We’ll admit it: we’re always tempted to dismiss out-of-hand any drill that’s this pretty.  But when we tore into the new SC1400 lithium-ion drill from Black & Decker, we discovered it holds a few surprises for those willing to look more than skin deep.  For a drill that looks like it came from the shop where they built the cars for The Fast and the Furious, the SC1400 packs a wallop. 

Read on for our hands on experiences with this slick-looking drill.

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Have you ever wanted to feel like the Toolmonger version of James Bond, pulling out the perfect tool for the job — the job of cutting a lime at a cocktail party or opening the mail at the office?  If so, we’ve found the knife for you: Case’s bone damascus peanut.  It’s beautiful, it’s functional, it’s even a bit rare, and best of all: it’s affordable.

Read on past the jump for our hands-on experiences carrying the damascus peanut for a few weeks.

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When we first saw these a while back, we called them “screwdrivers designed to do all the things you’re not supposed to do with a screwdriver” — like hammering, prying, and generally destroying things.  We also knew that we needed to get our hands on a set to see if they’re really as sturdy as they look in pictures.

And what better way is there to test a demolition screwdriver than to break s#!% with it?  That’s exactly what we did.  The results: we hate to use the word “unbreakable,” but these are some tough-ass screwdrivers.  Read on past the jump for some serious first hand abuse and lots of pictures. 

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With four-wheel independent suspension, four-wheel disc brakes, and an optional Caterpillar 3-cylinder diesel engine, think of Cub Cadet’s latest 4×4 utility vehicle as the ultimate ranch runabout or hunting camp transport.  Of course, living in North Texas as we do, these vehicles are all the rage, so we thought we’d take a swing by our local dealer to have a look — and a drive — for ourselves.

Read on past the jump for our hands-on experiences as well as lots of great pictures.

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Sold by Woods under the YellowJacket brand, this little gizmo is the pinnacle of cube-tap evolution, plain and simple.  It turns a single extension cord outlet into five, and locks itself onto the cord that feeds it.  There’s one lock for the inlet and a second lock for one outlet, so you can insert this at the junction of two cords and they won’t come apart. 

Look for more pics after the jump.

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Based on a Toolmonger comment we read a while back, we decided to pick up a set of Irwin’s (semi-)new self-adjusting wire strippers, so we thought we’d give you a look at ‘em as well.  In short: They rock.  They’ve quickly become the wire stripper of choice in the TM shop.

Read on past the jump for our hands-on experience and some detail pictures.

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Like most power tools these days, you can find at least a couple of routers in the product lines of any major manufacturer.  But after testing a couple of Bosch’s winners this year — the PS20 and I-Driver in particular — we decided to check out the Bosch Colt when we needed a small but powerful router for the shop. 

Besides its reasonable $120 price point, we chose the Colt because it’s quite powerful for its size.  With an available 1 HP and variable speed, we had pretty high expectations.

The Colt didn’t disappoint.  Read on past the jump to see how it did in our testing.

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There are tons of different jigsaws lining the shelf at your local big-box, and every one of them is at least twice as expensive as the Task Force Orbital Action Jigsaw.  When we saw the Task Force at the local big box proudly wearing its “under $20” tag, we decided to find out whether or not it could get through some hardwood on a typical project, and we shelled out a few bucks to find out.

The result: surprising.  Read on past the jump for our experiences with the Task Force Orbital Action Jigsaw — and lots of pictures.

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While at first glance Skil’s new iXO2 — the second-generation of Skil’s entry into the low-cost li-ion cordless screwdriver market, the iXO — doesn’t look that much different from its predecessor.  But, after a little hands-on time around the Toolmonger shop, we’ve come to notice some significant improvements. 

Let’s start, however, with things that remain the same: The iXO2 is a li-ion-powered, 3.6-volt driver that fits in the palm of your hand.  Like other small household drivers, the iXO2 isn’t designed for heavy lifting but instead for more day-to-day tasks.  And, at less than $40 street, it doesn’t cost heavy, either.

Read on past the jump for our experiences with the improved iXO2 — and lots and lots of pictures.

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Before anyone tells us in comments, we’re completely aware that the MAKE Warranty Voider is a Leatherman Squirt E4 with MAKE’s logo and title screened on it.  MAKE makes no effort to hide that fact, even going as far as shipping it in the original Leatherman box.  So, you can consider this a hands-on both with the Warranty Voider and the E4.  And, (as we’ve said before) we’ll happily pay a few bucks extra for the addition of the phrase “Warranty Voider.”  How cool is that?

Read on past the jump for some hands-on time with an extremely cool pocket tool.

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The folks at iRobot tell us that the idea for the Dirt Dog originated with existing Roomba customers.  “If I can have a personal robot that vacuums my house for me, why can’t you make me one that cleans my garage or my shop?” they asked.  Thus was born the Dirt Dog.  Think of it as a Jeep with a lift kit and knobby tires compared to the Roomba’s Toyota Camry.

Of course, having not owned a Roomba, we were more than a little skeptical about whether or not the ‘Dog could handle the rough outdoors.  iRobot was kind enough to loan us one to test in person — and test it we did.  How’d it fare?  Surprisingly well.  Read on past the jump for details and lots of pics.

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RIDGID’s gone back-to-basics with a quality “compact” 6-1/2″ framing saw targeted squarely at the jobsite — no fancy lasers other bling, just an easy-to-use, durable saw.

Astute readers will recognize this as the saw we’re giving away.  RIDGID was kind enough to send one over for testing, and despite the fact that it was about two degrees above absolute zero here yesterday, we unboxed it and gave it the once over in the shop.  Read on past the jump for our hands-on review.

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We’re out in the shop so much that on occasion some things in the homestead go unattended – things such as small cracks in the drywall.  Little cracks are normal as the lumber in a new home dries, but they can get out of hand if you don’t nip them in the bud.

My bud-nipping today comes in the form of the Dap Patch Stick.  Remember how your friends always recommended putting toothpaste in the holes in your dorm room/apartment walls to avoid fines?  (Always use Colgate — not green Crest as one of our a-bit-dim friends did.)  The DAP Patch Stick claims to work the same way, but with professional results.

I decided to give it a try because I didn’t feel like getting out that spackle and texture just to fix a couple of little cracks.  Also, I’m lazy.

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Dyson makes great uprights — just ask Sean.  He says that nothing (at least nothing legal for sale over-the-counter) gets dog hair out of carpet better.  Now Dyson’s entered the handheld arena with their new Root 6, described as “the only handheld that doesn’t lose suction.” 

But when a friend described the Root 6 to us as a “mini shop vacuum,” we knew we had to find out what it’d really do — or not do — even if it meant a sacrifice.   

A note to readers: Don’t do this to your Root 6.  Really.

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Sean and I carry pocket knives every day.  Well, every day we’re not going to the airport, in which case we ship one in our checked luggage so we can have it on the other end.  Think of them as the ultimate man’s security blanket.  There’s just something comforting about having your good ‘ole pocket knife with you.  We use ‘em, too.   From slicing open the mail to cutting wire and digging stuff out of the shop vacuum filter, we use ‘em hard. 

So when Case suggested that we put aside our beloved daily-carrys and try out some of their new stock for a few weeks, we jumped at the chance.  Then it sank in.  Remember when Charlie Brown hid Linus’ blanket?  Yeah, that’s us.

Then the package arrived, and we opened it up to find two shiny-new W.R. Case Red CVs.  How do you get the attention of a couple of tool writers?  Send ‘em two knives with chrome vanadium blades and red bone covers.  Half our shop is red and/or CV.  Nice.  Instantly it was out with the old and in with the new.

Now after two weeks of daily use and abuse, we’ve got lots to say.  Read on to see how they fared.

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What can we say?  We’re big Foose fans, both for his incredible work and his incredible art.  Some people can draw pretty pictures of cars, but how many of them can actually build the car such that it looks just as crazy as the illustration?  Foose.  That’s about it.

So when we heard about MAC’s Foose-branded special edition tool kit, we had to see it.  And see it we did.  Wow.  We’re totally blown away.  So many celebrity collectors’ kits are just completely impractical; They’re either designed in such a way that the prettiness wears off if you use them or they’re full of tools for which you have no need whatsoever.  While it’d have been so easy for MAC to just slap Foose’s hot-item name and graphics on a kit and shove it out the door, they really put some time into selecting the tools.

Let’s get that out of the way right up front: The selection of tools in this kit is so well thought out that it’d make a killer starter kit for anyone looking to get into automotive work.  The tools themselves are absolutely first class quality, too.  This is the ultimate Christmas present for your tool-loving spouse or friend.

Update: Some readers asked where exactly these tools are manufactured.  They’re manufactured overseas to the same spec as the MAC tools manufactured here in the US, and the ones we saw at the facility were there for quality control checks, which are performed here.  We’re speaking with the actual engineer in charge in the next day or so, but the early word seems to be that they were sent out mainly because they didn’t want to tool up for the one-off special finish.  My take?  This is a helluva deal for some great tools.  They look and feel just like the other MAC tools we’ve used, and we can attest that they’re quite durable.  More soon.

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We’ve owned a number of portable jump start units, but we were really impressed with Husky’s new offering — which not only serves as an effective starter, but also adds a 400W inverter, an air compressor, and a 12V power outlet.  If you’ve been thinking about buying one of these, read on for our hands-on impressions and lots of photos — this unit impressed us, and it’s quite affordable.

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