Hand Tool Reviews

Pros:
-Safety. Great safety feature which is a small clip where the staple comes out. The stapler will only shoot the staple if the clip is depressed, and it will only be depressed when you have it in place to staple something.
-Dual Purpose. Stapler / brad nail gun. I only used the staple feature, but I'm sure the brad nail feature works fine as well.
-Electric. You don't need the getup involved in having an air gun. Plug it into any outlet and go.
-Performance. When I pressed firmly down on the wood I was stapling, the staples would sink all the way down most of the time. This was really a 4 out of 5, because if you didn't press quite firmly, it wouldn't sink the staple all the way. I was stapling into southern pine, which is a softer wood. I don't think it would have performed as well with a harder wood like oak. I'd have liked a stronger gun which would sink the staple all they way regardless of how hard I pressed, or what wood I was stapling into, but then for $25, I can't complain too much.
-Specs. Compare this electric stapler to other electric staplers. They are 120V, 10 Amp, 60 Hz, just like this one. As for why they are more expensive, who knows.

Cons:
-Performance. See above. For the price, it is surely as good as it gets, and will get the job done for the average DIY such as myself, but the power isn't overwhelming.

That is all the usefull information in my review, for a more exact and mostly boring background of my review of the stapler, read below.

I recently moved into a house with a fenced backyard. There was a 2-3" gap under the fence, and so I had to install chicken wire along the entire length of the fence so that our rat terrier (the wife's of course) couldn't get out. Using the Stanley staple gun, I did it. Now, as for performance of unit, it was very good, not great. I found that if I pressed down firmly on the wood I was stapling, that it would sink the staple all the way down. The reality was that the fence would "give" a little when i stapled into it, and so almost all the staples stick out just a little bit. Now, they'll work fine, but it just isn't the clean look everyone wants. It would have been nice to have a gun powerful enough to sink the staple no matter what, even if the wood under the gun vibrates or "gives" a little, but then I'm a guy that likes extra power in just about everything. It jammed once which was my fault for not setting it against the fence properly, and the jammed staple came out with no problem the next time I pressed the trigger. By the way, the rat (terrier) is effectively trapped.

Very nice wrenches. Just what I wanted. Worth every penny.

You can tell I use this more than any other chisel because it's shorter than the others. It's been sharpened many times over the years. I love to put a polished edge on it and slice through wood like butter. You will like the longer handle on this chisel. I have some nicer chisels in my toolbox but none more useful than this one .

This tool opened up my new Mac Mini like a hot putty knife through brushed aluminium. No more paying $450 for a RAM upgrade!

These are well-made wrenches that work for most common auto and aircraft jobs. I don't think they'd work in situations where a lot of torque has to be applied, but they're excellent for the price. An especially nice touch is the carrying pouch, which allows me to toss them in my car or plane, so that I always know where they are.

Having these around kind of makes me want to break some stuff so I can fix it.

Browsing other Starrett items when I noticed that this wasn't rated. All those 5-star rating comments that are under the Starrett combo square applies here.

You may not know it but the quality control on tape measures isn't as good as it should be. If you own several tape measures, compare them against each other - the results may surprise you.

There are other lessons that apply here: cut once, measure twice but better yet - don't measure at all; use the same tape measure for the entire project. Those overtones aside, this is an accurate measure that's easy to read and operate. Blade stays put when locked and retracts smoothly.

I've replaced all other tape measures in the shop with this one. In Starrett, we trust.

First I should say that I have the 20 watt flood type light rather than the 8 watt spot, so all my experiences are with that one.

That said, this is the best portable light I've ever used. It's very, very bright, has reasonable battery life (3 hours with the 20 watt), and a nice selection of assessors.

The construction of the Litebox is very heavy duty and it holds up well.

Changing the bulbs is easy, just pull the ring around the lens off, unscrew the light housing and pull the old bulb out. You can use either the 8 or 20 watt bulbs in the light, so upgrading is pretty strait forward.

The rechargeable batteries are great, since a light this powerful would chew through alkalis in short order. The lead-acid battery makes it pretty heavy though.

One feature that no one mentions in the descriptions is that the head swivels into several positions so the light can be used for area lighting easily.

All in all, this is a wonderful light and I would recommend it highly to anyone who needs a good, high powered flashlight.

I have to disagree with the description of this headlamp. I ordered this
headlamp, and it has 3 LED bulbs, and 1 xenon bulb.
I love this thing. I have tried a few types of book lights, and this is by
far the best solution. I find I can read a book just fine in total darkness
using just one LED. I don't use the Xenon, it drains the batteries faster.
I'm using rechargeable NiMh batteries, and I'm getting about 20 hours
of use per recharge.
I find the head strap to be a little tight, but I wear a large hat size.
As far as using it for caving and he likes it a lot. Thats the best I can
do as far as this use of this lamp.
No matter what you use it for, it will all most certainly do the trick for you.

...The ZT1436 is ...It is a bit noisier than other brands I have tried, but for the money I saved it's bearable.It does the same job around trees and plantings as the more expensive units and for me should last a lifetime as I do not intend to use it daily to mow for a living.(Professional brands)I would recommend this to anyone with "stuff" to mow around as it cuts your lawn care time in half(even less) so you can move on to other interests.Just as easy to use as the Big names zero turn units, only half the price.So far I am quite pleased.Parts are available internet and phone, but no local dealers for service.I figure I can fix anything that may go wrong and they will supply the parts if need be.This Zero turn mower actually makes lawn work fun!

The Victorinox Executive is my favorite Swiss Army knife. My father gave me my first one, and I've carried one in my pocket for the past 20 years. At 3" long and 2.1 oz in weight, it's a good size for a man's trouser pocket as opposed to the larger Swiss Army knives (eg, the Swiss Army Altimeter Tool at 3.5" long and 3.8 oz in weight which goes in my backpack). Of the multiple functions, I end up using the small scissors the most; the two knife blades, orange peeler, standard screwdriver, nail file, tweezers, and toothpick come in handy, too. My only problem in these post-9/11 days is that I can't carry it with me on airline flights, which leaves me feeling a little helpless at times.

An excellent gift idea!