How many times have you spent the better part of a day drilling into a foundation to set lead anchors; or pounding cut nails through strapping to finish the interior of a basement; or bracing off rigid insulation on a foundation wall, waiting for the adhesive to set? These jobs can all be accomplished more easily with a powderactuated fastening tool. Powder-actuated tools use a small-caliber, blank load to drive pins or threaded studs into concrete and steel. They are fast, permanent, and safe, provided you play by the rules. Both Hilti and Ramset/Redhead make a variety of powder-actuated fastening tools. I tested the Hilti DX- 36M and Ramset D-60, two all-purpose tools that fall in the middle of each
