, but it takes a lot of effort.

Stays sharp longer
The patented bi-metal used in making these blades not only makes them tough to break, but also makes them stay sharp 3x longer. I consider that to be a good thing. Of course, the fine print says when cutting 20# recycled paper, so I don't know what that means when cutting drywall or plastic film, but it should still stay sharp longer. Paper is what makes scissors lose their edge the quickest, so that may be a very good test. The main factor for the reduced wear is that they use a treated steel edge instead of the standard carbon. I guess that's technology, although not all that geeky.

Try them for yourself - for free!
Don't take my word that these are better blades. Irwin has a program so you can get a free 5 pack to try yourself. They don't have an ending date, but as of now (1/30/2006) the program is still going. Let me know if the link doesn't work any more, but it's a great deal so you can see for yourself just how well they work. I've got my 5 pack on the way.

Tool (dis) organizer

Today, we added the Milwaukee Bucketless Tool Organizer (49-17-180) to our website. The name sounds easy enough, but my first thought when looking at the picture was that it was rather disorganized looking for an organizer, but that's what Milwaukee supplied.

50 Pockets?
First off, what would anyone do with 50 pockets? I have a hard time finding my keys with only 4 to choose from, let alone 50. I'm confident that I could lose lots of stuff when I organize into 50. Of course, the most commonly used items should be easy to find, but that's not what I need an organizer for. I need it for those things that I don't use continually but still want to have along.

Two halves of the battle
So I guess I'll start thinking about what I'll drop in here when I order one. Half of the battle will be finding the tools I want in it, the other half will be deciding which ones of those I really use enough to keep them along with me all the time.

Future upgrades
Of course, as soon as I find a 51 pocket model, I'll need to upgrade. Or, if they have a bucket-using / bucket-less model, that'll need an upgrade. That reminds me --- my 3 17" LCD monitors on this machine are getting old. Time for an upgrade.

Milwaukee V28 Impact selling point?

When the V28 line of Milwaukee cordless tools first came out, we had a customer come in and wanted to see if the impact had enough power for the lugnuts on his brand new dually. It's listed as 325 ft-lbs of torque, but what does that mean when you're using it? We had a battery charged up, so we took it to the parking lot to see what it would do.

Removed the lug
It removed the lug nut just fine. No problems at all there. In fact, it didn't even seem to think twice about this simple task. The V28's have more than enough power for pulling off a lug nut.

Installed the lug
It didn't have any problems when installing the lug, either. It tightened it up in no time flat, and it gave a couple of clicks so we knew it was tight. That was the point he should have stopped.

One more time
The customer pulled the trigger once more - just to make sure it was tight enough. Well, that was one time too many. He managed to shear off the stud with that little pull of the trigger.

Bought the tool
He was impressed with that, and bought it immediately. He didn't need any more proof that it had some power. The funny part is that relating that story to people in the store, many immediately say "That's the one I need then".

How much is too much?
That brings up the question - how much is too much? I don't personally need to shear the studs off of the wheels of my father's Jeep to know if something has enough power to put a lug nut on or not. I don't need the most powerful tool on the market. The jobs I do never require the biggest, baddest, meanest tool in existence. I'm usually just driving a screw, setting an anchor, or changing a tire. Even some of the much lower voltage tools can handle those jobs without much effort. But, being Americans, we feel inclined to buy too much instead of what may only do what we need. I'm sure someone will come out with a 350, 400 or even 500 ft-lb impact at some point, but what's the use if it breaks everything you're trying to assemble?

Features of a Drill / Driver

Drills can do more than just spin. At least they can if they're a hammer drill or a drill / driver. But what is it that makes a drill a drill / driver?

Screwdriving
In case you hadn't alraedy figured it out, the driver part refers to driving screws. This doesn't just mean that you can put a phillips bit into the chuck and use it. This means it is truly designed for driving screws. But what is it that makes it designed for driving screws?

Adjustable Clutch Mechanism
The feature that makes a drill / driver really suitable for driving screws is the adjustable clutch. By setting the clutch to a lower setting, it'll stop when the screw just starts to get snug. By adjusting it the other way, it'll get much tighter. The idea is that you can drive a screw and not have to worry about stripping out the material by over-tightening. That's such a timesaver if you get it set right. Just start low and adjust it until it gets to the right setting.

Still works like a standard drill
As the fact that it is a drill / driver implies, it also works as a drill. There is a mode that turns off the clutch completely so it functions as a drill. The dual modes make the tool much more useful than just having a drilling mode.

More useful, so look for the driver mode
Even more useful is the drill / driver / hammerdrill, but many people won't ever need the hammerdrill capabilities. I'd personally recommend at least looking for a drill / driver, as I know that my in-laws, my father and I personally use our cordless models for driving screws quite often. Making holes is only so useful. Screwdriving expands the uses for a drill many times over and means it'll get a lot more use. Being able to use it more makes it a better value.

Lower voltage batteries - a Makita secret

One of the most unusual little known facts about Makita cordless tools is that any of their pod style batteries can power a tool made to run on a higher voltage, just with a shorter runtime. This has some very interesting applications, especially buying new tools.

Keep using your old batteries
If you buy a newer Makita tool, you don't need to worry about your old batteries becoming obsolete. For example, if you had a 12V drill before and decide to buy a 14.4V impact, the 12V batteries will still work in the new tool. If you had a 14.4V drill that broke, you could buy an 18V no problem without losing the use of your old batteries.

Save money when buying additional batteries
If you want to save a few bucks on your next set of batteries, you can always buy a lower voltage. That's a unique ability. If I decide that 18V batteries cost too much, I can buy 12V or 14.4V replacements. I don't know of any other brand that is set up this way. Very useful for buying batteries for a flashlight, probably not so cool for buying batteries for my miter saw.

Borrow a battery
My neighbor has 12V Makita tools. If I'm in the middle of a job and run out of juice, I can borrow one of his for any of my 18V tools. That could be handy at times. Of course, having 4 batteries of my own means there are few instances where I'll have to borrow a battery, but it's still nice to have the option.

Reminds me of blood types
This reminds me of blood types. Having a 12V is a universal donor (Type O). Owning an 18V tool is a universal recipient (Type AB). Of course, with Lithium Ion coming out now this isn't going to be a universal technology much longer. Also, the MakStar tools don't fit in the same interchangeable line, either. It's still something cool that you can amaze your friends with. Tell them to try that with their "other brand" tools.

Getting a longer runtime for my cordless blower

There is an upcoming product announcement from one of our manufacturers which Matt has mentioned in his article "It's time to put your favorite tools on Lituium (ion)". No specifics yet, but you can probably guess who and what the announcement will be without all the details or specifics. At first, this seemed sort of like just a geeky thing to do to me. Changing battery technologies is cool and all, but for an IT guy how useful would that really be? Well, I'm having trouble deciding.

High Drain Applications
Obviously, longer runtime is a big deal for high current applications. If you only use a cordless flashlight there's not a real reason to switch, unless you're in Alaska and have those 24 hour nights and no charger. Ok, so you'll have to consider it twice there too with the charging problems with cold weather. But when you've got a geeky tool like the Makita UB181DZ which boasts a whopping 9 minute runtime, Lithium Ion may become a HUGE deal. Even if it only doubles the runtime, I could probably get all the grass clippings off of my driveway without swapping batteries.

Fewer Batteries
Right now, I have 4 batteries for my tools. I typically have to use 2 fully charged batteries for blowing off the driveway, sidewalk and patio. I have one always on my flashlight and one is usually in my drill. Being able to do the same amount of work with fewer batteries is cool on the geek meter, but is it truly practical?

Tough Choice
I'll probably get one for the blower and eventually have fewer batteries when some of my current ones start to die. By then, I should know what makes sense - longer runtime or more batteries. Once I have it figured out, I'll let you know what I decided.

The delimma is this: sometimes it's handy to have more batteries, but other times I'd love the longer runtime. I guess it comes down to how many tools do I want ready to go... and how much of an inconvenience it is to swap the batteries back and forth. That means it is subjective and it comes down to personal preference, so there is no right answer.

Features of a Hammer Drill

Drills are pretty common. Most people have at least used one, and probably a majority of households have at least one drill. One question that I've been asked a few times when I mention that I have a Makita 18V hammer drill (an older model pictured to the right) is "What's the difference between that and a regular cordless drill?"

Multiple Modes
Well, the first difference is that there are multiple modes. A standard drill has just one mode : spin. A few add a clutch for driving screws, but most just turn in circles and don't bother stopping. Hammer drills usually have 3 modes. The first is driving, which engages the clutch for driving screws. Secondly, there is drilling. Lastly, we have hammer drilling. But that still doesn't tell us what hammer drilling means.

Blows Per Minute
Yes, this could sound very bad if you're not thinking about cordless power tools. Ok, it still could sound bad. But it isn't meant that way. Essentially, there is more than just spinning going on with hammer drilling. It also has some impact going on, similar to a jackhammer. The chuck (bit holding device for those geeks who can't tell one end of the drill from the other) has the added motion of towards and away from the material. This isn't useful in all cases, but a few special instances it sure is.

Concrete Drilling
When drilling concrete, the hammering motion is a huge help. It not only allows for some chipping to occur (that makes for much faster drilling), but it also helps to clean out some of the debris from the hole as you drill. This leads to more efficient drilling, longer bit life, and a happier user.

Makes Holes in Wood, Too
By switching off the hammer motion, the hammer drill will act just like a normal drill for drilling normal materials like wood, plastic and steel. By having the option, you can use the same drill for more applications. In my book, that's a good thing. I like it when I can do more without buying additional tools. I guess that's why I like Swiss Army knives.

When a circular saw warrants a name change

Lets face it : most circular saws are less than interesting. They basically cut straight lines across materials, and they all do it in pretty much the same manner. Spin a blade, cut along a line. However, the Festool TS55EQ is much different. In fact, it is so different that it warrants a different name.

Visible Differences
The first thing I noticed is that the blade is covered a bit more than normal. They also always picture it with the guide rail and the vacuum hose attached. But those differences aren't enough to warrant changing the name. Sure, it has some nice stuff with the guide system that is accurate regardless of the angle of the cut. Sure, the dustless cutting system is nice. But that's not the real change. Someone might also notice that there is a knife blade right behind the saw blade. More on that in a bit.

Plunge Cutting
Festool calls this saw a plunge cut saw, and for good reason. This particular saw is capable of doing "Plunge Cuts". As I mentioned in my simple overview of routers, plunge means you start above the material and drop down into it to begin a cut somewhere other than an edge. The knife blade will retract automatically when doing a plunge cut, then drop down into the cut slot as you begin doing a cut. The knife blade is to prevent the saw blade from getting pinched as you move along a longer cut. Older models required removing the knife for plunges, but this time around it is spring loaded.

Where Would I Plunge?
At first, this was a "Cool" type of a change to me, but I couldn't think of a use. Of course, there are lots of uses. If, for example, I need to cut a window out of a cover (I do this for car audio on a regular basis), I don't need to use a jigsaw and hope to get a straight cut. I can plunge this saw instead and use the guide to get a perfectly straight cut, all without the need to pre-drill anything. Anywhere that a straight cut is desired that doesn't go all the way to the edge is a perfect spot for this saw.

I Want It!
Knowing how much of a pain using a jigsaw for the straight line is, I really want one of these saws. Once again, I don't do it enough that I can warrant spending the money, but the saw is just unique enough that it's on my wish list. Of course, it still works exactly like a circular saw when you need to use it that way (with the additional function of the spreader knife), but plunging with a circular saw is just way too cool for a geek to miss.

Makita's Mysterious Dual Linear Ball Bearings

After a couple of posts already about the Makita LS1013L and LS1214L and the dual linear ball bearings, and about the shortcomings of other manufacturers, I started researching the Makita saws even deeper. What I found was that I could easily locate one of them on one of the rails, but the other seemed to be hiding very well. I could also easily locate one on the schematic of the LS1013 as well. However, the other has been a mystery.

The mystery continues
I pointed this out to some of our front counter people, and they saw the same thing I did. This led to questioning of our Makita rep, which ended up with the answer of it's there, you just missed it. One is easily found, the other is buried in the saw.

Searching for answers
Not one to take the easy answer, I went ahead and emailed one of the Makita training personnel that we had at our location a few weeks ago. I asked him where it was in the saw, and let him know we couldn't locate it. I got a response from him that explained why we were missing it, and I'll show you why I missed it here.

The first one
As you probably can't tell (clicking the image lets you see it a bit clearer), part #149 is a linear ball bearing assembly. The full description is shown to the right (as seen on the schematic.) But, that only shows one. There isn't another one listed anywhere as a part.

The second one
But wait! We have a second, it was just impossible to see on the diagram. Part #140, which is the base, includes a linear ball bearing. I didn't quite understand why at first, but it was explained to me by Chris from our front counter. One is fixed, the other is adjustable. By having one in a fixed position, you have something to adjust against when aligning the slides.

Mystery solved!

Routers - Not just for the world wide web

Ask most geeks what a router is for and they'll tell you it sends traffic by the best route through a network. Ask me what a router is for, and I'll ask you to specify what type of router. If you're talking tools, I can talk tools. If you're talking web, I can talk that talk as well. You could say that I'm a well routed geek.

Single Speed Fixed Base Router
Single speed fixed base routers are the simplest routers. They just spin at a preset speed when you turn them on. There is a simple adjustment for how deep you'd like to set the bit, but that's about it. Nothing too tricky here.

Electronic Variable Speed
When you're routing different materials, some require faster speeds than others. By adding electronic variable speed to the router, you'll end up with a better finish on more materials. Slower rotation for softer materials like pine and faster rotation for harder materials like oak. Of course, it still takes practice to get the movement of the router / material at the right speed. That's where the artistic part comes in.

Plunge Routers
Plunge is the final type of routing. Plunge means you can take a bit and drop it into the middle of a piece of material to cut. There are special bits that work for plunge cuts, or you can lock the base down to mimic a fixed base router if you need to. One of the cooler cuts is a keyhole cut. The basic idea is to make a recessed hanger for a frame. That's why my wife bought this bit. She bought it while going to school for a fine arts degree, so it seemed like a perfect fit at the time.

What do I own?
The one I chose for the picture above is not only the one I personally own, but it is an electronic variable speed plunge router. It's a bit pricey compared to the average router in the Sunday paper, but it has all the bells and whistles. I figured I may as well get one that does everything so I don't need to buy a new one later. Now, I just need to buy a table and I'll be set.

Anti-Vibration Technology - Jackhammers

Jackhammers, also called demolition hammers or breaker hammers, are best known for breaking up concrete roads and driveways. I usually think about the scene in Total Recall where Arnold is using one when I see a picture of one. In Hollywood, having the vibration shaking him silly is a good thing. In everyday life, that's not so good. In fact, it can be downright harmful.

Combatting Vibration
Fighting the harmful effects of vibrations from jackhammers is not only a good thing to do, but Europe will even have a standard in place soon for the amount of vibration that tools are allowed to pass to the user. Less is better when it comes to vibration, and the latest AVT (Anti-Vibration Technology) from the manufacturers is really pretty cool.

Each manufacturer has a different strategy at the moment, though. There are a ton of options, so looking at the technologies is interesting to a geek.


I'm going to have to ask about this, but it appears that Milwaukee hasn't embraced Anti-Vibration technology yet. Hey Dave, is that so? (The answer will be here when he gets it to me.)

&
One of the simple ways to dampen vibration is by making the handles shock mounted. Essentially, the handles have a little bit of give, making the vibrations that the tool is giving off stop in the handles and not pass the full force to the operator. Very simple, but not totally effective. There still has to be enough force in the handles to keep the tool going in the right direction, so making them totally independent wouldn't work. But, it does indeed reduce the amount of vibration passed to the user. For an occasional user (such as a rental tool), this will be sufficient.


For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Essentially what's tough to stop is the opposite reaction. Using a counterweight, it is possible to time the movement of the counterweight with the force of the hammer and greatly reduce the vibration. In one very impressive video that Makita uses for product training, they have a competitor tool with half full water bottles taped to the handles and the top. Once power is applied, the bottles have enough vibration getting to them that it looks like a nice frothy head on top of the water. Same test on the Makita HM1810 with AVT shows very little disturbance to the surface of the water. This looks to be a huge improvement for the end user, although I've never actually tried a jackhammer.

Still in the early stages
Anti-Vibration technologies are still in their early stages, so I'm sure new things will be coming out in the near future. But for now, it's a matter of how much getting rid of the vibration is worth to you. But then, if you use it a lot it becomes a question of what's your health and safety worth.

Random Orbit Sanders - What are the holes for?

Pictured to the right is a random orbital sander, as some of you probably could tell pretty easily. I've looked at them quite often in my position at a tool company, and I've noticed the holes in the abrasive discs, but I hadn't ever really thought about what those holes were for. I just assumed they had a purpose, not really caring what that purpose was. Festool explained it nicely when they came in to give us product training, so I don't have to wonder any more.

Dust Extraction
Yes, since my previous post was talking about the dust extractor, this is again a dust extration technology. The holes are used to allow the sanding dust to collect in the bag on the back of the unit or in the dust extractor instead of bunching up and getting packed into the grit of the sandpaper. What a novel idea! Just one problem - if you apply suction to the sanding surface, it will be tougher to move the sander. While most vendors simply fix this issue by allowing for a suction leak out of the side of the pad, Festool has a patented active approach to the suction problem.

Guided Debris
By adding in a center hole which blows air out, the sander is no longer stuck to the surface of the material. But wait - it does more than that. By having the outer holes with vacuum and the inner hole blowing air, the result is actually an outward path of all debris to the collection points. Instead of just hoping that the holes eventually get close enough to the material, it now gets guided to where it needs to go and the sander becomes even more efficient. Festool calls this the "Jetstream principle". Other companies added that center hole to make them look the same, but after use there is just a large collection of sanding dust in that hole since it doesn't expel air.

Not Just Holes
When you really stop to consider it, those holes aren't just holes. They are an active part of making a random orbit sander work as it was intended. Knowing this, I may never look at holes the same way again - at least not on a tool.

Belt Driven and Direct Drive Miter Saw Scorecard

After my post on direct drive miter saws with electronic speed control, Matt and I decided to take a look at the different miter saws we had on display and make up a "Scorecard" of who had what technology in place on their current lineup of saws. This ended up being a pretty interesting exercise in tool analysis. Unfortunately, we don't have quite a few on display as we prepare to move to a new building, so here's the abbreviated version of what I'll be expanding on later.


The Bosch 3912 and 3924B-24 are both direct drive models. The newer 4410L is belt drive, but adds in the laser. Of course, you've already read my other post to know why lasers are great for geeks but not for carpenters, right?


The DeWALT DW718, DW716, and DW708 were all belt driven. The older DW705 (and DW705S) as well as the DW712 were found to be direct drive.


The Hitachi C10FSH and C12LSH were belt driven. The C15FB and C12LCH were both direct drive.


The Makita LS1013, LS1214, LS1013F, LS1214F, LS1013L, and LS1214L were all angled direct drive. I'll have to explain the benefit of angled in a future post as well. The older LS1030N was a straight direct drive model, as is the LS1040. The models with F add in a flexible light, while the L models have the laser. Both are pretty cool for geeks.


The Milwaukee 6490-6, 6494-6, and 6497-6 were all direct drive models.


We didn't currently have any Porter cable models on display. Again, we're getting ready to move so we're trying to cut down on the number of open box products to relocate.

Final Tally
Direct Drive
Bosch 3912 and 3924B-24.
DeWalt DW705 and DW712.
Hitachi C15FB and C12LCH.
Makita LS1013 (base, F and L), LS1214 (base, F and L), LS1030N, LS1040.
Milwaukee 6490-6, 6494-6 and 6497-6.

Belt Driven
Bosch 4410L.
DeWALT DW718, DW716 and DW708.
Hitachi C10FSH and C12LSH.

I find it interesting that there are several manufacturers that have saws available either way. I have a strong personal preference for direct drive, but the belts aren't too bad to change out.

It gets even more interesting when you look at consumer grade. I may have to wander down to my local [insert big box store name here] here sometime and jot down some additional notes.

Festool Dust Extractor

The Festool Dust Extractor is an integral part of the Festool system. With this as the starting point for any Festool user, it becomes a high quality building block for high end woodworking shops.

Tool Triggered Power
One of the coolest geek features is the tool triggered power of the dust extractor. Simply by plugging in a tool to the receptacle on the front of the dust extractor, it will automatically power on when the tool is running and stop when the tool is turned off. If I didn't know better, I'd swear that Festool employs geeks to build these things.

Systainer Stacking
Ok, so systainer just sounds geeky. More evidence that they employ geeks. Every tool that you purchase with the Festool logo on it will come in a specialty case that securely holds the tool and is interlocking with other cases as well as the top of the dust extractor. They even have a storage system which allows for dropping in of the systainers and easy removal for taking the tool with you. When you just need a few, lock them on the top of the dust extractor and roll them with you.

Locking Rear Wheel Brake
When you've got a few systainers on top of the dust extractor, you can lock the rear wheels so it doesn't follow you via the dust extraction hose. Speaking of the hose, it's anti-static to prevent a huge clog inside. Clogs start with material sticking to the outside and slowly building up, so preventing the building up of material along the hose wall is critical in making sure dust continues to flow. At 11.5 feet, the hose is plenty long for almost any job.

Wet and Dry Without Complications
With a typical wet/dry vac, there is a lot of work in converting between wet and dry. Festool makes it pretty simple. You'll have to see the instructions to believe how simple it is. I'm not going to spoil the surprise for you.

Heavy Duty Cleaning Power
At 32 lbs, this is not your average vacuum. You could say that this thing really sucks, but a true geek says that it has an insatiable hunger for dirt and dust. With standard and hepa filters available, it'll do a great job of keeping the workplace clean, regardless how much woodworking you're doing in your shop.

Festool Jigsaw - Accuracy from top to bottom

Festool isn't a widely known brand in this area. In fact, Nebraska only has 2 dealers of their products. What makes them so unique is that you don't just buy a tool, you buy a complete system. Starting out, you'd get a dust extractor. This looks like a normal vacuum, but it has some very unique features that make it perfect for their tools. I'll leave the dust extractor for a later post, however. This time, I'm focusing on their 561097 Jigsaw, also known under the model number PS 300 EQ.

Why dustless?
Dustless seems like it's just a nicety at first. Less cleanup is a luxury, but what does that have to do with cutting a piece of wood? Let me tell you, it means a lot. Looking at other jigsaws, they have the orbital motion. This is to help get the sawdust out of the grooves of the blade. By adding in the dust extractor, you've got even faster cutting with less chipping of the wood and a longer lasting blade. This is a big deal if you, like me, don't like to change blades and tend to try cutting a bit too fast. Even if you don't mind changing blades and know the correct speed, this saw makes a cleaner cut due to the dust extraction. Very, very nice when you don't want to spend a lot of time finishing the edges.

What about blades?
While Festool doesn't say you have to use their blades, it comes highly recommended. The main reason is that you're guaranteed to have a quality blade by sticking with Festool blades. But there is more to it. Their blades are a bit thicker, making them better suited for their dust extraction system. It also allows you to have a very straight edge from the top to the bottom. Have you ever tried cutting just a bit more out of a curve? I have, and I always end up with a wider top than bottom because of the way the blades bend. Their blades are designed so they don't bend as much, making the top and bottom more consistent.

Get the table
Besides the dust extractor, the multi-function table is another really nice to have item. By using the table, no matter what the angle is you're always going to cut right along the edge of the guide. I know I've always been annoyed with trying to follow a line when cutting at an angle. The Festool table fixes that annoyance and makes it a huge positive.

Clean, accurate cuts
By using all of the pieces of their system together, you can end up with a cleaner workplace, clean cuts with minimal splintering, and accurate cuts from the top of the material to the bottom. If only I did woodworking every day, I'd know what tools I would own. Since I don't get to have that fun daily, I'll have to stick with my older model of jigsaw that isn't a pretty black navy blue and green. Oh, to have the fun of cutting stuff daily. Coding websites just isn't quite the same on the macho meter. It's higher on the geek meter, though.

Direct Drive Miter Saws with Electronic Speed Control

According to our recent training with Makita, Miter Saws make up 12% of the power tool industry. That may not seem like that huge of a percentage, but this is the largest chunk for a single category. By comparison, electric drills, grinders, and reciprocating saws are all tied at 4%. The only category they could point to as being larger was cordless tools, but that's broken down into drills, saws, etc. and isn't a fair comparison. By the way, cordless is now 44% of the market.

With that big of a chunk of the market being miter saws, Makita has focused on creating a better miter saw. Some of their changes aren't something you'd notice, such as dual linear ball bearings and the machined aluminum base. These both lead to accuracy of the cuts, but aren't really visible.

Direct Drive
Another non-visible change is the patented method in which direct drive is implemented in the LS1214L and LS1013L (12" and 10" models). Typically, you have a belt attaching the miter saw blade's driveshaft to the motor. One thing I know from my days working at an auto parts store is that belts stretch and eventually break. Personally, I'd rather not have a belt in my miter saw if I can avoid it. The figure to the right shows a belt as part #71. This is from a competitor's tool.

Electronic Speed Control
By using gears in the saw (I'll talk about different gear technologies at some point later), it is possible to add in an electronic speed control as well. Not only does that sound fancy, but it really is a good thing to have. It means that regardless of the load, the blade will attempt to stay at the same RPM. This helps avoid scorching as a cut is made. Of course, a speed control adds $40 - $50 to the cost of the unit, but the Makita saws with these included are still fairly price competitive with the similar models from our other manufacturers.

More Marketing and R&D Dollars
Knowing that miter saws are in the largest category for tool manufacturers sure explains why Makita and others tend to put the most marketing hype around them. Makita also seems to have placed more R&D dollars into the miter saw. I still like my LS0711Z (18V cordless, but not built for many moons now), and the newer electric models look even nicer. Currently, only Bosch is making cordless miter saws of the manufacturers that we carry. It's cool, but not necessarily all that useful (also known as a geek's dream tool). Then again, 44% cordless, 12% miter saws - I'd expect to see a few more get into this market (again for some) as Lithium Ion becomes more mainstream.

Education is Essential
With all the buzzwords surrounding miter saws these days (dual linear ball bearings, machined base, direct drive motor and electronic speed control to name a few), it's no wonder many people just buy whatever is on sale. Then again, how would any of our manufacturers be able to put 40 pages worth of information, or a 3 hour educational course, onto a single brochure? I guess that's why we have salespeople - we can do the education of the customer for the manufacturers. Vendor training is just extremely important for us to be able to do that. I wouldn't have known why direct drive and electronic speed control were important when buying a miter saw until our vendor training, but hopefully I was able to convey the reasons these are important features to look for to you as well.

Earplugs vs. Earmuffs

I took my 3 year old son to the Monster Jam tonight. He's now a Grave Digger fan for life, I'm sure. Just like he's a Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch fan for life, the latter much to my dismay. I'll support it, though. There are worse people he could be a fan of, maybe.

Anyway, on to the point of my story. I took a pair of American Allsafe earplugs for me, and I bought a pair of our Milwaukee earmuffs for him. I expected the earmuffs to be easier to get him to wear, which was the main reason I got those. I figured that earplugs would be coming out faster than I could put them in. Those were accurate assumptions, too.

First off, let me say that the corded ear plugs are very, very nice when you're removing them often. They're easy enough to drop, but they never fell because of the cords. I appreciated that. Of course, the headphones were similar with not falling, but it was because they weren't dropped.

What really shocked me was the difference in sound. The earplugs were rated at 26 dB reduction, while the earmuffs were rated at 28 dB. That seemed like pretty similar ratings, so I expected there to be very little difference. At the end of the night, I took out my earplugs and tried on the earmuffs as they were moving Grave Digger off the track. I was amazed at how little sound actually made its way in when compared to the earplugs I had been using all night.

What I failed to take into account is that the earplugs are very similar in sound reduction regardless of frequency. Earmuffs, on the other hand, filter higher frequencies even better than their rated dB reduction. Starting at around 4,000 Hz, the reduction is over 40 dB. That's a huge difference when compared to 26.

With that in mind, I'll be using these earmuffs any time I have my air compressor running indoors and I'll skip the earplugs. They're much more comfortable to me as well, but that's just a little extra bonus.

Single linear ball bearings?

My post yesterday on dual linear ball bearings prompted Matt to look at some of the schematics for the other manufacturers. He didn't seem to believe that some of our manufacturers would be so cheap as to only use one linear ball bearing like Makita was implying. We did a little research, and the results were astonishing.

DeWALT DW708

This particular model of DeWALT has single bearing on the lower of the sliding rails. It's not possible to tell if it is a sleeve or a ball bearing, just that it is a bearing. However, it can't be purchased independently. It's part of an assembly (reference #121, although the 12 got clipped) for $370. Ouch.

DeWALT DW718

Admittedly, the DW708 isn't their newest model. The DW718 is probably a fairer test of their current manufacturing practices. What do we see here, then? One bearing, can't tell if it is sleeve or ball bearing, and it is still part of an expensive full assembly.

Hitachi C10FSH

To stop picking on DeWALT, I'm going to show a Hitachi now. Part #106 in the diagram is a bearing. They call it a "Ball Bushing". Just one, but we know for sure this is a ball bearing type.

Milwaukee 6497

Milwaukee has 2 ball bearings. WOOHOO! Wait just one second, though. That's part #6, and they don't go on both rails. They go on one rail. That's not exactly how it should be done. One rail is just sliding through a hole, the other has 2 ball bearings. Interesting.

I'll have to add in the Makita version as soon as I locate a schematic for it. This should be interesting.

EDIT: I finally got a solid answer from Makita on where the second ball is located. I have this entered in another post titled Makita's Mysterious Dual Linear Ball Bearings. It was a bit much to add to this already lengthy article.

Dual Linear Ball Bearings

Warning: Buzzwords debuzzed in this post.

If you've looked at miter saws at all, you've probably seen some mention of linear ball bearings. If you've looked at the Makita miters at all, you've probably seen dual linear ball bearings mentioned. But that brings the question, what the heck is that?

Picture: Dual Linear Ball Bearings

As you can see in the above diagram included on a Makita marketing piece, the linear ball bearings are exactly like they sound - ball bearings in a line. When you're using a sliding miter (the only place you'll see these), the linear bearings are used around the rails of the slide mechanism. The alternative is to use a sleeve.

Using a sleeve means two bad things happen.
1) More friction.
2) Less accuracy.

The basis of a sleeve is that you have a rail and a sleeve. The sleeve needs to be just loose enough to slide over the rail. However, since a sleeve has no rolling parts, there is more friction. This leads to a less smooth motion of the slide, creating the possibility of irregular cuts. It also isn't held together as tight - there has to be some play to allow the rails to slide - so there will be some loss of accuracy. Add in age and the cuts become less accurate. Sliding miters aren't for your average homeowner ($500 saws are a bit pricier than what most people want for the home), so accuracy should be a huge consideration when buying a sliding miter.

But why dual? Well, that's quite simple. Dual means you have one linear ball bearing on each rail. This makes for the most accurate cuts, smoothest motion and best performance. So then, why not dual? Well, Makita loves this part. If you save $20 per miter saw by leaving off a linear ball bearing and sell 1 million saws, you have saved enough money to sponsor a racecar.

I didn't really know what I was doing when I bought my miter saw. I purchased a Makita LS0711Z some time back, just as they were being discontinued. I consider myself fortunate. I got a decent saw, and the cordless is incredibly handy. I certainly hope they make another cordless at some point. Until then, my father will be incredibly envious.

If you're in the market for a very good sliding compound miter saw with dual linear ball baearings, I highly recommend the LS1013 (10") or LS1014 (12"). They are available with or without the laser, and are very well built. They also have a few other features that I'll be discussing in later posts.