2009/04/26

How to Choose Home Repair Tools

What tools do we need? Mostly every one can not say it out immediately. There is a good way for us is that having a tool box, which includs all useful tools include measuring tools, saws, drills, fastener tools, and tools for electrical and plumbing repairs. Here you'll see which ones you really need and how to use them safely.

First, let's talk about quality. The smartest rule about buying tools is to buy good quality. High-quality tools are not only safer to use, but most will last a lifetime with proper care. You can usually identify a quality tool by its machining: The metal parts are smooth and shiny, and the tool is well balanced -- it fits comfortably in your hand. Inferior tools, on the other hand, have defects or rough metal (often hidden by paint) and exhibit crude machining. Most important, however, is that good tools are safer to use. Cheap tools can break and cause accidents.

You can expect to pay an average of 25 percent more for high-quality equipment, but cheap tools are no bargain -- you get what you pay for, so you may have to replace them more often. Besides, the money you save on your very first do-it-yourself repair may pay for the tools you needed. And, after that, the tools are yours to keep.

The above is the overview of how to choose home repair tools. The detail information will be introduced next time.

2009/04/16

2009 National Hardware Show

The National Hardware Show returns to Las Vegas May 6-8 2008.The 2007 National Hardware Show in Orlando featured hundreds of thousands of new products from more than 3,400 manufacturers in nearly 850,000 square feet of floor space including the co-located Gourmet Housewares Show and Global Home Textiles.Retailers and wholesalers could source new products easily through several new programs, like the Inventors’ Showcase and New Product World.

Visitor Profile

Buyers (retailers, wholesalers & distributors, importers/exporters), Specifiers (architects, builders/remodelers/contractors), Other (media, financial analysts) from every channel of distribution including:Automotive, Catalog/Mail Order/Internet, Discount Store, Hardware Store, Home Center, Home Décor, Kitchen & Bath, Lawn/Garden & Outdoor Living, Mass Merchandiser, Specialty Store, Supermarket/Drugstore, Wholesale Clubs

Top Ten Reasons to attend the 2009 National Hardware Show

1. Capitalize on emerging consumer trends with real-life merchandising and product vignettes highlighting Staycation; Green; Saving Energy, Saving $$$ ; and the new DIY’er.
2. Big Brands Are Back—to name few – Black & Decker licensed line of outdoor products, Char-Broil, Simple Green, Whirlpool/Gladiator Garageworks, Bond Manufacturing, Hyloft Storage Solutions, DAP, Stanley Tape & Adhesives, COSCO, Bath Solutions, Wayne Water Systems, LDR Industries, Whitney Design , The Designers Edge, WM Barr, Sheffield, Wooster Brush, FHP/O’Cedar, IDC/Westinghouse, 3M, Sisco/Honeywell, Vermont American and MD Building Products plus Face to face access to 2800 manufacturing companies covering the entire market.
3. Proprietary Market Research—unveiling consumer shopping behavior, trends and futuristic outlook of the industry, presented by the North American Retail Hardware Association.
4. Design, fashion and styles roundtable discussions with designers, retailers and manufacturers highlighting lawn, garden, outdoor living and storage & organization.
5. Best practices, merchandising tips and recession-proof strategies to thrive in a down economy.
6. New Product Launch spotlight Unveiling never before seen products that have no distribution and no exclusive deals prior to debuting at the Show… these are TRUE New Product Launches!!
7. Networking opportunities on the Show floor, at Awards Ceremonies and even in the taxi line – chances are endless in opening the door for that next big deal!
8. Great ROI—bring your entire buying team and get a Quarter’s worth of business done in 3 days with inexpensive hotel rates, flights and FREE transportation to and from the Show.
9. Simply the most efficient way to find New Products , New Vendors, and Emerging Product Categories that will Drive Sales.
10. You can make a difference! Contribute to the growth and success of your industry!

Sponsorships:
Paint and Decorating Retailers Association, U.S. Commercial Service, China International Hardware Show, Lawn & Garden Retailer, Spoga+gafa, Spoga Köln, Hardlines, HomeWorldBusiness.com

Organising Office: Reed Exhibitions The Americas, UNITED STATES

Duration: May 05-07, 2009

Venue: Las Vegas Convention Center, USA

Location: United States

Telephone: + 86 10 8518 9070-152 + 86 10 8518 9070-192

Fax: + 86 10 8515 1304

DIY a Mini Tool Caddy

Garden tools are an important for a home owner. Without the proper tools, the task of repairing or building home projects are tedious and difficult. Despite the new technology of tools, the basic hand tools have remained unchanged over many decades. Shopping for tools can be a frustrating experience for the beginner and the novice.

But how do we arrange these garden tools? Here I will introduce you a DIY way to create a tool box, which will make your all tools be put by types and in tidy.

Create a mini gardening center that you can tote while you tend your plants. Start with a carpenter's nail belt, which has one big pocket: Measure the width of each tool, such as a trowel, then add an inch for extra space. Use a pen to mark widths on belt. Stitch along marks, creating several pockets. Tie the belt around a bucket, which you can use to hold larger items or to collect debris.

If you take this one step further and use bungy cords, you could stablize the bucket on a luggage dolly. And you can even "wheel around" taller items in the bucket easily, anywhere in the garden - and it is easier on your back.

2009/04/15

Choosing the Right Rake for Your Garden

Garden rakes is one of the most important tools to collect leaves and other garden debris. We could use it for preparing the soil to plant your garden. Garden rake can clean all kinds of debris from the lawn. In the ancient time, these rakes were being used to rake leaves during the winter. But in modern socity, rake is the ideal tool for reaching under bushes and digging out all the decaying leaves, twigs, debris and junk that get stuck in there.

Following are the types of garden rakes we often use:

Sweep Rake

- Used like a broom to pull leaves and debris past the user.
- Fan-shaped.
- May have a straight or round leading edge.

Straight Edge Rake

- Used to pull leaves and debris toward the user.
- Also used to gather up heavy trash such as sticks and stones.

Landscape Rake

- Has a wide head braced with brackets attached to the handle.
- Used for spreading dirt, gravel and sand.

Shrub Rake

- Used to rake around small plants and shrubs
- The flexible tines may have a straight or rounded edge.

Bamboo Rake

- Lightweight and inexpensive
- Used to gather light debris such as dry leaves or grass.
- Teeth should be evenly bent for best raking results.

Level Head Garden Rake

- Has a level head set close to the handle.
- Used to break up and smooth soil after it has been spaded and cultivated.
- Has sharp, curved steel teeth to pulverize dirt clods.
- The straight back is good for leveling the soil for planting.

Thatching Rake

- Used to remove thatch and dead grass from the lawn.
- Pointed on one side for pulling and rounded on the other for pushing.
- The wheeled version rolls along the ground. It digs as it is pushed forward and cleans itself of debris as it is pulled backwards.
- The half-moon version does not have wheels. The user drags it along the ground. The pull stroke digs up the thatch, while the push stroke cleans.

Bow Head Garden Rake

- Rake head is attached to the handle with a long, curved bows extending from each end of the head.
- Handles are usually 48" to 54" long.
- Used to break up and smooth soil after it has been spaded and cultivated.
- Has sharp, curved steel teeth to pulverize dirt clods.
- The straight back is good for leveling the soil for planting.

At last, I will introduce some tips for choosing rakes. You'd better look for one with a tension bar across the tines, which distributes stress and prevents the tines from twisting and breaking; avoid plastic rakes, which break quite easily. There are also smaller rakes, some are small enough to be held with one hand, that are effective for tight or hard-to-reach spots.

How to Choose Garden Trimmers

Garden trimmers, cutting greenery, can trim right up to trees, steps, and rocks. To give your newly mowed garden lawn that finished look, you need a trimmer to tidy up the edges of your lawn, and reach into the areas of your garden the lawn mower was unable to get to. Many can also accept a metal blade for leveling tough scrub and small saplings.

Garden Strimmers come in a variety of brands, shapes and sizes. You could know them generally from the following info:

Scissor-Action Trimmer

- Similar to a draw-cut trimmer, but has two moving blades instead of just one.
- Operates with side-to-side pressure, like ordinary household scissors.

Draw-Cut Trimmer

- Good for a variety of cutting applications.
- Has one stationary lower blade and one moving upper blade.
- Operates by an up and down squeeze of the handle.
- Blades are typically tempered steel.

Hand Edger

- Used for edging thick sod around walks, flowerbeds, trees and shrubs.
- Has a long handle with a sharp, high-carbon steel blade.

Leverage-Assisted Trimmer

- Used for a variety of lawn and garden cutting applications.
- Uses a cam located between the handles with an off-center pivot that increases the cutting efficiency.
- Reduces the effort required to squeeze the handles.
- Designed for one-handed use.
- Has a safety lock or catch to hold blades together while not in use.

Rotary Edger

- Comes in single- or double-wheel models.
- In the single-wheel model, a rubber-tired wheel moves along the walk or driveway and turns a cutting blade against a cutting edge.
- Teeth float above the bottom trench to cut grass without being clogged by stones, sticks and other debris.

Long-Handled Trimmer

- Used for a variety of cutting applications.
- Has long handles to relieve crouching and allows user to stand while trimming grass.
- Some models have a swivel head for more versatility.

At last, stepping stones and other obstacles can all cause damage to the blades of your lawn mower. A strimmer usually has a nylon cord, which is housed in a coil. Any damage the object does to the cord can be put right by pulling more cord out of the coil. This is the most important reason that we choose the garden trimmers.

2009/04/13

Ways to Sharpen Tools

Handymen always meet a trouble that those hand tools such as shovels, planes, hoes, gouges, chisels and other woodworking tools all become dull after repeated use or non-use with longtime. In addition, the bevel sometimes requires repair because of nicks, and at the very least, sharp edges must be maintained to properly do the job.

It does not take the skills of a professional to sharpen hand tools and sharpen them properly. Instead of casting dull hand tools aside or making an easy job more difficult than it really should be, use the following information to give the blades of hand tools a good working edge. Hand tools of all types are really very easy to sharpen, and with proper care and a little know-how, quality hand tools can last a lifetime.

Bevel Angles

Before you begin to sharpen hand tools of any type it is important to know the proper bevel angles for specific tools. A chisel or a plane at the tip should be beveled between thirty and thirty-five degrees. Below the tip the edge should be beveled between twenty-five and thirty degrees. A garden hoe or shovel should have a seventy-five degree angle along the edge. Be sure to observe the original bevel of the hand tools you intend to sharpen in an effort to maintain the proper angles. Consider investing in a honing guide before you begin to sharpen hand tools of any type. It will help you maintain the correct angles according to the hand tools you intend to sharpen, and it will provide the necessary information regarding blade types.

Sharpening a Dull Blade

Before you begin the sharpening process, it is important to know how to test your blade for sharpness. A number of simple tests exist, but you should pick the one that you feel most comfortable with. Then hold the blade with the edge in line with a strong light source and move it back and forth a bit. If you see a reflection or glint then you have a dull blade. There are blade edge testing kits if you plan on testing your blade quite a bit and are uncomfortable with your skills as a sharpness detector; however, they can often be fairly expensive and confusing to use.

Choosing a File or Stone

Various types of sharpening stones are available, and the stones used to sharpen specific hand tools will depend upon the blades. Select a stone with medium grit for hand tools that require a sharp fine edge. Examples of these types of hand tools are chisels, gouges, and planes. A stone with coarse grit may be necessary if the blade is nicked, excessively dull, or otherwise damaged.

Sharpening a tool requires three steps: filing, honing and burnishing. As seen in the diagram -- which is an exaggerated illustration of what a properly sharpened hand-scraper should look like -- the sides are flat, and the edge has a burr that's turned over into a hook.

Filing removes all traces of the previous burr, and flattens the edge. Honing prepares the edge by polishing the metal, removing any deep scratches left by filing, and flattens the edges of the scraper so that they are square. Burnishing raises the burr, then turns it over into a hook. The hook is the cutting surface.

The above three points are important for you to sharpen your tools. It is also a kind of skill that need you to exercise usually.

2009/04/12

Tips for Handy Women

As we are know that home repairs are so expensive. Perhaps that's why many women begin doing some small and large home repair jobs (dishwashers, refrigerators, ovens and ranges, washers and dryers, trash compactors, garbage disposals and more) instead of paying someone else.

You may need to hire a professional electrician who can set up outlets, surge protectors or any other wiring needed, as well as ventilation, lighting, and heating and cooling systems. These must connect to an existing circuit breaker, or you may need to install a new circuit breaker for your workshop. Depending how you planned your workshop, make sure to install individual outlets for your large power equipment with ground fault circuit interrupters to prevent electrical shocks from occurring. Plan your outlets every three to five feet apart to minimize the use of extension cords. Too many extension cords can tangle up and create a situation in which you could harm yourself, or cause frustration as you try to tug them around. Make sure you or your electrician installs the outlets high enough to have access to, as equipment or projects on the ground can block outlets that are set near the floor.

After the wiring is done, consider how your lighting will be set up. You will want to prevent is your lights from going out if a circuit is tripped from using your equipment. Lighting experts recommend fluorescent overhead lights, which are energy efficient and inexpensive. Portable lights are very bright, providing enough illumination to specific areas such as shelves and cabinets where shadows are cast, and can be dragged around with you as you move. Track lighting is useful if you want to redirect light from one area to the next.

As you work on your home improvement projects in the workspace, your equipment will generate heat and dust particles, causing you to become irritated and hot, or have difficulty breathing. With proper ventilation and a cooling and heating system, you can create a breathable, relaxed, and workable environment. A ventilation system can be set up through your ducts to collect dust particles and vent them outside, although this can be rather costly. An inexpensive way to properly ventilate your work area is to buy a fan that draws fresh air in from the outside and expells stale air out from the inside. Open up all windows and doors to help ventilate a room. A cooling and heating system is necessary when temperatures in your area tend to change drastically and when to much heat is released from using power equipment. A cooling and heating system can also protect your tools and equipment from rusting and becoming damaged due to climate changes.

In one word, home women will not need to scare of those home repairs. One you begin to understand them, you will find it is so easy for you actually!

2009/04/07

Safety Tips for Screwdrivers

I think there is a screwdriver at least in each family. A screwdriver amplifies the hand's turning motion to the small, specially designed tip that is inserted into the screw's head. There are numerous tip designs for special applications (such as appliance assembly), but the two most common are standard (also called flat, flared, or straight) and Phillips (X-shaped) tips. The screwdriver handle can be of plastic or wood, sometimes with a rubberized cover to improve grip.

Here I will introduce some tips for your safety using:

1. When using any tool, always wear safety glasses for eye protection.

2. Screwdrivers should only be used for their intended purpose—driving or removing screws. Screwdrivers should never be used for prying, punching, chiseling, scoring or scraping.

3. While both slotted and cross-slotted screwdrivers will fit many fastener sizes, it is best to use screwdrivers of the proper sizes that fit snugly into the slot or recessed portion of the fastener head.

4. Plastic handles should be made of fire and heat resistant materials. If properly designed, they give excellent grip. Rubber or vinyl is often used as a non-slip or insulating cover on plastic handles.

5. Typical screwdriver handles will not insulate the user from electric current.
6. It is time to discard the tool when the handle of a screwdriver becomes worn or breaks, if the tip is damaged or if the shaft is bent.

7. Always keep the screwdriver shank in line with the screw shank. This will avoid damaging the screw slot and pushing the screw out of line.

8. Never use pliers for added turning leverage on the shank of a screwdriver. However, a wrench may be used on square-shank drivers.

9. Screwdriver slippage can cause injury. Never hold the piece you’re working on in your hand while driving or loosening screws or bolts. Place it on a work surface and use a vice or a clamp to hold the material, whenever possible.

10. Never carry a screwdriver in your pocket. The tip of the screwdriver is so sharp and hard that will hurt your body.

Useful Camping Tools for Travel

If you're an outdoor enthusiast and camping lover, then when you are camping, hiking, fishing, backpacking, canoeing, rafting, or just enjoying the outdoors, camping tool will enhance the fun and comfort of your outdoor experiences.

The above all-in-one tool combines six essential items-a fork, knife, spoon, bottle opener, file, and corkscrew into a single compact device perfect for camping and travelling. So you don't have to pack separate items and then have to search for them later when you need them. The classic camping tool's small size saves room, and is ideal for stashing in backpacks, pockets, lunchboxes, and glove boxes, so you'll always have your essential tools by your side. The fork and knife fold out to create a full handled version for easy eating, and the durable stainless steel construction will resist abuse. The classic camping tool is an affordable all-in-one tool.

In one word, if you will bring along necessary tools for camping you will have a safer, more efficient and a much enjoyed camping trip.