Recently we were testing some hole saws in the Toolmonger shop, and we managed to get a giant, circular hunk of two-by-four stuck in a saw. After some thought we ended up removing the chunk with a small drill bit and a large common screwdriver, but we started wondering if any of you have a better solution.

I found some interesting tools that could’ve helped — a slug ejector for $12 and a hole saw hook for $5 — but waiting for a tool to ship would’ve been downtime with no hole saw.

What would you have done? Let us know in comments.

Macro Hole Saw [Flickr]
Slug Ejector [Qk-Saw Store]
Hole Saw Hook [mytoolstore.com]

As featured recently on Toolmonger, the SawStop table saw features a safety system that starts by inducing an electrical signal onto the blade. If your fingers (or any other part of your body) come in contact with the blade, the signal changes and the blade retracts within milliseconds, leaving your fingers with only a scratch. SawStop currently offers only one product, the table saw, but they’re working on some other stuff. These two quick videos give a first look at future SawStop products.

Note to viewers: imagine that the hot dog is your favorite finger.

SawStop [Corporate Site]

If you want a power tool in a color other than Delta gray, Jet white, Ridgid orange, or Hitachi “aggressive” green, WoodWerks can help. They’re selling the Powermatic PM2000 cabinet saw with options that include not only custom paint, but custom knobs and a custom name plate. And the PM2000 won Fine Woodworking’s Editor’s Choice for Cabinet Saw in 2006 — so you know your saw’s beauty is more than skin-deep.

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What do you mean you don’t own a miter saw? Well, it’s hard not to own one now, with this steal/deal over at Amazon on Hitachi’s C10FCE2 10″ compound miter saw: $100 with free shipping. The 15A motor pumps out 1,950 watts of power for a top speed of 5,000 RPM.  Sporting that “aggressive” green Hitachi coloring, the saw features a 4″ tall pivoting fence, rubberized grip for reduced vibration, clamping vice to lock down your material, dust bag, and a carbide blade.

If you want even further savings on this model, check out the refurbed link where you can pick this up for $64 plus shipping.

C10FCE2 10″ Saw [Hitachi]
Via Amazon (B000V5Z6RG) [What’s This?]
C10FCE2 Refurb [Reconditioned Sales]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

The AVT in Makita’s AVT line of tools stands for Anti-Vibration Technology. The AVT tools work on the same principle as a boxer engine in a motorcycle: a mechanism inside the tool propels a counterweight that balances the force of the tool’s stroke. In addition to giving the user a much smoother experience, the technology also increases the efficiency of the tool, because it isn’t jolted all around while it’s cutting or pounding or whatever. Toolmonger has featured the AVT jackhammer — and of course, we’d all love to use a jackhammer at least once. But now the AVT technology is also available in a tool your average Toolmonger can get some use out of, a recip saw.

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Just when you thought your multi-talented angle grinder couldn’t get any “multi-talented-er”, along comes the Grizzly Industrial angle grinder stand. This cool grinder accessory effectively turns your 4-1/2″ angle grinder into a mini metal-cutting chopsaw.

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Sometimes a hacksaw just won’t cut it — it can be too large to fit into small spaces. For confined spaces you could use a blade holder with a naked hacksaw blade, but it’s difficult to keep the unsupported blade from bending. To solve this problem, Headway Innovations designed the Boa Versa Saw. The Versa Saw incorporates into the handle a spring-loaded sliding frame that supports the hacksaw blade close to the cut.

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The long wait for the Festool sliding miter saw may actually be over. Distributors are taking pre-orders, and they expect the tools to arrive by early July. But some Toolmongers may still be a bit skeptical, and rightfully so — Festool first teased us with the KS 120 about a year ago, and since then we’ve only had a few pictures and wishful thinking to go on.

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Amazon’s offering another deal/steal, this time on the Lenox 10-piece plumber’s hole saw set, for $33 with free shipping. The set includes six bi-metal saws in sizes 3/4″, 7/8″, 1-1/8″, 1-1/2″, 1-3/4″, and 2-1/4″, which are the most common sizes in plumbing applications. It also comes with a plastic case, two arbors, an arbor adapter, and a pilot drill. Lenox welds the high-speed, steel teeth to a spring steel backing — their patented bi-metal technology means a longer life for your saws.

Lenox [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Small spenders take note: Ryobi has added lithium-ion power to their low-buck One+ system, dramatically increasing the line’s potential and raising the bar significantly for affordable cordless power tools. You’ll find several combination sets on store shelves now — all featuring the new batteries plus a retina-burning, high-visibility green color scheme.

For today’s test, we snagged a four-piece set — the “Ryobi One+ 4-PC Lithium Power Tool Kit,” which includes a charger, two batteries, a drill/driver, a reciprocating saw, a circular saw, and a worklight. Wondering just what $300 buys you in a four-piece li-ion combo? Read on past the jump to find out.

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Just like your high-school wood shop teacher taught you: the table saw must be respected, because a moment of inattention can lead to a serious injury — unless you’re cutting with a SawStop. The SawStop employs sophisticated electronics to detect the difference between wood, flesh, and, apparently, hot dogs — and it turns what could be a serious injury into a nick or a cut.
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As if you weren’t already getting great bang-for-your-buck from your Ryobi tools — now they’re offering reconditioned tools through their official web distributor, at about 30% off retail prices. I’ve purchased a few items from them, and they were all in like-new condition. The only thing distinguishing these from brand-new is the “RECON” branding somewhere on the tool. They even carry a one year warranty.

If you have the One+ system, you can pick up some very nice additions for cheap, like the 18V angle grinder for $28 — nice!

Reconditioned Ryobi Tools [Gardner Inc.]

Congratulations, everyone! Our tools now come equipped with laser beams — we’re officially in the future. Many drill presses, circ-saws, miter saws, and even some wacky hand tools now feature lasers for precision work. It seems manufacturers are anxious to put as many laser beams on their products as possible. I’m sure we’ll see a hammer that shines a laser on the head of a nail by year’s end. But do these high-tech beams of light really help?

I recently acquired a jigsaw that had a laser on it. I thought is was a bit weird, since lasers shoot straight and jigsaws are meant to cut curves — but I tried it out. Although it seemed to work at first, I wound up watching the laser instead of the blade, and my cut started to wander.

My Ryobi drill press also sports a laser. Although the laser crosshairs can be useful, I have to realign it almost every time I use the darn thing. On the other hand, I used to cut granite commercially on a large wet-saw, and my cuts would’ve been horrible had I not had a laser to align them.

So, are laser alignments hot or not? Do you have a tool with a laser? Which one? Do you use the laser, or does it just get in the way? Let us know in comments!

Saws With Lasers [Google Products]
Drills With Lasers [Google Products]

Enlarging a hole can present a tricky problem, whether it’s an existing hole that needs enlarging, or somebody made an “oops” and used the wrong size hole saw. How do you center the hole saw at the same location and keep it from wandering? This question drove the engineers at Starrett to develop the Oops Arbor.

As long as the new hole is 3/16″ larger than the old hole, you can use the Oops Arbor to pilot the larger hole saw with a second hole saw the size of the original hole. The Oops Arbor’s 1/4″ shank replaces the normal pilot bit for most hole saw mandrels and accepts both 1/2″ and 5/8″ threaded cutters.

You can get the Oops Arbor for as little as $6.  What’s it worth to be the hero next time somebody makes an Oops?

Oops Arbor [Starret]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Bosch is expanding their SpeedWave line of wheels with the addition of a 7-1/4” blade with a diamond arbor knockout — it works well with an angle grinder, and also with any worm-drive circular saw.

It features the same highlights as other blades in the line, including a wave-shaped ridge along both sides of each segment, to reduce blade friction and drag. The streamlined design also helps clear dust faster for better overall performance. Though they’re designed for cutting cured and reinforced concrete, brick and masonry materials, and roofing tile, they’ll also get through wood without much difficulty.

No confirmed word on what the new 7-1/4” blades will run — but looking at the 7″ variety as a guide, numbers north of $100 aren’t out of the question.

SpeedWave Diamond Blade [Bosch]

First thing after purchasing a shiny new circ-saw, most guys toss the blade in favor of a higher quality rig. Talk to any framing guy or contractor, and that’ll almost always be true. Skil’s new contractor series blades might actually entice you to try a few cuts with it.

The new blades incorporate a thin-kerf design which results in a faster cut versus fat-body blades.  “J”-hook expansion slots allow the blade to dissipate heat during cutting, which helps the blade run straight and true. The anti-stick coating also reduces heat, friction, and binding, for smooth, easy cutting.

It’s not earth-shattering news, and you can certainly find other blades out there right now that fit this description — but it’s nice to know that you might not have to blow $12 on a new blade right out of the box when you purchase a new Skilsaw this year.

Skil says these will ship to stores this month, and they should be priced competitively with others in the same class.

Skil [Corporate Site]

L.C. Miller’s air-powered hacksaw, the Tigair, offers all the quick-cutting convenience of a reciprocating saw, without some of the recip saw’s shortcomings.  For instance, it won’t get damaged if it bogs down; it makes fine burr-free cuts with a common hacksaw blade; and you can even operate it underwater or in flammable environments.

At about 2″ wide, 6″ tall, and 16″ long, the Tigair packs a lot of power in a small package –  it runs at speeds up to 1,200 spm.  It cuts with standard high-speed hacksaw blades or modified reciprocating saw blades, and it weighs about 5-1/2 lbs, so you can maneuver it easily, even one-handed.  The Tigair requires 6-1/2 cfm at about 90psi, so you can power it with a moderately sized air compressor.  L.C. Miller doesn’t list a price, but if you’re interested you can request a quote.

The Tigair [L.C. Miller]