Living on the Edge (of a Razor Blade)

They go by many names: Utility Knifes, Razor Blade Knife, Box Cutters, Carpet Knifes, Pen Knife, Stationary Knife, Drywall Knife and I am sure there are some names we don't know about as well, but these little knives are some of the handiest tools that a DIY/Contractor can have. Why you ask? Simple, because of their Utility. These knifes come with different offering of blades and with the easy change systems you can have a standard razor blade in and within seconds you can have a hook blade ready for some carpet trimming. There are so many different knife choices that sometimes it gets overwhelming to choose one that is correct for your application. Let's look at some of the types of knifes before we talk about the blades.

1. Fixed Blade Utility Knife - These were the very first form of the utility knife. Made out of a cast body that splits in half, you would have to take a screw loose in order to replace the blade in this type of knife. Since the blade is fixed you cannot retract it inside itself to prevent blade from cutting things. These knifes are a little more dangerous but provide better blade stability for jobs.
   

7 Simple ways to Winterize Your Home

Happy Thanksgiving!

With the colder weather coming sooner rather than later this year so will the bills becoming as well. Let's look at some ways to save money and get your home ready for the winter than is to come.

1. Reverse Your Ceiling Fans - Many folks use their ceiling fans in the summer to help cool their homes and keep the bills down associated with Air Conditioning but did you know that you can switch the direction of your ceiling fan to help circulate air in your home and thus make the bills go down. A little button on the motor portion of your fan can be flipped and the fan will reverse direction and suck air up and push it out, helping to warm the room in less time. This is really helpful in homes that have very large ceilings. Recommendation: Run fans at the slowest speed to prevent a draft
2. Unhook Water Hoses from Your Home - This one seems like common sense right? However, many homeowners fail to unhook their hoses and it causes damage. Winter brings cold, cold brings ice, ice expands and causes big problems. So in order to not have major plumbing problems or buying a new hose every year, take if off the spigot and blow the hose out with compressed air. You can also use a grade and let the water drain out with the help of gravity. Either way is cheaper than paying a plumber to fix a busted pipe or worse water damage.
3. Put on Storm Windows and Doors - Replace or let down your storm windows and storm doors. When these items are in place it creates an additional barrier between your homes doors and windows (openings) and the weather. This can be a real saver in the winter and energy.gov says you may see up to 45% savings in heating bills.
4. Install Weather Stripping and Door Sweeps - Inspect and see if the weather strip is rotten on all doors and windows. If it is replace it with the new Styrofoam weather strip available at your local box hardware store. Put door sweeps on all exterior doors to keep the draft from entering under the door jam. Also consider completely sealing off rooms that you don't use to prevent the cold from entering the used living space.
5. Call an HVAC Technician to Check your Furnace System - It doesn't matter how much weatherproofing you do in your home to save money if your furnace isn't running at it's peak efficiency. Maintaining and prepping your system for the winter is a great strategy to keep your system running at a high level and help you save more money. Also, replace your filter often in the winter every two months is ideal but every month would be better. (Recommendation: You should also have the HVAC guy check your A/C unit as well and make sure it won't be susceptible to the elements)
6. Clean the Gutters - Rid your gutters of leaves and other debris that has built up during the summer and fall to prevent ice dams. These dams will form when snow and ice come and they will form at the end of the gutter allowing water to pool up and eventually will lead to leaks and water damage, not to mention the possibility of ripping the gutters off your home.
7. Flush Your Water Heater - Many people don't realize that water heaters need to be drained annually to help maintain capacity and efficiency. A bunch of sediment builds up in the bottom and needs to be cleaned out. Plus, you need the hot water to take a nice bath after shoveling all that snow all day.

DIY Tips and Blogs

Today we are going to look at some of the DIY Tips that are out there in websites like Pinterest (Yes, I know a man that looks at Pinterest, yikes) and other DIY helpers. Let's go through a few of my favorites that are helpful around the home with household items.

1. Bending a Post-It Note to catch residue - When you drill into drywall the dust created by the drill falls on the floor leaving a white mess and a cleanup to follow. If you take a common post it note, which has an adhesive on it to help it stick, bend it in half and place it under where you drill; you have created a little disposable dust pan right under your drill bit.
   
2. Creating a Non-Marring Claw Hammer - We have all had to do it, pull a nail out of a surface with a claw hammer, only to ruin that surface by leaving marks created with the hammer. Not anymore. Take a rubber band and wrap it around the head of the hammer. By adding this to the hammer it creates a bump stop that doesn't allow the hammer face to touch the surface. Credit to Laurie Reeve.
   
3. Soda Tab Hangers - Soda, Beer and Energy Drinks (any drink that comes in an aluminum can) all come with that little tab that is used to open the mouth of the soda. Everyone has them, but did you know you can use that little guy to hang items on your wall. By screwing a soda tab to the back of your item it creates a hanger to use on just about any picture frame, plaque or wall hanging.                                                                              Credit to Laurie Reeve
   
4. Milk Cartoon Paint Tray - When we purchase milk or any other drink that comes in those opaque plastic jugs, many times we end up throwing them away or recycling them. You can also re-purpose these jugs for holding paint and your paint brush. By cutting out a side and leaving enough room in the bottom to pool paint, you have a nice paint tray with a handle and a holder (the mouth of the jug) for your paint brush.
   
5. Rubber Band Stripper Screw Extractor - It seems like more and more often when working on a project with a drill/driver the Phillips head screws get stripped and they won't come out or go in further. With this neat solution those days are over. By taking on of those pesky rubber bands and placing it over the head of the screw and then using the added surface area that the rubber band creates you can loosen or tighten your stripped screw.
   
6. Bonus: CD Case Storage Bin - When we purchase Cd's from a store in bulk they come in cylinder that has a base. After you are finished burning that disco tune from 1977 on your Cd's, take that case and reuse it. Take the base and cut off the center nub that held the Cd's in a stack when open. Now find a work bench or other object to screw the base to. After that take the top and screw it to the base. Now you have re-purposed a CD case to be a storage organizer for your garage or kitchen.
   

As you can see all five of these solutions were done with household items found laying around your home everyday. I bet you can think of other house hold items to use as well. If you do drop me a line and tell me how you did your DIY improvement with household items, and I might feature them here.

Helpful Sites from Article:

DIY Handyman Tips

Handyman Magazine

Brush-less Motors vs. Traditional Motors in Drills

Brush less Motors have been used in tools since the conception of power tools. These motors require a magnet, brushes, an armature, and a commutator, and have some issues that limit there performance according to How Stuff Work's.

Limitations include:

• The brushes eventually wear out.
• Because the brushes are making/breaking connections, you get sparking and electrical noise.
• The brushes limit the maximum speed of the motor.
• Having the electromagnet in the center of the motor makes it harder to cool.
• The use of brushes puts a limit on how many poles the armature can have.

Advantages of a traditional motor include that they are cheap and easy to make and don't require additional electronics to change the polarity of the magnets, that is what the brushes do.

Brush-less Motors have been around since the 60's, according to Popular Mechanics. These motors were first used in manufacturing applications on conveyor belt systems. Makita tools Rep. Wayne Hart said that they have been using brush-less motors in their tools since 2003, mostly in the aerospace industry.

Limitations of the brush-less motor include:

• cost - these motors are expensive to make and are making these tools expensive (Makita kits are excess of $400)
• Manufacture cost for the companies that make them

Advantages include longer motor life, longer battery life due to electronic regulation of the motor torque and power output based on need.

One benefit of this technology that will be helpful for contractors and DIYers abroad is that with the ablility of the motor to sense load and torque needs, it will save battery life when you are working with soft stock and it will ramp up the power for the big job. It basically is a start of a smart too that is more efficient for work.

In conclusion, this technology is here to stay but if you are a weekend warrior or a DIYer that doesn't use your drill/driver daily, then going out and purchasing a new brush-less drill isn't your best choice do to the added cost of these drills. However, if you use a drill/driver everyday this investment will be worth it because it will save you time on battery recharges and you can divide the cost of the drill over a longer time. My suggestion would be to use your current drill until the manufacture and the new wears off these drills to bring the prices down. (It may be less than 18 months)

(Since I am a Bosch fan I had to add there new line of 12v/18v brush-less drills that are coming in March of 2014 - New Bosch Brush-less Drills)

2x4 Workbench w/ Shoplight and Peg Board

This plan is adapted from the Kreg Jig website but I added a peg board, a shop light, and caster wheels.

Find the original plan here: www.kregtool.com/images/icons/2x4_bench.pdf

Tools Needed:

1. Circular Saw
2. Miter Saw
3. Jig Saw
4. Drill
5. Right Angle Clamp
6. Face Clamp
7. Kreg Jig (Pocket Screw Jig)

Hardware & Non-Wood Materials:

1. 50 -2 1/2” #8 Coarse, Pocket Hole Screws
2. 100 – 1 1/4” #8 Coarse, Pocket Hole Screws
3. 1 Bottle of Wood Glue – Optional
4. 4 – 6” Casters (Suggestion of 2 locking wheels)
5. 2 – Shelf Brackets
6. 25 – 5/16” Lag Screws
7. 1 – Shop Light
8. 2 – Fluorescent Bulbs
9. 1 – Surge Strip
10. 2 – Garden Pot Hooks
11. 25 – 1 1/4” Wood Screws

Wood Shopping List:

1. 3 - 2'x4' x 3/4” - MDF Panel
2. 1 – 4'x8' x 1/4” - Peg Board
3. 7 – 2'x4' x 8' – 2 by 4's

Cut List:

Part #	Length	Width	Thicknesss
Part A – 2 Legs (short)	28”	3 1/2”	1 1/2”
Part B – 2 Legs (long)	72”	3 1/2”	1 1/2
Part C – 4 Long Rails	37”	3 1/2”	1 1/2”
Part D – 4 End Rails	19 1/2”	3 1/2”	1 1/2”
Part E – 2 Top *2x4 notches are required to but up to the back uprights	48”	24”	3/4” *
Part F – 1 Shelf	44”	22 1/2”	3/4”
Part G – 1 Peg Board	42”	44”	1/4”

Let's take a look at how I did this project:

• First, safety. Wear safety goggles and ear protection when using saws and drills.
• Layout your 2x4 and cut them with the Miter Saw (A Circular Saw will work, too)
• Look at Figure 1 to see the Cut List Lay out

• Drill your pocket holes for your 2x 4 joints

• Set your jig to drill 2x4 or 1 1/2” thickness
• Drill the Long Rail (37” Long)
• Drill the Short Rail (19.5” Long)
• Look at Figure 2 for the location of the holes.

• Next Drill your shelf and top shelf pocket holes

• Set your jig to drill 3/4” on the Kreg Jig (Don't forget to set your drill bit, you will destroy your jig and drill into the base)
• Drill the long rails, leave 6” between each drill hole (6 holes) (make sure you drill the holes on the same face as the prior holes)
• Drill the short rails leave 4” between each drill hole (4 holes)

• Look at Figure 2 for assistance
• Now put your front brace together (join 28” legs with the 37” rails, use your clamps to align the joints) See Figure 2
• Now put your 72” Legs and 37” rails together. Make sure that you put the rails at 28” from the bottom to match the front.
• Join the front with the back by using the 90 degree clamp to join the 19 1/2in pieces to the front (Additional hands might be helpful here)

• Add the caster wheels. To do this you will use the lag scews to attach the wheels. You need to cut wood blocks to attach to add the fourth lag screws. 

• Add the shelf , but first you need to rip 1 sheet of the MDF to 44” long and 22 ½ in wide. First rip the shelf to 22 ½ in wide. Keep that piece for later. Now cut the length to 44” long.

• Now notch a 2x4 (1 ½ in x 3 ½ in) on each corner
• Place the shelf on the unit

• Take your clamp, clamp your shelf and use the 1 ¼ in pocket screw to attach the shelf
• Now it's time to make the top shelf
• From two inches on the outside of the back edge make a 2x4 notch ( 1 ½ in x 3 ½ in) – these notches will allow you to put the butt the top up with the 2x4 legs in the back.
• Repeat for the second piece

• Use 1 ¼ in pocket screws to attach the first top piece. Screw it on tight
• Add the second piece with screws (or wood glue if you like). Screw it on tight as well.
• Okay, do you remember that board that was left from riping the shelf? Drill pocket holes on that board (¾ in settings) use the 1 ¼ pocket hole screws to butt this up against the rail to give your bench a backing plate.
• Add supports for your lights (shelf brackets). Use your lag screws to attach it to the board

• Take your shop light out – (put up without bulbs in). Put the plant hooks through the holes in the shelf bracket, then hook the chain on the shop light up, to the desired heigh
• Now take your peg board and rip it to 44” by 42”. Use your wood screws and attach the peg board to the back of the tall legs.

• Now take your surge strip and place it between your splash board and peg board. Then drill holes on each side of the peg board to add eletrical items (chargers, shop light, etc)

• Now add peg hooks and accessories to help organize your board (I picked up about $20 at Wal-mart)
• Enjoy – for work and organize