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Do you hate it when your drilling with an auger bit and you hit hidden nails in studs, joists, or sill plates? It hurts your wrist and probably breaks your bit too. The good folks over at Bosch came up with a new auger bit with a reinforced tip to eliminate that jobsite pain and aggravation, aptly called the NailKiller.

Bosch’s Nailkiller does this with an innovative reinforced tip that effectively pushes hidden nails to the side when the bit makes contact and allows a more aggressive part of the bit to cut through the fasteners. Kind of like a shark just chomping through your bones to eat the meat and guts. The result is that this auger bit lasts, on average, nine times longer than the market leading auger bit, states Bosch. Independent testing of the Nailkiller bits revealed that a 1 inch Nailkiller bit was capable of driving through up to 301 hidden nails, versus only 33 for the current market leader, when used with a right-angle drill.

Angle grinders can be used for anything from grinding metal, cutting tile, mortar, stucco and pavers to making intricate cuts for a tile backsplash, depending upon the type of disc you use with it. Wire brush attachments are great for removing rust and loose paint while special abrasive wheels can cut or grind steel.

Choose an angle grinder by the size of the disc, the type of power source they use and the amount of power you want in the motor. You can get a cordless angle grinder, electric or a grinder run on a gasoline motor. Discs run in size from four to seven inches. There are abrasive grinding discs, sanding discs, wire brush wheels, polishing pads and diamond blade cut off discs. Diamond discs are used for such things as tile, mortar and pavers. Wire brushes are used for taking off flaking paint and rust. Abrasive cutting wheels grind or cut steel. For home use, the four to four and a half inch size is the most common choice. If you need an angle grinder for your profession, then the size should be determined by the disc you need and what you will use it for.

We posted some video last year of Milwaukee's Diamond Cutting Blade, "The Torch" used to cut some cast iron piping that someone installed as railing once upon a time at our house. According to Milwaukee, the Torch diamond grit blades are designed to cut better in cast iron and feature coarse industrial diamond grit embedded in high strength nickel which enables the blades last up to 30 times longer and cut up to 2 times faster than traditional carbide grit blades.

As you can see from the photo, LENOX has their new diamond grit "Double Tang Reciprocating Saw Blade" especially redesigned for longer blade life and less waste when cutting through cast iron. Lenox says that their blades lasts twice as long as the existing LENOX DIAMOND reciprocating saw blades. Supposedly, Lenox's new double tang design provides high performance with less wasted cutting edge by using the portion of the brazed diamond grit edge that typically goes unused when cutting cast iron pipe. You can see how this works in the photo - the ability to flip the blade doubles the available cutting surface as well as the life of the blade. Hmmm ~ I think Milwaukee has some competition here.

Reciprocating saws are the be all end all tool for demo and any kind of remodeling work. The Milwaukee brand "Sawzall" is been a catch-all name for the reciprocating saw since 1951 and these tools now come in several different sizes and shapes. My favorite is the purse (or "European shoulder bag") sized cordless Hackzall 2420-22. The one-handed, 12 volt HACKZALL cuts over 80 pieces of 1½ inch PVC on a single charge and delivers a ½ inch stroke 3,000 times per minute for a smooth, fun Charlie's Angels type of cut.

Milwaukee is constantly updating their SAWZALL® Recip Saws based upon research in the field. The newest version of these are the 1-1/8 inch stroke length 6519-31, and 3/4 inch stroke length 6509-31, full-sized reciprocating saws. Milwaukee states that these new recip saws "cut up to 2 times faster, last up to 2 times longer, and are the most powerful tools in their class."

“Milwaukee invented the recip saw in 1951, and the SAWZALL® has dominated the category since its inception,”says Rick Gambaccini, Group Product Manager-Corded Products of Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation. “Nothing on the market cuts faster or lasts longer than the MILWAUKEE® SAWZALL® and we continue to lead the industry by offering innovative solutions that increase user productivity.” I'll let you decide.

Seems to be a lot of news about earthquakes lately. Big earthquakes. And speaking of earthquakes, Makita has adapted the science of earthquake engineering into power tools with their Anti-Vibration Technology (AVT). As opposed to being devastating and heartbreaking, Makita's earthquake news is all good. To explain AVT, Makita's says it like this: "Seismic research has developed this damping science over years to absorb the shocks and protect buildings from devastation of earthquake vibrations. Makita’s exclusive AVT involves engineering where a mechanical damper, effectively a counterbalance weight, provides an equal and opposite force that puts a mass directly opposite the point at which the striker bolt delivers the impact. As vibration is eliminated power is efficiently increased, allowing more of the generated energy in the motor to be delivered to the tool bit." We could all use some good earthquake news for a change.

Makita has engineered their new 42 pound, 32 inch long AVT Demolition Hammer HM1317CB with AVT technology, giving you more efficient hitting on the concrete with less vibration in the demo hammer tool. “The new HM1317CB combines hard-hitting power and less vibration for more efficient hitting,” said Anthony Corwin, Makita product manager, commercial products. engineered to be the most efficient breaker hammer in its class. And at 42 pounds, it’s easier to maneuver than a larger 60 or 70-pound model, but still delivers enough power to get the job done.”