Products

Dremel has done it again with another product that is sure to sell well in the two-step hardware channel. The Saw-Max™ is every bit as functional as the Dremel Multi-Max™ that was launched a couple of years ago.

The Dremel Saw-Max is a very compact power saw that is lightweight, easy to handle and has more than enough “guts” to cut through ¾” plywood, ¾” concrete driveway pavers, ceramic tile and aluminum diamond plate sheeting. I’m sure there are many other materials as well, but those are the ones we tested the Saw-Max on for this review.

There are several other features that make this tool a pleasure to use. It’s very easy to change the blades, as the button on the top locks the blade shaft so you can loosen and tighten the various blades that come with the Saw-Max. You can also lock the trigger down if you are doing a lot of cutting or working at an awkward angle. Another neat feature is that it comes with a flush-cut blade, which makes it perfect for trim work.

I could easily see a finish carpenter or a DIYer using the Saw-Max for quick trim work or punch list work versus unloading the power miter saw or circular saw to do quick light work. I could also see a novice DIYer buying the Saw-Max to handle most small cutting jobs around the house. Make sure you go by and look over the Dremel Saw-Max for yourself at the next show you attend. I think you will agree that this is a tool we can sell in our stores and our customers will be glad we do.

Here is a video of the product in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpJUv0SL25g

Gardus, the same company that developed the LintEater line of products, has now come out with Vertalok rotary gutter cleaning system. Vertalok takes the same concept of using a cordless drill to drive the drive shaft within the aluminum pole to rotate the nylon bristle brush that removes the leaves and dirt from your gutter. Unlike many similar gutter-cleaning products, this one is light and easy to maneuver standing flatfooted on the ground.

Not only can you hook up your cordless drill to drive the power brush it also comes with accessories to use with your garden hose to flush out any remaining debris you may have missed. It also comes with an adapter to attach to your digital camera, so you can make sure you got the gutter clean without getting out a ladder to check. Vertalok has aluminum extension poles in the event your gutters are higher than normal.

For more information go to www.gardusinc.com.

Grip-Tite has come out with both wrench sets and socket sets that are designed to grab on to both regular bolts but more importantly rounded off bold heads. Remember the old plumber trick of using 16 penny cut nails jammed into a pipe that had broken off when you don’t have an easy out available? Well, Grip-Tite has taken that concept and incorporated it into their wrench and socket sets that really do work.

In our test we learned you have to be careful that you don’t apply too much pressure and break the bolt head off, which will really ruin your day! Both the wrench set and the socket set will fit both SAE and metric bolt sizes from 7/16 (11mm) to ¾ (19mm) bolts. This is another item that if you don’t sell all of them during the holiday season it would be a complement to your tool department.

Retail price for the wrench set is in the $49.99 range and the socket set is in the $24.99 range. For more information go to www.mygriptite.com.

Bench Dog Tools is marketing a great product if you sell a lot of finish woodworking products or to serious hobby enthusiasts. It’s called the Bench Cookie™ and it’s just a little larger than a hockey puck and the same shape. The Bench Cookie has non-slip and non-scratch surfaces on each side, so if you are working on a finish product it won’t slip around on the work bench and it won’t scratch the surface of the item you are working on.

It comes packaged in a nice clamshell package and a shelf holder for the four Bench Cookies in the package. Bench Dog also offers the Bench Cookie packaged individually as well. They have developed an accessory called the Bench Cookie Cone, which snaps on to one side of the Bench Cookie to create an inverted cone shape for when you have finished the project and are ready to stain or paint the finished piece. Both items would make excellent gift items for the serious DIYers.
The retail for the “cookie” is in the $19.99 range and the cones are in the $4.99 retail price range. For more information go to www.benchdog.com.

Original Power has come out with a very useful product that is an electronic charger that can charge up to two separate iPads, iPods or iPhones at the same time as well as other products that can be charged with 2.1 amps and be plugged into one of the two USB plugs at the bottom of the charger. The Dual Hi-Powered Adapter is smaller than a package of cigarettes and comes with an extra-long, six-foot charging cable that is nice for the ipad, iPod or iPhone.  The packaging is very well done and in our tests it consistently charged a 16GB iPad in two hours or less.

The retail price for this item is in the $39.99 range. For more information go to www.originalpower.com.

The V-Pump is a neat new product that I found while walking the National Hardware Show, this past May. It is designed to pump 1,200 gallons of water per hour, it doesn’t have any moving parts or need electricity and it will pump water as high as 40’. All you need to do is connect the plastic V-Pump to a water hose, hook up a discharge hose, drop it in to the area you want to drain and turn on the water to your garden hose. What the V-Pump does is create a vacuum from the discharge your garden hose that is filled by the water you want to drain.

It comes with a quick disconnect garden hose attachment, you have to supply the discharge hose and you are ready to go. The only potential problem is the water must be free of debris as it will plug up the pump other wise this is a neat little product that is great for draining hot tubs, small pools and fish ponds before winter. To learn more about this product simply go to www.v-pump.com

Recently I was walking down the aisle of a wholesaler hardware show when I saw a long-time industry friend, Barry Surran, who was representing ThermaFreeze Products. As with all good salesmen, it was inevitable that Barry was going to tell me about this new line of products he was selling.

The ThermaFreeze line of products is a reusable ice alternative that definitely has potential in the right hardware store that stocks sporting goods or seriously sells impulse items and changes out their end caps on a regular schedule.  The ThermaFreeze products are sheets of product that you simply dunk in water (remove excess water with a paper towel) the product soaks up the water and then you freeze it.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But here’s the great part, unlike ice and ice packs, it DOESN’T sweat! The ThermaFreeze products come in several convenient sizes. You can also cut them into smaller sizes to fit specific applications or cooler sizes.  Barry was explaining that the ThermaFreeze product was great around any cooler application where you wanted to keep food products cool and it is.

But here is another application that is not typically associated with hardware sales. I had just had knee surgery and as you can imagine walking the show floor was not a part of what the doctor (or my wife) had in mind when he cleared me to go back to work. When I asked Barry if I could sit in his chair in the booth he also gave me a ThermaFreeze pack to wrap around my knee. It was just like, an ice pack without any sweating or excess water from a leaking plastic bag. This in my opinion makes it a great impulse item for a hardware store where every customer at some point will strain something or smash something in the process of fixing or building what ever they are doing. For more information simply go to www.ThermaFreeze.com.

The ConservCo has seen a need and has developed a product that really does help make potentially bad situations easier to deal with. They have taken the concept of a hand bilge pump from the marine industry, adapted it and made it better for DIY repairs.

The “Gulp” is a hand operated suction pump that the user can use to empty water or fluids from areas that need to be repaired or worked on. What makes the “Gulp” different is that each stroke of the pump removes 12 ounces so eleven stokes of the hand pump will remove over one gallon of fluid.

The pump shaft is stainless steel and the barrel of the pump is clear so the user can actually see that the pump is picking up the fluid. The barrel of the pump also has a non-slip hand cushion with a strap. But, in my opinion, the best feature is that it comes apart so you can clean the pump thoroughly when you are finished. It’s also reasonably small making it easy to store until it is needed again.

Let’s face it, removing water from a toilet before you pull it up from the floor or emptying the dish water from the sink before you snake the drain are not easy or pleasant jobs when the fluid is not removed. The “Gulp” is also very helpful when you need to remove water from a fountain, fish pond or water from a hole where a pipe has broken.