Authors

The writers behind Workshoppicks. Each person owns a domain - from product lanes to buying criteria - so guides stay specific instead of anonymous.

• Ethan Cobb

  Cordless tools

  Columbus, Ohio

  Ethan has framed a deck and hung a hundred feet of trim with the same two cordless tools, so battery platform and grip matter to him. He tracks how a drill feels after an hour, how hot a battery gets under load, and whether the chuck holds a bit straight.

  Home-shop builder who has run cordless drills and drivers through framing, trim, and furniture projects.

  Domain: drills-drivers · battery-platforms · combo-kits · torque

  Focus: battery platform · chuck quality · torque under load · grip and balance · combo-kit value

• Jordan Pike

  Metalwork and welding

  Wichita, Kansas

  Jordan learned to weld repairing a trailer in his driveway, which taught him more about duty cycle than any spec sheet. He covers welders and metalwork by the jobs that actually stop you: thin sheet, rusty stock, and running out of machine duty cycle mid-bead.

  Home welder who has run MIG and stick machines on trailer, gate, and repair projects.

  Domain: welding · metalwork · duty-cycle · safety

  Focus: duty cycle · input power · thin-gauge work · gas setup · safety gear

• Ray Morales

  Woodworking

  Tucson, Arizona

  Ray builds furniture in a one-car garage, so every tool has to justify its footprint. His woodworking coverage comes from repeatable cuts: fence squareness, snipe, tear-out, and setup time between operations.

  Garage furniture builder who has run table saws, miter saws, routers, and planers on real projects.

  Domain: woodworking · saws · routers · shop-setup

  Focus: cut capacity · fence squareness · dust collection · setup time · blade and bit quality