GENERAL TOOLS DIGITAL T-BEVELGeneral Tools’ Digital Sliding T-Bevel is just what it sounds like: a bevel gauge with an electronic readout. When it’s used with a miter saw with a digital readout, its numbers can be quickly transferred to the saw. The tool is accurate to within 3/10 degree and will also give the reverse – or joining – angle. It has an 8-inch stainless steel blade and an ABS handle. It’s powered by a 3-volt lithium coin battery, but of course it can also be used to measure and transfer angles just like a standard T-bevel. |
LED LENSER P7 FLASHLIGHTOne of Europe’s bestselling flashlight brands has arrived on the U.S. market, thanks to Leatherman Tool Group’s April purchase of the German company that produces the LED Lenser. Most flashlights have either a lens or a reflector, but LED Lenser’s Advanced Focus System has both. It provides a focused beam for long distance and a wide spill beam for up close. You can easily switch from wide to narrow by using the thumb on your holding hand to slide the bezel in and out. The P7 model is 5-1/2 inches long and takes standard AAA batteries. A thumb-operated button toggles the light between three brightness levels: 30, 130, and 175 lumens. |
LENOX BI-METAL SPEED SLOT HOLE SAWGetting a stuck plug out of a hole saw is nobody’s favorite job. To make that task easier, Lenox put a stepped slot in the side of its Bi-Metal Speed Slot Hole Saw. The steps offer leverage points – three for large-diameter bits and one for small-diameter – for prying plugs up and out with a screwdriver. The walls of these hole saws are thinner than normal (like those of a thin-kerf saw blade) so it takes less power to drive them through the material. Saw sizes range from 9/16 inch to 6 inches in diameter. A number of kits are also available. |
BOSCH GLM 80 LASER DISTANCE AND LEVELING DEVICEYou expect a laser measuring device to measure distances and compute volume – but the Bosch GLM 80 does even more: It morphs into an electronic level when snapped into Bosch’s optional R 60 level body, and it will calculate the height of a remote object with just a single reading. To get the height of, say, a three-story building, you just set the device on the ground some distance away and tilt it up so that the laser “shoots” the eaves. The GLM 80 uses the laser, along with an internal inclinometer, to figure out the distance to the base of the building and the distance from the base to the eaves. |
MAKITA 18-VOLT DRILL/DRIVERMakita’s new LXFD01 1/2-inch drill/driver brings the number of tools that run off the company’s 18-volt LXT lithium-ion battery to 40. It also continues the industry trend toward more compact tools with greater power-to-weight ratios. At 3.8 pounds and 7-9/16 inches long, this tool is smaller and lighter than comparable 18-volt drill/drivers. Compared with its Makita predecessor, the tool delivers 30 more inch-pounds of torque, weighs 1/5 pound less, and is 7/16 inch shorter. |