Lasers Provide Increased Durability, Accuracy, Visibility and Ease of Use.  July 2008 – DEWALT, a leading manufacturer of industrial power tools, announced the launch of its new family of self-leveling rotary lasers for interior and exterior use (DW074 and DW079) and exterior only use (DW078). The new lasers are ideal for trim carpenters, concrete workers, general contractors, deck builders, masons, and remodelers for applications including site leveling, excavation, post installation, concrete leveling, multi-level construction, block layout, benchmark and elevation leveling, and other interior and exterior applications.

Continue reading “DeWalt Introduces New Family Of Self - Leveling Rotary Lasers”

How energy efficient is your home?  What can you do to make it more energy efficient?  And what’s the payback potential?  That’s the topic of this post. 

These days it seems more and more people are really trying to squeeze the most out of their energy dollar.  And with gas prices climbing and no end in sight, there’s no doubt that energy conservation will become a regular part of daily living. 

The people over at dailyhomerenotips.com have come up with a very interesting list of energy conservation ideas.  In fact, they’ve listed over 80 of them - each with a series of criteria, that in the least will get you thinking.
Continue reading “How Energy Efficient Is Your Home? 80 Ideas For Energy Reduction”

Well, looks like Milwaukee tools has another pretty cool tool on their roster.  They just announced the introduction to a new cordless New M12 Copper Tubing Cutter tool.

This 12V Copper cutter is designed specifically for cutting copper.  They claim it’s both very versatile and makes short work of normally longer timed cutting tasks.

Continue reading “Milwaukee Introduces New M12 Copper Tubing Cutter”

If you’ve thinking about building a new deck, this contest is right up your alley.  Adding a new deck adds  functional living space, a place to relax, and really helps increase the value of your home.

HickoryDickoryDecks.com   has an exciting contest going on right now.  Actually it ends August 31st. Looks like all you have to do is submit an online ballot to get a shot a winning a new $10,000 custom deck.  You can read all their contest rules here.  Continue reading “Win A $10,000 Dream Deck Contest!”

Hanging your own door allows for a more customized appearance. For starters, hanging doors only usually applies to exterior doors. And of course, exterior doors always open to the inside. In order to jumpstart the process, you’ll need to prep your body for heavy carrying and potentially tiring work.

The first step: Take measurements. Begin by focusing on the door frame and measuring its height and width. New doors rarely meet exact measurements so trimming edges might be necessary. If you haven’t removed the old door, do so already.

Step Two: Remove your new door from its packaging, remove any protective pieces and extensions that it might have (by prising or sawing off parts), and position it against the frame. A trick of the “door hanging trade” is to tie a piece of strong rope or string around the middle of the door for easy handling. In addition, tape pieces of cardboard to the door faces to avoid damage to its finish. Continue reading “Hanging A Door: 6 Easy Steps”

Want to know how to prolong the life and function of your workshop vacuum cleaner without breaking the bank? Try pantyhose! Really!  You can extend the lifespan of your favourite shop vacuum by following these four easy steps:

1. Take a pair of discarded pantyhose and cut one leg off.
2. Tie one end off.
3. Stretch the open end over the filter
4. Hold it in place with a rubber band

The resulting “filter guard” won’t affect your vacuum’s suction power. Save the other leg of the pantyhose and you’ve got another filter for later use.

Got a Tool Tip you’d like to share? Drop a comment and let us know.  Every week we give away a $10 Gift Certificate for the best tip. It Could be yours!

Sometimes driving long screws into hard dry wood can be tough to do. Even when using power tools the head of the screw may strip out before you can drive the screw all the way in. Next time try dragging the threads of your screws across a bar of hand soap first. You will be absolutely amazed at how easily they zip right in….

Got a Tool Tip you’d like to share? Drop a comment and let us know.  Every week we give away a $10 Gift Certificate for the best tip. It Could be yours!

Quite a joy ride we had when doing research on duct/masking tapes, so why don’t you hop in and join us on a little discovery tour?

Duct Tape – Long time ago Johnson & Johnson had a division called Permacel that made items for the US military. To keep moisture out of the soldiers’ ammunition boxes, they manufactured duck (it was called “duck” then) tape made of cotton duck cloth. The military folks began to discover the multi-purpose waterproof tape to fix guns, jeeps, and aircraft. After the war, when the housing industry took on a feverish pace, it was used to connect heating and air conditioning ducts.
Continue reading “Fun with tape? You’ve got to be kidding!”

Saw blades are built with different features for different projects. When choosing a saw blade, keep these characteristics in mind:

Teeth Count: Typically speaking, the more teeth a saw blade has, the smoother and more accurate the cut it makes. A typical rip blade might have 24 teeth, a general purpose crosscut blade might have 40 teeth, and a finishing blade may have up to 60 teeth for finer cuts.
Continue reading “When choosing a saw blade…”

You walk into your neighborhood hardware store and gaze longingly at those kitchen top counters and cabinets. Maybe your kitchen at home needs an entire overhaul too?  A boring kitchen that’s full of scratches and chipped edges and dull color - not to mention old smells from years past - is enough to make us NOT want to cook - ever.

Is your countertop looking like it should be retired soon or else taken to the scrap yard?  If so, keep reading:  Continue reading “5 Countertop Options for Your Kitchen: Which is Right For You?”

If you’re short of space for a workshop, the back of your door can serve as your “hanging tool organizer.” 

Take a peg board that’s a few inches smaller than the door and raise it up with a one-by-two frame.  Plan a spot for each tool and other paraphernalia, and get all the hooks, racks, cups, trays and holders you’ll need to put them in place.  And please, no door slamming…

Got a Tool Tip you’d like to share? Drop a comment and let us know.  Every week we give away a $10 Gift Certificate for the best tip. It Could be yours!

Your teenaged son goes through canisters of tennis balls which end up in the trash can after only a few fast-paced road hockey games.  Your wife has runs in her stockings so often she discards them faster than popcorn spewing out of the popper.  And your daughter – bless her – ever since she’s picked up the teeth whitening habit, uses her toothbrush for a week and buys a new one again. 

Fish them out before the garbage collectors come knocking.  Your family’s junk could be your treasure trove.  These unwanted items can make your work area more efficient.

We’ve conveniently collected some recycling ideas from Black & Decker’s Workshop Tips and Techniques for you right here.  Let’s start with Tennis Balls…. Continue reading “Tennis Balls, Toothbrushes, Coffee Cans - For Your Workshop?”

Take a standard bottle opener and easily turn it into a tool for giving your screwdriver more leverage. Simply cut a slit in the rounded part of the opener that that will slide snugly around the tip of your screwdriver blade. Then cover the rest of the opener with tape or a piece of PVC to make it more comfortable for your hands. 

The result… a slotted wrench that can help you turn the tip of your screwdriver blade.

Got a Tool Tip you’d like to share? Drop a comment and let us know.  Every week we give away a $10 Gift Certificate for the best tip. It Could be yours!

When you hear someone say, “his workshop’s vibrating with life”, we take it to mean that he’s a worker who is booked solid with projects lined up for the next five years. It could also mean that a worker has several tools going on at the same time that send off vibrations - a cacophony of bongos, siren-like bells and the jig-g-y-jig-g-y of a jigsaw somewhere around the corner.

It’s a good thing to be “vibrating with life” but when your jigsaw vibrates too much, that could be bad. Out of curiosity, we looked up some message boards and product reviews written by individuals who bought a jigsaw recently and one thing stands out in their comments: Continue reading “J - J - J - Jigsaw Vibrations: What You Should Know”

As much as it pains me to admit it, there are some tools that have not made their way into my workshop. As much as I would like to be able to justify buying them, my wife is no fool. Some of these are somewhat pricey and would be tough to just sneak in. So, in no particular order, here are five tools that I don’t own (but plan to soon):

Continue reading “Top 5 Tools I Don’t Own…. Yet!”

A short while back a friend of mine sent me this list of definitions. I’m not sure of the origins of it but thought that you might enjoy reading it. This will be especially handy for the less than knowledgeable DIYers among us - you know, the ones who don’t know a saw horse from a sea horse, that don’t know a corbel from a gerbil, a rabbet from a rabbit….. well you get the idea.

Tool Definitions:

DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, denting the freshly-painted part which you had carefully set in the corner where nothing could get to it. Continue reading “DIY Definitions - With A Twist…”

One of our readers asked if you can change the tank configuration on air compressors - can a bigger tank be added to an existing compressor? The answer is: Sure, within reason. Provided the compressor motor can generate the compressed air that your application demands (both pressure and cubic feet per minute) it shouldn’t be a problem.

Try to keep in mind, however, that there is a reason big compressors come with big motors. Slapping a little 1 horsepower motor on a big 60 gallon tank will likely not yield the results you were hoping for. Think of it as Continue reading “You Asked: Putting An Air Compressor Together”

I put myself through university by working at a tile and carpet store. Mostly doing deliveries and warehouse related duties, but I also spent a fair amount of time working with tile setters.

During those days, I learned some lessons that would stay with me for many years. Unlike learning the value of filling your Thermos with red wine instead of coffee (he said a little wine with lunch is good for you, I’m not so sure), learning how to properly cut tile has served me well many times. Continue reading “How to Cut Mosaic Tile - Tools & Video”

Metal levels tend to slip when held against a smooth wall making the task more difficult.

Get A Grip…by adding some sticking power.

Try gluing a few small strips of sandpaper along the sides of the level. Use rubber cement if possible, that way the sections of sandpaper can be easily removed if you choose.

Got a Tool Tip you’d like to share? Drop a comment and let us know.  Every week we give away a $10 Gift Certificate for the best tip. It Could be yours!

Have you ever dreamed of building your own house? Of course you have, we all have. The problem, for most of us however, is that a project of that size and magnitude is a bit beyond the scope of our abilities.

Sure most of us can do some of the work, even a lot of it, but very few of us are proficient in all aspects of home construction. Heck, if we were good at everything - framing, roofing, electrical, plumbing, etc, we wouldn’t be do it yourselfers, we’d be builders.

Well it seems some folks in Ohio have figured out a way to have the best of both worlds. Continue reading “Do It Yourself Home Construction. Good Idea?”