Tools for Harry Homeowner

Have you ever stopped to consider the wonderful additions we have been able to add to our household toolboxes?

I'm no stranger to hand tools. My Dad had a Shopsmith in our basement when I was growing up. He did a lot of home remodeling projects with that and other tools. I helped as I could - holding wood, handing nails, things like that. I was never allowed to operate the Shopsmith but I understood how it worked. I understood power saws, hand saws, vises, screw drivers, pliers, drills, wrenches, snips, hammers, awls, and more.

However, it's only recently been dawning on me just how much has changed for the better in the past (gasp) 30 years! No wonder Rich likes to hang out in the "Tool Corral" at our local hardware stores. Think about some of the things that we take for granted: ratchet screwdrivers, Dremel Moto Tools, laser-sight levels, easy-on / easy-off gentle-grip clamps, light-weight drills, battery-operated tools of all sorts...

When we re-did our kitchen floor, Rich trimmed the boards with a "portable" chopsaw with a laser cutting line — "cut here" — how easy is that?" He cut the hole to install our new cat flap using a Craftsman All-in-One Cutting Tool, sort of a Dremel tool on steroids.

I've always had a staple gun but recently I've noticed they are getting lighter in weight and more powerful. Nail guns are also useful; Rich used a pneumatic nail gun for our kitchen baseboards. You can also buy handheld nail giuns in the staple gun form (no air compressor required).

How about stud finders? Pretty neat huh? The electronic wall stud sensor was patented in 1978. The latest technology in stud finders uses a very small radar system to detect the stud. Whoa.

Here's something new!

A microwave drill can bore through materials such as concrete and glass, silently and without creating dust. By heating a target to nearly 2,000 ºC, the microwaves soften it up enough for a small rod to be pushed through.

[ from Impact Lab, Feb. 12, 2006.

Maybe not something for typical home use but still...

Tools for Harry Homeowner ( in category Random Thoughts , Show & Tell ) - posted at Fri, 24 Feb, 01:02 Pacific | «e»