It may look like just another angle grinder, and the motor spec certainly looks similar. But this tool’s designed with one purpose in mind: cutting through masonry in a nice straight line. Fitted with a 5″ segmented diamond blade, it’ll cut up to 1-1/4″ deep — perfect for trimming up concrete, brick, or tile.

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I have to admit, I’m not entirely sure how these work, but they look like something from the end of Inspector Gadget’s forearm. They’re for precisely torquing large bolts in tight spaces, apparently mounting on the end of a long handle and accepting hydraulic feed and return lines. Unless I miss my guess, an internal pressure regulator determines how much torque is exerted.

If anyone’s ever used one of these, what are they like? The baddest torque tool I’ve ever used was a 3/4″-drive impact wrench, which is probably a pushover compared to these suckers.

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Judging solely from what I can gather from the serial number on the headstock, my father’s Shopsmith — now pulling duty in my shop — was built in August of 1984. Almost exactly twenty-five years later it’s still going strong.

I mentioned a while back that my dad’s Shopsmith Mark V came to live with me on super-extended loan from the old man. Read: he’ll have to pry it out from under me to get it back. I left it be for a little while and started to read manuals and figure out what everything did.

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Craftsman’s 8-amp variable speed reciprocating saw is on sale right now in Sears stores and online for $59.88, about 25% off its normal price. The trigger-operated saw runs up to 2,500 strokes per minute with a 1-1/8 inch long blade stroke.

Recip saws are a Halloween favorite around here for carving out your favorite scary pumpkin face and making with the gourd carnage. And of course, you can wipe the slime off and use the saw for other things throughout the year, too.

Craftsman 8 Amp Reciprocating Saw with Soft Carry Bag & 3 pc. Blade Assortment [Craftsman]
How to Carve Pumpkins with Power Tools [ExtremePumpkins.com]

If you want to know how the welding supply industry is reacting to the cordless market, take a gander at the Trek 180 battery-powered MIG Welder. It’s awesomeness in a 52-lb. box.

We’re not saying this is meant to replace a larger shop model, and neither is Hobart. What the Trek 180 is designed to do is take care of small jobs when you are away from anything resembling civilization. The rig can run off its own 120 amp 17VDC battery or from an 115V power outlet with a 20 percent duty cycle.

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The name of this is “Improved Video Inspection System.” Improved from what? The cordless driver they used the case to make this?

This feels overpriced to me. Like the gun-style form factor will make up for all the things that the Milwaukee already does that this can’t.

The Milwaukee has more modes and better attachments along with the bad-ass battery system. Save your cash if you need one and find one with the white lighting bolt on the side. Just say’n.

Improved Video Inspection System [Garrett Wade]

DeWalt says their new 6-3/4″ metal-cutting circular saw can plow through up to 2″ conduit and pipe in a single pass. A stainless-steel shoe prevents rust and helps smoothly push chips away to keep them from tearing up your cutting surface, too. But is DeWalt’s 18V battery line enough to keep it running all day?

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To get a piece to fit an irregular wall, you can scribe the contour of the wall onto the work piece, make the cut with your jigsaw, touch it up with a belt sander, and check it against the wall — then repeat the process until you get it perfect or you give up and call it “good enough.”  Rather than go through all that trouble, the QuickScribe lets you cut the piece with a router in one step. (more…)

Fein added an interesting feature to some of the angle grinders in their WS 14 line; they replaced the switch with four touch pads — two in the front and two in the rear.

You start the grinder by touching one of the font pads and one of the rear pads. The grinder will continue to operate as long as you touch one of the four pads and will slow to a stop when you release it. Just so you don’t accidentally start it, you can lock the grinder off.

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Not many people are going to need a stainless steel pipe polisher, but the tool just looks really cool.  You can use Fein’s RS 12-70 to grind pipe welds, sand pipes to a satin finish, or polish pipes to a mirror finish and anywhere in between.

The variable-speed sander can drive the belt to speeds up to 22 m/s.  The belts rides on what I’m assuming are spring-loaded arms that allow the belt to flex around the pipe so you can surface all 360° of the pipe in only two passes.

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A diamond band saw is used for cutting glass, tile, and stone in a manner similar to a woodworking band saw. The blade is a diamond-bonded steel band that has a thin kerf and allows curves within the limits of blade flex. Unconventional Lapidarist has the Inland Diamond Band Saw on sale right now for $228.76.

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If you’re still using tapered wood screws instead of metal screws or drywall screws, then you might like taper point drills. The Fuller #8 Countersink Set includes five tapered drills for wood screw sizes 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14. Each drill has a countersink (1/2″ dia. for sizes 10, 12, and 14; 3/8″ dia. for sizes 6 and 8 ) held in place by two hex screws. But wait, there’s more — if you call now, you will also get 1/2″ and 3/8″ plug cutters, 1/2″ and 3/8″ stop collars, and two hex wrenches in a nice milled wood storage case all for $80.

W.L. Fuller has many other products and other countersink sets including some with hex-shank bits and a quick-release chuck adapter, if you prefer that approach. (TM has previously noted the Jack Rabbit, which is a combination drill/countersink/bit adapter.) All of Fuller’s countersinks and bits are 100% made in the U.S.A.

W.L. Fuller [Manufacturer's Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

A friend of the shop asked us recently what we thought about cheap circ saws. Our answer was to get whatever you can afford and rip it — mostly because having something that will do the job is better than nothing. Our friend went out to the Depot and snagged a brand new $35 Ryobi 7 1.4” 12 amp saw. He loved it.

The first thing he did is stuffed a $15 Freud 40-tooth finish blade in it and went to town. After about 20 hours of cutting he called us back and said it was the best cash he’d spent for the shop in as long as he could remember.

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Start your drooling: Grizzly recently introduced a sliding table saw with a footprint small enough to fit into smaller shops. Why would you even want one of these saws? For one, forget about complicated miter sleds, the whole 12-1/4″ x 39-3/4″ extruded aluminum table on the left side of the blade can slide.

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If you need to check drive pulleys to see if they’re out of alignment, one way to do it is to use the Gates Drive Align laser alignment tool.  It can show you if the drive pulleys are offset or angled with respect to each other.

Gates’ tool uses a 650nm (red) laser diode powered by a replaceable lithium battery which provides 20 hours of continuous use. It can be used on all automotive serpentine belt drives with four or more ribs.

The Drive Align Laser includes glasses that help you see the laser better, a bungee cord to secure the laser tool to the pulley, and an Allen wrench to align the light beam. The tool comes in a high-impact plastic carrying with space for the other accessories. Overall the Laser Drive Alignment Tool will run you at least $125.

Lazer Drive Align [Gates]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Weldcraft recently rolled out two Crafter Series TIG torches, the CS125A and CS200A. Weldcraft says the new lightweight bodies help minimize welding operator fatigue. Though anyone can use them, they look as though the designers had in mind pros that are going to have their hands on the torches all day.

Both torches feature Weldcraft’s D-Handle design, which allows the welder to orient the torch by touch and feel for a little more control. Both are air-cooled as well, which eliminates the need and expense for cumbersome water-cooled systems. The CS125A is rated at 130 amps DC and 100 amps AC. Its bigger brother, the CS200A, puts out 200 amps DC or 150 amps AC capacity and both pump out a 60 percent duty cycle.

From what we hear thus far, expect to see these torch bodies at the local welding supply shop soon with a buy-in price of about $50.

CS125A and CS200A [Weldcraft]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

If you’re into the Craftsman C3 combo set, now might be the time to pony up and pounce. Sears has the 19v C3 drill impact driver set on sale for $99 until the end of the week.

It’s not the latest gear and most certainly not the greatest on the virtual shelf, but the pair of them are good, solid pieces of gear that will certainly last a while around the shop or jobsite. It’s not a Li-Ion set but for around a C-note you really can’t expect it to be, either.

C3 Drill Impact Driver Combo Kit [Craftsman]