The Smart Home Handyman

Tool potential.  One of the things I think is important is to provide tool reviews that give realistic ideas on how well a tool works not only in general but in context of different environments and use cases.  What may be a less than ideal tool in one environment may be quite useful in another. Use case is also relative and important.  Not every person uses a tool exactly the same way depending on the materials involved and tasks at hand.  But not every tool is marketed as clear?my as we'd like.  They don't always provide clear use cases.  It would really help to know what it is intended to do.  What purpose does it primarily serve?  Based on that knowledge, we can extrapolate from there into new areas. The question hopefully being answered in this type of article is, "What is it's tool potential?" So this is not a performance review of a specific brand or model of a compact circular saw.  No, no.  This is a use case review.  This is a look into what purpose does

 Hey folks! It's the D.I.Y guy Tony S here to talk about future tool reviews here in the Tool Shed.  I've got one review done on our YouTube channel covering the Worx ExacTrack circular saw.   Go check it out, I'll wait... So, doing that review got me to thinking that I wasn't satisfied with that review.  I mean, it was all right, it was a decent introduction to the tool, but I can't really say that I can look at it and be satisfied with it as an actual review.  No. Now, I like reviews to be "real world" and demonstrate how a tool performs dlingbthings that a person typically will actually use the tool for and does it meet the need.  I also don't like the typical identifications of tools as "beginner/entry level", "Homeuser/D.I.Y", or "Pro/Expert". To me, a tool is best defined for what it's best use case is, not the degree of skill or experience of the user.  Can the tool be best used in a variety of use cases.  So, g

 I am a practitioner and advocate of what I refer to as "Homestead Beekeeping".  Prior to the push of the past 100 years or so of modern beekeeping to maximize honey production at all costs, this was more common among non commercial beekeepers.  Of course back then, it was just "beekeeping" with no need for any other descriptor. A Horizontal Top Bar Hive I call it homestead beekeeping for 2 primary reasons.  The first being that its purpose is for self sufficiency.  The second is that it allows for a greater harvest of the products of the hive while accepting a smaller but more "normal" honey harvest.  Greater yield of things like wax and propolis allow the beekeeper, or someone they know, to make everything from beeswax candles  and soap to propolis toothpaste or tinctures for sore throat and much more.  These can then be used or traded as desired or needed. Modern beekeeping, with it's focus on maximizing honey production requires a different hive ma

 In the spirit of "The D.I.Y Tool Shed Podcast" topic of the month for January 2021, "D.I.Y. and simplification", we're going to look at using a router. The most basic aspect of D.I.Y is getting something done yourself to meet a certain expectation or to achieve a certain result.  As stated elsewhere, the point of D.I.Y isn't to be a craftsman or artist.  Those require a level of knowledge and experience with the tools and materials involved that exceed D.I.Y general needs. Craftsman router under a Skil router table Which is fine.  Those aren't diminishing D.I.Y, they are taking a skill or ability beyond routine need of performance by choice. So, what is a router?  It is a cutting tool.  It is generally used to cut wood but it can, with the use of specialty bits and accessories, cut other materials such as metal or plastics. So basically there are  Edging bits Cutting bits Joinery bits Moulding bits Edging bits are mostly used for smoothing or taking sh