Some tools go un-noticed on the hardware store shelves, like the rotary hammer chisels. At first glance this appears simply to be a heavy duty hammer drill. It has a special quick change chuck called an SDS system and will only work with drills and other accessories with the special SDS shanks....
The high tech laser lights first came into common use as pointers. School teachers use them to shine a dot or an arrow on a distant wall.Electronic tape measurers use them to indicate what surface you are measuring to.Infra Red thermometers use them to indicate what surface is being measured.Hun...
This was a fun little segment where we collected all kinds of things that you can hang on a workbelt.That little folding saw that fit into its own belt case comes from Silky Saws.Good both for cutting regular wood and pruning, it is about the smallest yet aggressive saw you can carry around with ...
Have you ever had that impossible to reach crack where you just can't get your caulking gun in?Try taping one of those oversized ice drink straws of some small diamater tubing onto the end of your caulking gun. Make sure you have it well attached, you don't want it squirting off and making a mes...
I received a letter from an astute viewer who noticed a mushroom head on a chisel while we were watching the "restoration" of an old brick building. He told the story of someone he knew who almost lost an eye because of a piece of metal flying off the butt of a mushroomed chisel, and rightly chi...
Need to work with sheet metal? Here are a few working tips.Sheet metal is best cut with sheet metal shears. You may not realise it but the handles of the shears are generally colour coded to help you grab the right ones. The problem is that as you cut the metal, the two pieces tend to get in t...
Mitre Bevel saws are designed to make the compound mitre/bevel cuts necessary for crown molding. But they are really not simple to use. For details for the cuts and the angles see "Cutting crown moldings with a mitre saw".One of the complications in making the cuts is that the bevel on standard...
I love looking at the whole range of tools all designed to accomplish the same task. The least expensive get the job done, eventually. The top of the professional line get it done in the blink of an eye. How about hanging drywall?Driving drywall screws is actually a complicated task. You need...
A viewer asked me for some tips on cutting glass.First work on a flat surface with clean glass, gloves and goggles. Oil the wheel in your glass cutter. Score the top of the glass but pass only one time all the way from end to end, never twice and never pass the cutter over an existing cutter...
This little gadget goes on the end of your finger, then you put a nut between your finger and this "ring". This allows you to hold on to a nut right on the tip of your finger to reach in and get it started on the end of a machine screw in some hard to reach place.I got mine from Lee Valley Tools.
