15 Life-Saving Power Tool Safety Tips

The right power tools make it faster, easier and more efficient to complete DIY home improvement projects and other tasks. They also allow homeowners to produce more professional results. These days, there are power tools for nearly every type of home improvement task. Power tools cut, drill, sand, grind and perform many other functions. By investing in a selection of power tools, a homeowner will always have what he needs to get the job done quickly. As effective and efficient as they are, power tools are also extremely dangerous. Every year, thousands of people are seriously injured while using power tools, which is why it’s crucial to be aware of the top power tool safety tips.
Types of Power Tools
Power tools fall into two main categories: stationary power tools and portable power tools. The most popular type of stationary power tool is the table saw, which makes it a snap to cut wood and other materials quickly and precisely. As far as portable power tools go, there are dozens of popular options. At the very least, most do-it-yourself types own at least one drill. A few other popular portable power tools include chainsaws, electric sanders, and grinders. Some power tools are electric, and others are powered by gas. Some have cords and some don’t. Regardless of which type of power tool is being used, certain safety precautions should be followed. This guide highlights 15 of the most important power tool safety tips.

Top Safety Tips for Power Tools
1. Always Use the Right Tool for the Job
Misusing a power tool is extremely hazardous. It is important to always use the right tool for the job. If the right tool isn’t available, it should be purchased. The manufacturer will outline the tasks that a tool is designed to accomplish in the owner’s manual. If a person is uncertain about whether a tool is appropriate or not, he should err on the side of caution.

2. Thoroughly Read the Instructions
Many people take their power tools out of the box and start using them immediately. Even if a person has experience with using a particular type of power tool, he should still sit down and read the instructions thoroughly. Some models have different specifications than others. Some are designed to accomplish different things. Furthermore, variations between power tools can result in different risks. For example, different precautions apply when using an electric power tool as opposed to a gas power tool. Similarly, different safety measures need to be taken when using a cordless power tool as opposed to a power tool that has a cord. By reading the instructions, a person will learn everything he needs to know about the power tool and may even pick up a few extra tips.

3. Keep Fingers Away from On/Off Switches
Most power tools are designed so that they don’t turn on accidentally. However, people should still take care not to inadvertently press the on/off switch while handling these tools. For example, when transporting a tool from one place to another, a person should make sure that his fingers aren’t positioned near the power button. If a safety lock is available, it should be engaged when the tool is not in use.

4. Disconnect Power Tools when Not in Use
For the sake of convenience, some people keep their power tools plugged in at all times. When they need to use them, they don’t have to worry about plugging them in again. This may seem logical, but it’s actually a recipe for disaster. When not in use, power tools should be disconnected. Power tools should also be unplugged whenever they are serviced or when parts or accessories are being replaced. When it is unplugged, a power tool can’t accidentally turn on and cause injuries.

5. Be Careful with Power Cords
In addition to keeping a power tool in great shape, being careful with its power cord enhances everyone’s safety. Power tools should never be carried by their cords. People should not swing power tools around by their cords either. Similarly, care should be taken when unplugging a power tool. As tempting as it may be, a power tool’s cord should not be yanked roughly in order to unplug it from the wall. The plug should be grasped firmly and pulled carefully out of the outlet.

6. Inspect Power Tools Regularly
When a power tool is damaged, it can be dangerous. If a power tool isn’t inspected regularly, dangerous damages can go unnoticed. In the case of a damaged cord, small nicks can be covered with electrical tape. If a deep cut or tear occurs on a cord though, the cord should be replaced. Safety guards should not have any cracks, and they should never be removed. If a safety guard becomes damaged, it should be replaced. Power tools should be inspected prior to every use. Power tools that aren’t used regularly should be inspected every few months.

7. Keep Work Areas Neat
Working in a dirty, cluttered environment increases the odds of experiencing a serious injury. For example, sawdust can float in the air and end up in people’s eyes. Sawdust particles are extremely dry, and they can actually ignite under certain conditions. When a work area becomes too cluttered, cords can become tangled, which can lead to serious problems. When a work area is messy, flammable liquids may not be stored properly. Power tools should never be used near flammable liquids for safety reasons. In addition to keeping people safer, a clean work area increases productivity and efficiency.

8. Wear the Right Clothes
When using power tools, people should never wear baggy clothing, which can be snagged or become tangled. Similarly, long hair should be tied back so that it doesn’t make contact with the power tool. The same is true of jewelry, which often dangles loose from the body. To ensure safety, clothes should cover the whole body. When appropriate, hard hats, dust masks and other protective gear should be used. Work boots or steel-toe boots should be worn as appropriate as well. Heavy, durable gloves will minimize the risk of hand injuries too.

9. Avoid Hearing Loss
Many power tools are extremely loud, and excessive noisiness isn’t reserved for cheap power tools either. The potential for hearing loss is very high. It’s even worse when power tools are used in enclosed areas, where sounds reverberate off of walls, floors and ceilings. Even if a power tool doesn’t seem to be too loud, earplugs should be used. Earplugs are cheap, and they are easy to use. By slipping some in before turning on a power tool, a person can dramatically reduce the risk of hearing loss.

10. Avoid Eye Injuries
Regardless of the type of work that’s being performed, the eyes should be protected at all times. Power tools stir up a lot of dust and debris. Tools like drills and chainsaws can cause objects to fly loose. It’s not uncommon at all for objects to fly directly into a person’s eyes when power tools are being used. For optimal safety, a person should use impact-resistant safety glasses. These heavy-duty glasses will eliminate the risk of foreign objects getting into the eyes, where they can cause serious injuries. Extra pairs should be kept on hand as well.

11. Stay on Solid Footing
Working on ladders and elevated platforms is risky in general. When power tools are thrown into the mix, the danger level rises even higher. If at all possible, it is best to remain on solid ground while using power tools. If it is absolutely necessary to climb a ladder or work on an elevated platform, steps should be taken to ensure that the footing is as secure as possible. Wobbly ladders and platforms increase the risk of injury while using a power tool. Another person should remain on the ground while power tools are being used on ladders or elevated platforms.

12. Store Power Tools Where Children Can’t Access Them
Young children are often curious about power tools. Even if young kids are told not to play with power tools, the temptation to do so may be too strong to resist. The best thing to do is to remove temptation altogether by keeping power tools safely locked away when they’re not being used. Power tools should never be left out, even if they are going to be used again the very next day.

13. Maintain a Safe Work Environment
Power tools should only be used in areas that have adequate lighting. In dim conditions, it is all too easy to make a wrong move that can cause a serious injury. If an area is dark or dim, lights should be set up as needed. Power tools should never be used in damp or wet conditions. If a rainstorm rolls in during a project, the tools should be packed up until it is over. One of the biggest risks involved in using a power tool is electrocution, which is why these tools need to be kept away from wet, damp conditions at all times.

14. Secure Work Pieces with Clamps
When cutting or drilling a work piece with a power tool, the piece should be secured with a clamp. For example, a piece of wood should be completely secured before it is worked on with a table saw. Similar precautions should be taken when using power belt sanders, nail guns, and miter saws. If a piece is not secured, it could ricochet and cause serious injuries. A blade might not move in the correct way, or a nail gun could misfire. Securing a piece only takes a few seconds more, and it’s well worth it.

15. Keep Observers at a Safe Distance
In some cases, people may want to watch the work while it’s being performed. For instance, a child may want to watch his parent use a power tool. It’s fine to allow people to observe, but they need to stay at a safe distance. Even if they are far away, they should wear goggles and other protective gear to reduce the risk of injuries. Children should be taught that power tools are extremely dangerous, which is why they need to stand a safe distance away.

Use Power Tools Safely at All Times
While it helps to buy new, undamaged power tools, the safety tips that are outlined above should be kept in mind at all times. Even the most well-designed power tool in the world can cause injuries if it’s not used properly. By taking the appropriate steps, a person can safely use power tools and get work done around the house a lot more quickly and efficiently. Protective gear like safety glasses is also available on Wilson and Miller, and people should stock up on such gear to stay as safe as possible while using power tools.

WHY MAKE YOUR OWN PAINT?

I enjoy making paint. It’s messy and childlike, and can also seem like alchemy. I don’t make it a strict or scientific affair, it’s more a case of going by feel, the kind of approach I expect an experienced baker takes with a batch of cookies or wholesome loaf of bread.

But why would you bother making your own paint?

If your sensitivity lies with the environment then that gives you one reason. Modern paints are basically plastic, so they’re non-renewable, require high amounts of energy for the complex manufacture, and produce lots of bad waste.

Or if you’re conscious of your health and wellbeing, then modern synthetic paints aren’t the best choice here either. This is obvious when you open up the can and the stink hits you like a tonne of bricks, but think of all the painted surfaces around you and consider that synthetic VOCs leach out in to the room even five years after the paint was applied.

So it’s all very green and healthy to knock up your own paint, but is it practical?

Plastic based paints provide a wonderful sealed layer over a surface and dry quickly, so they have the upper hand when it comes to convenience. They can be very durable and wipe clean easily.
But this is also a huge disadvantage, because sealing a surface in this way isn’t usually good for the material below.

This is particularly true when painting wood, which is always wanting to move about, and release and take on moisture.

What this means is that synthetic paints can crack quite quickly when applied on to wood, while natural paints tend to remain somewhat flexible, and can move with it.
Synthetic paints will also trap moisture underneath them which can lead to blistering. Natural paints are microporous, so the wood can continue to breathe as normal.

In the short term the plastic coating will seem like the low maintenance, durable option, but it can actually look bad pretty quickly. When it does you’ll need to hassle yourself with the chore of scraping it all back to fresh wood, before recoating.
Natural paints can look good for decades, and because they can breathe, freshening them up is just a case of wiping down and recoating over the old stuff.  There are many varieties though and some require considerations such as mildew to protect against in certain circumstances. As a whole though they are practical as well as green.

But since you can buy many natural paints, I still haven’t given you a reason to go make them. Perhaps it could be because they are expensive, difficult to buy locally, or don’t offer the colour you’d like. Personally though, I just like alchemy.

I’ve got a lot of paint to be making soon, so I’ll be sharing some recipes with you. For great and quality tools, check this out.

How Important Is It To Have a Versatile Set of Tools?

It is incredible how specialized the tools we use have become. There’s a tool out there that was specifically designed and built for each and every use you can encounter in your daily life. This becomes even more apparent if you’re a handyman, or if you’re working in maintenance. There are special plumbing tools, special electrician’s tools, and special tools for HVAC repair, just to name a few. But for the average Joe, who wants to be able to do some work around the house without trying to become a certified repair or maintenance professional, the incredible number of different tools isn’t only unnecessary, it’s confusing. For most of us, the best thing to have in our toolboxes is simplicity and versatility.

Just think about what you might want to use your tools for in your home. Probably some minor repairs, like fixing a toilet cistern, fixing a leaky faucet, oiling a squeaky door, unclogging a drain or toilet. Also, drilling holes into the wall to mount pictures, TV sets, or even furniture is something that you can do on your own in your home. You can also fix some minor electrical issues, like changing a light switch, if you know a thing or two about how to keep yourself safe while working with electricity.

These aren’t major repairs. For those, most people would likely call a professional, who would show up with a set of tools specialized for their trade. An electrician would show up with the tools for his trade, plumber will show up with the tool he uses, a carpenter would show up with a completely different set of tools than the other two. But you, who want to be a jack-of-all-trades, able to fix a little bit of everything in your home without knowing how to fix the really big things, don’t need a specialized set of tools. You need a versatile set of tools. You need a set of tools that can be packed in a nice and sturdy toolbox, and you need a single toolbox with all the tools you’ll need to do everything you want to do on your own.

Versatile and flexible toolsets, like the Wilson & Miller one, are designed and manufactured with the homeowner in mind. They contain all the tools you’ll need for most of the things you’d be able to do around your house. They are highly mobile so that you can carry everything with you easily to any part of the house where work needs to be done. They are made to have everything you need in one place, so that you know exactly where to look for a tool when in a hurry.

Most importantly, a versatile set of tools is important because it allows you a certain degree of self-sufficiency. Sure, you will have to learn how to use these tools, but the feeling you get when you know you’ll be able to tackle some of the common malfunctions in your home is very much worth the effort.

Better Way to Plane Chair Seats

For many years I’ve used the following trick to plane irregular-shaped objects: Screw a square block to the underside of the piece and then clamp that block in my face vise.

So today I am planing up a seat blank and fetched my little block of wood and two drywall screws. I tossed the block on the underside of the seat blank. The block landed near the front of the seat and I froze for a second.

Usually I screw the block to the dead center of the seat. But I just then realized there’s a better way. Screw the block to the front edge (or back edge) and you can get most of the seat supported by the benchtop.

Chair seats don’t flex much when you plane them. But the extra support is noticeable.

It’s a small detail. But it helps.

If you need some good hand and power tools, check this out.

Wired for Beauty

I recently had the opportunity to explore a concept that has been rattling around the dark recesses of my cranium for almost three decades. It was inspired first by a spectacular pair of curly juniper boards (also known as aromatic red cedar) I bought way back when “just because” that were still awaiting their final purpose, and a cheesy Anglo-Indian carved teak box I use to hold my favorite “fussy” tools used for inlaying, engraving and marquetry.

The idea? Inlay wire into the presentation surface to enhance the already eye-catching beauty of the swirling grain pattern. The beauty of the technique is that it can be used for just about any kind of metal wire that fits the project – copper, brass, silver, pewter, aluminum, steel and even gold – and employed for any type of artistic expression, whether linear accents, scrollwork or free-form.

The use of inlaid wire has long historical precedence, perhaps nowhere more noteworthy than in the filigree inlays of exquisite antique firearms such as elegant dueling pistols and hunting long guns from centuries past. While the delicate accents of these artifacts were achieved through a skill developed during a long period of trial and error, by following the steps here, you can be up and running quickly because the scale and materials are more suited to both the modern shop and the task of furniture making.

How to Properly Maintain Your Tools

If you’ve spent time and money assembling your set of tools, it’s only natural you’ll want to keep using them as long as possible. You might also like how your tools looked right out of the box, and you want to keep that look for as long as possible. But esthetic preferences are a subjective matter, and proper functioning is not. There’s no use in having tools if they don’t work well. And for them to work well, they need to be properly maintained.

The way of properly maintaining tools depends mostly on what are they used for. But first thing’s first – the most important thing in tool maintenance is to keep them clean. Usually, a simple rag will suffice to clean any dirt that might be present on a tool. In some cases, when the rag doesn’t suffice, you’ll need to try another method. A dirty shovel, for example, cannot be simply rubbed down. It first needs to be hosed down to remove all the dirt, and then rubbed clean and dry with a rag. If the tools came in contact with glue, which often happens in woodworking, applying a solution that will make it easier to remove the glue would be a better idea than to try to remove it by sheer force, as that might needlessly damage the tool. Keeping tools clean is important, but so is not ruining them in the process.

Once the tools are clean, you should check their condition. For some tools, this isn’t as important, as they are less prone to wear. But some, like knives and chisels, need to be regularly sharpened so that they are able to maintain their performance. So make sure you keep the things that need to be sharp sharpened, and make sure to notice if some of the tools have dented or chipped.

To prevent your tools from rusting, you should use machine oil by applying a very thin layer of it on the metal parts of your tools. You don’t need to get it slippery, just oily enough so that there’s something between the metal and the air. What’s exactly the best brand of machine oil for the purpose is something that’s widely debated, but pretty much any oil that prevents oxidization will do.

At the end, you need to keep your tools properly stored. There are several ways you can store your tools – in a toolbox, on racks, in bins, in tool chests or cabinets, in tool workbenches. Storing your tools on racks is a good way of storing them only if the room where the rack is placed has very low humidity. If that’s not the case, and if you can’t do anything to lower the humidity, than a closed container might be a better option because it’s much easier to control humidity in them. Of course, if the tools you buy come with their own toolbox, like the tools you can get from Wilson & Miller do, you’ll probably want to store them there.

5 Tools Every Toolbox Should Have

A good, fully stocked toolbox should always contain more than just five tools. That’s a rule that can’t be overlooked. A toolbox with five or less tools can never be a complete toolbox, and it will leave you wanting for the tool you need too many times. However, just as every toolbox needs to have more than five tools, there are roughly five tools that simply have to be included in every toolbox. These are the essential tools that every versatile toolset, like the one made by Wilson & Miller, must contain, because without them you wouldn’t be able to do even the basic DIY stuff around the house.

1. The Hammer

And not any hammer, for that matter, but a claw hammer. The claw hammer is used to, as it name says, hammer nails into surfaces by using one of its sides, or to remove the nails from a surface by using the other side. When buying a hammer, it’s important to keep in mind the work you’ll need it for. Small hammers are used for hammering small nails, and the bigger the nail, the bigger the hammer needed for it. An average hammer should weigh around one pound, and have a 16-inch long handle. Make sure that it fits your hand nicely, and that you’re able to maintain a firm grip while swinging it, because you don’t want the hammer flying out of your hand while you’re trying to hammer a nail.

2. Set of Screwdrivers

There’s no such thing as a universal screwdriver. They come in different sizes, and in two very different types – flathead and Philips head. When looking for those, you want to look for a set which contains both flathead and Philips head screwdrivers in a range of sizes. Alternatively, you can get two separate sets, one with flathead screwdrivers and one with Philips head screwdrivers. If you can get only one set with only one type of screwdrivers, aim for flathead, because they can be used with Philips head screws, although they will cause uneven wear of the head of the screw eventually. The important thing is that a toolbox without tools to handle screws is not a very good toolbox, so make sure yours has some screwdrivers.

3. Crescent Wrench

An adjustable wrench is the best thing you can have in your toolbox if it doesn’t already have a full set of wrenches. And if it would have a full set of wrenches, you’d still need an adjustable one. No fastener head, be it a bolt or a nut, no matter what size it might be, can resist being loosened or tightened with a crescent wrench. Plus, because it’s a tool that performs a function of many tools of different sizes, a crescent wrench is very practical – it can save space in your toolbox, and it can be worn on a tool belt.

4. Pliers

There’s more type of pliers than just one. Pliers are a gripping tool, although some come with a section that can be used for cutting. Because they are usually serrated, whatever you use the pliers with will be damaged if not properly protected. Just how fine of a thing you need to grip with the pliers will determine what type of plier you need. If you plan to work with electronics, you’ll need the needle-nose pliers. If you want something that will be able to grip plumbing pipes, you can use water-pump pliers. If you want the most versatile option, you should go with linesman’s pliers, which can both grip and cut.

5. Electric Drill

Because drilling by hand can be tiring and very time consuming, an electric drill should be a part of every toolbox. It doesn’t have to be a big power drill if you don’t plan to do some heavy construction work or drill through concrete walls, but it has to have enough power to be useful around the house. The best thing about electric drills is that they come with many different attachments, called bits, so they can be used instead of screwdrivers in certain circumstances, they can sand and grind materials, or even be used for stirring paint. They come in cordless and corded varieties, with the former being more expensive and portable, and the latter being less expensive and cheaper to maintain.