Tools

A hammer drill, an impact driver, a compressor: high-value machines that occasionally leave a site on foot. The Metabo Pro tracker is smaller than a car key, costs a net 14,500 Ft, and lets you follow from your phone where your most expensive tools happen to be. Suitable for iOS and Android alike.

A charger, a 65 W power bank and a work lamp in one pocket-sized device, running from any 18 V Metabo CAS battery. An 8 Ah battery holds 144 Wh — nearly twice a 20,000 mAh power bank — so it charges a laptop, supplies two devices at once, and needs no mains socket.

Home DIYers and even the professionals sometimes agonise over whether to reach for a cordless or a corded tool. Frequency of use, the length of the working day, accessibility, safety and the weather all pull the decision in different directions. A practical comparison, with a summary table of the considerations.

If drilling stainless takes real effort, the speed is usually to blame. Use a suitable drill, choose the right bit, and above all get the speed right: the harder the material and the larger the diameter, the lower it must be. With a speed table and the formula for working it out.

Stainless steel is imposing and unforgiving in equal measure — every mistake shows on the finished surface. A structural manufacturer that bought the complete Metabo INOX range explains why the corded machines won in-house, why the cordless ones proved indispensable on site, and why only INOX-marked accessories go near the workpiece.

First impressions. The machine we received for testing was the cardboard-box version, but a plastic case version of this tool also exists. At first glance the Metabo angle grinder is what we expect from an angle grinder. Nothing special.

Metabo, which celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2020, is an innovative company that researches, develops and experiments year after year so that its tools are stronger, more durable and more reliable. The primary considerations in design are safety and productivity, and consequently the higher profit achievable through using the tools.

At the beginning of the 20th century the drill was used primarily for woodworking. These tools were made of iron and were driven by hand. Their construction was very simple: a drill bit ending in a loop or a wooden handle. With these tools the work must have been a real struggle.

Let's take a hammer drill, for example. Anyone who drills two holes for a new shelf once every six months will get years out of a simple, cheap, “no name” drill bit. But what should someone use who drills hundreds of holes day in, day out?

PROFESSIONAL STAINLESS STEEL MACHINING. Anyone who wants to achieve a perfect surface needs perfect machines: find out more about the METABO stainless steel programme! The decades of experience and the high standards of quality that Metabo has set in metalworking are present in its stainless steel machines too.

Using cobalt drill bits. It is a basic rule that chip removal is only possible if the tool's material is harder than that of the workpiece. It follows that the harder the material we wish to machine, the harder the tool we will need.