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Found 209 results for the keyword ‘Tools’

  • A comeback for hand powered lawn mowers?

    Scotts lawnmowers has found that there is such a new demand for hand powered lawnmowers, that they have gone back to the drawing boards to make them even better. Many people do not have large lawns and are environmentally conscious about using gas, even electricity to mow lawns. Good gardeners ...
  • Measuring real water consumption in a low flow toilet

    In this TV segment I talked a lot about the latest research designed to identify which low flow toilets work and which do not. For the details of that story, read through my database entry on the low flush toilet controversy and the update at the bottom of the entry.The very reason for low flow ...
  • Is a Wobbly dado blade accurate?

    We got this question from a store customer who was trying to decide which blade to buy?Wobble Washer Dado BladeThe first photo shows what we call a "wobble washer" blade. Actually the blade itself isn't wobbly, but the washers on both sides are bevelled. You can rotate them to skew the blade in...
  • Repointing historic brick & testing a repointing gun.

    Leigh Bamford is a young tradesperson who takes historical restoration, even just old house repair very seriously. With five years of experience, she insists on using old materials and old techniques on old buildings.RemvoialRather than using a power grinder to remove the old mortar from between...
  • Picking a caulking gun

    Some caulking guns do have some nifty new details on some of them, like a knife for cutting off the tip of the cartridge or wires to poke holes in the tubes.I don't know why, but the wires are often not long enough to do the job if you cut just a little bit off of the tip. Bad planning. (Years la...
  • Is there an alternative to using a knee-kick when installing carpet?

    One tool that does a bit the same job of a carpet knee kicker is a carpet stretcher.This device has two long poles hinged together. You grab the carpet on both sides of the room and then expand the long poles by the hinging action. This will force a carpet straight or even put it under pressure...
  • A carpet kicker that does not use your knee

    People often ask the question, what drives invention? For Charbel Khalaf it was a health statistic: Carpet installers have 50% more knee problems than tile installers, yet they are working on a softer surface. Why? Because carpet installers attach the edges of wall-to-wall carpets with a dev...
  • What to do and don't do when re-tiling a ceramic floor.

    I was invited over to shoot a re-tiling job for the TV show. The camera got there before I did, so they recorded some things that I thought would be good to show you so that I could point out why you should not work this way.Safety Glasses pleaseFirst our worker was hammering straight down on th...
  • Aids for one person measuring.

    Measuring by yourself can be a drag. Here are three gadgets to help you out.If you are working with metal studs, you can now find a tape measurer that has magnetic on the hook. That won't slip and you can even just put it on the surface of the stud and measure from there.To get the hook on your...
  • A look at some unusual clamps.

    Clamps are used widely in woodworking and metal working, in fact in every task that needs to hold two pieces of something together temporarily. Clamps come in every imaginable size and shape. In fact, if you are looking for a present for someone who has a workshop of some kind, any clamp from c...