dewalt tools : Right equipment makes difference

It doesn't take very many renovation jobs before the new homeowner learns that the right tool makes any task easier. Recently, the lesson was brought home once again when the Cool Tools team had to punch a rectangular opening through an outside kitchen wall to accommodate a vent for a microwave/oven fan.

After realizing that even a really big drill bit wasn't going to do the job, we drove to the local big box store to find out what kind of tool would cut through concrete and brick. The answer is a rotary hammer, which combines heavy duty chiselling with hammering.

Just for fun, I did look at the price of rotary hammer drills. Bosch makes a two-inch combination hammer drill that would have done the trick. Since it costs about $900, and we don't (fortunately) have to punch holes through walls very often, renting made sense.

It cost us about $60 to rent the tool for two hours—more than enough time to get the work finished.

In fact, the job of knocking out a chunk of masonry was done in no time with the rotary hammer. Having said that, I'd add that holding 25 pounds of tool at shoulder height does seem to slow down time. And despite an "anti-vibration" design, my husband John and I agree that using a rotary hammer is definitely a whole body experience.

While the rotary drill made a fast, clean hole in the wall, there was still quite a bit of work to do shaping the rectangular opening for the vent. I had to beg off the job to meet other commitments, and left the rest of the work to John — a frequent occurrence. So I decided that the least I could do was to buy him a new tool. I decided on a reciprocating saw, since I knew we needed it for another job.

I bought a DeWalt 310K Heavy-Duty Reciprocating Saw Kit, which has a 12-amp motor, a keyless blade clamp for quick blade changes and a keyless adjustable shoe that adjusts the depth of cut. A friendly contractor who happened to be in the store assured me I didn't want anything less than 10 amps, and that the keyless blade clamp would save time and frustration. He also pointed out that blades fit into the DeWalt saw both on the vertical and horizontal, giving the user more options. It cost about $150, and is available at home improvement centres.

My contractor friend admired my generosity toward my husband, but I had to admit that I had an ulterior motive. I recently received some samples of a line of reciprocating saw blade attachments from a California-based company called Paws Off Tools, and had wanted to try them. One, called the Eliminator, is billed as the first masonry blade for reciprocating saws, and is designed to cut and sand reinforced concrete, rock, brick and ceramics.

It sounded perfect for the job, but both John and I were skeptical that a blade attached to a reciprocating saw could cut or file the rest of the concrete. We were impressed, however, with how well the Paws Off blade worked to finish off the opening and make the clean edges need to accommodate the vent.

The Eliminator blade is made from heat-treated steel, which is coated in tungsten carbide micro grit ranging from 16 to 60. The Eliminator blade sells for about $35, so it's not cheap. But I've become a firm believer in paying more for a good tool that will last well, save time, and avoid frayed nerves.

Other Paws Off attachments include the Annihilator blade, which cuts, sands or grinds hardened steels, cast iron, reinforced concrete, pipes, bars and hard-to-reach bolts, and a Flush-Cut adapter with a right angle that allows the user to make flush cuts.

by VICKY SANDERSON