Summer 2011 Table of Contents

Stonehill College may be the only school where the graduating seniors adopt a class shovel. The tradition came about because the Easton, Mass., institution is home to what's commonly called 'the shovel museum,' a collection of more than 750 shovels – some dating back to the 18th century – made by the Ames Shovel Works in Easton. Read more

Last summer, my painting company added a new sprayer to its arsenal: the Graco ProShot. For those who missed the hoopla surrounding the introduction of this tool, it's a hoseless 2,000-psi piston pump sprayer that takes pro-style tips and is powered by an 18-volt battery. The ProShot is sold exclusively through Sherwin-Williams and should not be confused with Graco's TrueCoat sprayers, which are aimed at the DIY market. Read more

The Makita drill/driver is short & a mere 7-9/16 inches from chuck to tail. With the battery attached, it weighs 3.3 pounds, which is lighter than the vast majority of 18-volt drill/drivers. Its small size and weight make for easy handling overhead and in tight spaces like cabinets and narrow joist bays. To create a more comfortable and ergonomic handle than the ones on previous models, the manufacturer tapered the bottom of the grip and added vertical ribbing. Read more

Get the right size machine with built-in GFCI protection and – if you need it – clean power Read more

Subcompact tools are the fastest growing segment of the cordless market. The number of available models has grown from a mere handful four years ago to more than 100 today. The tools in this category are defined by their small size, light weight, and 10.8-volt lithium-ion battery packs (which for marketing purposes are referred to as 12-volt packs). As with any voltage platform, the first tool a new user usually buys is a drill/driver, followed by an impact driver, so for this article I tested both. Read more