We got a kick out of talking to the Milwaukee accessory guys a few weeks ago while attending their product symposium. It was almost a counterculture inside the rank-and-file of the power tool reps, and we’ve seen it at almost every manufacturer. “Those tools are nothing without a good bit at the business end.” They say it without fail wherever we go and they said it over and over at the product launch for Milwaukee’s Shockwave bits.

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This interesting-looking old drill press posted to the Toolmonger photo pool has us scratching our collective noggins. It’s obviously a belt-powered drill press of some sort but we have no idea what its original setup would have looked like.

The stock plate doesn’t have a hole in it, which to me says metalwork — though I suppose that’s not always true. The whole thing looks like it’s built for fine adjustment with the knobs at the spindle shaft, but the wheels at the rear are a bit of a question for me. Is the belt supposed to loop through them or is it for a second belt that controls the height?

We always find this type of shop mystery thought-provoking. We hope reader Ghb624 finds out how this rig is meant to be set up and what its original purpose was. Let us know what you think in comments.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

The sub-compact 3/8” drill market must be a place where Bosch and the few others were making a killing last year, because almost all the heavy hitters are rolling out with them this year — and Makita is no exception. The DF330DW should look very familiar to anyone that’s been scoping other models of the same class.

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Milwaukee unveiled their newest frontline products in the sub-compact cordless wars last week, and the M12 3/8” drill/driver was one of the first out of the gate. This offers a couple of insights:  first, this new drill is proof positive that Milwaukee has no plans to drop their M12 line;  and second, if you’ve been lamenting the limited choice of tools in this line, you’re in for a good year.

From everything we’ve heard, the big red “M” plans to roll out just shy of a dozen new tools in the M12 line alone this year. Their 3/8” drill is a great start. It features a 0 – 1,500 RPM high gear and 0 – 400 RPM low gear as well as a ripping 250 in-lbs of torque that’ll keep it in stride with the other competitors in its class.

With the rising popularity of the sub-compact lines in the market today, it seems Milwaukee’s going to bet heavy on little tools that boast large performance.  From a consumer standpoint we have to agree with that choice — we’ve reached for the high-end Li-Ion subs for the last two years, and they haven’t disappointed us yet. We can’t imagine the M12 3/8” will be any different. We got our hands on one for a short time at the recent Milwaukee event and it seemed very solid.

Pricing looks to be in the $130 - $150 range for the drill, charger, and two-battery set.  No word on what drill-only or combo kit pricing will be just yet, but we’ll keep you updated as rollouts occur.

Milwaukee M12 Line [Milwaukee Tools]

If a drill-powered hole saw seems like overkill for cutting holes in acoustical tile for sprinkler heads, you might rather use a hand-powered saw like this one from Marshalltown.

This lightweight saw quickly and accurately cuts  2-1/2″ holes in acoustic tile — probably with less mess than a powered saw, too.

Marshalltown’s acoustical tile saw runs about $13.

Acoustical Tile Saw [Marshalltown]
Acoustical Tile Saw [ToolDogs.com]

Depth stops like we recently mentioned don’t work with Forstner bits — or spade bits for that matter.   That’s where you need a depth stop like this one from Peachtree Woodworking Supply.  It works with bits up to 2-1/8″ in diameter with 3/8″, 7/16″, or 9/16″ shafts.

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Sometimes a bit extension will get you where you want to go, but it only works with limited shank sizes.  If you’re working with an incompatible shank, this chuck extender sold by Lee Valley Tools might just come in handy.

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Amazon has marked down the Black & Decker 12V Smart Select Drill to $40 — that’s a considerable drop from its original price of $155.  The drill comes with a battery, DC charger, and double-ended screwdriver bit, and Black & Decker backs it with a two-year warranty.  The drill also features the innocuous “smart select” images around the chuck, a visual representation of what each setting should be used for.

Via Amazon [What’s This?]
12V Smart Select Drill [Black & Decker]
Street Pricing [Google]

On the face of it, these general purpose 1/8″ cut-out bits from DeWalt are just another bit, but start reading about the features and one pops out at you — when cutting into walls, the bit’s left-handed spiral pushes chips and dust into the wall cavity rather than out into the room.  Less mess to clean is always a good thing in our book.

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Double-ended bits aren’t anything new, but we still like the concept — if you dull or damage one end of the bit, you just swap it end for end and keep on working.

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Imagine carrying just one set of bits to the job site whether you need to drill into metal, concrete, wood, tile, or a combination of materials.  Bosch brings that daydream into reality with their multiconstruction bits.

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Recently Kreg introduced this quick-change bit set for use with its pocket screw jigs. Personally I’ve never understood why these quick-change kits are so popular, especially with key-less chucks becoming so commonplace, but if you’re a fan, now you can quickly switch between drilling pocket holes to screwing boards together.

Kreg gives both the drill bit and the driver 3/8″ hex shanks that snap into their quick-change chuck.  One supposed advantage of the hex-shanked drill bit is that it won’t slip like a round-shanked bit can — but is slippage really a problem in this size bit with modern chucks?

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A kind reader tipped us off to this deal going on over at Woodcraft — they’re selling some of their router bits for $5 each!  The sale price is good on nine different styles of 1/2″-shank, carbide-tipped router bits, including dovetail, cove, rabbet, vee, ogee, and others.

$5 Router Bits [Woodcraft]

We’d like to assume that the funky-looking new SmartDriver is a flaming piece of plastic with little or no value to everyday life;  however that’s what we did with the original SmartDriver, and we were dead wrong. In fact, the one I got over a year ago is still in active service and going strong.

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If you need to drill a big hole in concrete, you’re probably looking at a core drill.  Not only do they make nice round holes, but you can reuse the core to fill the hole when you’re done doing whatever you needed to do on the other side of the concrete.  If you’re in a business like mud-jacking where you drill many holes a day, you could do worse than the Manta III Core Drill from MK Diamond.

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Rod Naylor designed this drill clamp to be part of his Supersharp Sharpening System — it lets you mount your electric drill to your bench and tilt it to any angle in any direction. Besides sharpening you can also use this setup for sanding, buffing, polishing, or anything else that requires you to move the work over a stationary tool.

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If you’re tired of changing the bit between drilling the pilot hole and driving the fastener, you can avoid all that bit-swapping with the Jack Rabbit Deluxe Set.  I’ve wanted to check this out ever since I saw Norm using it on the New Yankee Workshop.  Sure, you could just use an extra drill or two, but some of us are limited on space and don’t like the clutter.

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