Wrenches Reviews

The can opener is a good, solid product. I wish I could say the same for the jar opener. The problem with the jar opener is that it will keep slipping off the lid of whatever it is you are trying to open.

The OXO can opener works very well and easily, due to the huge turning handle. That same handle makes it hard to store in a small space in a drawer. The lid opener is so-so ... a rubber grip works just as well.

I really liked the can opener since it was easy to use and keep clean. The jar opener took a couple of second to figure out but it does help to open jars I would normally not be able to open.

I drove a 2 hour round trip to get this saw and now will drive another 2 hour round trip to return it! The saw is advertised as being able to cut 4x4s (nominal) at 0 degrees. It WON'T because of a poorly designed blade guard that hits the wood before the blade ever gets near it. It is also advertised as including the extensions and stop as standard equipment (even on Hitachis own "sell sheet") but it doesn't. The extensions and stop are optional. Apparently Hitachi knows about these problems, but doesn't care and won't fix them. Their reaction was "Sorry." I could almost hear the guy shrug and roll his eyes over the phone. Fortunately I saw another reviewer's comment on the blade guard thing after I bought the saw (but before I unpacked it) and was able to check it out myself before completely setting up the saw. It went right back in the box. Speaking of the box, if you insist on buying one of these saws, you had better check it out before you leave the store as the packaging does little to protect it from damage in shipping.

I've used this saw for about six months now and was happy with it initially. The saw is accurate and easy to use.

My problem is with the blade brake which began failing after about three months. The problem seems to be related to the trigger switch because I can sometimes get the blade brake to work by clicking the trigger once or twice. I've contacted Hitachi but haven't heard anything back yet. Hopefully, they'll step up and fix the problem in some way other than asking me to send the saw to them for a month or so to get it fixed.

The second issue is a feature that's missing. The saw only tilts one way. When doing crown molding, it's very convenient to have a saw that tilts both ways, rather than having to move the molding to the other side of the saw. Delta has a saw that is just a bit more expensive than this Hatichi which offers dual tilt - If you're looking for a saw now, I'd recommend the Delta over this Hitachi.

You have here a top rated saw by Consumer Reports . That's why I bought it. After using it over a year, I agree with them. As a contractor- I throw it in the truck and haul it all about. This saw has light weight but strength. The stop positions are very positive, much better than the Makita or the Delta saws I own. I use this saw to cut framing and do fine moulding. You will love this saw!

This is a great small angle grinder. It has plenty of power and the three position handle is an advantage in certain situations over two position models. The only reason I give it 3 stars instead of 5 is the safety switch. It is a pain to operate out of the box. I had to file it down to use it, now it works fine. Milwaukee has a similar switch on their small angle grinders that is just as effective and works much smoother. I would not buy this grinder again because off the switch. A safety switch should be an aid to the user, not a hindrance.

As others have mentioned, the switch lock is not the best design, particularly when using heavy gloves, so it lost a star.
After several years of ownership, I felt the need to comment on the durability of this product.
I have absolutely beaten on this tool, and it continues to function perfectly.
I has been dropped, soaked, buried in the dirt, stalled out repeatedly, overloaded, and exposed to every kind of abrasive dust there is. Honestly, it no longer owes me anything at this point, but it just keeps going and going...
I would buy one again, but I may never need to.

Bought this grinder and never knew how many uses I would find for it. I beat it up and it keeps going! Well worth the $ - good value.

Although the Bulldog feather board advertises that it fits standard miter gauge tracks found in 10" saws, it would not fit the track of my 10" Craftsman saw from Sears. Nor is there an adapter available from Bulldog.

You can buy these individually on Amazon for $28.00 and change.

I have Bench Dog's RT-250 table saw extension, router table, and it is built like a rock. I bought a few of their featherboards, and this combo kit as well. I needed to find a better way to change the blade on the table saw. What I really want to talk about is the featherboards. This one comes with the 3/4" Miter Track adapter. What that is, is a thick piece of aluminum, that is open in the middle. When you tighten the knobs on the top of the featherboard, it pulls the 3/8" headnut up into the adapter, spreading it. Snugs it into your miter track real nice. Technically if you have some wax or oil in the track, you will have to tighten it well.
By undoing the nut, and removing the adapter, it doubles as a 3/8" T-track featherboard. That is a common size track, and has the advantage of creating a track-tunnel, that the head of the nut will not come out of, no matter how hard we try. :-)
So what about home made featherboards? I'm sure there are those who have featherboard making, down to a science. My personal experience, is that the ribs are either too thick, and resist the workpiece too much, or too thin, and break readily. These Bench Dogs are none of that. Strong, yet gentle, firm enough to hold onto a 2x10 if you wanted them to. Easily adjustable, with just the right amount of tension, and yet finely adjustable for even the smaller pieces of work.
The other big advantage is that they are right there, in the work area, where you want them. No far reaching clamps. You can use one or two, on the table, both as an infeed, and an outfeed guide. Additionally, you may want to have one on the infeed, and outfeed above-on your fence. An inexpensive 3/8" T-Track will give you that kind of pressure and security that these tracks allow. Helps prevent kickback, from a workpiece lifting slightly off of the table saw. It lifts, an 1/8", and gets trapped between the fence and the blade, and out of nowhere, you get a piece of what is now scrap, snapping into your belly. It only happened to me once, but now I stand off to one side of the saw. You may notice that the safety hold downs that come with the better saws, are designed to achieve just that. This featherboard, will take care of that for you.
When routing, I use them. All it takes is a slight lifting of the material, and you have a noticeable defect in the workpiece. With these you get great results every time. You are almost tempted to pause. It holds it that true. If it wasn't for burning, I would go answer the phone, in the middle of a run. :-) Just kidding of course, but you get the idea.
These are substantially made. You could run them over in your car, and it wouldn't hurt them. Will definitely last a long time, and should never wear out.
The big advantage is the amount of set up time you save. It is easy to get the right amount of resistance out of them. Just right, so it ever so slightly slows the work, while maintaining just the right amount of pressure to keep the work true. I was unable to achieve that myself. Bench Dog featherboards keep that artistic posture flowing. Highly recommended.
What about Bench Dog? They are the winners of several accolades, not the least of which is editors choice awards. Once you start to experience the super engineering, and durable quality of the line, you'll know your bitten by the dog. Then you will want to write crazy long reviews, and give it to everone else. :-) Buy them, you won't be sorry.

I have had this miter saw for about 8 or so years, and use it frequently for home repairs, rough carpentry and most recently woodworking projects. As a beginner it was a decent saw, I used it to frame out my entire basement and for many other projects too that didn't require a lot of precision. It is a workhorse, I've never had a problem with the motor or blade.

But as I've gone on to more difficult and demanding work, this saw has not kept up. It was never very good at miter cuts, the detents that should click when the blade is at 45* or 90* were never accurate, and it is very difficult to make fine adjustments when swinging the saw for miter cuts, especially if near a detent (the saw will roll into the detent instead of staying where you put it). The lack of a handle in front to rotate the saw is a big disadvantage when trying to adjust the angle. You can't get any leverage on the tool to make fine adjustments.

To add to that, it's lighty constructed and the blade wavers from side to side as you move the handle up and down by about a 16th of an inch making straight, clean cuts very difficult. Added to that, the 8.25" blade is too small to cut a 2x4 on edge against the fence, which is extremely frustrating the first time (and every time) you need to do that.

I can't recommend to anyone to buy this saw when for only a very few more $$$ you can get a 10" CMS that will be sturdier and more than likely more accurate too. That said, if you need it for rough carpentry and never need to cut a 2x4 on edge, and don't care much if the cut edge is a little wavy and is probably off by a couple of degrees, then go ahead. Otherwise look for a different saw.

I give it two stars instead of one because it has always been a reliable performer, even if it isn't the most precise tool I've ever owned.

I have had this saw for 3 years and have framed a portable building and many other small jobs and its great. If you want a saw which will handle trim, 2x4s, and other small widths this saw is great.

I do mean little, because of it's size you are greatly hindered on the maximum width you can cut. This saw is great for anything narrower the 5 inches and is perfect for molding, trim and 2X4. The saw has the power to cut through whatever you need it to (within its size). Bought mine as a trim saw and mild framing saw over 12 years ago and with only a replacement of its brushes (and many blades later) it is still going strong. For a while it had to fill in for full framing work after my 10" died. If capacity is an issue get a larger saw 10" or 12", if its capacity suits your needs...this saw will handle it.

I saw that this lathe had some good reviews and was american made so I bought one and had it shipped. I was pretty excited to get started so I cleaned the oil off and such and then I tried to turn the center stock wheel and it was jammed up and took two hands to get it to move. I thought well it must just need an adjustment so I loosened the guide pin a little bit and it unstuck but then the whole center stock was turning in the cylinder. so I tighted the guidepin again and it broke off in the cylinder. Im pretty mechanical so i dont think I over did it. I figured it was no big deal and went to put a piece of wood in the machine anyway just to try it . When I went to tighten the tailstock it wouldnt stay in place, I adujusted the lock nut underneath but It kept moving everytime I clamped down on the wood. It just wouldnt tighten enough to even hold a tool to the wood without going out of center. So I called Fisch and explained this to them and told them I wanted to send it back, and they said I had to send it on my dime, They guy I talk to was being a jerk and also trying to convince me that the problems I was having with the machine were my fault, I was pissed and theaten him and he finally agreed to take it back and give me a refund. I ended up buying a Jet.

After considering the other brands, I finally chose the Fisch.

What I like:
1. Access to belts for changing speeds.
2. Heavy unit
3. Price (bought it at the WW show, came with the ext bed)
4. More HP

What I DO NOT like:
1. Customer service is weak.

Nice machine for the price.

I wanted to buy a lathe to turn spindels for some Windsor Chairs I was planning to build. The space in my basement woodshop is limited and I did not want to invest a lot of money in a large machine. The Fisch is a great little lathe. With the bed extension, I was able to turn chair legs and arm spindels. I have built over a dozen chairs and the lathe has been excellent-very quiet and smooth operation with plenty of power. I would highly recommend this lathe as an entry level model or to anyone doing light duty turning.

although i haven't used my new chuck ,it looks like it is just the thing i need to do the kind of work i'm starting.

This chuck has been used in my hobby shop for a year and has performed as expected. Delivered without instructions prompted a call to Delta for help and learned that,"......no instructions are provided with Delta Chucks". Therefore, no attempt was made to reverse the jaws for inboard clamping. Thanks to Jake the Snake's review, the reversal of jaws 1 and 3 should make the jaw change a safe procedure. Delta should be admonished for not providing an instruction manual. Shame on Delta for not providing better support.
A word of caution, a work piece can and will shift in the jaws with heavy chisel pressure and this shifting is more pronounced if the end stock is removed and/or the work is out of balance. It is suggested that the work piece be refined before the end stock is removed and exercise caution in bringing the chisel in contact with the work.

I just got this and haven't used it yet--I will update later. In response to the below reviewer, he's right, there's absolutely no documentation, and the method of reversing the jaws is not obvious.

It took me about 15 minutes to figure this out: The slots are numbered 1, 2 & 3, and the jaws are numbered 1, 2 & 3 one one side, and 3-3225, 2-3225 & 1-3225 on the other side. i.e. jaw number 1 says 3-3225 on it's other side, and #3 says 1-3225 on it's other side. For the standard configuration, as shown in the picture, insert 1 into 1, 2 into 2 and 3 into 3 and engage them in that order. To reverse the jaws, insert 1-3225 (i.e. #3) into 1, 2-3225 into 2 and 3-3225 into 3 and again engage them in that order (slots 1, 2 then 3).

In short, to reverse the jaws, switch jaws 1 & 3.

It really would have helped if they even printed a paragraph on the box or showed an explanatory picture, much less a page of instructions. I tend to be pretty good at these things, and could see a lot of people struggling with this for a lot longer, or never figuring it out. Besides, it wasted fifteen minutes of my life....

Other than that, my only problem so far is the cost. I guess these things cost a lot, and this would cost even more at a store, but just after this shipped I found a similar item for $45, and wish I would have bought that instead. Of course, it would probably cost $25 to ship this monster back, and I'm sure this is of higher quality so I'll just keep it.

***Update***
I have used this chuck several times and am very happy with it. It's rock solid, holds tight, never loosens, has good concentricity, and leaves minimal markings. The design of the jaws allows you to hold just about anything. Make sure you put some rust inhibitor on it after use.

I have owned the Dewalt 1/2" Impact Wrench for several years. When I recently decided to do my own service on my 1.1/4 ton truck, I found out that the Dewalt just didn't have what it takes to loosen tire lug nuts. Enter the Milwaukee...

There is almost no way to describe this thing to you. First, is BIG. It's not going to be the only Impact Wrench you own, because there are a lot of places it plain won't fit.

Second, it's HEAVY. Trying to hold this thing over your head to remove bolts requires some serious muscle. Not for the weak or faint of heart.

Finally, it's strong. Those lug nuts I was mentioning? Eight per wheel, and 32 total? This thing zipped the nuts off so fast I thought I had slipped off the first one! Took all 32 off, then a few hours later put all 32 back ON with one charge of the battery!!

And speaking of the battery - some genius at Milwaukee deserves a gold star. Remember when I said it won't fit certain places because of its size? Well, Milwaukee designed it so the battery can slide on from the front of the tool, or slide on from the back, and it workes either way. Putting it on from the front makes the wrench shorter overall - if a little front heavy - while putting it on from the back gives you more room to get your wrench into tight spots by leaving the battery back out of the way.

BE WARNED that you should make certain you have a good set of impact sockets to go with this wrench. DO NOT attempt to use it with a standard socket, as you are likely to end up with shrapnel flying everywhere when the regular socket fails. Ask me how I know?!!

Bottom line - the tool is a little big for 'average' wrenching, but when you need to go after the big boys there is nothing like it!

Go buy one. You NEED it.

I do some circle track racing and bought this for convenience in the pit area. I wasn't sure if it would have enough power when I ordered it, but it has more than enough. It makes a tire change during the race much easier and a lot faster. The fuel gauge on the battery is really nice as well. This way you know how much juice you have and don't get stuck half way through a tire change and have the battery die on you.

I bought this originally for just tire changes. Now I find my self using it for pretty much everything on the cars. It works great for breaking loose head bolts and pretty much anything else under the car.

It even came in handy when building our deck this past summer. I guess it is just one of those tools that once you have it you find many more uses for it than you originally intended. This has been a great investment and I highly recommend it.

I got this tool to go along with my V28 combo kit. I was so happy with my other V28 tools I thought I would give this one a shot as well. I am not disappointed. This thing has as much power as my corded impact. It has been great for driving lags. The battery life is great as well. I have even been using it at home on my old fixer upper truck. It has been great for breaking loose lug nuts and rusted bolts on the under carriage. I LOVE IT!!!

This Grinder has the power, but lacks other features found on the less expensive Dewalt. The power switch is over size, but it is still hard to control.

I have owned my G12SA for more than five years now. In all that time I've never had any problems with it and it has done the work I asked of it with out one complaint. Now, bear in mind, I'm not a professional welder or a tradesman that would require the use of a grinder a lot. On the positive side, I like the light weight, over-sized side handle and easy to get to on/off button. The motor has plenty of power at 6.9 amps and its replacement, the G12SA2 at 7.7 amps seems unnecessary. However, if I were a welder or anyone using a grinder constantly....only one choice is open to you in my opinion. And, that is METABO. They make the finest grinders in the world as anyone who uses grinders a lot will tell you.

The best grinder I've ever owned! Out does black & deckers by a 3 to 1 margin. I will buy Hitachi again and again, Quality product. Thank You!

the glove is great and fit like second skin, but the stitching wasn't that good, i had to re-stitch some area's ..

As a theatre technician, I often have to work with hot lighting equipmentwood, rope, and just about any other construction substance you could think of. I bought the Ironclad Wrenchworx gloves on the recomendation of a friend, and I'm very glad I have. These gloves have saved me from numerous cuts and burns in the month since I bought them. The double layered palm enables me to handle even the hottest lighting fixtures for limited times, and the terry cloth upper to the thumb is a life-saver when focusing these instruments. I've worn them for hours without removing them, all because of the spandex upper. They have a natural hand shape that makes them comfortable to wear and easy to work in.
I've only got two complaints. First, the double stitching doesn't double back on itself, like most clothing stitching does, so they've started to fray a bit in a couple of places. Second, I was unable to find a sizing guide anywhere on the web, so I ordered a size medium based on my own glove size. When they arrived, they were just a bit large for me, and had I to do it again, I would get a small this time around.

As a theatre technician, I often have to work with hot lighting equipmentwood, rope, and just about any other construction substance you could think of. I bought the Ironclad Wrenchworx gloves on the recomendation of a friend, and I'm very glad I have. These gloves have saved me from numerous cuts and burns in the month since I bought them. The double layered palm enables me to handle even the hottest lighting fixtures for limited times, and the terry cloth upper to the thumb is a life-saver when focusing these instruments. I've worn them for hours without removing them, all because of the spandex upper. They have a natural hand shape that makes them comfortable to wear and easy to work in.
I've only got two complaints. First, the double stitching doesn't double back on itself, like most clothing stitching does, so they've started to fray a bit in a couple of places. Second, I was unable to find a sizing guide anywhere on the web, so I ordered a size medium based on my own glove size. When they arrived, they were just a bit large for me, and had I to do it again, I would get a small this time around.