Milwaukee’s Sawzall practically gave the reciprocating saw market its name. And Milwaukee continues to evolve the recip saw into new, more specialized configurations like this one, which they call “The Hatchet.” In short: it has a 6-position pivoting handle. In staight-out mode you can grip it like one of those ever-popular straight-handled Japanese hand saws, or you can pivot it all the way down and grip it like a drill driver. Milwaukee claims that it’ll easily fit in between 16” studs.

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The Milwaukee 4208-1 Adjustable Position Electromagnetic Drill Press sounds like something NASA would use, doesn’t it? That’s not too far off the mark. It’s essentially a drill press with a magnetic base, allowing you to take the press to the work when you can’t bring the work to the press — perfect for drilling accurate holes into heavy ferrous metal surfaces.

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Work is always easier with some good tunes in the background, and Milwaukee (like other manufacturers) makes it easy to bring a boom-box to work: their job site radio runs off either 120V AC — with a pass-through so it doesn’t eat a precious spot on the power strip — or any of Milwaukee’s 12 to 28 volt power tool batteries.

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Today only, Amazon is offering this Milwaukee Thunderbolt 20 bit drill bit set for just $20.  It includes the following sizes: (2) 1/16″, (2) 5/64″, (2) 3/32″, (2) 7/64″, (2) 1/8″, 9/64″, 5/32″, 11/64″, 3/16″, 13/64″, 7/32″, 1/4″, 5/16″, 3/8″, and 1/2″.  All bits feature a thicker-than-usual “web” designed to reduced breakage and friction and penetrate faster — resulting in increased run-time on cordless drills.

Thunderbolt Set [Milwaukee]
Via Amazon [What's this?]
Street Pricing [Google Product]

As we wrap up glove week, we couldn’t help but include one pair of fingerless gloves: Milwaukee’s.  We suffered through our scary memories of 1980s fingerless driving gloves, reminding ourselves that these are work gloves — not something from 1983 that Eddie Murphy might wear — to bring you some quantitative test results.  Read on past the jump for our experiences and (of course) lots of photos. 

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Our next contestant in glove week is Milwaukee’s Contractor glove. Unlike other tool-branded gloves, the Contractors don’t have any other logos adorning their stitch-work. It’s red and black all the way with these babies. Read on for the results as we run them through the Toolmonger “gauntlet.”

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Bigger isn’t always better, and it looks like Milwaukee’s looking to offer a smaller, lighter 18V option for the V18 crowd.  Specifically, this new “Compact” drill features the same five-cell lithium-manganese battery chemistry as the V18 — minus the V18’s ability to interface with a battery reader — but weighs in at a svelte four pounds versus the V18’s 6.1 pounds.

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This week Milwaukee announced the first product in their new 12V sub-compact line: a tiny, high-torque driver aimed directly at electricians and other pros looking to put their mid-size drivers on a diet.  Of course, with this launch Milwaukee clearly draws a bead on Bosch’s successful PS20 — offering the first competition in the still-brand-new sub-compact category.

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There are a lot of ways to cut curved shapes out of flat sheet metal, and we’ve tried almost all of them.  Our favorite: a nibbler — a device that cuts by chomping out little bits very quickly.  The model pictured comes from Milwaukee, and it can handle steel up to 10 gauge at a whopping 8-3/4 feet per minute.

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If you’ve been waiting to take the lithium-ion plunge, now might be the time. Amazon’s offering this Milwaukee kit for $506, which is at the low end of street pricing even before you consider the $80 gift certificate they throw in. That’s a far cry from the $1175 MSRP!

Batteries are fully warranted for two years, pro-rated out to five years.  The tools are warranted for five years.  And the V18 lithium-ion batteries are tool-compatible with the old NiCd packs, though obviously they use a new charger.

Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What's this?] [Via]

Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation recently announced a safety recall of all 14.4V 2.4 Ah and 18V 2.4 Ah NiCd Battery Packs manufactured between 1999 and February 2004.  These batteries were originally sold under the Milwaukee Power Plus, Chicago Pneumatic, and Extractor brand names.  According to the recall document, the battery packs could explode if an over-pressure vent inside the battery pack becomes damaged during use.

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I know what you’re thinking: $100 for a flippin’ battery?  Yes, it’s a deal.  They normally run around $115 to $125 online (and even more in stores).  The good news is that they last quite a long time.  But if yours has gone the way of the dodo — or you just need another one — this is a pretty good price.

V28 Lithium-Ion Battery Pack [Milwaukee]
Via Amazon [What's this?]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

Amazon is currently offering a 20% instant rebate on all Milwaukee accessories, including recip saw blades, drill bits, batteries, chargers, and even Milwaukee’s awesome right angle drill attachment (pictured).  Follow the link below to see all the listings, and look for the savings at checkout.

Via Amazon [What's this?]

A powered chain hoist — like this 2-ton model from Milwaukee — makes heavy lifting tasks around the shop easy.  Attach it to a rolling frame (or a shop crane) and you can pick up almost anything in the shop up to 10′ high at 8′/min.

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I asked you to show me your tools, so I figured I’d better show you mine first.  This old Milwaukee portable band saw is a total lifesaver when you need to cut steel outside of the shop — or when you need to make a cut that’ll never fit into your standard saw.  My Dad picked this up used at a flea market about fifteen years ago, and I inherited it a few years back.

I’m always surprised at how few people actually own one of these.  I understand that there’s a stand available to turn it into a sort of mini-standard-band-saw, but Milwaukee wants about as much for the stand as they do for the saw itself.  Maybe I’ll get around to building my own at some point.

Anyway, now that I’ve shown you mine, you can show me yours via our new Flickr photo pool.  (You can see more pics of the portable band saw there, too.)

If you’ve been looking for a new heavy-duty cordless hammerdrill (like I have), you should know that CPO Milwaukee is currently offering refurbed Milwaukee 18V 1/2″ hammerdrill kits — complete with two batteries and a charger — for $190.  This model normally runs closer to $250 in refurb form, and they’re half-again that much new.  These are factory refurbished and carry new-tool warranty.

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If you’ve been looking for a pro-level li-ion cordless screwdriver, Milwaukee may have your number.  A few weeks ago they gave IBS attendees a preliminary look at their new V4 li-ion cordless screwdriver.  It’s one of the first “traditionally-shaped” cordless screwdrivers we’ve seen to incorporate li-ion and a pro feature set.

Besides the standard two-position handle, the V4 includes a two-speed gearbox (200 or 600 RPM) and a 21-position clutch.  (There’s a clutch-disabled “drill mode” for drilling small pilot holes.)  The battery is a 4V single-cell version of the V28’s 7-cell (and the 20V V18’s 5-cell) battery — a 3.0 Ah monster that should provide some pretty hearty runtime.

It’ll MSRP at around $110.  The only bad news: These won’t hit shelves until summertime, so you’re gonna have to stretch that old NiCd ‘driver a little farther.