The Smart Home Handyman

When I bought my Craftsman V20 cordless powered ratchet I mostly got it to have a powered "nut-runner"  It's a nice tool that let's me insert it into openings and crevices of racks and furniture I have to assemble in my work as a handyman. I like avoiding carpal tunnel syndrome if I can. It's not a powerhouse of torque.  It puts up about 35 ft lbs of torque, plus some more if you turn it by hand.  That's a nice feature too.  It's also reversible with a manual switch. But, not that much in terms of turning bolts and nuts in the furniture assembly business.   There's much more in terms of screws and bolts that are Phillips, Robert's, Torx, and Hex bits.  Phillips and Hex being the vast majority.  I use a couple other drivers as my "go to" main tools when assembling furniture and such. Sometimes however, a drill or screwdriver is too tall or long to fit into the space where a bolt needs to be tightened down.   So, to get more use

As a professional handyman,  I do both custom build projects and I do a lot of "pre-fab" install work as well.  There are 4 phases of making or building that I identify and give each it's own emphasis as I work. 1. Fabrication.   This the making or production of the parts of what the project or item is.  It doesn't matter what the project is or the role you play, at some point, the item or project was fabricated by you or someone else.  The more you can know about fabrication of it, the better prepared you are along through the rest of the phases. 2. Assembly.   Once the parts have been made, it's time to put it together.   That's assembly.  Whether the parts were "pre-fab" or made by someone else or you made them yourself, the next step is to assemble them. 3.  Installation.   Either after the item or project has been completely assembled or you combine putting certain parts in place (installation) as you go along, the next step is usually installat

So there's a reason that most apprentices or beginners are given the time consuming, arduous, seemingly low importance tasks in a shop or jobsite. Things like sanding or really any manual non powered or low powered tool task. Here's a word I want to share with you that most people who train or teach in a making/building/crafting environment may not even know themselves, but they know what it means and it's extremely important. "Tactile Sense". Tactile Sense is something that one gains by using one's hands a LOT to apply torque, tension, and gauge surface distortion,  etc... It's getting the feel of how tight to turn a screwdriver before it's too tight.  How to tell the slightest difference in a surface being sanded by feel.  How much downward pressure to apply with a chisel. It's using the feel of something in your hands to determine how much is enough, too much, or not enough. It's a skill, not a talent.  You need to learn by doing and you hav