I don’t have all the tools a girl could want, but I am fortunate enough to have a generous family that understands that I would rather have something from Home Depot than a new scarf from Target.
This tool box was a gift from my nephew Bubba. I work out of a tool box rather than tools hanging on a pegboard. Would I like to have a pegboard full of tools? Sure! But it’s expensive to have one of everything, let alone TWO of each tool.
I wasn’t the best student in math class, so I prefer a tape measure that has easy to read fractions.
A speed square is so handy. I use it all the time to make sure things are square, to measure the space of an “overhang”, and of course to draw a straight line.
It’s great to have more than one cordless drill. When my friend Cathy and I build benches, we keep three drills handy. The one on the left is used to drill a pilot hole through the thick parts of a headboard. The drill in the middle is used to drill a countersink hole. (so the screw heads can be sunk and filled in) The drill on the right is used to screw the screws in. I would recommend a Dewalt cordless drill. Cathy and I both have a 14 volt Dewalt. It is a workhorse! My firestorm cordless drill is great in the fact that it has that quick change part. It snaps right off to reveal a screw bit.
One of the power tools I use the most is my battery operated 18 gauge nail gun. (finish nails, not building nails) This model has been discontinued. Someday I will be lucky enough to have a air compressor and a nail gun that shoots “building” nails.
Every DIY person or weekend warrior needs a good sander. I have a palm sander (the square kind) and this orbital sander. The orbital is my sander of choice. My daughter recently called me to ask my advice about sanders, and I recommended this one for her. The pad spins around and changes rotations, which gives you a great smooth finish without any worry about going with the grain. My sander’s best friend is my leaf blower. After a good sanding, every piece gets blown off with the leaf blower, then wiped down with a slightly damp paper towel. Yeah, I know, I’m supposed to use a tack cloth, but I don’t have one. The leaf blower is also great to blow the sawdust off of my saws before I store them in the garage.
This is my first compound miter saw. It’s a small one. It did everything I needed it to do for a couple of years, but then I outgrew it.
I got this saw last year for Christmas. It will cut up to a 1×8. It bevels only to the left. It is not a dual bevel saw. I didn’t even know they had such a thing until I was watching HGTV a couple of weeks ago. If you have an unlimited budget, I would recommend a Sliding Compound Miter saw. It will accommodate a very wide board.
I got this reproduction radio cabinet a couple of years ago. It is the perfect height to hold my saw. Look, it even has storage!
I used a scrap piece of plywood on the bottom of the cabinet so I could add wheels. I always move my saws out of the garage while using them, so the wheels make it much easier to maneuver this saw.
I have secured it to the top of the cabinet with screws.
This table saw was my first saw. I think it’s a tossup as to which kind of saw should be your first saw. I actually use my miter saw a LOT more than I do my table saw. Remember that Home Depot and Lowes will make your “rip” cuts for you. (a rip cut is a cut made parallel to the wood grain). You will see on a lot of home improvement shows use table saws without the “guard” installed. I don’t want to scare you but using a table saw without the guard in my opinion is very dangerous. Some blade guards have anti-kickback devices that allow only forward travel past the blade. There are a lot of helpful videos on YouTube, such as this one that shows a kickback.
I have also put wheels on my table saw. I used scrap pieces of plywood. Notice I didn’t have to use a large square piece, but two rectangular pieces.
Because of the “nature of the beast” I used LOCKING wheels. Your table saw should be level and unmovable while in use. Safety first!
The last saw I’m going to talk about today is this handy jig saw. You can use a jig saw to do many regular jobs, such as ripping a small piece of plywood, or making a “cross cut” on a 1x or a 2×4. I don’t make too many detailed cuts, but when I do it’s handy to have this saw.
This is a Kreg Jig Jr. Tomorrow I will show you the fabulous things you can do with this little gem.
gail
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I have tool jealousy!! When I was living in europe a few years back I had every tool you had and loved every one of them like a baby. Then we moved to the states and I had to give all of them up because of the different voltage. I was gutted! Thanks for all the recommendations – I will be (hopefully) building up my tool inventory over the next few years when I have a house big enough to store them all! Very inspiring post – thank you!
Oh my goodness, the best idea I’ve seen in a long, long time — the saw with the wheels! I love it. It’s my very next project!
I personally think you have got it going on!
So totally jealous!
Great set of tools. I’m so jealous. I share tools with Mr. DIY and I’m finally getting up the nerve to actually learn to use them. I wish they looked as clean as yours! Mr. DIY isn’t as ‘neat’. Love the leaf blower trick. I do have the same one which I uses to “sweep” the patio weekly. I might drag his saws/tools outside and give them a good cleaning too. 🙂
Hope you had a great extra day off!
Roeshel
Seriously drooling over your tools! The power-tool aisle at Home Depot is one of my favorites.
Every woman should have a good set of tools! When I was 20 and moved into my first apartment by myself, my dad gave me a house warming gift of a tool bag filled with tools. Since that time I have accumulated a good work shop of tools. I used to be a kitchen and bath designer and I would actually go and help install the kitchens (to me that was the only real way to design correctly is if I knew the insallation aprt as well) so, I continued to gather tools. By the time Troy met me, it was a running joke that he was really marrying me because I had the coolest tools ( and camping gear)!
oh baby! I am loving your tools! I have asked for tools for Christmas, and my hubby is thrilled. 🙂 I said I wanted a table saw, but we have no garage, now you’ve got me wondering…would a jigsaw work? We already have a miter saw (someday could you do a tutorial on making a ‘frame’…I didn’t have much luck with that!), and he has another saw (don’t remember the name, but it’s a big ‘freehand’ kind…intimidates me!). oh, tools…love them! What a difference a year makes…last year, I was all about a Coach purse,and now… 🙂
This post couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m a young woman just getting into working with wood. I have a drill, but no saw and at the moment I’m trying to decide which saw I need/want. I think I am going to start with a jig saw…because bigger saws are more intimidating, and also I rent and don’t have a garage for storing these things.
Thanks for the inspiration!
I am having tool envy here… I have a pretty good selection but nothing to the extend that you have. Dennis bought me a new drill yesterday and I am walking around my house looking for something to fix…lol.
I am really looking forward to seeing what you are up to with that Kregg jig… I have been looking at those on Ebay…I just can’t decide if I should get the bigger one or the Jr…does the Jr. fit your needs? I always go the cheap route and then I regret it later.
Hope you are having a great weekend Gail. The weather has actually been cold here, but it has been a nice change.
Hugs, Deb
You have a nice selection of tools. Grampy has all those too. He has one set of tools in a two tier rolling toolbox and another set hanging on pegboard in his workshop. When we lived in the mountains he used his tools every day. Now he seldom goes to the workshop unless there’s something to repair.
Great post with great advice; I’m saving it in case I ever get time to actually DO projects! 🙂
Jan