Harbor Freight Multi-Tool VS B and D

Hello,
This is not a review of the product per say, but a note to others: These blades will not fit the harbor freight multi tool. I tried because I was told by a H.F. sales person that they would. These blades will fit in a Fenn tool, or so I read.

Update (9/9/2010): This item is currently on sale here for the lowest price I’ve seen.

The featured review for this product, Dremel MM491 Multi-Max MM450/MM440/MM422 Flush Cut Blade Pack Tools & Hardware, was written by Clint A. Mills.

The average rating for this item is 4 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.

I Love Modular Construction

The concept is elegant but simple. As manufacturers of lawn care machines (residential grade, that is) have been mostly consolidated, shaft sizes as well as mounting points and patterns are as standardized as they have ever been. With this little darling, you can buy one power head unit (string trimmer with detachable/2-piece shaft), and then add this or other implements as needed. The implement is cheaper than a purpose-built or standalone edger, and when the power head wears out, you can toss it and get another that mates right up to the edger.

Performance is tightly coupled with your power head, so choose that wisely based on weight, power and form factor. The edger’s guide wheel supports its extra weight, but this isn’t true of other attachments. If you like the power head you have, you’re likely to be pleased with it behind this edger as well. Mine works fine with an older 31CC Ryobi which I demoted after buying a commercial string trimmer. I wish it used the bigger (9″) blades simply cause they are heavier duty … still, the 7.5″ ones are just fine, and edger blades are relatively cheap. It would take a stronger power head to run an edger with bigger blades anyway. You’ll probably wear the blade more on the first edging of the season than the rest of the season combined b/c it’s harder to break new ground, ya’know? The visual improvement of edged versus string trimmed is appreciable, and this little implement delivers a professional look, and is quick about it.

For the money, ( approximately $100 less than the closest alternative, $200 less than the “quality” dedicated edger I would’ve bought ) you can’t beat this edger. I use it for the inner and outer edge of my concrete circle drive and both sides of the sidewalk from said drive to my door. By the time I finished using it the first time, I was acclimated to the motions and postures needed to use my setup, I had established my feel and sightline for expedient usage, and was confident this would be a dandy tool. You will find familiarizing yourself with the depth-of-cut-adjustment to be a worthwhile initial expenditure of time. Too shallow a cut necessitates your contorting to edge. ( NEVER adjust moving parts while your machine is running!! ) After the initial annoyance of having to adjust the blade depth to suit my height/power head setup, like I said, it was a dandy. Nothing has happened this summer to contradict that initial impression. I’ve had some practice, and plenty of opportunity to find weaknesses. This is how I use it:
Total distance: 500+ linear feet
Edging time: ~ 7 minutes
Edging time ( very first pass & acclimation to tool ): ~30 minutes
Edging schedule: Approx. every two weeks. ( As you may surmise, an electric model wasn’t an option since I don’t have, need or want a 200′ extension cord. If you have considerably less to do, or don’t already have a compatible gas trimmer, the B&D Edge Hog might be a lead to follow first as an electric alternative. Many feel electrics are less muss and fuss, though I would rather mix a little fuel than futz about with an extension cord all day )

If you need an edger, and would like to spend $60-$80 ILO $200+, I think this is a winning alternative. I have a lot of edging work when I mow, which used to take just over an hour to perfect with a string trimmer - a miserable experience I dreaded. There’s no way I’d spend another $200 bucks on a dedicated edger unless I had 10 times as much to do. Spend your bucks on a powerful and reliable power head instead. Cross-reference accepted alternative power heads/engines ( the one you already own may work; most will - attachment is indicated for other makes besides Poulan, though their PoulanPro Series seems to be a good value ). The string trimmer will still work without the edger, and can do double duty, while the mid-grade dedicated edgers are Johnny-One-Notes that introduce another possible point of failure in your yard arsenal. Can you tell I’m pretty exuberant about gaining back that sweaty, awful hour of my life from the string trimmer, and doing so for a savings?

DISCLAIMER: You should know I research and read reviews and excerpts before deciding to invest my time and/or money in a book or product. Your reviews are helpful to me, and I hope mine are helpful to you too. That said, after having read your opinions, I find I am consistently satisfied with my purchases, and thus most of my reviews are positive.

If I fail to recommend a product/book, and/or fail to explain why I like or dislike it, I have not done you any service. I will try to cite evidence, facts/contradictions or at least make a case for personal objections or preferences in my reviews. I appreciate you other reviewers who do the same. Cheers!

Update (9/9/2010): This item is currently on sale here for the lowest price I’ve seen. I also found some auctions for this item here.

The featured review for this product, Poulan PP1000E 7-Inch Pro Lawn Edger Attachment Lawn & Patio, was written by B. L. Ridenhour.

The average rating for this item is 5 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.

Must Have for Older Homes

Our home was built in the late-70’s so we had a hardwired smoke alarm on each floor but they were not interconnected, not to mention they didn’t have a battery backup. If we were sleeping, could we expect to hear the alarm on another floor, on the opposite side of the house? That’s a bet I’m not willing to take, so we spent the extra money on two of these. We also plan on buying a couple of the battery only ONELINK alarms to expand our safety and coverage without hiring an electrician to install.
To program, you insert batteries and close the battery door on one unit; then you insert batteries on the second unit, press a button on the second unit, then press a button on the first unit. Inserting batteries and programming took under two minutes for two alarms. My (getting better but still not what I’d call “handy”) husband had the alarms installed in under five minutes each. So, I’d consider them pretty easy to install.
During testing, they communicated well together and they seem loud. Of course, the real test for any fire alarm is during a real fire but I’m not really into burning my house down for the sake of a review. Therefore, I’m giving it five stars and calling it done!

Update (9/9/2010): This item is currently on sale here for the lowest price I’ve seen. I also found some auctions for this item here.

The featured review for this product, First Alert SA521CN ONELINK Hardwire Wireless Smoke Alarm with Battery Backup Tools & Hardware May 2, 2007, was written by JMR.

The average rating for this item is 5 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.

Lutron Electronics Lamp Dimmer Switch

A great dimmer switch. Very simple to install an works extremely well. My wife has now used it for several months many times a day and she is very happy with the ease of use. The dimmer has very smooth and safe operation.
The only downside is that the switch emits an very low level RF signal that interferes with her radio when it is within an a few inches of the radio.The fix is simple…move the switch away from the radio.
I would highly recommend the Lutron Electronic Plug-in Lamp Dimmer Switch…great product.

Update (9/9/2010): This item is currently on sale here for the lowest price I’ve seen.

The featured review for this product, Lutron TT-300H-WH Electronics Plug-In Lamp Dimmer, White Tools & Hardware, was written by Jack Carter.

The average rating for this item is 3.7 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.

Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

I own a Black & Decker LE750 Edgehog. Mine is Green with a black handle. The blade shown in the picture is not the same one I received. The part number is the same (EB007) but the center hole cutout is not the same as depicted. I received a center round hole cut whereas the picture shows a polygonal type hole. That’s the blade I really needed. Even if you eliminated the washer with the built in polygonal template you still ended up with a driveshaft with 2 sides flatten. As I mentioned the center hole in the blade is round. Still, even putting the supplied washers on both sides of the blade, the blade will eventually come loose the moment it makes contact with a stone or concrete. Now that I own 4 of them in order to get the free shipping I now have a lifetime of edger blades that I will constantly be tightening. If the picture is from an older model try updating your parts list. I should of gone to Sears.

Update (9/9/2010): This item is currently on sale here for the lowest price I’ve seen.

The featured review for this product, Black & Decker EB-007 Edger Hog Heavy-Duty Edger Replacement Blade Lawn & Patio, was written by Lisa G. Gates.

The average rating for this item is 4.3 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.

I like this Saw

I own a lot of tools using the Makita 18 Volt LXT platform. My experience with both the chargers and batteries is good. No electrical problems of any sort.

The Jig Saw…this saw reminds me of my corded Bosch 1590 jig saw. The cuts are good, the weight is similar (enough heft to stay steady and smooth) with easy control of the tool. The Makita uses T shank blades (like the corded Bosch) and I use Bosch blades in the Makita because I find them to be excellent.

The Makita has both a dust blower and a LED lighting system to help you make accurate cuts. I especially appreciate anything that makes the work easier to see…better vision = better results. Makita makes it easy to stay on your cut lines.

The Bosch 1590 is considered the “standard” to measure jig saws. While I generally prefer corded tools, this Makita is an excellent choice for the times I want to go cordless.

If you already own some Makita LXT tools, this bare version of the jig saw is an excellent addition to your bag. The tool is well built and a pleasure to use. I have used both Dewalt and Bosch cordless jigs and I prefer my Makita to either of them.

Update (9/9/2010): This item is currently on sale here for the lowest price I’ve seen. I also found some auctions for this item here.

The featured review for this product, Bare-Tool Makita BJV180Z 18-Volt LXT Lithium-Ion Cordless Jig Saw Tool Only, No Battery Tools & Hardware, was written by Jeff Shultz.

The average rating for this item is 4.7 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.

A must-read for owners and potential buyers.

I purchased this weed eater a few months back. It is very powerful for an electric, so that is a positive. The worst part (at least for me) has been the mechanism which delivers more string when needed. The other negative is the “trimmer guard” which you attach when you are assembling it. (Not the big plastic shield that prevents grass from flying everywhere, but the little metal piece that goes right in front of the spinning head.) It’s very difficult to get that off after you’ve assembled it, so I recommend you leave it off completely. In my case I couldn’t get it off, so I took some tin snips to it and cut it off. It serves no purpose.

The main problem with the feeder mechanism is that I almost always found myself with about 1-2 inches of string coming out of the head. This was so frustrating I wanted to literally throw the weed eater off a cliff. I was almost to the point where I was never going to use it again. That’s when I tried some different string. I went to Lowes and purchased Heavy Duty 2mm (.080″) titanium trimmer line. Thank the Lord that solved my problem! This weed eater is now an unstoppable CUTTING MACHINE and I love it. I would give this product 5 stars if it came with this string. But because it gave me so many problems before cutting off the guard and switching the string, it gets a 3.

I recommend this product only if you’re going to purchase the new string with it. If you want to use it as is, right out of the box, I would pass. Thanks for reading.

Update (9/9/2010): This item is currently on sale here for the lowest price I’ve seen. I also found some auctions for this item here.

The featured review for this product, Weed Eater RTE115C 15-Inch 4.5 Amp Twist-N-Edge Electric String Trimmer Lawn & Patio, was written by J. Myers.

The average rating for this item is 3.7 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.

Product Description

Tweeter compression horn driverTitanium diaphragm1″ copper voice coil4-8 ohm impedance80 watts RMS150 watts peakFits horns with 1 3/8″ x 18 TPI threads

Update (9/9/2010): This item is currently on sale here for the lowest price I’ve seen.

The featured review for this product, Pyramid TWD10 150 Watt Compression Tweeter Electronics, was written by someone who wishes to remain anonymous.

The average rating for this item is 0 out of 5 stars, according to 1 review.

Nice little all-in-one for event space.

We ended up using 3 of these, thanks to their versatility.
Negatives:
-Initial setup takes up to half an hour, so whatever reason the machine doesn’t install all software until you first turn it on. It should come from the factory ready to go.
-The drive is partitioned, C: being the OS and programs, and the D: set aside for “data”. Partitioning is not needed with todays OS, so I don’t know why they do this. Because programs, documents and music will by default look to install on the C: drive, it will soon fill up. They should have just made it one logical drive.
-There is the usual PC junk like a trial of Norton etc that needs to be banished.
-No standard VESA mount for wall hanging.

Positives-
-Once you are up and running it’s a pleasant experience. The Atom processor is not a world beater, but fine for everyday computing needs.
-You can add RAM, but prepare to break out your screwdriver set, and find some hidden tabs at the top. Not for novices.
-The back stand can be removed with a little work, and a modified mount added.
-Portable, simply unplug power and you can move the whole system from place to place as needed.
-Touchscreen works well enough (no multi touch here).

Update (9/9/2010): This item is currently on sale here for the lowest price I’ve seen.

The featured review for this product, MSI AIO AE1900-09SUS 18.5-Inch Touch Screen Laptop - Black Personal Computers, was written by DJS.

The average rating for this item is 2.3 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.

AWESOME SCRUBBER

This scrubber is the greatest invention since the wheel! I’ve cleaned dozens of items around the house (except the dog) with the power scrubber. Cleaning the shower stall took 15 minutes, a job that used to take over an hour with a hand scrubber, bucket, rags etc. I cleaned all my lawn furniture, chairs, chaise lounge , tables and tiled terrace floor in less than 35 minutes, a job that used to take me about 2 hours. I’ve cleaned my tiled kitchen floor, I’ve used it dry to clean the screens on my doors. There’s no need to press down when using the scrubber, you don’t need elbow grease at all, the rotating brush will take care of the dirt and grime. No more bending from the waist cleaning the bottom of your car doors, let the scrubber do that for you. Cleaning pool tiles, a snap.
Would I recommend it……you bet!!!!!

Update (9/9/2010): This item is currently on sale here for the lowest price I’ve seen. I also found some auctions for this item here.

The featured review for this product, Black & Decker NPS1018 18-Volt Cordless Electric Power Scrubber with 14-Foot Reach Lawn & Patio, was written by Lorelei L. Bobby.

The average rating for this item is 4 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.