When you glance through a catalogue, it's amazing the amount of power tools that are available for the both the home worker and the professional these days.
There was a time when having a tradesman's job was a guarantee of strong arms.
These trades had a manly pride about themselves and their physiques.
I guess that's where the English pubs got their names.
The Builders' Arms, The Carpenters Arms, and The Masons Arms - you can almost smell the testosterone!! Big butch guys, not a reciprocating saw, or chop saw in sight - wielding hand tools all day, and hardly breaking a sweat - well apart from the Blacksmiths, now that is a tough, hot hard job Times have changed though and you no longer need to have arms like Thor, to build and create.
We now live in the age of power tools! Which is a good job as many people who work as pen pushers and paper chasers may not be able to handle sawing, or screwing in screws for more than an hour.
In this article I'm going to review what I think are the three most important tips you need to think about when choosing a new power tool.
What do you actually want to do with your new tool? Buy the right tool for the job you want to complete.
Think about it, it's no good buying the best reciprocating saw in the world if what you need is a cheap hole saw to attach to your existing drill.
Another great example would be the all time classic table saw.
While a table saw is the perfect all round saw for lots of jobs, it would be completely useless if you wanted a portable tool.
This beautiful piece of power tool would end up a rusting piece of junk in your shed.
It might seem I'm making and obvious point.
But, you'd be amazed how many people go out to the DIY hypermarket without really considering the actual job they're going to be doing.
If you fall into this trap you'll likely come out having bought some flash "doodad" that looks great but is totally unsuitable for the job at hand.
Ergonomics: One you've narrowed down the field to a tool that will do the job you want to get done, the next step is to think about you and the environment.
That's right, we're talking ergonomics! If you're going to avoid hurting yourself and actually enjoy the job; it's important to pick a power tool of a size and weight that not only fits into the space you're going to be working in, but is also something you can actually handle and manipulate easily.
Above and beyond avoiding injury the other big advantage of getting a power tool that you can handle easily is that you'll have better control.
This means that you'll be able to manipulate the tool more effectively and achieve a better result.
Portability: The other big decision to make when choosing an electric power tool these days, at least for hand held tools like a reciprocating saw of disc sander is whether to go cordless or stick with a corded tool.
Personally, as battery technology has moved on I've become more and more of a fan of cordless power tools.
One of the main reasons being juts how portable cordless reciprocating saws and the like have become - I just love being cord free.
So what's the next home improvement project on your list? Tom.
There was a time when having a tradesman's job was a guarantee of strong arms.
These trades had a manly pride about themselves and their physiques.
I guess that's where the English pubs got their names.
The Builders' Arms, The Carpenters Arms, and The Masons Arms - you can almost smell the testosterone!! Big butch guys, not a reciprocating saw, or chop saw in sight - wielding hand tools all day, and hardly breaking a sweat - well apart from the Blacksmiths, now that is a tough, hot hard job Times have changed though and you no longer need to have arms like Thor, to build and create.
We now live in the age of power tools! Which is a good job as many people who work as pen pushers and paper chasers may not be able to handle sawing, or screwing in screws for more than an hour.
In this article I'm going to review what I think are the three most important tips you need to think about when choosing a new power tool.
What do you actually want to do with your new tool? Buy the right tool for the job you want to complete.
Think about it, it's no good buying the best reciprocating saw in the world if what you need is a cheap hole saw to attach to your existing drill.
Another great example would be the all time classic table saw.
While a table saw is the perfect all round saw for lots of jobs, it would be completely useless if you wanted a portable tool.
This beautiful piece of power tool would end up a rusting piece of junk in your shed.
It might seem I'm making and obvious point.
But, you'd be amazed how many people go out to the DIY hypermarket without really considering the actual job they're going to be doing.
If you fall into this trap you'll likely come out having bought some flash "doodad" that looks great but is totally unsuitable for the job at hand.
Ergonomics: One you've narrowed down the field to a tool that will do the job you want to get done, the next step is to think about you and the environment.
That's right, we're talking ergonomics! If you're going to avoid hurting yourself and actually enjoy the job; it's important to pick a power tool of a size and weight that not only fits into the space you're going to be working in, but is also something you can actually handle and manipulate easily.
Above and beyond avoiding injury the other big advantage of getting a power tool that you can handle easily is that you'll have better control.
This means that you'll be able to manipulate the tool more effectively and achieve a better result.
Portability: The other big decision to make when choosing an electric power tool these days, at least for hand held tools like a reciprocating saw of disc sander is whether to go cordless or stick with a corded tool.
Personally, as battery technology has moved on I've become more and more of a fan of cordless power tools.
One of the main reasons being juts how portable cordless reciprocating saws and the like have become - I just love being cord free.
So what's the next home improvement project on your list? Tom.
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