Rotary Hammer Tests

A few months ago, we broke out a few of our D-Handle Hammer Drills and put them to a test. The lineup included the Makita HR2455, Hitachi DH24PF3, Bosch 11224VSR, Bosch 11255VSR and the Dewalt D25203K. The test was pretty simple. We grabbed some 3/8” SDS bits and went to this big boulder we have in our back lot. I am not too sure what kind of rock it was, but it was pretty hard stuff. We drove the bits in four inches and timed the results.

We had one guy doing the drilling and one guy on the stop watch to try to keep it as consistent as possible. Each drill got its own fresh bit to start with, and we did five holes each to get an average time.

The Results (with current prices):
Hitachi's DH24PF3 average time of 17.04 seconds ($185)
Makita's HR2455 average time of 19.86 seconds ($200)
Bosch 11255VSR average time of 22.08 seconds ($280)
Dewalt D25203K average time of 22.98 seconds ($200)
Bosch 11244VSR average time of 23.74 seconds

Granted its not the most 'scientific' way of doing things, but it does give you an idea how these guys perform. I did think its worth mentioning that while the Hitachi was the fastest, it also had the most vibration of the group.

Article submitted by Chris of KMS Tools.

Li-Ion Tool Sales History - Canada

With Li-Ion tools being out in North America for over a year now I think its time to take a look back and see how it went. What has been selling well, and what has not.

Disclaimer

First a disclaimer, this article by no means is reflecting on the actual quality of any of the products, just the sale history in my geographical area (West Coast Canada, Vancouver Area). I fully realize that other geographical areas may have completely different sales track records, which I would find very interesting to look at also. In fact, I would love to hear some of Brian's comments on how things are going in his part of the world.

History

First a little history. As we all know, Milwaukee Power Tools was the the first to introduce Lithium Ion Technology in North America with their V28 line, and they did so with a big splash. However, they had a very hard time keeping production up with the demand of the product because they couldn't make the batteries fast enough. What happened then is America gobbled up all the available product for about the first 8 months, which meant Milwaukee Canada simply had no units available for the northern distributors.

Product Arrival

By the time we finally got Milwaukee Li-Ion Products, Makita LXT showed up that same week, which was early January 2006. We made a very impressive display for both, having them side by side. On one side we had the larger, more powerful, more expensive 28v Milwaukee tools, and on the other side we had the more ergonomic, lighter, compact and less expensive 18v Makita tools.

Outcome

What happened? Makita 18v Li-Ion so far has completely out sold the Milwaukee 28v tools to the point where our stores will no longer be stocking the 28v series on a regular basis. It seemed the paying customer preferred less expensive lightweight ergonomic tools over the impressive brute power of the bigger tools.

More Choices

When the Bosch 10.8v pocket drivers arrived they to had very good response. The first 50 we got lasted barely a month. Dewalt 36v arrived shortly afterward, and has had very moderate positive response so far.

Current Trends

Right now, it looks like the consumer is leaning towards lighter, compact tools over the big heavy power houses. Milwaukee and Hitachi 18v Li-Ion has also just arrived into stock, but haven't been around here long enough to analyze the demand for them. I would like to know how other areas are responding to the Li-Ion tools. If anyone has information on the subject I would like to hear about it.

Article submitted by Chris of KMS Tools.

Chris Sherman - Tool Belt Winner

Earlier this month, Allan Dick from Vintage Tub & Bath invited me to a dinner while I was at Search Engine Strategies in San Jose. He had it at the famous Hakone Gardens, and also had co-sponsors of Hitwise and PepperJam Search entertain us with their very memorable haiku sales pitches. I must say, it was one of the more enjoyable events of the week. He even arranged for John Smart, notable futurist, to do a presentation on the future of search, reading notes from his Tummy PC the whole time.

While we were enjoying our ethnic cuisine, Allan had set up a table with prizes donated from several of the retailers that were attending the event. We donated an Occidental Leather adjustable framer tool belt. Being that this conference is typically a bunch of geeks getting together, the tool belt seemed like it was an odd fit. But it turned out that quite a few people really liked it. After people put their tickets into the prizes they were hoping for, the drawing began.

When it was finally my turn to draw, I pulled Chris Sherman's ticket. Chris is a nice guy that works for SearchEngineWatch and wrote a book that I enjoyed titled "Google Power". But to make it even better, Chris is in the middle of remodeling his house and could actually use the belt. He seemed truly excited to have won it, which made it very rewarding to have donated such a unique prize.

As you can see from the picture, it even fit him with minimal adjustment. All that's left is for Chris to fill it with tools and get to work.

Happy remodeling and congratulations, Chris!

My New Favorite Tool

As a tool store, we have the advantage of seeing new products before the general public. We also have the advantage of comparing tools side by side. So when the new Makita 14.4v Lithium Ion BDF440 came in, it quickly found a place on top of my favorites list.

This beauty of a tool is comparable in size to the Bosch pocket driver. It is only about a half inch longer, but it has a 1/2" chuck! It is about an inch and a half taller because it has a larger battery pack, which I actually prefer because it is balanced very nicely and can 'stand' upright on its battery instead of having to lie it down on its side. Having to lie it down is a personal pet pieve with power tools because I hate marking up the sides prematurely.

As for power, it has tons! One of the Makita Sales Reps left his model here for the week to let us try out. As it turned out we were doing some in-house renovations and decided to use this little guy. We were using 17" long 5/8" auger bits bits into pressure treated wood without a problem. Very impressive for a machine thats only 3.5lbs. It has wonderful feeling hand grips, and that little L.E.D. light at the front to help light up your workplace.

If you're looking for something compact yet powerful, you'll want to check this guy out whenever he becomes available.

This article has been submitted by Chris of KMS Tools.

Hands on with the Bosch Pocket Driver

We recently got to spend a couple of days with the new Bosch Litheon 10.8V tools in the IT office. After playing with them a bit, I've got to say I really like them. But don't just take the easy answer, let me tell you what all I like about the Pocket Driver.

Balance

The balance on the pocket driver is amazing. Regardless what I was doing with it, this tool never felt cumbersome. The small handle seemed like a great fit for not only myself, but for just about everyone that tried it. Of course, that brings me to the next thing I liked...

Size

Being small isn't everything, but for most of the jobs I do around here it can count for quite a bit. A drill is just too big for most things. For example, assembing a PC doesn't require the bulk or the power of a cordless drill. Assembing a desk or other office furniture is the same way. Installing equipment into a server rack, driving screws into wood, etc. - small size makes a bigger difference than big power. The size of the pocket driver allowed me to do just about anything I wanted to with minimal inconvenience. As you can see from the picture, it is a fraction of the size of a 12V compact drill, yet boasts a reasonable amount of...

Power

What good is a small tool if it doesn't have any juice? Well, it's got plenty for most everyday jobs. Granted, it's not going to replace a drill for drilling, but 80 in. lbs. of torque really makes for a reasonable amount of power for a driver. Driving most screws doesn't take the 475 in. lbs. of torque that a 14.4V drill will produce. This isn't a drill, after all. This is only a driver - as in screwdriver. I thought that the clutch felt pretty good for the jobs I was doing, too.

Price

For around $130 with 2 batteries, a charger and a case, this seems like a pretty good buy. I guess I forgot to mention that 2 batteries should do just fine, as it can drive 100 3" screws on a charge and each battery charges in 30 minutes. If you're trying to drive more than 200 screws per hour, I'd suggest something with a cord. Otherwise, this seems like a great value. It's most certainly on my short list of future tool purchases.

Round three of server upgrades done

Round 3 of the server upgrade process is finally done. We're up to 9 machines to keep the site fully functional, so it should be a drastic improvement in speed and reliability from before we started this process.

Again, if you spot any errors let us know. We've been working to make sure nothing major hits us unexpected, but I do want to know about it if something happens. Just send an email to the email address reported by any errors you spot and we'll keep working on site improvements as we can.

Thanks for your continued support.

Makita Lithium-Ion Multi-Impact Hammer Driver Drill

Part of my job is to keep an eye out for new products. For some reason customers expect me to have a wealth of knowledge of all the latest power tool gizmo's. Fortunately, its also something I like to do. One item that has caught my eye is the new Makita BTP130. I first saw this unit on the Makita Japan Website, which has some really interesting stuff on it that is often not available in North America. When we discovered this little guy it created a buzz at the shop. What is it? Well, we can't read Japanese, but we can look at pictures and we found out it's a Lithium Ion Multi-Impact Hammer Driver Drill.

Check it out here...
http://www.makita.co.jp/product/li_ion/tp130drfx/tp130drfx.html

This machine looks like a typical impact driver at first glance, however, on closer inspection you will immediately notice that there is a torque clutch like you would find on a drill and a selector switch on top of the machine. The selector switch gives you several options. The first mode is between low and high speed drilling, the second one is for impact mode, third is hammer drill, and the fourth one is driver mode where the clutch will be engaged.

That is a lot of options wrapped up in a very small (3.8lbs) package. It still has full power in impact mode at 1,240 in/lbs of torque. I know a lot of guys have asked me if anyone would put a torque clutch on an impact drill because with that much power it is sometimes too easy to accidentally drive in your screw too far and damage your project. Well, it looks like Makita is the first one to do it, and they went way overboard and added several more features on it to boot. The only thing I would of liked is a normal drill chuck, but the power of the impact mode would make that completely impractical. This machine holds a lot of promise of being a wonderful multi-tool. I have talked to our local Makita reps about it, they haven't even had a chance to see one first hand yet and are hoping they will be available in August.

It has been in Japan for almost a year now, so I am sure they must have any bugs of such a complex machine worked out by now. As for price tag? I don't know yet, but I bet it won't be cheap.

This article has been submitted by Chris of KMS Tools.

Hitachi 18V Lithium Ion Tools!

Yesterday our local Hitachi Rep came in showing off his new toy - an 18v Lithium Ion Driver/Drill. One nice thing about the Hitachi Lithium-Ion platform is that it is completely compatible with its existing battery system, so all you need is the new battery charger that can handle lithium ion and all systems are a go.

I think the new drills look a better than their old DMR series of drills. The new drills look more futuristic robotic and more masculine in my opinion, compared to the reptilian look of their old drills. I had a chance to compare the li-ion drill with the old drill side by side.

One large advantage I can immediately see is that this is the first cordless drill-driver I know of with a 4 speed gear selector. While many still sport a 2 speed, some are finally moving to 3 speed, but Hitachi went straight to a 4th option. That should make for a much closer match to the job you're doing. Not necessary for the homeowner, but professionals will see the benefits immediately.

The new drill is lighter (as it should be with li-ion batteries) but it was bigger and bulkier, which I was a little surprised with considering all of Makita's Li-ion tools are more compact. Of course the Hitachi Rep told us how much better their Li-ion performed compared to Makita's - which is definitely possible - but I will wait until I see some actual test results, and get a chance to try them out myself before making a verdict.

This article has been submitted by Chris of KMS Tools.