Subscribe via RSSThe right tool for the job
Monday, January 15, 2007 |
Some people golf. Some people crochet doilies shaped like flowers. And some people, like me, fire up the table saw to sharpen a pencil. The only thing I like better than using a tool to complete a job is using a power tool to complete a job.
My shop is full of them. Power saws, power drills, power sanders, and even a tool than I’m not entirely sure what it does, but it sure looks dangerous! It’s called a Sawzall (prounounced “Saws All”). Imagine one of the electric knives some folks use to carve the Thanksgiving turkey. Now super size it so it can cut through the walls of your house, nails and all. That’s a Sawzall.
It isn’t “SawzMost” or “SawzALot” or even “SawzAFew”.
It claims to Saw ALL!
Wood? Yep. Sawz wood.
Metal? Yep. Sawz Metal.
A 1972 Doublewide mobile home? Yep. Saws that too.
After running through a long list of things I could find, I can now determine that, for the most part……it holds up to its name. I now owe my kids new bikes and my neighbor a new wheelbarrow due to all my testing. This is the price I pay for research.
Home remodeling is like a hobby for my wife and me. Often, my beautiful bride and I will have home improvement conversations similar to this:
My Beautiful Bride: “I wonder what this room would be like if the closet were in the other corner?”
Me: (With a crazy look in my eyes and just a little drool on the side of my mouth), I don’t know, but I’ll go get my Sawzall and find out.”
That is how most of our projects get started. A simple “What if” question. For example, one weekend we were cleaning the windows in the sun porch and my wife said "What if this was an open porch?” She went inside to get a beverage and when she came back out I had already started the impromptu "remodeling". Two weeks and a courtesy call from the credit card company later, we had a new open front porch. It really is like a miracle, with a minimum monthly payment.
I am like a little kid when it comes to power tools. If I got a sander as a gift, there won’t be a coarse piece of wood in the house. Give me a framing nail gun as a gift and someone in the neighborhood is getting an addition to their house whether they want it or not. Don’t give me a toy unless I can use it.
Sometimes I get a little carried away with the tools. Now that I look back, I really didn’t need to install an oak bookshelf in the shower. Our water heater can’t handle that! It should have been a magazine rack.
My wife and I find our inspiration by watching lots of “DIY” (Do it Yer Sef) shows on television. Did you know that since the premier of “This Old House” in 1979, traffic at emergency rooms has dramatically increased? Men and women much like my wife and I have watched the episodes and then said to themselves, “I can DO that!” Then they fire up the belt sander and promptly sand off their fingerprints.
What if “This Old House” had never been created?
Would there be a “Do-it-yourself” movement with popular television shows like “Trading Spaces” and “Holy Cow, that’s an Ugly Kitchen”?
Would there be a boom in the home improvement industry that would eventually bring three of the biggest chains to Bismarck?
Would I wake up at night with the cold sweats because I just realized the miracle of wood putty? I don’t know, but I’ll go get my Sawzall and find out.
