Number 5

Coming in at number 5 is my 1/4 sheet palm sander. This sweet looking baby power tool definitely packs a punch whether I am flipping furniture, doing new builds or repairs before upholstering. I keep going back to this one again and again I love the fact that it's a quarter sheet palm sander. All have to do is grab the grit I need out of my little sand paper organizer box, clip it into place and I'm ready to roll. I love that it doesn't leave weird patterns or swirl marks, and I can sand for an annoying amount of time before having to recharge the battery. 

PROs: No Cord. I could just leave this here without any explanation, but there's nothing more annoying in the world than wanting to work on a project and then having to find a power cord long enough or move the piece closer to the outlet. 

CONs: Smaller battery = smaller run time. When I first got this sander I only had the standard battery pack. It still lasted a long time, but if I forgot to charge it up then I'd have to find a battery to swap it with or wait till it charged. BUT once I got ahold of Ryobis Superhero sized battery, that isn't a problem anymore.... actually the opposite ha! It's lasts so long that I have no excuse to not finish sanding whatever it is that I'm working on. 

Number 4

Number four and number three are probably interchangeable because I use them about the same amount of time but I'm gonna give the number four spot to my 18v heat gun.

This is a power tool that Ryobi sent me a couple of years ago to try out on some costume accessories I was making for comicon, to be honest, I really didn't think that it would be something that would get much use in my work room, but boy was I wrong!

Besides making cosplay and costume accessories go much faster I have found myself using when im making vintage jewelry Christmas trees, stripping furniture, speeding up dry times on glue and adhesives, smoothing out veneer and shelf edging and so many other things.

PROs: I love that it comes with several different nozzles, depending on how wide or concentrated I want the heat to be and the hand feel is much better than my husbands bulky plug-in one. 

CONs: Like any heat gun? It requires a lot of power, but since I upgraded from the standard battery to the superhero battery I always have plenty of power whenever ive needed it. So if you were looking to get one of these, I would see about getting the extended battery. They are great to have around especially since all of the Ryobi 18 V tools can use them. 

Number 3

Favorite Power Tool number three is actually a new one that I recently acquired the 18v Brad nailer.

I have the staple gun and the pin nailer but I find myself using the Brad nailer several times a week now. Whether it's adding trim pieces attaching paneling repairing furniture or even using it to apply gimp trim to furniture the fact that I can use Brad nails from from 5/8 of an inch all the way up to 2 1/8th inch makes this tool incredibly versatile and useful.

PROs: it's has a built-in light, so you can see where you're shooting as well as a safety nozzle and it's easy to adjust the depth of the brad nail right on the back of the tool.

CONs: It is quite heavy and feels unbalanced sometimes, so when I said it down, if I don't place it just right, it will topple over and fall on the ground. A small inconvenience for a tool that can do so much.

Number 2

all right, the number two spot goes to my very favorite, hot glue gun, the multi temp, full size, cordless hot glue gun. I can't even count how many hot glue guns I have destroyed over the years between my work as a florist, professional, holiday, decorator and lifelong maker, crafters, DIYer I think I would maybe be sick to my stomach if I actually counted up, how many hot glue guns I have destroyed over the years . When Ryobi asked me to demo the multi temp, glue gun on the vintage jewelry and brooch trees. I was making a few years ago I was worried about the fact that it was battery powered. When I get going on projects like these, it seems like the battery powered ones I've used in the past can't keep up with how fast I need them to be. I felt like I was constantly waiting for the hot glue to get hot enough, but that is not the case With 18 V multi temp hot glue gun from Ryobi. It comes with interchangeable tips depending on how much hot glue you need coming out at any given moment. Seems like hot glue is always ready to go and the fact that I can shift between high heat and low heat  is a game changer! Cons I don't really have many with this tool, but I have noticed that if I have the precision tip installed on the tool that the flip up glue tray isn't quite long enough, and some glue can make it past, but honestly, I feel like I am stretching on that one to find a con.

The number one spot for my favorite power tool actually goes to two tools but I'm going to count them as one since they come bundled in a set the 18 V drill and driver combo these two tools probably get used every day at my house and I am not exaggerating. The drill has all of the features that I like in a drill a lightbulb adjustable speeds, quick and easy chuck that I can change on the fly and I've been able to use it with a variety of drill and driver bits from various sets. The impact driver is amazing. It is lightweight easy to hold, easy to use, and has outperformed some of my husbands more expensive "contractor grade" drivers. It has the power and the torque that I needed to have, and has a quick change locking bit built-in which is perfect for quick change out between projects. The only con I have with this tool is probably more of a user error than anything on the tool end because it is so powerful that if I ever try and use cheap screws, I sometimes end up stripping them, which means they're probably so cheap, that I shouldn't be using them at all but what are you do.