A few weeks ago I attended the 65^th annual International Builders’ Show. About 60,000 show-goers wandered three halls of the spacious Las Vegas Convention Center to check out the 1,600 exhibitors. Both numbers were down from the shows of recent years, but whatever’s happening in building was happening there.

 

Many tool brands have been pulling out of the show for the last few years to conserve their resources, but this gives a more intense audience to those that do show up. Here’s a recap of some of what was new for the show.

 

Tiger Claw unveiled a nailer that attaches their deck-board clips with UFO Ballistic NailScrews. To use, you simply slide a clip onto the special nose of the nailer, and the fastener shoots right through it. This is much faster than screwing each clip into place with a screwgun or drill/driver, but the NailScrew can be snugged or backed-out like conventional screw.s

 

Ridgid is on a roll of new product development that makes them one of the great optimism builders for those who follow the tool market.

From their cordless lithium-ion power tool line they had a new compact drill/driver and a new version of their Micros subcompact with two speeds and higher torque, a cordless Fuego one-handed recip saw, and their smallest 18-volt impact driver yet. A 15-gauge trim nailer with a compact 18-volt battery appeared in a new gray color, and there were also brand new cordless and corded collated screwguns. Other new corded tools included a mini 10-inch table saw with the new UL guard system and an amazing 24-inch rip capacity, and the Euro-styled Smartcart vacuum with built in drawers for accessory storage.

 

Bosch recently bought Stanley’s CST/berger--who specialize in laser tools—so now Bosch has an entire new line of laser measuring and layout tools. The current models take standard AA batteries, but look for future versions to run on Bosch’s 10.8-volt subcompact lithium-ion batteries.

 

Festool premiered an improvement for any of their rail-guided saws or routers—end attachments that set the rail parallel cut after cut. The device also has stops that let you cut the same width with repeated cuts.

 

DeWalt announced in December that their popular XRP line of drill/drivers was undergoing a major design revision and that their lithium-ion drill/drivers would also share the premium XRP designation. The new models were at the show, and dressed to impress.

 

Rockwell showed off their Nicad and lithium-ion lines of drill/drivers as well as their corded recip, jig, and oscillating saws. They also had new attachments for their Jawhorse clamping sawhorse to extend its uses and fulfill more needs in the small workshop.

 

Little Giant had a new Revolution ladder line that uses a lighter aluminum alloy reduces weight by about 20%. They also showed a new latch system that works by rocking an attached lever rather than pulling out pins like the older system.

 

Muro made an improvement to make their collated subfloor screwgun a little faster to use—a simple spike on the end to keep the tip in place when screwing into the floor. They also had an impressive new decking screw called the Ejector, which is designed to go right through ipe decking without the need for a pilot hole.

 

The “Coolest Tool at the Show” award has to go to the Goldblatt Bladerunner drywall cutter. Demos of the tool always had a crowd and everyone just had to try it for themselves. This kind of hands-on excitement is what a good tradeshow is all about.

Of course Tools of the Trade already had our hands on this tool a long time ago.

 

Look for our First Test of it in the next issue of the magazine.

 

Michael Springer