Power Tools Reviews

After looking high and low for a replacement battery for our Black and Decker cordless drill, we finally found this one at Amazon. It charges and holds a charge great, just like the original one. The price is very reasonable, too. We are very happy to finally have a replacement battery.

I have had my Firestorm drill for six years with lots of use around the home and garden. Its dependability and comfort makes me very happy with this tool from B&D. The batteries are just now going after 5 and 6 years respectifully. The drill/driver has been dropped from six feet onto cement and kept on working. A small crack is all that now shows.

This battery has more than enough power for around the house and working on the car. I am a master carpenter and use a variety of battery powered tools on the job and the power of this battery would be more than adequate if I were to use it on the job.

Item arrived non-working closest service center is 1200 miles away no quality check done

Overall I'm satisfied with this saw for the price. It does two things most circular saws can't: cuts a 60 degree bevel in 2x's, and cuts 6x's in 2 passes. The power, stability, and lack of run-out/wobble in this saw make for very nice cuts. It's a brute to handle, but so are 7 1/4" worm saws.
Unfortunately, there are two shortcomings that cost it a star. First, there are no adjustment stops for the 0 and 45 degree bevel. Second, the foot on mine is out of alignment with the blade by almost 1/8", making it impossible to cut against a rip board. I've used Skill circular saws for years so I'm not surprised - I just hoped they might have done better with this model. On the positive side, Skill stuck with a steel foot which doesn't scratch or drag on lumber and like aluminum does. The only decent aluminum foot I've ever used was the nickle plated Hitachi (which appears to have been discontinued). Wake up tool industry! We have stainless clad aluminum cookware - why can't we get a stainless clad aluminum saw foot?

Having owned this saw for 10 years and working in construction, loghome building, and timberframing I have found this saw to be very reliable. It has the torque to power thru any wood or log necessary for the job at hand. The saw is versatile and can be used with different accessories made for it. I would definitely recommend this saw to anyone for any type of construction.

This unit is NOT A GENERATOR - it's a BATTERY. You can charge it up, and use the power later. Don't be confused at the name.

This storage battery is pretty good. I am using it right now to run my laptop computer. It is reasonably quiet, all you hear is a small fan blowing air, not the usual buzzing noise of an inverter. The battery performs as promised and is reliable. The only drawback I noticed is the awkward DC charging system which uses the output of your car's cigarette lighter - if you forget to disconnect the charging cable when you stop for gas or whatever, then you undo some of the charging already accomplished. My battery takes 32 hours to recharge from an electrical outlet. Now I see they are advertising only 10 hours to recharge.

I was looking for a good but enxspensive generater to buy for house and card. Well after looking found this generator at amazon. Read about and thought this could be just what I am looking for. I purchased this generator over 4 months ago and felt now would be a good time to write a review. This works great. I had to jump a car and (following the instructions) the car came to life. It also has a light that comes with the unit. This has been proving very helpful at times. It also has a magnet so you don't have to hold the light just stick it on a metal part and hands free. It does not take long to charge except when you first open the box. It tells you to charge the unit as soon as possible. This helps protect the rechargable battery from becoming damaged. Over all this unit has been great no complaints and thinking about (probably will) purchase the Xantrex 852-1830 C X-power 300c Portable Electonic Generator. This has a built in light, air compressor,along with the jumper cables the same as this one. And it is cheaper. Looks like a good deal. And it is at amazon. Over all, good purchase just keep the unit charged when it needs to be charged to protect the battery.

Having a roadside safety kit designed for women was a such a great idea, it's too bad they had to skimp on quality. The lantern especially was so poorly made I couldn't even get it to open and shut properly. The gloves are flimsy, the tire gauge looks cheap. I was real annoyed at having to pay $9.99 to return this, because it wasn't my fault it was of such poor quality. My advice ladies: put together your own roadside kit with quality products.

I really loved the nice blue and silver case. The items inside are quite handy, and I've have used several of them. The only down side is the poor quality of the fashlight. It does not work, and is a bit flimsy. The kit I purchased for a friend, also has a bad flashlight. I wanted to return the flashlight, but felt foolish about sending back one item. So I purchased a flashlight to keep in the kit. Overall, a good item to keep in your car, and a great gift for friends. Just replace the flashlight!!

My mom & dad bought this roadside kit for me to keep in my car since I'm away at college for most of the year and on my own. Thank heavens they did because I was stuck on a highway just last week. I put up the SOS flag and within a few minutes, a good samaritan stopped to give me a jump start using my Barbara K jumper cables. The guidebook in the kit is very informational and helped me understand many things about my car. I love my roadside emergency kit! I will recommend it to all of my friends.

This saw works well for small jobs, but you do have to be careful that you do not bind the saw blade. It is not nearly as powerful as a corded saw.

After buying the Bosch 24 volt package, I am now finding dust collecting on my matching corded tools. I have found the reciprocating saw does run down the batteries quicker than the other tools, but I do like the tooless blade changing lever on the reciprocating saw and the jig saw. All the tools are top-notch performers. I love the easy height blade adjustment on the circular saw. It fell 25 feet off a roof and worked just fine after. (lucky for me, this saw is built). I did find out from Bosch that the batteries should be charged when the tool starts slowing down, and should never be run down to nothing, like the old nickle -cadmium batteries that developed a memory. Bosch makes a great product here!

I have used every cordless saw avaible, and this one comes the closest to replacing it's corded counterpart. My wormdrive still looks new because I only get it out for BIG cutting jobs. I wish the thumb saftey was placed where it could be engaged without contorting my hand (like the Makita) but I bought it for power and precision, and Bosch delivers

Always hated to wind and unwind electrical cords. This cord reel is easy to use. Just pull out as much cord as you need and it locks in place. The 12 gauge wire is nice as I own many portable tools that require a heavy wire.

This reel extension unit works just like I had envisioned. It's heavy duty 12-gauge for multiple power tools, good length to get around my shop and driveway, and extends and retacts just fine. Yes, it is big, but that's what a 12-gauge 50ft reel is going to be in footprint. Now, you could make this setup cheaper with a 50 or 100ft cord and manual reel, but I needed to hang mine on a 10ft. ceiling. This product works, it's big, and no problems noted on quality or mechanics.

Works as advertised. Unlike the first poster, I have had no problems with this unit. I have it mounted on the ceiling, and the retract function works flawlessly. It is a welcome addition to my workshop. Highly recommended. Oh yeah - the thing is BIG.

I spent about 15 min. puting it on. The fit on the outside cude to say the least the inside is fine where it does matter.

made to fit the lathe... not much more you can say about it.

I just got this in and it's a really solid piece. I used Dennis' advice in another review to help align it, and it was setup in 5 minutes. (Thanks Dennis) You do have to prepare some extra space in the shop for it though, as when assembled it's pretty long, and disassembling/reassembling would be a pain.

I got it for free with the mail in rebate program they had last year, but even if I didn't get it then it'd be worth spending the money on now.

Just purchased 2 14.4 Dewalt XRP batteries, the originals where at least 10 years old. But as with any battery they don't last forever. Could not see replacing with an 18 Volt when there was nothing wrong with the drill, a 1/2 hammer model. Charged the first one and could not believe the difference, made it feel like when it was new. Still using the first battery and its been at least 3 weeks since it was first charged. I'm not a contractor just a diyer, but they were still worth the money. If the price goes up anymore though for each battery then I'll look at the DeWalt 18 volt.If these last as long as the first pair, they will out last me.

Battery works hard and long. The new battery design is much better than its predecessor. You can actually get your hand around the battery now to release it. It's true that the new battery will not fit in the old case. Hint: use a utility knife and alter the plastic case so the new battery fits.

The difference between this battery and the "regular" 14.4v DeWalt batteries is like night and day. I was always fairly pleased with the performance I got out of my original batteries, but once I picked up one of these I was convinced that the hype is justified. Right out of the box I noticed that this battery is a bit larger and significantly heavier that the regular 14.4's. Once fully charged, I slapped it in my drill/driver and was AMAZED at how much more powerful this battery pack was. I have also been impressed with the run time between charges, but since I have not yet used it to build any decks, etc., I cannot say if the battery truly lasts 25% longer (or 40% or whatever).

I highly recommend this as a quality product that performs amazingly well.

There is signficant wobbel in the Chuck that is provided with the 14.4v Hammer Drill. I've contacted the Dewalt customer service representatives, but they deny there is any systemic issue with their manufacturing and quality control process on this particular drill(I've seen several other reviews on this drill that indicate similiar problems). I like the 14.4v impact driver, tons of power. However, after using my dads Makita I find that drill impact driver to probably be a better balanced tool and the metal hydride batteries are a plus. If I can get the Chuck wobbel straightened out with Dewalt on the hammer drill I would still consider this a good deal.

Just got these in the mail today and used both of the drills tonight. So far they work great. I am building a house right now and I can already tell how useful these drills will be. The impact drill drives screws fast and easy. I am building the countertops for my home and the screws I drive into the plywood sheets enter the wood with amazing speed. The other nice thing about this drill is that the torque "breaks" when the screw is flush with the wood. Although you can still drive the screw deeper if you wish. The hammer drill works great too. I used it tonight to drill a door catch for my basement door. The security screws that hold the deadbolt catch are so long that you have to drill into the foundation. No problem at all with this drill. The other thing I love about this drill is the ease in tightening the bit onto the drill. With one hand you can tighten the drill bit...like I said I am in love. I would recommend this package to anyone in the market for a new drill set. A+.

Sweet deal, hammer drill is very handy with alot of torque, first project was drilling with a 4" holesaw - prepare yourself for power !
I changed Impact from 1/4 drive to 3/8 square drive, very powerful with alot of torque (around 130 lbs)
I have a 2 year old 12v Dewalt dw051 Impact that is still going strong......I'm sold.
I would like to see more 3/8 square drive Impacts from Dewalt
other than the dw051.

I got one of these last year. I used it once routing 1/4" x 1/8" with a brand new bit. It overheated and refused to restart. Broken on the first day. I had it replaced but it's still very limited in it's applications, anything over 1/16 x 1/16 and I might as wel use one of my bigger routers. My router bits are Freud Industrial brand- excellent bits I would recommend to anyone, so that is not the issue.

I also purchased a Bosch 1617evs 2.25HP router and it refused to start on day 15 of use. Apparently too much sawdust is bad for it. Amazing engineering - sawdust is bad for a woodworking tool.

Rather than trying to solve my problem and get me a new router the Bosch technician was more concerned with insisting that they did not make the model in 11amps. Despite the fact that 11amps was clearly stamped on my router. After about 15 minutes of arguing with the Bosh technician he finally admitted that they had a known problem with sawdust and the switch.

Still relying on the past reputation of Bosch I purchased to more items- a router bit and 6" random orbital sander. Yes, I'm a glutton for punishment. Both mistakes.

The router bit was supposed to be a 1/2" solid carbide spiral upcut. When I made my first cuts with it I noticed it was only 3/8". When I called Bosch for a replacement the attitide of the service rep was - we can't do anything about that. And also insisting that my bit was really 1/2". They eventually - after about 30 minutes of arguing with the service rep- did agree to send me a new bit, if I made sure to return my bit. As if one of my pastimes is arguing with customer service reps so I can scam companies out of cheap router bits.

I was then foolish enough to purchase a Bosch 6" random orbital sander. It broke on the second day of use. I didn't ever bother to take it apart or find out exactly what broke, but part of the shaft that connects the sanding pad to the motor must have been involved because it had a bad wooble in it. I took it back and got a Porter Cable. This will be my last purchase of any type of Bosch product.

I was lucky enough to have purchased the tools (except the router bit) at Western Tool Supply, which has excellent customer service and helped me replace or exchange my lemons.

The router is good to use if you do not have to change the bit often. Pushing and holding in the locking mechanism as you loosen the collet is a challenge. If you tighten the bit "too tight", you might as well say "foget it" and just weld the bit to the motor because you are not going to remove the bit.

I use my round-over bit all of the time within the router. I keep the base at the right height so that I don't have to keep fussing with the settings when I use it again. Although, when you place the router within the case, you have to reduce the base to make it fit. This means the settings are messed up again. The design of the case does not give you the flexiblity to leave the height as is.

Overall, so-so router. There are many others out there, I would keep looking.

I agree with the previous review that the base is not exactly perpendicular to the bit. This can cause some problems if you are doing precision routing. I may have to come up with a shim and raise one side of the base plate to compensate for this error. What a PITA!!!

I'm looking for a collet that will accommodate 1/8" bits. Anyone have any ideas? I tried the 1/8" collet from the RotoZip but the thread pattern did not match the Colt's. (UPDATE: I tried a 1/8" collet from Ryobi one+ Speed Saw and it fit perfect!!!)

Besides these setbacks, this is one nice hand-held router. The motor has a soft start which prevents the initial kick. Variable speed is a nice bonus when using different size bits. The barrel feels very comfortable in my palm and is easy to maneuver -- points for safety. Bit change is a breeze with the spindle lock.

Great for making dovetails, mortises and pattern cutting.