Tag Archives: tools

8 Tips for Setting Up a Home Workshop

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Leslie | 1 Comment

When we learned about tools for working with wood and how to choose the perfect saw for the job from Melissa and Bruni, they also showed us their inspiring basement workshop. Here are their tips for putting together a workshop cheaply and quickly.

1. Be sure to have 8 feet in every direction. That way, you can turn 360 degrees while holding a long piece of wood and you can move lumber in and out.

2. Use old kitchen cabinets and plywood for the countertops. You can probably find some at Restore or Community Forklift. As you can see from the photo on the left below, the cabinet still has its price tag.

3. Set up a storage system for scrap lumber. Melissa and Bruni created shelves near the ceiling to hold lumber, but they also built their green roof shed in part to provide more lumber storage.

4. Position the chop saw, if you have one, lower than counter. In this way, you can rest the ends of the lumber on the flat surface.

5. Have a shopvac nearby. You’ll need to vacuum up the copious dust that accumulates. Admittedly, dust is a problem that Melissa and Bruni have not quite solved.

6. Find a way to hang paint brushes to dry over a sink.

7. Use the rafters to store boxes. Off-season supplies might otherwise take up the precious floor space that you want to maximize for your DIY tools and workshop.

8. Hang like tools together using pegboard. When the workshop counters and shelves are in place, you can quickly grab the appropriate tool when you need it.

Posted by Leslie

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Posted in Advice, Rooms, Tools

Tagged chopsaw, diy, lumber, paint brushes, scrap lumber, shopvac, storage, tools, workshop

Choosing the Perfect Saw for Your DIY Project

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Leslie | Leave a comment

Over the past few months, local homeowners, Melissa and Bruni, have generously shared their hard-earned knowledge with DIY Del Ray about advanced projects involving tools for working with wood and about their experience building a green roof shed. In this post, they schooled us on the many saws you can choose from depending on the job at hand.

Chop saw/mitre saw. This saw is handy for crown molding because it turns both directions. You can use it to quickly make accurate end cuts (up to 6” wide), at any angle. Melissa and Bruni have a compound mitre saw, which means you can have angles both across and through the cut (length and depth). “I don’t know anyone who can put up crown moulding without a compound mitre saw,” says Melissa. ” You could rent one if that was your only project, but they are also handy to have for cutting materials to length.”

A reciprocating saw (Sawzall brand). The Sawzall is the go-to tool for cutting through tough materials, like nails and wire, for example, during a demo. Melissa and Bruni even used it to take out a slender tree in their backyard. Elin and Peter bought one to demo the 1950s kitchen they renovated in their row house. And my husband borrowed one recently to cut up the worn couch we needed to remove from our basement — the only way we could get it up the stairs.

Jigsaw. Melissa and Bruni use it for making curved cuts, although it doesn’t make perfect curves. It takes some skill to use a jigsaw with a lot of accuracy, because they are so sensitive to any movements of your hand as you are cutting. Melissa and Bruni used their jigsaw to shape the curve in their living room archway. They also used it for small inside cuts, such as cutting the hole for an electrical box — the jigsaw blade is so small you can simply drill a hole, drop the blade in, and start cutting (you don’t have to start from an edge).

The tile wet saw. Melissa and Bruni used the tile wet saw for cutting tile in their kitchen renovation. It’s basically a small table saw, outfitted with a blade that cuts ceramic, and a tray to pull water across the blade and material. The one they bought was less than $100, and allowed them to work at their own pace with the kitchen tiles.

Mitre saw or backsaw. As you move into woodworking and carpentry, you’ll encounter situations where you need to make a very specific kind of cut, often small enough to handle by hand. A mitre saw or backsaw has a rigid piece of metal along the back of the blade, which holds it very straight — it’s often used to make small angled joints, such as you use to install shoe moulding. These are usually used with a mitre box, which guides and holds the blade at the desired angle.

Japanese hand saws. These, on the other hand, have very thin, flexible blades, so they allow for making a flush cut (such as trimming a dowel even with the surface of a cabinet), and reaching where the body of another saw would interfere.

Table saw. The table saw can be considered a “final investment.” It’s among the most dangerous tools in a workshop — it can do a lot of damage, very quickly, and requires some skill and training in safe use. Melissa completed online exercises on how to use a table saw and she bought the saw stop safety feature.

The table saw allows you to cut sheet materials (such as plywood or MDF) into the correct size for shelving, cabinets, and similar projects. It is more accurate than a circular saw and straight-edge saw, and allows for some fancy work (bevelled cuts, dado joints) that most folks can’t do well with other tools. You can also pay to have this work done at Smoot lumber.

Melissa invested in a table saw that has a safety feature in which it completely shuts off if it touches flesh. You can spend between $200 and $2,000 on a table saw; hers was the most expensive model due to the safety technology, but well worth the investment. “I figured I paid the cost of replacing a finger,” she jokes.

In our next post featuring the dynamic duo, DIYers Melissa and Bruni, we will take a closer look at how they set up their workshop, cheaply and most functionally.

Posted by Leslie

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Posted in Tools

Tagged chop saw, crown molding, demo, japanese saw, jigsaw, mitre, reciprocating saw, saws, sawzall, table saw, tile wet saw, tiles, tools, workshop

Essential Tools for the DIY Workshop

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Leslie | Leave a comment

No matter your level of skill or experience with DIY home improvements, one thing is true: You will accumulate tools. Del Ray homeowners Melissa and Bruni have so many ongoing renovation projects that they now have a well-stocked workshop in their basement. We stopped by to talk with them about their must-have tools for working with wood.

First, to give you a sense of the scope of their DIY background: Melissa and Bruni bought their row house in 2005 and immediately started remodeling the kitchen. They did most of the work themselves –- the demo, including asbestos removal around the ductwork, the cabinetry installation, flooring, and tiling. They designed an archway between the kitchen and living room, as well as a bay window.

They also built front and back fences.

In their back patio, they built a green roof storage shed and they are in the process of finishing the basement, which includes a full bathroom.

Melissa has also designed and built a free-standing bookshelf and bench.

For the kitchen, they hired out the plumbing, electrical, countertop, and bay window installation. Bruni is doing the basement wiring.

Essential Tools

Besides the basic tools, such as pliers, screwdrivers, nails, screws, and the like, the following equipment are Melissa and Bruni’s go-to tools for jobs requiring wood.

Levels. Levels are a bit pricey, but absolutely necessary. ”If you’re working with long sides (for a door or a large bookcase, for example),” says Melissa, “you really need a long level — otherwise it’s easy to fool yourself.”

Clamps. You should always have a variety on hand. Melissa and Bruni especially recommend the pony clamps. You put them together yourself with lengths of pipe, so you can create the clamp you need. For example, you could make a set of 5-foot long clamps to hold a bookshelf together while the biscuit joints dry.

T-square. “Don’t buy the cheapest t-square,” they say. They aren’t actually straight. The longer a square is, the easier it is to get out of square, so more caution is needed with the big ones, as is the case with the one pictured here.

Circular Saw. “Building walls is surprisingly easy,” says Melissa. You can get by with a circular saw, a hammer, level, and a tape measure. You could build with a hand saw, but you’d be sore. If you accomplish that project, you’ll soon itch to do more.

Drill. This baby gets a lot of use for a whole host of home improvement jobs. Assuming you’ve already worked with the circular saw and hammer, a drill is a nice next step — it makes all sorts of tasks move more quickly. Melissa and Bruni even pre-drilled some framing spots that were difficult to reach with a hammer. They also use the drill as a driver for screws.

Note the difference between a regular rotary drill (the yellow one) and a hammer drill (also called impact drill), which is used to drill into concrete. The hammer drill is the one Melissa and Bruni recommend renting — they are expensive and specialized; we wouldn’t have one if it weren’t for Bruni’s previous electrical work.

Melissa and Bruni use a rechargeable rotary drill for most tasks. They also have a plug-in drill. They’re cheap and stronger. “We pull that one out when we have a big, tough project ahead of us,” says Melissa.

Biscuit joiner/plate joiner. Melissa received her biscuit joiner as a gift from her sister. It’s not a necessity, but a convenience tool for the DIYer who ventures into building cabinets, bookshelves, and furniture. It’s simple to use and not very expensive ($100-200). “Biscuit joints bump up a person’s woodworking repertoire without requiring a lot of extra skill,” says Melissa.

Biscuit joints are glued together; the moisture in the glue causes the biscuit to expand to seal the connection. She and Bruni use it frequently for putting together wood in way that’s “more forgiving in terms of exact measurements, yet structurally strong.” They made the bookshelves using the biscuit joiner as well as some of the corners in walls.

Books and magazines. Melissa and Bruni have books to consult for each project type. They often refer to Family Handyman for easier projects. For projects requiring more skill and experience, they consult Fine Home Builders. They also found a lot of inspiration in The Not So Big House book series by Sarah Susanka.