Author: Thomas

  • Tablesaw Wants Wood, Not Wound.

    I just saw a bumper sticker on a truck that read “If you can’t stand behind our troops…try standing in front of them!”  It’s obvious that there are more dangerous occupations than carpentry.  So why are there so many injuries? I think part of the reason is power tools.  If you jumped back 100 years,…

  • Winter Hibernation Is Over

    This Blog has been sleeping.  I’ve been working, however my posts have not gone to print.  Lately the weather has been very spring-like in Alberta and I’m itching to get outside and do some landscaping.  It’s not going to happen today.  With spring comes the spring rain.  Instead I’ve been busy with our own home…

  • Tools to Love and Tools to Kill For

    Killer tools. They’re out there waiting for a user to take hold of them and go berserk on a renovation job.  Drills with more torque than the car you drive; Reciprocating saws that dim all the lights in the house when used. Tools to love Chisels with beechwood handles made in Japan by ancient Samaria…

  • The Name of Our Library

    I’ve been wondering what to call our library in the basement. Really it’s not that big, but I have yet to count the books. They have been sorted into a fiction side (the left) and the non-fiction side. Below this level, we sorted out some major topics, such as religion ( it’s near the middle…

  • The Lonely Library of Thomas Hepburn

    Built-ins are coming back into style.  My house has a built-in bookshelf.  I’m not that proud of it.  It was one of those projects where a tight budget and a tight deadline ruled the project.  On the other hand it does hold a lot of books, more that it should now that I look at…

  • How Much Does a House Weigh Part 3: Wrecking Bar Basics

    I was going to go into detail about all the tools I use for starting a building restoration project.  Then it occurred to me that I had seen an article that covered the basics on the basics.  Wrecking bars.  I found it in a January 1985 edition of The Family Handyman. I’m too busy this…