Milwaukee’s NPS15-What’s New?

Milwaukee announced well over 80 new products during their New Product Symposium last week, including things such as new drill and driver bit sets, so the actual number is very much higher. This post will cover just a few, with more to come later. One of the big stories was of the new Red Lithium 18v HD (High Demand) 9.0 battery. With high power and greatly extended run time, it narrows the gap (if, indeed, a gap remains) between cordless performance and corded even more. I suppose it overshadowed the new Red Lithium XC 6.0, but those also sound like batteries I’d like to have. There are also significant additions and upgrades to the line of M12 Heated Gear, a favorite of mine here in Eastern Massachusetts. The True View High Output Lighting is going to be a boon to the people in our trades, and people who do construction photography are going to love this line for its camera-friendly, natural color temps. This is not to even touch upon new tools in the M18 Fuel line, greatly upgraded items, and fabulous new hand tools and accessories. Stick with me, it will take a few days!

The M18 3¼” Planer

Milwaukee unveiled so many new items that several of them had to be displayed in the dining tent. A popular new tool was the M18 3¼” Planer. I had the opportunity to try this out on a door provided so we could make some chips to go with our scrambled eggs and home fries. It’s easy and comfortable to use, leaves a smooth finish and has a feature that I am sure to appreciate; the exhaust can easily be changed from one side to the other. I will admit that I have frequently foregone the use of my power planer because it buries everything on my workbench in shavings, leaving me with a massive clean-up job. With Milwaukee’s planer, I’ll be able to switch ports and blow the stuff directly onto the floor where it belongs! I’m looking forward to giving it a test and seeing what it’s like changing the blades, something I dislike intensely on my current, under-used machine. This one could go into regular service, although I will probably still use the antique planes for the final passes. But you never know…

The Red Lithium M18 High Demand 9.0 Battery

I have been very pleased with the power and run time of my XC 4.0 batteries. I have yet to be caught in an awkward spot and the strength has impressed, so I figured I was really in good shape with the addition of some XC 5.0s. Now I find that I’ll often be able to do about twice the work on one battery with the Nines!

Assistant Product Manager Andrew Lentz gave a thorough presentation showcasing the differences between the new battery and its predecessors and its competition. Assisted by graphic examples of work performed, Lentz quantified the performance of various tools with different power sources.

It’s all just numbers until you see identical and repetitive tasks performed by similar tools with different batteries. In the accompanying photo, the drill with the NiCad battery bored 18 holes (Hey! That’s my old drill!), the earlier model Red Lithium did 90, the newer 5.0 completed an impressive 301 but the HD 9.0 finished 597. Those riddled planks made quite an impression. Add to that the 76 ¾” holes drilled through ¼” steel by the M18 Fuel Mag Drill and the 537 2x4s cut with the M18 Fuel 7¼” Circular Saw and you come away with a pretty clear idea of the enhanced performance.

The High Demand 9.0 requires a larger case than its siblings but the added performance is far greater than the added size.

Patrick McCombe of Fine Homebuilding gives the M18 Fuel Super Hawg fitted with a Red Lithium High Demand 9.0 battery a whirl.

After we’d been around the room taking in the comparisons of the different batteries and work performed, Vice President of Product Management Paul Fry outlined the benefits of the Red Lithium line of power sources across the range of Milwaukee tools.

M12 Heated Gear

The winter of ’14/’15 was my first wearing an M12 Heated Jacket. It saw use nearly every single day, wearing and warming well in a variety of conditions. Now I have my eye on something new: the Ripstop 3 in 1 Jacket with the heated vest. The 900 denier nylon, metal zippers and rivets should wear well on the jobsite and offer different combinations for different conditions. I’m sure that it’s all more water resistant than my barn coat as well.

The women’s Heated Jacket has been redesigned with a nicer cut and a heated collar and pockets, a change my wife would have liked to have seen sooner.

The expanded line of M12 Heated Gear will be equiped with the new M12 Red Lithium 2.0 battery for increased “warmtime”.

The M18 Jobsite Fan

I will admit to being pleasantly surprised by the M18 Jobsite Fan. I suspected from the press release pictures that it was small, and I worried that it would be too small to be effective. My first hands-on experience was in the meal tent at the symposium where they ringed the perimeter, ready for the heat. I picked one up and turned it on and noted that even at the lowest setting it moved a lot of air. Now that I shuttle one back and forth between the shop and home, it’s one of my favorite Milwaukee tools! It’s pretty quiet, runs seemingly forever and can reach you from pretty far away. If that’s not enough, it comes with an AC adapter and is easy to carry along with all your other tools.

I read a comment that suggested that the price was a bit much for a fan ($79.00, tool only at CPO Tools), and this might seem so at first blush, but when I think of the jobs I’ve had to do in 110° attic spaces or remember the cabinet installation in a windowless basement room where a fan was critical, but took up a power cord when we were nearly fighting over them, I think it’s not bad at all. I plan on getting another one.

In the coming days I’ll show more of the items from the New Tool Symposium, and as they become available, I’ll take them into the shop and out in the field to review them more thoroughly.

-dvl