Flexible power - the Bosch I-Driver

Every once in a while, a new tool comes along that just says, "Why hasn't anyone done this before?" Well, in 2006 that tool is the Bosch I-Driver.

Being flexible in the past has meant bending behind the motor, such as some of the Milwaukee cordless screwdrivers. They would bend at about the middle of the tool, making for something more usable in tight spaces. But the I-Driver goes well beyond that. By using some fancy gearing, they made it only move the actual bit end of the tool. This makes for a great many uses where a traditional cordless screwdriver just wouldn't do.

But Bosch didn't stop there. Instead, they added in a few features that power tools aren't used to seeing. For example, they added an electronic clutch. The traditional mechanical clutch clicks when the screw is tight. This one simply stops the motor. It was a bit weird feeling the first few times it engaged, but I got used to it after a few times.

Also new to me is the soft start mechanism. My first reaction when pulling the trigger was the feeling that the battery was dead. It's not normal with most cordless tools to pull the trigger and have it go slow unless the battery needs charging, so that's what I thought was happening. However, it was not only fully charged, but the soft start mechanism can actually allow it to drive more screws per charge than the pocket driver. The reason is that you're able to pull the trigger full and let it drive the screw without having any struggle starting the screw without the bit slipping. Slipping when trying to start a screw really shortens useful battery life, so this minor improvement is actually a very big deal.

Finally, since it is a Li-Ion tool and has Bosch engineering behind it, you've got enough life to drive 100 screws and the quality to last a long time. This is one tool that's very high up on my list of toys to purchase, especially since the pricetag is pretty attractive. Any time a professional tool is under $150, it's got to end up on my wishlist somewhere.

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.

Anti-Vibration Shortcut

In January, I talked about Makita's Anti-Vibration Technology for demolition hammers. They had done a swell job and I commend them for it. Now, Bosch has a promotion coming up for their Anti-Vibration solution. I don't think of it as Anti-Vibration technology, but rather as more of a shortcut.

Free Anti-Vibration Gloves by Mail

That's right. Bosch isn't improving the tool they build at all. Instead, they're giving a mail-in certificate for a pair of padded gloves. As Matt called it, in 4 - 6 weeks you'll be enjoying a slightly more comfortable demolition experience. I don't think that'll quite meet the European standards coming up saying that the tools themselves need to reduce vibration. Ok, so this won't meet those guidelines at all.

A Real Shame

I think it's a real shame that Bosch hasn't addressed the tool itself yet, but instead is going to give people gloves. The vibrations from demolition hammers can cause some serious health problems through prolonged use, so ignoring the issue won't make it go away. What if I forget to wear those gloves? What if I find them to be too hot during the summer? What if a neighbor borrows the tool and doesn't have AV gloves? I really hope they come out with something decent down the road, because this isn't even as good as smoke and mirrors. This is way too transparent.

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.

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.

Bosch's Upcoming Lithium Ion Tools

I came across a press release about the upcoming Bosch Lithium Ion cordless tools and thought it was interesting. As I discussed in a previous post about the Makita LXT cordless, they're taking the weight advantage and slightly more power approach, while others are going with the biggest numbers on the block approach. The technologies are varying from 18V to 36V, which is an "All your eggs in one basket" type of a philosophy. Bosch, being a German company, doesn't usually gamble.

Bosch Power Tools and Accessories announced the launch of two distinct new Lithium Ion cordless power tool lines - 10.8 and 36-volts - powered by Litheon, the industry's most advanced Lithium Ion battery technology.

How smart! If high voltage takes off, they've got it covered. If low weight is the way people decide to go, that's also covered. Where it starts to get really interesting is their choices of tools for each voltage.

New 36-volt tools include a one-inch Bulldog rotary hammer in early 2006, followed by a drill/driver, hammer drill/driver, reciprocating saw, circular saw and more near the end of the year.

I can see a rotary hammer needing the power. The drill/driver probably doesn't need as much as the 36V will afford it, the recip saw would be overkill in my opinion, but the circular saw could be great. So what does that leave for the lower voltage?

A 10.8-volt Pocket Driver and 10.8-volt I-Driver will also launch in early 2006, followed by more tools later in the year.

A pocket driver and an I-Driver. Ok, so a pocket driver should be similar to this Metabo driver (I'd include a link to the IXO series Lithium Ion tools, but they told us we can't sell them right now), but what is an I-Driver? I-Don't know. A google search only tells me that it is an open source project on sourceforge, so we're left to wonder. The other thing I could find was referencing a car from the late 50's and early 60's. No clues there.

I guess I'll wonder with the rest of you until our Bosch rep sheds some light. Early 2006 isn't that far off.