We salute Senco for taking another big step toward leaving the compressor at home with its new AirFree nailing system. The system combines a 12-volt battery with a patented belt-driven piston system for a new way to drive nails. Senco introduced an 18-gauge brad nailer (the AirFree 25) and a 15-gauge angled finish nailer (the AirFree 41) at the International Builders’ Show in February. A 16-gauge finish nailer (the AirFree 32) is expected this summer.
The AirFree’s battery-powered piston drives a nail with a single blow, then quickly recoils while you position the tool for the next nail. It fires fast and consistently, driving up to 1,000 nails on a single charge, and has the power to sink nails into hardwoods and engineered materials. It may not be as fast as a pneumatic nailer, but it seems fast enough to keep you nailing instead of waiting to nail.
The tool bodies are made from high-impact ABS plastic. The brad nailer weighs about 6 pounds and will sell for around $300; the finish nailer weighs about 7.5 pounds and retails for about $350. Both tools come with depth-of-drive adjustments, belt clips, and no-mar tips. Look for Senco to build on this technology for years to come. For more information, contact Senco Products, 800-543-4596; www.senco.com.
Ridge Tool Co.
How long does it take you to sweat a joint in copper pipe? No matter how fast you solder, you’d probably have a tough time keeping up with Ridge Tool Co.’s Ridgid ProPress CT400.
Traditional joint-sealing methods require the application of heat and solder to a sweat joint. With the ProPress, you simply fit pipe and fitting together, place the jaws of the crimper around the joint, and squeeze the trigger. Four seconds later, the joint’s sealed.
The ProPress exerts 17,000 to 35,000 psi (depending on pipe size) of force on a special copper fitting, which is lined with an elastomer gasket. The pressure and elastomer form a watertight seal. Ridge Tool claims the elastomer gaskets will last longer than the actual pipe.
The Ridge crimping tool sells for $2,249 and includes jaws for crimping pipes from 1/2 inch to 2 inches in diameter. Additional jaws for joining 2-1/2-inch to 4-inch pipe are available separately. The tool is available at professional plumbing supply houses and tool distributors. For more information, contact Ridge Tool Co., 888-743-4333; www.propresssystem.com.
Handspring
In keeping with our ever-broadening definition of construction “tools” we’re giving our first high-tech Editors’ Choice Award to Handspring for its Visor Prism personal digital assistant (PDA).
What sets the Prism apart from other handheld organizers is its Springboard expansion slot that turns your PDA into a digital camera or GPS unit. All the Springboard attachments are plug-and-play. Plug the camera in and start shooting photos. It’s that easy to start documenting your jobsite progress for your files, or keep clients up-to-date with e-mailed images.
Because Handspring PDAs use Palm-based operating systems, they can communicate with Palm Pilots. The USB cradle connection makes the interface to your desktop computer fast and easy; the cradle also recharges the unit’s lithium ion battery. The Visor Prism costs $299. The Eyemodule 2 camera accessory costs $149. For more information, contact Handspring Inc., 650-230-5000; www.handspring.com.
Stabila
Tall walls and short levels don’t make for a good match. Stabila developed its extending Plate Levels to reach higher top plates, so you can plumb tall work accurately and easily. The levels come in two sizes: The 6-footer extends to 10 feet, and the 7-footer reaches 12 feet.
Each tool is built with Stabila’s trademark quality. The levels feature fully-sealed, box-frame bodies made of high-strength, reinforced aluminum. The aluminum extension rails are marked with various plate heights for quick adjustment. A soft brake holds the extensions out before you lock them so they won’t slide back down and pinch your fingers. The levels also have metal stand-offs at each end that hold their bodies away from the framing to accommodate for bent or warped lumber.
Stabila claims accuracy is within 1/32 inches over 72 inches compressed and 1/16 inches over 72 inches when the tools are extended. These levels also have Stabila’s time-proven epoxy-locked vial system, which never needs adjustment. The 6-foot model costs $219; the 7-foot model costs $249. For more information, contact Stabila, 800-869-7460; www.stabila.com.
Re-Bats
This product’s money- and time-saving abilities won it an Editors’ Choice Award. North Carolina builder Mark Yancey was tired of paying a carpenter to sharpen 2x4s and then pummel them into the ground with a sledge hammer to site the corners of a new house. Re-Bats were born in a moment of inspired frustration as Yancey watched another cracked 2×4 being pounded into the hard ground.
The Re-Bat (re-useable batter board) is simply a 3-foot-long, three-prong steel spike with a sleeve that vertically holds a 2×4. Pound three of these into the ground (even in clay soil) with a sledgehammer, slide in the 2-by vertical pieces, nail up your horizontal batter boards, and you’ve got a corner ready for layout and stringlines. Once you’re done with the site work and foundation, simply pull the Re-bats out of the ground and store them until the next job.
Before he came up with Re-Bats, Yancey generally used about 30 2x4s to lay out a house. Besides buying the 2x4s, he also paid for labor to cut and set them. He says a complete set of Re-Bats will pay for itself in about six buildings. Re-Bats cost $35 a piece or $100 per corner (you need three per corner.) For more information, contact Re-Bats Inc., 704-483-8779; www.re-bats.com.
Marshall Tools
Noel Marshall was a carpenter in County Cork, Ireland, who got stuck building a brick wall. Like we said, he was a carpenter. As he buttered bricks and slopped mortar all over the place, he got frustrated setting and re-setting bricks. The wall came together, but so did an idea for an easier way to work.
Marshall’s tool, the Bricky, is the masonry equivalent of a woodworking ig; it speeds application of the mortar bed. After laying the first course normally, the Bricky then rides on top of each new course, enabling you to apply a perfect bed of mortar–horizontally and vertically–with no slop. It also eliminates the need for using a line, level, and mason’s hammer. Marshall says this super-efficient mortar application can double your bricklaying speed and increase the quality of your work. And there’s no need for secondary pointing.
The tool is fitted with two bubble vials so it sets up perfectly and leaves properly spaced bricks every time. It’s suitable for single and cavity wall construction and works on block walls, too. You can also use it to set corners on your walls. The Bricky sells for $70. For more information, contact Marshall Tools Ltd., 631-289-8863; www.brickytool.com.
Sutherland Tool
When you see Sutherland Tool’s Bevel Boss, you’ll probably be upset that you didn’t think of it yourself. At least that’s what we thought.
The Bevel Boss translates angles from your sliding bevel square into a real-number angle so you can set your saw angle to match. Mac Sutherland designed it for boat builders, but it’s a big help to finish carpenters and anybody on site that needs to find an angle. It also has a 3-inch end rule that’s great for setting bit depth on a router or blade height on your table saw. The miter scale is precise down to the 1/4-degree. The black-line tool etchings are crisp and easy to read, and you can mark your own angles onto the face with a pencil.
The 12-inch-long device is made of .040-inch thick #420 surgical-grade stainless steel, and is marked on the backside in 1/16-inch increments. We like this tool because it’s a simple, precise, and useful solution to everyday needs. The Bevel Boss costs $30. For more information, contact Sutherland Tool, 877-472-7717; www.sutherlandtool.com.
Milwaukee Electric Tool
We like it when engineers respond to the way we actually use tools in the field. And we’re happy to say that the engineers who designed Milwaukee’s new Max BodyGrip 5615-21 router really “got it” when they came up with this new tool.
The BodyGrip’s contoured palm grip lets you grasp the body comfortably with one hand, which gives you a better “feel” for the tool, and provides more control, as you move through your work. An adjustable Velcro strap gives you a secure grip. There is a standard left-side knob for two-handed operation, and a D-handle accessory is available.
The router’s new depth-adjustment system is user-friendly and accurate, and the height-adjustment lock looks pretty reliable. Milwaukee’s BodyGrip has a 6-inch base and comes with 1/4-inch and 1/2-inch self-releasing collets. The 11-amp motor spins at 24,000 rpm. It costs about $200. For more information, contact Milwaukee Electric Tool, 877-729-3878; www.heavydutytool.com.
Spec out Routers on ebuild, the Professional’s Guide to Building Products (TM).