Two weeks ago I attended the 65th annual National Hardware Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center to catch up on hand tools, ladders, and other hardware store items. Traffic at the show was up 20 percent from last year—a nice sign of increased consumer confidence as the market rebounds. Unlike trade shows dedicated exclusively to builders and pro tradesmen, this show isn’t full of major power tool brands or building material manufacturers, rather, it is the place to find improved faucet washers and quality pocket knives—among tons of paint sundries and the odd lawn flamingo.
For Tools of the Trade, the show is always a great chance to catch up on hand tool developments and to scout out the next generation of great tool inventions; you never know what you may find here.
Bosch, Skil, and Rotozip weren’t open exhibitors, but had a sneak peak room away from the show floor meant for store buyers. There I saw the latest 12-volt subcompact cordless tools from Bosch including the PS31 drill/driver with a 3/8-inch chuck, plus a few more goodies I can’t reveal until next month.
Skil showed off their laminate/hardwood flooring saw built for ripping and crosscutting flooring strips of various types and sizes. The saw has a 4 3/8-inch blade and rides on linear bearings along two rails to make wide crosscuts. The motor is made to last 100 hours of cutting, and the whole thing seems like a good deal at $159.
Rotozip has an expanding line of diamond cutting wheels for tile, metal, and even wood, and they have an interesting new right-angle grinder tool for cutting tile, stone, and backerboard. The grinder comes with its own special thin-kerf diamond cutoff wheel that has a “shoulder” to limit cutting to 3/4 inches deep—just right for removing tile and backerboard off a shower wall in one piece. The tool will also fit standard 4-inch diamond wheels. Look for it this fall, and remember, you heard it here first.
Estwing has an extra-large 21-inch version of their flat pry bar called the Handy Bar, and an entire line of Japanese-style cat’s paws made by Dogyu that now feature rubber shock-absorbing grips and a polished surface that reflects away some of the sun’s heat.
Starrett showed off a new plastic version of their Pro Site miter saw protractor that is lighter, more compact, and sells for half of the price of their metal model. Besides actual angle markings, the tool also shows the angles as represented on the miter scales of miter saws so no conversions have to be figured by the user.
SOG had their usual assortment of top-of-the-line hunting, tactical, and work knives, as well as an increased number of budget-friendly folding knives that you wouldn’t mind beating up on the job site. Sturdy, full-sized SOG folders, such as the Sogzilla are being offered for as low as $35. Another novel tool is a miniature pliers attached to a pocket knife that sells for around $20—a nice alternative to the bulk of a full-size pliers multi-tool for smaller jobs.
Gorilla Gripper has two new sizes of their panel gripping/lifting tool. The thinnest gripper works for sheet metal and thin plastic sheets, and the thickest will grab thick exterior doors. They let us in on a few other exciting products in progress too, but they are a bit too sensitive to reveal yet. As with all our exclusive sneak-peeks, we’ll let you know as soon as we can.
Klein has a new line of aviation snips with latches that automatically unlock when you squeeze them. The snips also have thick handle grips with soft rubber inserts for hand comfort. Also new to Klein is an entire range of scissors and shears that they added to their catalog when they bought Heritage Cutlery. From data com snips to long blueprint shears, Klein’s cutlery line is pretty extensive. Another new area of focus for the brand is their line of data com installation tools marketed for the part time user and sold at The Home Depot.
CH Hanson is expanding their hand tool selection after buying the Lock Jaw pliers brand. Besides the established locking pliers, the company also offers welding clamps and grooved water-pump pliers with the unique auto-sizing technology.
Vaughan’s latest hammers are the all-steel V5 design with a flat-topped head, magnetic nail starter, and a side-mounted nail puller. A similar curved claw 16-ounce version is the newest addition to this tough hammer line. With a new twist to the old standard flat bar, the Hook Bar has a curved prying head in place of the typical 90-degree end. The samples on hand still sported the since-changed “Hooker Bar” label which made me crack an immature smile—especially because we were in Las Vegas. Vaughan’s Dalluge brand of hammers and pry bars is also going strong with new titanium hammers filling out the line.
Positec showcased their latest corded power tool—a Worx electric chainsaw–in unforgettable style with a live outdoor demo that garnered a lot of attention. A group of renowned woman chainsaw carvers known as the Chainsaw Chix carved bears, owls, and fish out of logs in a tent located just outside the hall using the new saw. Always willing to talk chainsaws, I chatted with the Chix about their favorite carving bars, the advent of biodegradable bar and chain oil and the like.
Regarding the Worx saw, the gals said that this engagement was the first time they had used electrics in their carving work and that they were fairly impressed with the tool. Its claim to fame is the spring-loaded chain tensioning mechanism that doesn’t require regular adjustment once it is set. In brand news, Positec has switched their Worx brand to just lawn and garden equipment—no more building tools will be developed under the Worx name.
On the Rockwell tool side of the business, a new cordless combo driver made its appearance. The 12-volt subcompact tool combines impact and two-speed drill/driver modes. Even though it has two basic modes of operation, Rockwell refers to it as a three-in-one driver because it drives with clutch action, drills without clutch action, and impact drives.
Nail Jack extraction tools premiered their newest nail pulling pliers. In addition to the standard-duty Nail Jack, Nail Hunter, and Staple Hunter tools, the company had working samples of their heavier-duty professional model. This next generation puller features longer handles and forged construction that can really take a beating, according to the inventor. When they become available, we will get some out in the field and test them for our readers.
Coast continues to impress with LED flashlights that are getting brighter by the year. New LED technology allows for brighter, whiter light (at an affordable price) than ever before. Two pocket-sized standouts include the Pro-Series P7, and the wallet-friendly L7. The $100 P7 features milled aluminum construction, slide-action beam focusing, and two brightness settings to avoid blinding yourself when examining things up close in the dark. The LED puts out an impressive 200 lumens and is powered by four AAA batteries. The lightweight L7 for $40 has a plastic body, twist-action beam focusing, and puts out a respectable 112 lumens with three AAA batteries. The bulb life is expected to be 100,000 hours, and the L7 is claimed to produce 160 hours of light per set of batteries.
Three new “inventor tools” that I really liked include the Tough Horse flat-folding saw horse, the OlBastard wood scraper with a very easy and effective sharpener, and the Double V Square—basically a hinged triangular-type square that lets you transfer marks around corners.
And this brings us to my “COOLEST THING AT THE SHOW AWARD”: the SKATEPLATE rolling circ saw base by Woodman Tools. This base replaces the metal base on Skil and Bosch worm drive saws with a sturdy plastic base that has grippy polyurethane rollers at the front and back. The ball bearing guided rollers glide without dragging the base across the work surface. While these saws may not be used much on fine finish materials, an obvious benefit would be the ease at which the saw could cut across concrete surfaces for cutting control joints. Another major benefit is that the saw will roll in a straight line, so once you are on track on a long rip cut across sheathing, the saw should guide itself. This accessory base is interesting and shows promise so we will be testing it out in the field. As always, we’ll let our readers in on what we find in a future issue.
Michael Springer
This article originally appeared on TOOLS OF THE TRADE Online.
[...] TOOLS of the TRADEshow—NHS 2010 Edition | blog + news There I saw the latest 12-volt subcompact cordless tools from Bosch including the PS31 drill/driver with a 3/8-inch chuck, plus a few more goodies I can't reveal until next month. Skil showed off their laminate/hardwood flooring saw built for ripping and crosscutting flooring strips of various types and sizes. The saw has a 4 3/8-inch blade and rides on linear bearings along two rails to make wide crosscuts. The motor is made to last 100 hours of cutting, [...]