New High-Tech Power Tool Has a Killer Feature
(Photo: Fraunhofer)
After a few minutes working most handheld power tools, you feel like it was your arm that just went through a power saw. All that vibration, and the extra force you have to put on the tool to keep it steady, is murder on your arm. And it can keep you from doing an accurate job.
A new tool featured in Gizmodo promises to change all that. European researchers say they’ve developed an anti-vibration system that virtually eliminates the violent shaking that you usually get with these small power tools.
Related story on Yahoo Makers: Tool Time Upgrade: Five Ways to Enhance Your Tool Kit
The makers of the FEIN MultiMaster oscillator say it vibrates up to 70 percent less than its competitors.
The secret is elastomer insulation that provides a buffer between the motor and the rest of the tool. That keeps much of the motor’s vibrations away from the tool’s housing — and the user’s hands.
(Photo: Thinkstock)
According to the press release announcing the new oscillator, the tool can be used for “rasping, polishing, shaving, cutting, severing, sharpening and filing – including at those hard-to-reach places.”
Related story on Yahoo Makers: Hardware Store Decor: 6 Ways to Repurpose Tools
The makers of the FEIN MultiMaster say their innovation comes with a host of benefits. Because of the reduced arm strain, they claim technicians and autoworkers will be able to use their tool throughout an entire eight-hour shift. Plus, the insulation does more than reduce vibration — it reduces the noise too, by about 50 percent.
FEIN’s new creation is just the latest in a few new tool innovations we’ve seen recently.
California Megan Murphy, president of Hammer Works Manufacturing, is getting tons of business, and a glowing profile on central California public radio station KVPR, for her Dead Blow Hammer. Based on an idea her father came up with in the 1970s, the shock absorbent hammer doesn’t damage what it hits.
Bosch’s new REAXX Portable Jobsite Table Saw comes with an innovative new safety feature: it automatically detects human flesh that comes too close and retracts the blade before it makes contact. Gizmodo reports this is the first such machine that leaves the tool intact when the safety mechanism kicks in; a previous machine had such a failsafe that would destroy the machine. Bosch says the new REAXX can be reset in 60 seconds.
Also on Yahoo Makers:
Let Yahoo Makers inspire you every day! Join us on Facebook, Twitter,Instagram, Tumblr, and Pinterest.