Here’s a sweet deal from HomeDepot.com: All summer long, they’ll be shipping most power tools for free. According to Home Depot:

“The offer is valid on select tool purchases from 2/21/08 - 7/31/08 only. Offer includes: combination tool kits, drill presses, cordless drills, corded drills, impact drivers, screwdrivers, screwguns, sanders, polishers, grinders, hammer drills, chippers, breakers, lathes, staplers, planers, joiners, routers, recip saws, spiral saws, cut-off saws, circular saws, jig saws, band saws, worm drive saws, mitre saws, table saws, heat guns, nibblers, shears, stationary table saws and nailers. Offer excludes garden tools, plumbing tools and electrical tools.”

The offer also excludes certain package weights and sizes, and they won’t deliver to P.O. boxes, Alaska, Hawaii, or Puerto Rico.

Free Shipping Deal [Home Depot]

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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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.]

We’ve always said that if you can make a tool cordless — regardless of whether or not that’s a good idea — Ryobi’s probably offers one in their 18V One+ line.  Here’s one that looks pretty useful, though: the P410 random orbital sander. 

Granted, it’s probably not the ideal choice for all sanding — and it does look like the tool equivalent of Frankenstein’s wife – but when you just need to knock down a few fibers or correct a little imperfection, it’d be handy to grab this instead of digging out the extension cord.  And that overmold rubber GripZone up top looks pretty comfortable.

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TM reader ChaimWhite directed us to what’s apparently an upcoming release of a new tool line from Ryobi.  What is it?  We have no idea.  The website (link below) is currently active and shows a countdown to a release just less than a month away, but if you click through to play the accompanying Flash game, it’s all screwed up.  It appears to be some kind of trivia game, but all the questions and answers show up as “undefined.”

Maybe this is a stab at something like Halo 2’s pre-release viral marketing site.  Or maybe somebody just threw the switch a little early.  If you know any more of the story or anything about the new tool line, drop us a line.

Hypergreenbox.com [Ryobi]

Update: TM readers say the quiz works for them.  Maybe it’s a Firefox issue.

I knew a guy who had one of Ryobi’s special woodworking drill presses — known as the WDP1850 “Wood Drilling System” — back in the day, and I can’t help but wonder why Ryobi stopped manufacturing it.  With a “VersaTable” base that tilted for angled work and an accurately-marked fence, this was a true woodworking drill press as opposed to a re-purposed metal drill.

But it’s gone.  Amazon lists it but no sellers offer it.  Ryobi doesn’t mention it on their product page.  I even struck out checking eBay for one.  Maybe I’ll give Craigslist a look next.  It seems to me that this would fly off the shelves at Home Depot if it was priced halfway reasonably.

If you run across one, drop a comment.  If I’ve got the cash, I’ll jump on it, or if I’m too slow, I’m sure one of our readers would be interested.  And if you owned one of these, I’d love to hear your comments about it, too.

Via Amazon (Not In Stock, But Info Available) [What’s this?]

We’ve always been a little concerned about runtime on cordless angle grinders — and doubly concerned about Ryobi’s, considering the comments we’ve seen regarding the One+ line (both good and bad) — but you’ve really got to give Ryobi credit for their massive expansion of the line.  You can now get everything but the kitchen sink that’ll happily accept One+ batteries.

That said, maybe we’ll have to eat our words.  We have yet to test a cordless angle grinder.  I suppose it’s time to rectify that.

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Ryobi’s got an interesting take on outdoor power tools: Why buy and maintain a half-dozen engines when you’re only going to use one tool at a time?  With their Expand-It system you can purchase any one of a number of different Ryobi split-shaft string trimmers, then swap out the business end with any of a long list of accessories includinga brush cutter, edger, blower, cultivator, limb pruner, and hedge trimmer. 

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You’ve gotta love the way Ryobi’s adding everything but the kitchen sink to their 18V One+ line, including this new wet/dry canister vac.  What a great idea!  We’ve got a humongo-big wet/dry, but it’s a PITA to drag out just to clean up the car or pick up a small spill.  This looks great for that kind of thing, and if you’ve already bought into the One+ system via one of Ryobi’s low-price combo kit deals, you’re good to go.

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Featuring 215 drills and driving bits in a snap-open-and-fold-flat case, this looks like a pretty slick package for casual use around the home where it’s not as critical that you have the most high-dollar bits as it is that you have a variety — including the one that fits the project at hand.  Our favorite part: all those “pieces” aren’t mollys and screws — 115 of them are even drill bits.

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You’ve got to give Ryobi some credit for extending their One+ line well beyond the standard drill, recip, circ, and flashlight.  We’ve already written about their fan — a great idea — and now they’ve released a radio, too — both powered by the standard 18V Ryobi One+ batteries.

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Looks like Ryobi’s giving away a specially-painted Mustang as well as some tool packages.  Obviously the Mustang’s the grand prize.  First prize lets you select $2000 worth of Ryobi tools to outfit your shop.  Twenty-five second prize winners’ll receive a Ryobi P860 combo kit.  There are other prizes, too.

To enter you’ll have to cough up some personal information at ryobitools.com.  The contest runs until December 31.

“Drop The Top Sweepstakes” Official Rules [Ryobitools.com]

Like Skil’s “LaserX2″ — which we mentioned back in June – Ryobi’s new “dual-laser” circular saw projects two parallel laser beams to show not only the line along which the saw’ll cut, but also the area of material that’ll be lost to the blade.  (The area between the two beams represents waste.)  Ryobi’s calling this the “Exactline Laser Alignment System.”

Besides the abundance of lasers, this is essentially the same 7-1/4″ corded circular saw that they’ve offered for some time.  Features include a bevel adjustible from 0 to 51.5 degrees with positive stops at 45 and 51.5 degrees (”for compound rafter cuts,” says Ryobi), a spindle lock, a dust chute to facilitate vacuum hookup (for almost dustless cutting), and a 10′ power cord.

As usual, it’s available exclusively at Home Depot, currently for $69 according to their website.  That’s a little less than the Skil, though careful shopping puts them pretty much in the same cart.

The Dual-Laser Circular Saw [Ryobi]
“Street” Pricing  [Home Depot, which is chock full of the only place you can get Ryobi]

Here’s an idea we’re surprised more manufacturers haven’t thought of: a portable fan that’ll run off your tool batteries.  Ryobi’s P3300 portable fan is just that — a two-speed (1200/1400 RPM) fan that runs (a claimed) 6 hours on a single 18V “One+” series Ni-Cd battery charge.. 

It’s been an especially hot summer all over the country, and we’re sure you (like us) have been seeking any way at all to stay cool.  If you’re inside in the shop, you’ve probably got a couple of fans around.  But what if you’re out in the field — or even just in the driveway — where you’re out of reach of easy power?  Or what if you want to drag the fan around with you under the car?  This looks like the ticket.

We wonder how long it’ll be before we see other manufacturers adding this to their cordless lines.

We couldn’t find pricing for you yet, as the P3300 seems to have just barely hit the Ryobi website.  (In fact, the 360-degree view feature doesn’t seem to have been implemented yet.)  We can, however, tell you that you’ll find it at Home Depot — and probably only at Home Depot.  We’d also bet that it’ll be reasonably priced.  Say what you will about Ryobi, but don’t accuse them of overpricing.

The P3300 18V Portable Fan [Ryobi]

There’s a great article in the current issue of Woodworker’s Journal (the August issue) about bargain priced miter saws.  They review the gamut and select eight that they recommend.  Most of them were less than $300, and the list includes the:

• Bosch Model 3912
• Craftsman Model 21235 Professional
• Delta Machinery Model 36-322L
• DeWalt Model DW715
• Hitachi Model C12FCH
• Makita Model LS1221
• Ridgid Model MS1250LZ
• and the Ryobi Model TS1551

Of course, you’ll want to read the article for the details.  They point out numerous feature differences between the eight they selected, and it’s quite informative.

And if you don’t have a miter saw in the shop, go get one.  They’re incredibly useful even in a small home shop or garage as they take most of the pain out of wood projects!

[Via Woodworker’s Journal]

A reader turned us on to this deal from Cummins Industrial Tools’ Amazon store.  Apparently they’re selling factory reconditioned versions of Ryobi’s 5 pc. “One+” combo kit, which includes a drill/driver, reciprocating saw, circular saw, wet/dry vac, and flashlight as well as two batteries and a charger for $149.99.

We did see a relatively negative comment on our post Monday regarding the “One+” system — and you might want to look at the comments on the Amazon store as well before jumping in — but that’s awfully cheap for that many cordless tools.

As always, YMMV with Amazon stores, and we’d also like to note that the link below is not a commission link.  That’s not how we roll; we just pass ‘em on.

Ryobi 5 Pc. 18V Combo Kit for $149.99 [Amazon/Cummins Industrial Tools]

In a cordless power tool industry that’s struggling to bring new battery systems to market, Ryobi’s taking a slightly different tack: they’re keeping their batteries the same, shooting instead to make it easier and more cost-effective for you to cut the cord on all your power tools.

Ryobi offers all tools in the “One+” series in both a “kit” form (with batteries and a charger) and in a “bare tool” form for use with your existing Ryobi 18V batteries/charger.  The “One+” concept is simple:  you can start out with one existing 18V Ryobi tool — or purchase a tool in “kit” form — then add to your collection inexpensively by purchasing “bare tools” to use with your exisitng accessories.

Combo kits are also available, though Ryobi encourages you to “roll your own” from their complete One+ line, which includes (among others):

• numerous drill/drivers and hammerdrills
• a right angle “close quarters” drill
• a laminate trimmer
• a 5-1/2″ circular saw (w/laser)
• a 10″ chain saw
• a variable-speed orbital jigsaw
• a variable-speed reciprocating saw 
• a rotary cutter
• an 8-1/4″ miter saw
• a caulk & adhesive gun
• a finish sander
• a nailer/stapler
• a flashlight
• a handheld wet/dry vac

Pricing on the “bare” tools and batteries is quite reasonable.  For example, a single One+ system battery sells for $24.99, and a 1/2″ variable speed cordless hammer drill sells for $49.97.  Ryobi offers a number of combo kits ranging from the ”starter kit plus” (drill, flashlight, circ saw, and sander) up to “the works” (drill, circ saw, recip saw, jig saw, chain saw, wet/dry vac, flashlight, and accessories).

If you’re considering jumping on the One+ bandwagon, Home Depot should be your first stop as they’re now the exclusive Ryobi source.  Your local store should have a variety of One+ tools in stock for you to check out in person.

The One+ Series Cordless Tools [Ryobi]
Ryobi Products [Home Depot]