In our quest for the best palm sander a verypromising contender found its way into our shop. Most people wouldthink the larger footprint of the Makita BO3710 is its moststriking attribute. What's more promising is the beefy, all-metalbase plate the sander sits on. It gives the BO3710 the foundationnecessary to challenge for the top spot in the sander category.Let's take a look if the BO3710 indeed outperform them all.

The Makita BO3710 Palm Sander

The Makita BO3710 is a 1/3 sheet sander. As such it is largerthan most

Not everyone needs a driver that can work hardall day long. The drivers that can do that are big, heavy, andexpensive. When you are doing work around the house all thoseproperties are undesirable. A small, light, and cheap driver is amuch better tool in those circumstances. The Black&DeckerLDX112C is such a tool. It promises to deliver the pro-tool feel ina smaller, less expensive package. Let's take a look, if theLDX112C can indeed perform like a full size driver.

The Black&Decker LDX112C Drill-Driver

One of

The one tool we were most excited to get intoour shop this spring is the Grizzly T10687. The day it wasannounced was a fine day from track saws. It already is one of themost important tools of 2013. Promise and novelty, however, do notmake for a good tool. It takes good design work and a well managedmanufacturing process to score well in our in-depth review. Let'stake a look, if the T10687 is the track saw we all have beenwaiting for.

The Grizzly T10687 Track Saw

The Grizzly T10687 is an exciting new entry in the trac

After reviewing the DW618D we took the motor outof the unit and installed it in the fixed base. That created theDW618, a fixed base router kit from DeWalt. If only getting areview out was as easy as that. We put the DW618 through the usualtest in our shop. Let's take a look at how well this short, plumprouter chews through wood.

The DeWalt DW618 Router

With the DW618 system DeWalt set out to create a router, whichmore often than not would be the best choice for the task at hand.In other words, the DW618 is meant t

The second part of this week's Porter Cable 450review is a closer look at the kit version, the Porter Cable 450PK.This version adds a plunge base to the package. We heard rumorsthat this base turns the 450 into one of the best plunge routersavailable today. The fixed base model certainly left a goodimpression. Let's take a look at what the plunge kit can do.

The Porter Cable 450PK compact router kit

The 450PK kit comes with a motor, a fixed base, a plunge base,and a cloth storage bag. The motor unit and fixed base have

The appetite of our reads for router reviewsseems to be insatiable. To make this week's review moreinteresting, we took a look at a compact router, the Porter Cable450. Until the term was coined by the company this category did noteven exit. Let's take a look at how the Porter-Cable 450 performedin our shop, and if you want to own a compact routers.

The Porter Cable 450 Compact Router

Porter-Cable calls the 450 a compact router. It is smaller thana mid size router, but significantly larger than a trim router. The450 h

Every woodworker seems to collect routers. Forsome reason we can never have too many routers. One style missingfrom my collection was a good d-handle router. With one of theseedge routing should go much faster.

The model the community wanted to see the most is the DW618Drouter. This model is part of the excellent DW618 series. It shouldperform very well, judging from the reviews it gets online. Let'stake a look at how good the DW618D really is.

The DW618D Router

In standard d-handle fashion the DW618D

Working our way through the lineup of 1/4 sheetpalm sander Makita's offering has found its way into our shop. TheBO4556 made a great first impression when it arrived in a ruggedand stylish looking carrying case. The sander concealed within,however, was very pedestrian looking. Knowing that looks can bedeceiving, we put the BO 4556 through its paces. Let's see if thetool was able to impress, or sink to the level of mediocrity thatis so common with palm sanders.

The Makita BO4556 Palm Sander

The Makita Bo 4556 follows t

The government's move to renewable energysources has made fuel purchases for our outdoor equipment a littleharder. In order to protect your engine from internal corrosion,you must avoid the new E15 fuel and purchase fuel with an ethanolcontent of 10% or lower.

What is E15?

E15 is new fuel/ethanol mixture mandated by the government. Itcontains up to 15% of ethanol as opposed to 10% in E10, which iscommon throughout the country. Chances are you will see E15 at yourgas station this summer. The government mandates the sal

Like every reviewer I want to review the best ofthe best to establish. I'll claim that I do this to set areference, but it's just as much about being able to play withthose tools. In the circular saw market one of the candidates forthe top stop is the DeWalt DWS535 circular saw. This intimidatingbeast sports a lot of metal. That's just the way we like it. Let'ssee if the saw is indeed elite.

The DWS535 Circular Saw

The DWS535 is a heavy duty circular saw for all day work on thejob site. DeWalt has engineered the saw t