”The right tool for the right job” is common-sense-advice for tackling home projects. From hanging a picture to installing bookshelves, a well-equipped tool kit is essential for making simple and complicated repairs go more smoothly. Here`s a guide for building your own toolbox that`s ready to use before you need it most.
Using hand tools safely
– Always wear safety goggles when working with hand tools. Because hand tools are generally small and used manually, they are seldom involved in very serious injuries. The greatest potential for a serious injury is when something flies into the eye. Safety goggles cost about $5.
– Use tools for their intended purposes. Most accidents are caused by misuse of the instrument.
– The Consumer Products Safety Commission reported that 88,813 injuries involving manual workshop tools were treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms in 1989.
– Among the most commonly used tools, hammers were involved in 49,470 emergency room treated injuries in 1990, according to the Safety Commission.
When you buy
For most household jobs, buy tools that fall somewhere in the upper half of the price range. Good tools can help compensate for unskilled hands. Avoid junk tools-you`ll soon be disappointed with their performance and will soon be replacing them.
Quality check
Finish: Tool should be cleanly cast and any rough edges ground and polished.
Feel: Should be solid and well-balanced and feel comfortable in your hand.
Action: Parts should move smoothly without binding or rocking sloppily on pivots.
Quick tip
– If one tool costs more than another with equivalent features, the difference generally indicates superior quality instead of (or in addition to) added markup. Many well-made tools carry a lifelong warranty from the manufacturer.
Screwdrivers:
– Start with a set of four: 1/4-inch and 3/16 flat-headed screwdrivers and
– No. 1 and No. 2 Phillips screwdrivers.
One good approach is to buy a driver, or handle, with switchable heads; the type that stores heads in the handle works well. Uses: Installing and removing screws.
Hammer:
Choose a 16 to 20-ounce rip-claw hammer with a smooth face and a steel or fiberglass handle. Uses: Hammer materials other than steel, drive and pull nails as a crowbar or lever.
Combination square:
Get a 12-inch sliding square with 45-and 90-degree angles, an accurate steel rule and built in bubble level. Uses: Squaring corners, measuring accurately, leveling.
Tape measure:
If you have only one, it should be 25 feet long and one inch wide, made of steel with a functional looking mechanism.
Chisels:
Choose: 1/2 inch and 1-inch butt chisels with beveled blades. Stout handles that can tolerate pounding from a hammer are important. Uses: Hollow out or notch wood.
Locking pillars: Look for a 10-inch pair with curved jaws. Often referred to by a brand name, Vise-Grip. Uses: Remove bolts, nuts or screws, as a clamp, for bending, squeezing or crimping metal of other flexible material.
Needle-nose pliers
Pick an 8-inch pair with built-in wire cutter and stripper and a straight jaw design. Insulated handles are preferable. Uses: Remove and install nuts and bolts, cut, strip, form and twist wires, insert small parts into hard-to-reach spots.
Four-in-hand file: Often called a horse rasp. Look for one 8-10 inches long and 1 1/8 inches wide. One side should be half-rounded and the other flat. Most designs include a course and medium rasp and a coarse and a medium file. Uses: reshaping, reducing or removing sharp edges.
Utility knife
Get one with a stout triangular blade. While blades that retract into the handle are much safer to carry and store, they aren`t as secure in use as fixed blades. Uses: Cut materials including paneling, fiberglass insulating, wallpaper and heavy cardboard.
Scraper
Choose a ship scraper – it looks like a small flat pry bar-about 10 inches long with one straight and one curved edge, made of resilient steel.
Uses: Preparing for painting, prying, pulling nails.
Handsaw
Choose a pull saw with a removable blade. Blade should have 12 to 14 teeth to the inch. Total length is about 20-1/2 inches. Uses: Sawing and cutting most materials, pruning.
Sources: Consumer Products Safety Commission, Hand Tool Institute, Mother Earth News, Research: Annette Meade.
Chicago Tribune/Scott Holingue, Dennis Odem.
