About Garage Bench
Why I Started This Site
Three years ago, I was under a Ford F-250 at midnight, fighting a rusted transfer case bolt with a supposedly "pro-grade" cordless impact I'd bought based on a glowing online review. The battery died in four minutes, and the anvil mechanism jammed on the fifth lug. I wound up breaking the bolt loose with a breaker bar and a lot of frustration, then spent the next hour thinking about how many tools I'd bought over two decades that couldn't handle real shop conditions.
That was the moment I realized most tool reviews are useless for people who actually work for a living. They're written by content farms or photography enthusiasts who've never spent ten hours on concrete, never had a deadline breathing down their neck, and certainly never had a workbench collapse because they set an engine block on it wrong. I started Garage Bench to solve that problem. This is where you find out if gear holds up when your mortgage depends on it getting done today, not whether it looks good in a studio lighting setup.
About Tom Reeves
I've been turning wrenches professionally for 22 years, and I've been building, breaking, and fixing things in my home garage since I was twelve years old. I spent my early career in high-volume transmission shops where "break time" meant grabbing coffee while the parts washer ran, and I've spent the last decade as a fleet mechanic keeping work trucks running through Minnesota winters. That background matters because I've seen what happens when tools meet salt, sweat, and the occasional angry hammer strike.
I've owned and destroyed hundreds of tools. I've watched "heavy-duty" workbench legs buckle under a 454 big-block because the manufacturer used 18-gauge steel and dreams. I've had ratchets seize mid-job because their "sealed" mechanism filled with metal shavings in month three. I've used impact drivers that claimed 1,500 ft-lbs but couldn't break loose a suspension bolt that's been sitting since 1998. When I tell you something is shop-worthy, it's because I've used it to fix fleet vehicles at 2 AM in February, or to rebuild an engine over a six-month project in my uninsulated garage.
I'm not an influencer. I'm not a photographer. I'm a mechanic who writes about tools the same way I'd talk to you across the parts counter—straight, honest, and based on what happens when rubber meets road. If I recommend something, you can bet your knuckles on it.
What We Cover
This site is for the builders, the fixers, and the people who measure their garages in projects completed, not square footage. Here's what you'll find:
- Power Tool Shootouts: Cordless impacts, drills, and grinders tested for torque consistency, battery longevity, and motor thermal shutdowns under continuous load.
- Workbench Reality Checks: Steel vs. wood, bolt-together vs. weld, load ratings that actually mean something when you drop a transmission on them.
- Garage Organization That Works: Storage systems for real spaces with oil stains, not showrooms with track lighting.
- Automotive Specialty Tools: Scan tools, pressure testers, and the weird single-purpose gadgets that save you three hours when you need them.
- Hand Tool Durability: Sockets that don't round off, wrenches that don't spread open, and screwdrivers that don't chip when you hit them with a hammer because the penetrating fluid didn't work.
If you're a professional mechanic tired of replacing "affordable" tools every season, a serious DIYer building the shop you always wanted, or just someone who bought one too many wobbly tool carts from the big box store, you're in the right place.
How We Test & Review
Everything on this site gets used until I'm confident it won't let you down. That means a minimum of 30 days in actual working conditions—grease, concrete floors, temperature swings from 20 below to 95 degrees, and the kind of abuse that happens when you're on hour eight of a job that should have taken three.
My criteria are simple: Will it hold up in a working shop? I evaluate frame weld quality, motor thermal protection, battery cell construction, and whether replacement parts are available when (not if) something breaks. I check if that workbench stays level when you lean on it to break a bolt loose. I want to know if the tool's customer service actually sends parts, or if you're expected to throw away a $300 tool because a $5 switch failed.
Yes, some links on this site are affiliate links. If you buy through them, I earn a commission at no extra cost to you. But here's my promise: that commission never changes the score. If a tool is junk, I'll tell you it's junk even if it pays me 20%. I sleep better knowing you didn't waste money on a paperweight than I would cashing a check for a lie. My reputation in this industry is worth more than a quick affiliate buck.
Get In Touch
Got a question about whether a specific tool will handle your line of work? Want to tell me I'm wrong about a review (happens more than you'd think)? Or just want to shoot the breeze about shop builds? Email me at info@garagebench.com. I read every message, though it might take me a few days if I'm elbow-deep in a transmission.
Questions? Reach us at info@garagebench.com