Category: Tools

  • The Coldest Day

    It is the coldest it has been this winter. My saw is alone on the frozen landscape. Tonight it is expected to get down to minus 32degrees celsuis. I am glad I have all my cuts done for this job.

  • Dull Tools Are Dangerous

    I’m quite a fan of having sharp tools. They get dull too quickly, which I tried to solve by not using them. This only made work go very slowly. The next thing I tried was developing a way to sharpen dull tools quickly, at the job-site. My favorite is the diamond plates from princessauto.com. They…

  • The Wife Suggested This Article

    I was bouncing ideas off my wife about what the topic of my next blog post.  She interrupted me and said “how about balancing work and personal projects??”  I got the hint right away.  If you look at the chart above, you’ll notice that at the bottom there is a project called “Home Laundry Area”. …

  • Tablesaw Wants Wood, Not Wound.

    I just saw a bumper sticker on a truck that read “If you can’t stand behind our troops…try standing in front of them!”  It’s obvious that there are more dangerous occupations than carpentry.  So why are there so many injuries? I think part of the reason is power tools.  If you jumped back 100 years,…

  • Tools to Love and Tools to Kill For

    Killer tools. They’re out there waiting for a user to take hold of them and go berserk on a renovation job.  Drills with more torque than the car you drive; Reciprocating saws that dim all the lights in the house when used. Tools to love Chisels with beechwood handles made in Japan by ancient Samaria…

  • How Much Does a House Weigh Part 3: Wrecking Bar Basics

    I was going to go into detail about all the tools I use for starting a building restoration project.  Then it occurred to me that I had seen an article that covered the basics on the basics.  Wrecking bars.  I found it in a January 1985 edition of The Family Handyman. I’m too busy this…