Thursday, May 26, 2011

Mastering Discovering The Joys Of Hand Tools

By Adriana Noton


Basic hand tools have been around since before civilization, helping to make life easier and enabling the development of culture. Over the years, they have evolved, and items designed specifically as woodworking tools and garden tools have been invented. Power tools are an electric/mechanical version of devices that can be operated manually. While not all hand contraptions used must have a power source, all power tools are a sub-genre of the hand-held variety.

The original tools were rocks and sticks, which were useful for hunting, digging and fighting. They were made more desirable through alterations such as sharpening rocks to a point so that they could be more helpful in preparing food or in catching prey. The horns of animals were also used for makeshift knives, sharpened into formidable weapons.

Nowadays, these items are used less as weapons and food preparation devices. Shelter building, home improvement and yard work are instead the main focus, using hoes, drills, screwdrivers, saws and hammers to get the perfect home and garden.

When using or operating any variety of these, it is important to remember general safety information. Make sure that the work area is clean, well-lit and uncluttered. Also, make sure to know where all the cords are. It can be extremely dangerous to trip over a power cord when operating a high-powered band saw. Cordless tools are a great solution to this.

If the item came with an instruction manual-read it. There is very important safety information contained in these manuals and the information may be specific to that particular brand or version. All equipment should be kept in good condition. If it is broken or damaged, accidents can occur even if the safety instructions are followed. At all times when operating these items should safety gear be worn appropriate to the task being carried out-goggles and hearing protection for power equipment, and gloves, and hair ties at all times. When sanding or sawing, dust masks are also useful.

Make sure to know what equipment will be needed specifically for each individual project. The wrong item can have tragic results, causing painful injuries if they backfire, and in the best case scenario simply wasting a lot of time. Projects often come with blueprints that list the needed items. If it does not, consulting with an expert or doing research on the project can be a great help.

There are different items specific to what task and where it is being carried out. When working outside doing yard or farm work, the tools that are used for regular home improvement simply will not do. Small shovels, called hand trowels are wonderful for planting when a small hole is needed, or when there is not a lot of room to work. When leaves and other dead matter are clogging up the space for new places, rakes are perfect item to fix the problem. If the dirt is too tough for plants to sprout roots, a hoe can break up clots in the earth.

Hammers are used in a wide variety of applications, but always to force an object into another. They can be used to force wooden spikes into the ground to create a fence around the garden, to put a nail into a piece of wood, or to help make sure two pieces of wood are firmly secured together. Screwdrivers are used specifically with screws, to wind them in and out. They can tighten a joint between two pieces of wood. There is a wide variety of screws, and an equally wide variety of screwdrivers used to maintain them. It is important to use the right screwdriver, or the screw could become damaged.

There is a wide variety of different hand tools, power tools and gardening tools that can be used to work on home improvement projects. They are fun, exciting, and also dangerous, so it is important to know the safety information and exactly what tool is needed for the job before getting started.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment