Each month, The Family Handyman magazine publishes a feature called Handy Hints. The suggestions, which come from the magazine`s readers, attempt to make all kinds of home rehabbing and repair projects easier for do-it-yourselfers. Some of the hints that follow are new ideas, and others are old standbys that have been helping handy men and women for years.
Let there be heat
Replace the light bulb over your workbench with a heat lamp during cold weather. The heat lamp will keep your hands and tools warmer and make winter shop work more comfortable.
Wishy-washy
To wash a car, attach a twin shutoff Y to the hose, with a hose nozzle on one side and a lawn sprayer on the other. Then put concentrated liquid auto soap in the sprayer. This way, you can apply soapy water for washing or clear water for rinsing at the turn of a lever.
Balancing act
Carry 4-by-8-foot sheets of plywood or wallboard the easy way. Using a scrap block of wood, cut a slot in it wide enough to carry three-quarter-inch sheets and attach a rope (with eye bolts) to each end of the block to carry it. The sheets can be balanced in the block and carried easily with the assistance of the rope carrier.
Spray away
Spray-paint small items without getting paint all over your shop by laying a cardboard box on its side and placing the objects inside. The box acts as a small spray booth to contain the overspray.
Foiled again
Before you start painting, take some aluminum foil and use it to cover all of those things you want to stay paint-free. You can use it on faucets and their handles, doorknobs and even a phone. The foil can be crimped around objects of any shape and stays in place until you`re finished painting.
One-handed start
There`s a way to start nails with one hand in hard-to-reach places. Place the head of the nail against the base of the hammer head with the nail wedged between the claws of the hammer.
Cutting edge
Keep scissors sharp. Take a piece of fine, 220-grit sandpaper and cut through the paper several times. The abrasion will keep the scissors like new. Pane control
Replace glass panes safely. Make a handle for the glass by folding over a small section from the middle of a foot-long piece of duct tape. Stick the tape in the middle of the pane (which must be clean and dry). For large panes, use two handles.
Tools at hand
Keep the tools you`re using at your fingertips. Add a handy tool tray to the bottom of one of your sawhorses. Install the tray on only one sawhorse so another one can still stack on top of it.
Get your stuff together
Are you continually misplacing small workshop items like bits, punches, knives and itsy-bitsy screwdrivers? Fasten a block of rigid foam plastic to the wall above the workbench. Many small painted objects can be pressed into the plastic block so that they`re always at hand when needed. You can buy the plastic at home centers or craft stores for peanuts.
User-friendly filler
If, while refinishing furniture, you find that wood filler sets before you can mix it with the pigment to match the piece you`re working on, try mixing the filler and pigment by kneading them together in a small plastic bag. Then you can punch a small hole in the plastic bag and squeeze small amounts of the filler out through the hole. This method helps reduce both mixing time and waste.
Cowboy sprayer
Prevent your airless spray-painter from dripping on your boots and floor. Make a bandanna out of an old shop towel and wrap it around the sprayer just below the nozzle. Now any drips are caught by the rag and cleaning is easier. Unmasked
Prevent damage to painted or wallpapered surfaces when removing masking tape. Use a hair dryer on its ”hot” setting to warm the tape before removal. The heat from the dryer softens the adhesive, allowing the tape to be removed without damage.
Ruled out
Brighten the numbers on old metal-bladed measuring tools. Paint them white and wipe off the wet paint. The paint will stay in the recesses, making for easy reading.
Paint can sealer
Keep that heavy film from forming inside a paint can. Before closing the lid, place a piece of plastic from an old shopping bag over the opening.
Split prevention
Help prevent the wood from splitting when driving a nail near the end of a board. Hold a nail parallel with the grain and hit it. The crossgrain nick in the board compresses the fibers to make them less likely to split.
Clean sweep
With the help of a magnet, you can catch small parts like screws, nuts or nails when cleaning. Cement a strip of flexible magnetic tape (available from hardware stores) onto the edge of a dustpan to retain them as you sweep.
Roll with it
Store electrical cords in a 5-gallon plastic bucket. Cut or drill a hole near the base large enough to pass the male end of the extension cord through to the outside. As you feed the remaining cord into the bucket, it will roll itself neatly into coils as it falls. Attach both ends of the cord together when not in use. The cord comes out of the bucket as fast as you can pull it- tangle-free.
Staying power
To keep floor mats in place in your car, buy Velcro pads and put one on each corner of the floor mats. The mats stay in place but are easy to remove, clean and replace.
Look Ma, no clamps
You can glue two wood boards together without using clamps. Use a couple of small spots of hot-melt glue along with the wood glue. The hot-melt glue will bond instantly, effectively clamping the two pieces of wood together until the wood glue dries.
Really hooked
Prevent those perforated-board hooks from falling out every time they`re used. Put a dab of silicone sealer in the hole and then insert the hook.
Dipped tip
Recoat the worn places on your dishwasher rack. Dip the worn tips and spots into a rubberized plastic dip used to coat tool handles. It is both easy to apply and comes in an assortment of colors.
Easy off
Rather than rent a wallpaper steamer, fill the pail on a power paint sprayer with hot water and spray it on the wallpaper just like paint. It`s easy to hold the sprayer in one place to really soak stubborn areas. When the glue is softened, scrape the paper off with an ordinary wall scraper.
