We check out Milwaukee's new 12" Measuring wheel...does it measure up?

Milwaukee Tool is constantly striving to bring new tools to market and improve existing tools. As they put it, "to disrupt the industry". Today we are checking out their new 12" measuring wheel.  We'll also be looking at a 12 year old Lufkin 12" measuring wheel as well to see how things have improved over time.

The 12 year old Lufkin, on the left, their design has remained unchanged for the last 15 years. The brand new Milwaukee on right.

The Milwaukee right off the bat has a much more robust construction. The Milwaukee has a reinforced aluminum frame whereas the Lufkin's has a thin round tube. The Milwaukee also has a hinge and clasp as opposed to a turn knob. This design allows the Milwaukee to take a 20 lb direct impact to the hinge and still stay intact, whereas the Lufkin breaks in half in the same test.  You may say "when am I going to drop 20 lbs onto my measuring wheel?"  Imagine a tool or tool box falling or sliding onto/in to it in the back of your truck. The hinge also includes a handle so you can hang it up or carry it.

The  hinge and clasp on the Milwaukee

This is the Lufkin's turn knob

The Milwaukee's design allows the tool to fold and become much more compact then the Lufkin, which handle slides onto the lower tube. When you put them into their compact settings, the Milwaukee measures 24" and the Lufkin measures 28 1/2".

4 1/2" is a huge difference

The Milwaukee also has a handle with an integrated reset and brake, plus a reset down by the counter. The Lukin has no brake, and the reset is down by the counter. 

 The thumb button is the reset and lever is the brake.

 Milwaukee's large reset button by the counter

Lufkin has a small button by the counter

On of the coolest features is the Milwaukee includes a plumb bob as well as indicators molded into the body.  This is so you know where to start and stop measuring. It's so simple, but now you don't have to guess where to start or stop measuring, especially if your measuring from a specific point. Another feature of the Milwaukee is a debris clearing flap.  This comes in very handy if you are measuring a muddy yard, or through drywall mud inside a house.  

Plumb bob

Indicator molded into the body, if you look to the top left of the wheel you'll noticed the debris clearing flap

If there was one area the Milwaukee could improve, it is the kickstand.  The Milwaukee seems to be about 1/2 of an inch too short. The Milwaukee wants to lean pretty far over and looks like it wants to tip, but this is just ascetics, the Milwaukee is pretty steady. The springs on the Lufkin are pretty weak and the slightest bump makes it fall over as the kickstand will just fold back up. 

The Milwaukee next to the Lufkin showing the lean

Lukin's kickstand

Milwaukee's kickstand

We tested the accuracy of each of these.  We did multiple test passes with these side by side,  over the same course. Every time the results were the same for both. However multiple times in my ownership of the Lufkin the counter would lock up after resetting it, resulting in having to remeasure if you didn't notice it was bound up.

At the time of this writing the Lufkin retails for $60.70 and the Milwaukee is $69.97 at Home Depot. 

Festool Kapex vs. Milwaukee M18 Fuel Miter Saw

In the world of tool reviews most are comparing the Milwaukee M18 miter saw to the Dewalt Flex Volt miter saw, or the Festool Kapex to the Bosch Glide saw. Those reviews are all over the net, but these are the only two saws I own, so lets compare them! The Festool Kapex is considered the ultimate miter saw, reviewers and Festool fans have been saying it for years. I bought my first one back in 2011 paying almost $1400.00.  I used it almost every day until this last summer when I sold it on Craigslist. The Kapex used in this review belongs to my shop mate and is only about two years old.  The Milwaukee is brand new to the market, it has only been out since the middle of October. A few early reviewers said it was too flexible and tended to cut off angle, we have had no issues with flex, or cut quality.

 First let me explain my experience with the Festool.  Like I said, I owned mine since 2011. I have actually owned two, my first Kapex failed within the 30 day trial period and was replaced with a completely new saw. My second had to be sent back to Festool twice in my 5 year ownership. The first time it went back was in 2013 as the motor was failing and bearings in the table had to be replaced. The second time was in 2015 when the bearings in the table went out again and you couldn't turn the table.  The left fence had also become lodged in the track due to the tolerances in the fence track being too tight and sawdust jamming in it. My disappointment with the Kapex goes beyond having to send it back to Festool.  I found that when you cut 45 deg miters the wood would move away from the blade, since it didn't spin fast enough.  Also, I had to make multiple passes at 0 deg due to the blade speed not being fast enough to push through hardwood without stalling. 

Milwaukee M18 in foreground, Festool Kapex behind

Both of these saws are basically 10" saws.  The difference comes when you purchase a blade. The Milwaukee uses a standard 10" blade with a standard arbor, which is sold at any Home Center or Hardware store. The Festool uses a 260 mm blade with a 30 mm arbor, which means you have to use a Festool retailer or an online retailer to buy a blade. The cost is also a huge difference, the Milwaukee's blade can be had anywhere from $25-$150.  In recent years more manufactures have started making blades that fit the Kapex.  The Festool brand finish blades start at $144 and a Tenryu can be bought for about $75. Advantage: Milwaukee: For more selection of blades and lower cost, plus the ability to walk into any Home Center and get a blade. 

The two blades, notice the difference in the arbor size.

The two blades stacked on top of each other, notice the Festool is slightly larger.

Another aspect where both of these saws differ is how the saw slides.  The Milwaukee has slides mounted down low and the entire head and rails come out of the bottom. This causes a problem since you need a large clear area behind the saw.  We measured 32" front to back with the dust bag attached. The Festool on the other hand has fixed rails that are mounted high and the head slides back and forth on them allowing you to put the saw up against the wall.  The dust collection is also up high. We measured and front to back you need 24" of clearance.  Advantage: Festool: for rear clearance.

The Milwaukee with the head pushed back

The Milwaukee, the black thing is the dust bag

The Festool with the head pushed back

The Festool 

Cutting aids are now standard on all high end saws, most saws come with lasers and lights. The Milwaukee comes with dual lights that shine on the blade that create a shadow line. The Festool comes with dual lasers, one on each side of the blade so you know where the kerf will be. Lasers are very particular, they don't like being jostled around and bringing a saw to a job site everyday can throw the laser out of adjustment. Advantage: Milwaukee: You can't uncalibrate a shadow.

Milwaukee's shadow line

Festool's dual laser 

Portability and flexibility are what most contractors are looking for when shopping for a job site saw. The Milwaukee weighs in at 45 lbs and the Festool comes in two pounds heavier at 47 lbs. The Milwaukee is also fully cordless, running a M18 9.0ah battery you can get up to 400 cuts in 3 1/2" base board.

This 9.0ah has about 75 cuts on it, stored in a non heated garage and hasn't been charged in over a week

The Festool on the other hand is corded, so run time and cuts don't matter.  You are limited by your power supply.  Throw 5 or 6 contractors in a house with one or two temporary outlets and you could be resetting breakers all day.  Advantage: Milwaukee for cutting the cord.

Dust Collection is probably the Festool's biggest selling feature.  When you hook it up to the dust extractor you can get about 80% collection. The Milwaukee does come with a dust bag and has a vacuum port on the back that you can actually use with the Festool hoses, however the dust collection is only about 50%. What you have to realize is in order to get the Festool to perform, you need to purchase a $650.00 dust collector, and the larger anti-static hose at a cost of $165. Don't forget to buy the Festool dust bags! The Milwaukee can be used with any shop vac as well as the Festool dust collector. Advantage: Draw

Now we'll address the flex issue.  Early reviews of the Milwaukee noted the head had excessive flex and this caused the blade to track off angle. I haven't noticed this issue on the Milwaukee but instead I noticed it on both of the Kapex's I have used.

This is the cut in 4/4 x 6 yellow Birch with the Milwaukee, hard to see with the shadow but the cut is square

This is the cut in 4/4 x 6 yellow Birch with the Festool, hard to see but there is about 1/64th gap by the head of tri-square

The other issue noted with early reviewers of the Milwaukee, is you can actually make the head flex if you push it to one side or the other. This I found to be true, however I also found it on the Festool. Advantage: Draw, they both flex.

What I like and what I don't. The Milwaukee's bevel release is big and easy to use especially with gloves on. However the Bevel gauge is small and hard to read due to the location, it becomes harder to read if it has dust on it.

Milwaukee's bevel release

Milwaukee's bevel gauge

The Festool has a similar lever, but due to everything on the back of it, it is hard to flip up and almost impossible with gloves on. We also feel there are too many adjustments to be made just to make bevel.  With the knob that has 4 settings, and lower adjustment on the rail to do a bevel, we just feel it is too finicky. Advantage: Milwaukee, not as finicky and easy to use with gloves.

 The Festool bevel lever and upper adjustment, the knob has 4 detents that controls how far you can tilt the head

The Festool's lower adjustment, with this you can pivot the whole head.

With both saws you can lock the head and make it into a chop saw to increase cutting capacity.  The Milwaukee has a single switch out front by the table lock. With the Festool you'll need to pull the head all the way out, reach around the back, flip a lever that lowers a lock arm, slide the head back until it catches. Advantage: Milwaukee, easy to use.

    The Milwaukee, the little button on the right is the chop saw lock

The Festool, the green switch (left side under the rail) lowers the lock which is the angled bar in the picture, the green switch (right side under bar) on the other side releases the lock. 

We feel the Milwaukee is the winner here, and we know if you're a Festool fan nothing we say is going to change your mind. But, if you're in the market for a saw, especially if your already invested in the Milwaukee M18 system, this saw is a quality built tool. If what I said hasn't swayed you yet, let this soak in.  The Milwaukee retails for $599 and comes with a 9.0ah battery and a rapid charger, The Festool Retails for $1475, the CT26 dust extractor retails for $675, and the larger anti-static hose retails for $165.   

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Milwaukee Radius Lights, To OneKey or Not to OneKey

The Milwaukee M18 Radius compact LED site lights are aimed directly at the Halogen light market. The Milwaukee lights are not dangerous as they pose no fire or burn issues or explosion risk as they don't get hot. The Milwaukee lights come in two different styles the original(2145-20) and the OneKey(2146-20), the OneKey allows the user to control the light through the OneKey app and also provides tool tracking of the light. The lights look alike with the exception of the OneKey logo and a sensor on the side of the light, they both produce the same amount of light and have the same basic functions. 

 They are practically identical on the outside with the exception of the OneKey logo and sensor on the 2146-20.

The lights also have the ability to run on AC power without a battery, and up to 10 lights can be linked together as both styles have an inlet and outlet. However the lights cannot charge a battery and you cannot turn one light off and have the rest turn off. We are getting about 3 hours of run time from 5.0ah M18 Battery.

OneKey logo and inlet

Outlet

Inlet and Outlet under their respective covers

The light can be place on the ground or a work surface. Plus it can be hung upside down via an integrated hook on the bottom. The hook can go around a stud or a pipe. The light also includes a security cable to lock it down to prevent theft.

Light upside down with hook up.

The lights use the Trueview high deffinition LED's, they produce up to 4400 Lumens and have three power levels and three different brightness settings.  It can be used as a area light(360 deg), a overhead light(360deg), or as task light(180deg).  We took our non OneKey camping and lit up the entire campground and since Milwaukee has made these water and dust resistant as well as shock proof, you can use these on and off the job site.

This is our trailer from about 100 yards away, using one light on high 180deg, notice the trees

From about 50 yards away, notice the trees

From about 25ft away

The OneKey app allows you to control the light with your phone, you can turn it on and off, from up to 50ft away, this is ideal when the light is overhead. You can also adjust the brightness and set up schedules for the light to turn on and off. Tool tracking is another bonus of OneKey, if you report a OneKey tool stolen through the app, you can lock the tool so it can't be used and ping it's location.

At the time of writing this the Radius light 2145-20 tool only retails for $299.00 at Home Depot and the 2146-20 OneKey tool only retails for $349.00.

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Old vs. New Milwaukee M18 Rocket Tower Lights

We are comparing the two Milwaukee M18 Rocket lights.  While they might look similar, they are completely different. They both feature 4ft -7ft height adjustment and an impressive 5 second set-up time.  The older style (2130-20) has a single light assembly producing a maximum 2000 lumens of multi-directional light. The new (2135-20) has three different light pods that produce a maximum 3000 lumens of multi-directional light. They both have three brightness settings and have a very similar body and pole set up. The multiple light pods of the 2135-20 allows the user to use it as a up light, down light, and multiple sideways task positions. Whereas the 2130-30 is only an up light or multiple direction task light.

2135-20 Light head with multiple light pods

2130-20 Light head with single light head

The adjustable light pods on the 2135-20 

 The light heads also produce different amounts of heat, which we expected since they produce a different amount of light. When we tested the lights, they had been running on the max brightness setting for 2 hours.  We were using the Milwaukee M12 Thermal Imager (2260-21) for this test.

2130-20 showing 66.9 degree F, after 2 hours running on the high setting

2135-20 showing 88.5 degree F. after 2 hours of running on the high setting.

Run times also vary between the two.  We were constantly getting about 2 hours on high with the M18 5.0 battery with the 2135-20 and about 3 hours with the 2130-30. We got just under 4 hours with the 9.0ah High Demand battery with the 2135-20. At the time of writing this, we haven't tested the 2130-20 with the 9.0ah battery.

The big differences: 1.  The base of the new 2135-20 contains a charger that allows you to plug in an extension cord and charge M18 batteries. You can however run the light on AC power alone making run time a non issue . 

2135-20 inlet on the base

2.  The control panel. The 2130-20 has a single button that you press multiple times to select power level and push and hold to turn off. The 2135-20 has multiple buttons and lights.  The lights indicate what power level you are on, and what your power source is (battery or when the AC power is plugged in). The big button in the middle turns the light on or off, the two side buttons select the power level either up (+) or down (-).

2130-20 single button control

2135-20 Multi button control with indicator lights 

In the end, they are both powerful and bright as well as safer than the old halogen work lights, as they aren't fire/burn or explosions hazards. Both lights are shock proof and water and dust proof. Plus they both feature Milwaukee's High Definition TrueView LED's. At the time of writing this, the 2130-20 was only available as a tool (vs a kit) and is retailing for $249.00 at the Home Depot, whereas the 2135-20 is retailing for $399.00 as a tool and $549.00 with a 9.0ah battery, Rapid Charger and carrying bag.

It is up to you whether or not you already have batteries, or if you want or need the additional features of the 2135-20.  We prefer the 2135-20 due to the flexibility of the light pods and built in charger.

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