What is the Air Locker AP700?

The Air Locker AP700 is a pneumatic punch.  It looks similar to a nail gun, however the AP700 is designed to remove nails instead of driving them in.  Being a pneumatic tool, it needs to be hooked up to an air compressor in order to function.  When the trigger on the tool is pulled, a hardened punch inside is driven forward.  That punch hits the nail with enough for to drive it out of the wood.

How do you use the AP700?

Operation is pretty straightforward.  The tool has an opening at the tip that goes over the end of the nail.  Once the nail is inside the AP700, you pull the trigger.  The punch is sent forward and pushes the nail out the way it was hammered in. It is worth noting that it uses a pretty surprising amount of force to do this.  Make sure you have a firm grip on the tool the first couple times you use it. If the nail doesn’t come completely out of the board, it will be out far enough to pull out with your fingers or a pair of pliers.

Is the Air Locker AP700 worth buying?

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If you work with reclaimed wood or pallets, I would argue that it is a must have tool.  It comes in at a reasonable price point of $50-60.  I purchased mine on Amazon and have used it when reclaiming several pallets over the year I have owned it.

Pallets

My standard procedure for reclaiming pallets is as follows:

1. Cut the nails of the top deck boards with a demolition blade on a reciprocating saw.
2. Use Air Locker AP700 to drive the remaining nail out out of the deck board

That’s it.  Due to the short length of the nail left after cutting and the thickness of the deck boards, the nails pop right out with the AP700. Usually, I punch the remaining nail out over a garbage can so they don’t scatter throughout the shop.  One thing of note when doing it this way: you won’t have any nail to put the tip of the Air Locker over, so make sure you take the time to line things up.

Reclaiming pallets in this way gives you the maximum amount of deck board, and requires the least effort.

The only real drawback to the Air Locker AP700 is that you have to get to the backside of the nail for it to work.  This isn’t to say the tool isn’t worth it, it just isn’t possible to remove something you can’t see and get to.  I typically don’t use the stringers as there isn’t much usable wood there, and removing the remaining nails is too much of a hassle.

If you want to save the stringers, using a pallet buster is an option.  As long as all the nails pull out in the deck boards, the Air Locker AP700 will quickly remove them, leaving you with a nail free stringer.

Other Reclaimed Wood

Other reclaimed wood is easy to remove nails from as well.  As long as you can see metal from the shank, the air locker can punch it out.  One thing to keep in mind is the thicker the wood and longer and bigger the nail, the more resistance the AP700 will face.  All that means is it may not punch the nail completely out.  It will, at a minimum, get the head of the nail raised high enough off the board to be removed by other means.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I am completely satisfied with the Air Locker AP700 and the job it does.  If you need a purpose built nail remover, this is it.  There is no faster or efficient method to remove nails from reclaimed wood.  The reciprocating saw and Air Locker combo of dismantling pallets is the fastest way if you are only interested in saving the deck boards.

First Impressions of the Spyder Hole Saw Kit, 600887

First impressions of the Spyder hole saw kit are generally good. The bright orange case is sturdy and has two stout latches keeping it securely shut. The labels are colorful, and clearly show what is included and the features of this hole saw kit.

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Upon opening the Spyder hole saw kit, you are greeted by satin black saws sitting cutting side up neatly in molded holes. Each hole saw has the Spyder logo screen printed in light blue down the side. Additionally, each saw has the size stamped into it in both SAE, and metric, measurements. The fact that they are stamped means they will not wear off with use, which is a plus. 

My only minor gripe is that the sizes can be hard to read depending on the lighting and viewing angle. This can be fixed with a little paint set in the indentations.

What is included?

The Spyder hole saw kit, 600887, is advertised as 13 pieces. Making up the 13 pieces are 2 drill bits (⅜”, ½”), 2 arbors (⅜”, ½”), and 9 hole saws (¾”, ⅞”, 1 ⅛”, 1 ⅜”, 1 ½”, 2”, 2 ⅛”, 2 ¼”, and 2 ½”).

• 2 drill bits, ⅜” and ½”
• 2 arbors, ⅜” and ½”
• 9 hole saws, ¾”, ⅞”, 1 ⅛”, 1 ⅜”, 1 ½”, 2”, 2 ⅛”, 2 ¼”, and 2 ½”
• Insert showing recommended RPM for various hole saw sizes and materials
• Molded case

The case and RPM insert are not counted towards the kit.

Additional hole saw sizes are available through retailers up to 6 ⅝”. Arbors are the same through the line, so as long as you have the correct size arbor you can use hole saws from Spyder’s other lines.

Rapid Core Eject

The main feature of this Spyder hole saw kit, and the entire Spyder line, are the Rapid Core Eject arbors. They claim tool less removal of the material left inside the hole saw after cutting a hole.  In my experience this holds true.

With this system, the hole saw is threaded on the arbor.  On the ⅜” arbor there are only threads, while the ½” arbor has threads and 2 spring loaded locking pins. The extra security of the locking pins on the larger sizes is a nice feature, as it keeps the hole saw from loosening or spinning off after a sudden stop.

After the hole saw is installed on the arbor, the arbor slides of the respective drill bit. The drill bits have a groove machined into them that a detent in the arbor securely locks into.  You are now ready to drill your hole.

Once your hole is drilled, you press the Spyder logo button on the arbor and slide the hole saw back towards your drill. This action pushes the core of material in the saw out towards the end of the drill bit, and finally off the end.  

This system works well, and I don’t remember ever needing to use a screwdriver to get a core out. If for some reason you do need to use a tool to remove a core, the Spyder hole saws have generous openings on the sides.

The Rapid Core Eject system works well in a drill press, allowing easy removal of the core without having to remove the hole saw.  This hole saw kit gets extra points for ease of drill press use.  If you don’t have a drill press, check out our used drill press buying guide.

Spyder Hole Saw Kit in Use

The Bi-Metal hole saw kit, 600887, featured in this review is rated for wood, pvc, plastic, metal, and sheet rock.  It is important to note that Spyder offers a Carbide tipped line of hole saws, however they are not rated for metal. I work with multiple materials in my shop, and for this reason chose to go with the Bi-Metal tipped version. If you don’t work with metal, the carbide tipped offering is worth looking into.  

I have owned this kit for just over a year and have had the chance to use it on wood, metal, and pvc. It has excelled in all three of these materials, and the rapid core eject system worked great. 

All of the holes I have made have been clean, with little to no clean up necessary.  

When using the Spyder hole saw kit on metal, it is important to use low RPM and cutting oil to lubricate and cool off the saw.

My hole saw remained sharp after cutting holes in 11 gauge metal. After one year of moderate use, I can confidently say this hole saw kit was a good purchase, and I see it lasting for quite a while with proper use.

Conclusion

Overall, I have been happy with the purchase of this Spyder hole saw kit. It has met my expectations, especially for the price point. I believe it is one of the best kits for the garage hobbyist, and is a great base kit to build off of. Additional sizes are readily available, and affordable.

I have kept my kit in its plastic case, even though it is a bit large. The Rapid Core Eject system works well and truly allows for tool less removal, which saves time and aggravation. The hole saws provide clean holes in multiple materials, and they do it quickly.

The sizes can be difficult to read at times, however that can be fixed with a little thinned paint dropped in the stampings, I just haven’t done it yet.  

We give the Spyder hole saw kit a 4 out of 5.