On Carpentry, Building and Tools Old and New.
Latest Posts
Milwaukee M18™ Transfer Pump
A flooded boiler room or an expired water heater means that there’s a lot of water that needs to be pumped away to put things right. It’s only occasionally that I have to deal with such things, but if it requires an immediate response, the Milwaukee M18™ Transfer Pump gets […]
KEEN Utility Detroit Low ESD Soft Toe
I’ve been wearing KEEN Utility’s Detroit Low ESD Soft Toe work shoes for more than 4 months now, in rain, shine, fog, and light snow. It’s been a very long time since my feet have had it this good. I’ve been wearing conventional leather boots of several brands for a good […]
FlexVolt™ 60v MAX 7¼” Circular Saw
If you look around at my collection of power tools, you will no longer find a corded circular saw. At first it seemed like a risk to do without, but with the rapid maturation of cordless tools, it made little sense to keep one. There was nothing wrong with it […]
Older Posts
Makita’s 18V X2 LXT®(36V) Brushless Cordless Rear Handle 7‑1/4″ Circular Saw
It was not so long ago that the idea of a competent cordless saw was more wish than reality. Many was the time I heard the […]
KEEN Utility Davenport Boots
I received a pair of KEEN Footwear’s Davenport boots for review and have been wearing them for nearly 6 weeks; working on hard packed dirt, concrete, gravel, […]
Ryobi’s New Score™ Wireless Speaker Set
Music on a jobsite was once a luxury not allowed by many old school builders, but now nearly a necessity for many of us. It seems […]
Milwaukee M18 Fuel Surge Hydraulic Driver
We first heard of Milwaukee’s new hydraulic (“oil pulse”) driver, the Surge™, through an inadvertent leak from the Home Depot web site that had a page […]
Milwaukee’s M18 Fuel™ Dual Bevel 10″ Sliding Compound Miter Saw
It was June of 2015 when we were first allowed a peek at the prototype of the M18 Fuel miter saw at the 2015 New Product […]
The M18 Fuel™ 7″ Variable Speed Polisher
Milwaukee gave us an early look at their new M18 Fuel™ 7″ Variable Speed Polisher at the New Product Symposium for 2016. Due in July of […]
Milwaukee’s M18 Radius™ LED Compact Site Light
If Milwaukee’s New Product Symposium for 2016 was a movie and I was voting for the Academy Awards, I would give Best Actor to the M18 […]
Milwaukee’s New Line of Adjustable Wrenches
From Milwaukee Tool:
“MILWAUKEE, WI- Milwaukee Tool continues to expand its Hand Tool offering with a new line of adjustable wrenches, including 5 standard wrenches and 1 […]
Coming Soon: Milwaukee’s New Mobile Storage
04/08/2016
“MILWAUKEE, WI – Following the release of their widely popular 46” Steel Storage Chest and Cabinet, Milwaukee Tool continues to expand their Storage Solutions with the […]
New Plumbing Tools From Milwaukee
Milwaukee Tool has been supplying tools for the plumbing and electrical trades since 1924, but continues to expend considerable energy in improving existing stalwarts like pipe wrenches, […]
Milwaukee’s Expanded Line of M12™ Heated Gear
When I first tried on my new Milwaukee Heated Gear back in August, the weather was pretty warm, as you may imagine. It was not my first […]
Milwaukee’s Annular Cutter Set
Milwaukee’s M18 Fuel™ 1½” Magnetic Drill is fitted with a quick-release Weldon chuck to fit and rapidly change annular cutters, and even to mount a Weldon to ½” adapter […]
Russell’s Horses
There’s no denying the importance of saw horses on a construction site. They are used for more than the obvious, being handy for things such as storing materials […]
The Milwaukee M18™ 3¼” Planer
I’ve been waiting for the launch of Milwaukee’s new M18™ 3¼” Planer since giving it a try at their New Product Symposium back in June, and […]
The M18 Fuel™ 1½” Magnetic Drill
When Milwaukee announced their new cordless mag drills in April of this year, it was the first time I had even heard of such a tool. […]
Milwaukee’s M18 Fuel™ Braking Grinder
Milwaukee has introduced its M18 Fuel™ Cordless Braking Grinder (2783-22) , offering three improvements over the previous model. The new tool stops spinning in under 2 […]
A Farrow & Ball Paint Display
The Anchor Ace Hardware Store in Sandwich, Cape Cod, Massachusetts is now stocking the Farrow & Ball line of paint and wallpaper, and needed a display […]
Milwaukee’s ONE-KEY™ Press Release
7/30/2015
MILWAUKEE, WI – Milwaukee Tool will pioneer the next industry-changing technology with the introduction of ONE-KEY™, the first digital platform for tools and equipment. By integrating […]
Milwaukee’s New M18™ Fuel™ Drills and Drivers
Milwaukee Tool is launching a new generation of M18™ Fuel™ Drill Drivers, Hammer Drills and Compact Impact tools in mid to late August, just weeks away. […]
More From Milwaukee’s NPS15
The last couple of weeks have involved a lot more of using tools than writing about them, this being the crazy season on the island. There […]
Milwaukee’s NPS15-What’s New?
Milwaukee announced well over 80 new products during their New Product Symposium last week, including things such as new drill and driver bit sets, so the actual number […]
Milwaukee Tool’s New Product Symposium 2015
This June 16th and 17th saw Milwaukee’s 2015 New Product Symposium, a two day media-only event for showcasing the tools that the company is launching throughout […]
Milwaukee’s 46″ Steel Storage Chest and Cabinet
When I began this blog, it was not my intention to make it all Milwaukee, all the time, but my enthusiasm for their tools has had considerable […]
Milwaukee’s M12™ Compact Vacuum
I have never liked a dirty job site, and I really don’t like building dirt into my work. I don’t care if it can be covered with […]
M12™ & M18™ Rapid Charge Station- Mystery Solved
My first and several subsequent tests of Milwaukee’s M12™ & M18™ Rapid Charge Station were, at best, only partially successful and it turns out that the problem was […]
The Milwaukee M18™ Sawzall
Milwaukee has a new version of its M18™ Sawzall reciprocating saw. It’s a replacement for the first M18™ Sawzall (2620) and it features overload protection for the motor […]
The Milwaukee M18™ and M12™ Rapid Charge Station -UPDATE
Back in early March of this year I reviewed Milwaukee’s M18™ and M12™ Rapid Charge Station, finding that it offered faster charging for my batteries of […]
Milwaukee’s New M18™ Compact Brushless Drill/Drivers
It took me quite a while to find out what Milwaukee’s slogan “NBHD” stood for. On-line searches turned up a band by that name and an […]
A Simple Bench
“We need a bench” was the extent of the direction given for this project. I doubt that anyone would have objected if I had made it […]
A Mahogany Writing Desk
I was commissioned to make a writing desk for a, well…, a writer. I asked if it needed room for a printer and various computer peripherals, but the […]
The Milwaukee M18™ and M12™ Rapid Charge Station
Milwaukee’s eagerly-awaited dual voltage multi-charger is now available and making its way to workshops and job sites. Part of the appeal of the charger is its ability to […]
Milwaukee’s M18 Fuel™ 6½” Circular Saw
My first exposure to battery-powered saws was the sound of one of unknown lineage struggling to get through some 1×6 pine in the lumber barn at […]
Beads, Slate and Flea Markets
In the early 1970s, my parents bought an old Nantucket house with a kitchen in need of considerable renovation. My father paneled the walls above the […]
Long Gone and Coming Soon
The first time I made a door jamb I used no power tools. This was not before electricity was available on Nantucket, it was in a […]
Milwaukee Sawzalls Old and New
Somewhere around 1977 or ’78 I was working with my father John Van Lieu on an extensive renovation of a pair of old cranberry shacks that […]
Milwaukee Heated Jacket Update
When I first posted about Milwaukee’s M12 Cordless Heated Jacket, it wasn’t cold enough to give it a try. Now it’s December and it’s seen some […]
Fiberglass Gutters
Nantucket is the land of fir gutters. Historically correct perhaps, attractive in their own way and approved by the Historic District Commission, they are also heavy, […]
Milwaukee M18™ Fuel™ 4½-5″ Grinder
Combo kits are a good way to go when outfitting with cordless tools. They are more economical than a series of separate purchases and it’s handier […]
Russell Van Lieu
Russell Martin Van Lieu (1895-1985) was my grandfather. He was born to a family that worked a farm in Hunterdon County, New Jersey since pre-revolutionary times. […]