By Amy Gilsan
The only items in my tool drawer 12 years ago were needle
nosed pliers, a Philips screwdriver, and a hammer. That's
all. If I needed a screwdriver with a flat head, I used a
butter knife. When I needed to measure something, I used a
12-inch ruler. If I needed to drive a screw, I asked my
neighbor to do me the favor.
The poverty of my tool drawer ended when I married an
electrician, and we started building our home on a four
acre parcel in the mountains - with our own hands. If I
had known how much I would have to learn before we were
through, I never would have agreed to do it, or believed it
was possible. But, we built the house and also moved on to
build a greenhouse, garden shed, and a free-standing shed.
Our finest accomplishment was when we completed the timber
framed barn.
We added the necessary tools to our collection as we added
buildings to our 'homestead.' At the beginning, my husband
gave me utility knife, measuring tape, good hammer, and
speed square along with a tool belt to carry them. It was
a birthday present soon after we had begun building the
house. I appreciated having my own set of tools to carry
with me. Using these, and my newly acquired chop-saw
abilities, I was all set for a while.
As my confidence with power tools increased, I took on
more of the house building tasks. It wasn't long before I
needed my own cordless drill and a circular saw that I
could easily manage, (as opposed to our heavy 1970s Skil
saw with its tricky switch). The next tool present I
received was the DeWalt kit with five power-tools! What a
pleasure to work with superior equipment. In the DeWalt
kit, there is a super strong cordless drill and a battery
powered circular saw that's light and tough. There's also
a saws-all (reciprocating saw), and high beam flashlight,
all in one handy carrying case.
As we added tools to our collection and I learned to use
them, I realized some general principles about buying,
using, and maintaining equipment.
About buying tools, the central principle is this: it
never pays to cheap-out on tools. Even for the ones we
rarely use, like the bow saw, it's better just to spend the
extra money in the first place. Otherwise, you're
eventually going to have to go out and replace the cheap
tool that breaks the second time you use it, or that
performs poorly and wastes your time and materials. This
advice holds true for everything from paintbrushes to table-
saws. Make the extra investment. It's worth it because it
will save you time and headache.
When using tools, keep this principle in mind: Select the
right tool for the job, and then stay within its operating
limits. As an example, it's possible to force my light but
strong cordless saw to cut a 4 x 6 post. Yet that kind of
cut is not the purpose of my little circular saw. I'd
probably damage it, mess up the post, get injured, or have
some other problem as a result of using the tool for
something it isn't designed to do. Instead, the right tool
used properly will make you more efficient and give you
greater enjoyment in doing the work.
About maintaining tools. Well, consider this. Once
you've made the investment and you've gotten into the habit
of using the tool properly for the job it's meant to do, if
you also put a little attention on maintenance, then most
good tools will last a life-time. Keep it simple and do-
able. For most tools, all you have to do is keep them dry,
blow the saw dust out of them before you put them away, and
keep them in a safe place. For battery powered tools, keep
the batteries fully charged for a long life and better
performance. Keep blades sharp on saws so the motor doesn't
have to work as hard. Generally, take care of your
investment. If you just do a little maintenance as you use
each tool, you're all set.
