Tools

  • Air — It’s Not Just for Breathing

    ByHeather Bailey

    March_of_the_tools470

    PaintSprayer
    One tool we’ve learned we can’t live without is an air-powered paint sprayer.  This month alone we have painted up two huge work tables, a large dining table, two small tables, a chair, a chest of drawers and several frames.  I should say, Isaac has painted up all of these things.  I just ran the kids around and made all of the dinners so he could keep at it.  For three weeks, our front driveway housed what looked like a terrorist interrogation tent, dusty tarps flapping in the wind.  Isaac called it his “hobo shanty town.”  Painting this many pieces would have been misery with a paint brush and the finishes wouldn’t have been so smooth and professional. 

    DeWalt_Air_CompressorOf course, it would have taken far less time if we weren’t experimenting with some bullet-proof, professional paint Isaac tracked down.  This stuff was rough to use, but the finished work tables are hard as glass.  We used regular paint from the hardware store for all of the other projects and they were far easier to complete.

    We have refinished a ton of furniture over the last 15 years.  I regret not getting an air compressor and a paint sprayer sooner. 

    AIR COMPRESSOR
    As far as air compressors go, for spraying paint, it’s important to get a compressor that is large enough and powerful enough to keep up with you. Usually you would need, at minimum, a 20- to 30-gallon compressor for powering a paint sprayer because you are using the compressed air in a steady stream instead of in short bursts (as for a nail gun or staple gun).  However, we have found that the 15-gallon DeWalt D55168 is up to the task.  It has an extra-powerful motor and is capable of being filled to a very high pressure — many 30-gallon compressors will only go up to 140 PSI (pounds per square inch), while this guy will go up to 200 PSI so it releases a longer flow of air than you would normally expect from a smaller tank.  And it takes up less room.  Furthermore, when we turned this machine on at the store, we found that it was also considerably more quiet than other models.  Sold!

    Make sure to compare the SCFM ratings (Standard Cubic Feet per Minute) of the compressors you are considering, which measures air flow (into the tank, I think).  For spraying paint, you will want a machine with an SCFM of 5 or more.  Most air compressor tools will list what SCFM is needed to operate them, so look at the different tools you will want to use before choosing which model of air compressor to purchase.  If you plan to use an air compressor for tasks that only require small bursts of air, like for a nail gun or a staple gun, then you might be able to get away with a smaller compressor.  Read more about how to choose an air compressor here.

    PAINT SPRAYER
    In my opinion, the gravity-fed pneumatic paint sprayers (with the paint tank on top) work a little better than the siphon-fed ones.  I haven’t used enough different models to say which brand/model is best.  Ours is a Husky Pro HVLP and we have been plenty happy with it thus far.  Make sure to get a professional-quality respirator to wear while you’re working.


  • “For Your Pleasant Life”

    ByHeather Bailey

    March_of_the_tools470

    Japanese_Cut_Off_Saw
    Woodworking projects sometimes call for a dowel or rod to be cut off at surface level.  Power saws aren't usually up to the task and most hand saws, on top of too inflexible to stay flush with the surface, would damage the surface with their offset teeth. 

    Enter the Japanese Flush-Cut Saw.  This handy saw is not only rigid enough to make fine cuts in thin material, but also flexible enough to press tightly against the surface of your project — imagine a long, metal spatula with sharp, toothy edges.  The teeth curl back toward the handle and do not offset each other which means two things:  one, the bottom of the saw is smooth and will not marr up your project; and two, it only cuts on the pull stroke.

    There really is no other saw that can do this job.  Sure, perhaps only a handful of you will find need for such a device in the near future, but I love this thing, so there you are.  And if you are in a family full of men, you now have a new topic to bring up at dinner.  And there are birthdays and Father's Day to consider.  Isaac calls this simple tool a "revelation." 

    Funny — I just noticed this — ours has a stamp on the blade that reads, "For your pleasant life."  How about that!?

  • The Universal Survival Tool

    ByHeather Bailey

    March_of_the_tools470

    ChocolateBars470
    Chocolate is perhaps the best tool of all.  Of course, if I was stuck on the prairie with bodies to clothe, food to procure, and a shelter to build, I may not think so.  Then again, maybe I would.

    I’ve come to the conclusion that if I’m going to splurge, then I’m going to splurge.  When I want chocolate, I want the good kind, not some cheap, grainy, make-your-mouth-sore chocolate wanna-be.  Good chocolate, or no chocolate at all.  Same goes for ice cream, cake, butter, mayonaise, and so forth.  Why bother if it isn’t any good?  In the end, what real pain is there in spending $2 on chocolate satisfaction over $0.50 on chocolate disappointment?  This is my thinking.

    RitterSport_ButterBiscuitBarW2 My favorite, easy-grab indulgence is the Ritter Sport Butter Biscuit bar from Germany.  It’s creamy and dreamy.  I’m sure there are plenty of other varieties that are just as delicious, but this is one of my all-time favorites AND the Target nearby has them displayed at their checkout stands — which adds an undeniable convenience factor to the equation.

    When I’m feeling extra snazzy, I may even venture to the other side of the store to grab one of Ritter Sport’s other varieties.  They make a surprisingly fantastic Cornflakes bar and I’m ga-ga for their Marzipan bar as well. 

    Good chocolate.  Chocolate, good.

    How about you?  Who makes your favorite chocolate bar?  Or, if you’re not into chocolate, then how in the world do you get by?  Do tell.



  • Chef’n Spatulas

    ByHeather Bailey

    March_of_the_tools470

    Chefn_Spatulas

    A few years back I picked up an oddly-shaped silicone spatula on sale at a fancy, local grocery store.  I was intrigued by it’s double-ended design and the claim it was heat-resistant to 650º F (340º C).  It worked so well as a spatula for baking and also as a stirring tool for cooking that I hustled back to that store and purchased the only other one left. These are now among my favorite, everyday kitchen tools.

    The spatula is reinforced down the center with a super-strong, super-stiff metal bar.  The silicone at either end is flexible, but not too flexible.  It scrapes up brownie batter like nothing else. 

    I am glad to have tracked down the company’s website so easily.  It turns out they have a ton of nifty tools based on the same concept.  Look at all of these options and colors!  My exact spatula is no longer in the collection, but it is most similar to the clear design below.

    Who knows, it may no longer be my favorite once I have my hands on that violet one above, or perhaps the red one. It looks like they are available on Amazon for $10 to $13  each or so.

    ChefnSpatula_Clear300THere are the product names for easier hunting:

    1. Chef’n Switchit Flex Wide (pink + 3 other colors)

    2. Chef’n Switchit All Purpose (violet + 7 other colors)

    3. Chef’n Switchit Spoon/Spatula (yellow + 5 other colors)

    4. Chef’n Switchit Spreader (red +7 other colors)

    5. Chef’n Switchit All Purpose (cream + 7 other colors)

    6. Chef’n Switchit Flex Spoon (blue + 7 other colors)

    7. Chef’n Switchit Slim (green + 7 other colors)

    8. Chef’n Switchit Long (clear + 5 other colors)

    And check out this groovy salt and pepper grinder — it’s a bunny and you squeeze it’s ears!

  • Stripped Teaser

    ByHeather Bailey

    It’s Saturday!  And I’m determined to spend a good part of my day outside.  I’m either going to prune the rose bushes or clear out the garden to prep it for planting.  It’s stormy outside, so we’ll see how it goes.

    Stripping_Table_Legs

    Isaac is finishing up two big tables for the studio.  (The same ones I mentioned last year.  You know how that goes.  They are looking awesome though!)  After having at these reclaimed table legs with a palm sander for a while this morning (above), he gave up and purchased an orbital sander.  This has made a huge difference, especially with the deep, turned contours at the top and bottom of each leg.  The palm sander wasn’t working too well on the rounded surfaces.

    The rest of the table parts he has built from scratch and everything is ready for assembly.  These tables are HUGE and I can’t wait to spread projects out all over them.  I might have to try them out for napping as well.  They are that big.

    What are you up to today?  With the way the wind is blowing outside, I might be baking cookies and crocheting granny squares by nightfall.  Cold-weather activities sound equally appealing.


  • Stuff for Stuffing Stuff

    ByHeather Bailey

    March of the Tools 

    I'm
    in the home-stretch of a many-months' design project.  With a name
    chosen, a logo and some final print-outs, my next fabric collection
    will head off to the mill and my brain will be my own again.  I've been
    twittering as a welcome distraction.  Next I'll need a new phone plan
    so I can twitter from anywhere.  Then I can get input on whether to buy
    the yellow shirt or the blue one, have help choosing a dessert at the
    grocery store, or discuss any number of random ponderings while on the
    go.

    For instance, I've been thinking about Magic Shell
    a lot lately — well, more than usual, which is never — probably
    because ice cream consumption increases in direct proportion to an
    increase in workload.  Magic Shell can't be natural.  But, it sure
    tastes like chocolate and not as much like plastic as I'd expect.  I
    twitter-tweeted my love of Magic Shell and WhipUp twittered me right back a link to a make-your-own-Magic-Shell recipe here.

    Stuffing Forks!

    For my last 2009 MOT post, I'm singing praises for the Stuffing Fork by Barbara Willis — my favorite tool for stuffing stuff with stuffing : )

    — like pincushions, dolls, toys, etc.

    This
    simple tool is awesome.  You can use it to push stuffing into just the
    right spot.  And for teensy stuffed things, like doll fingers and
    noses, the small Stuffing Fork
    is great.  If you poke the fork into a small tuft of stuffing and give
    it a twist, you can maneuver your stuffing bit in place.  They really
    are great.

    We just stocked a handful of each size, large and small, in our store (10% discount here
    till April 5th).  I have an old-school, wooden-handled Stuffing Fork
    that's been well-used and well-loved for the last decade or more.  Now
    I've upgraded to these new ones which have a molded plastic handle and
    are even better — a necessary tool for your sewing arsenal.

    And
    because April is upon us, I'm going to bullet-list out a few more tools
    I love, then call it done for the year.  Totally random though.  No
    rules.

    • Color Munki.  New tool for us.  But you should hear Isaac's shouts of
      'whoa!' from the other room.  When you're in the design business, color
      calibration is big.
    • Great Lash Mascara.  Tackiest packaging, but good mascara.
    • Beeswax for thread. 
      For quilting or applique, if you run your thread through beeswax &
      press it before sewing, your thread will be stronger and will suffer
      less wear when pulled through the fabric stitch after stitch.  I'll
      blog about this one in more detail sometime.
    • ArtgumWater-soluble markers. 
      For marking match points or drawing tailoring adjustments in sewing. 
      Or for drawing out an embroidery design onto fabric.  Where were these
      when I learned to sew with chalky, messy, white tailoring pencils?
    • Art Gum erasers. 
      I have these erasers all over my studio.  When I only had one or two,
      I'd lose them, or the dogs would chew them up.  Isaac bought me 10 at
      once and now I'm all set.  Having an abundance of good erasers is a
      luxury anyone can attain.
    • Pentel Twist-Erase mechanical pencils. 
      My new favorite pencil, because the eraser actually lasts for a while
      and can be re-filled.  Of course, as a result, my art gum eraser
      collection hasn't been as important lately.  Dave says this pencil has it's own following.Twisterase3
    • Typepad.  I've used Typepad from the beginning and have always
      been impressed with their interface, customer service, customizability,
      upgrades, etc.  And I've never had a post go missing. This is the second or third time they've featured my blog on their sign-in page and I'm completely honored. 
    • Twitter.  I've always described blogging as a form of conversation, and micro-blogging is even more conversational (see tweets in my sidebar).  It's been less than a week since I started twitter-chatting, but what fun.

    Okay, so I'm off to polish up a logo for the fabric collection, then
    it's back to a more normal pace — and a movie & a milkshake.  Any
    movie recommendations?

    Featured on Typepad's Home page!

  • Clickity-Twit

    ByHeather Bailey

    ToolsBanner2 

    Okay, so Google Reader is the CLEAR winner.  I checked it out and you can easily export the feeds
    you're following in another aggregator and then upload them to Google
    Reader.  You can be all set-up and transitioned-over in less than 5
    minutes.  Dead serious.  Then, if you install a Google Reader 'Next' button
    in your browser's bookmark bar, you can click from one new post to
    another and read each post in its original blog setting where it belongs.  All great tips from you guys — thanks for chiming in!

    Now I'm exploring Twitter. 
    Ya, I took my time getting around to it.  I think they invited me to the beta of Twitter
    three years ago or so.  I'm getting serious deja vu on their site.  
    Let me say, I love the simplicity of their concept.  'You know, for
    blogging.'  Have you seen The Hudsucker Proxy (one of my all-time favorite movies!)?  If not, then that's what you should do for fun this weekend.

  • So Basic – But So Helpful!

    ByHeather Bailey

    ToolsBanner2 

    Years ago, when I posted a tutorial for My Favorite Knot,
    I thought it was a comically common thing to tutorialize.  But, as that
    knot has made my sewing much more pleasant, I figured, "Why not.  It's
    bound to help someone."  To my surprise, that knot tutorial has sparked
    the most passionate feedback.  Most of you probably already knew how to
    tie a tidy knot, but for those who didn't  – ah, what a lifesaver!

    Today, my March of the Tools tool is similarly basic.  And though quite well-known amongst bloggers, it shouldn't go without lauding:  Aggregators.  There are bound to be a few dozen of you who don't know what you're missing out on.  This post is for you.

    If
    you find yourself tediously entering and re-entering the URLs of your
    favorite blogs throughout the day, just hoping that someone has posted
    a new entry, read on.  You need an aggregator.  I currently use Bloglines.

    Bloglines
    is a free, online service that allows you to organize and monitor your
    favorite blogs.  When you are logged into your account, you
    are able to see when new entries have been posted on each of the blogs
    you 'subscribe' to.  Subscribing to blogs is free and many blogs have a
    "Subscribe in Bloglines" or "Subscribe to this Feed" button in their
    sidebar to make the process even easier.  Rsssymbol(I
    just fixed my Bloglines button – it wasn't working right for months —
    yikes.)   Otherwise, you can click on a blog's RSS feed icon in your
    browser's address bar (usually looks like a little square with three
    curved 'sound' bars radiating outward – example to the right).  The RSS
    icon will take you to the blog's RSS feed, where there are usually some
    subscription options, including Bloglines.  Here is what my RSS feed page looks like.

    HeatherFeed

    There are many similar services to Bloglines, such as Google Reader, My Yahoo, NewsFire, and many others.  I've only ever used Bloglines, so I'm not too familiar with the alternatives.  All such blog-subscribing services are called aggregators
    (or feed-readers, rss readers, news readers, etc.).  Using an
    aggregator is an absolute life-saver if you're following a long list of
    blogs on a regular basis.  An aggregator enables you to compose a
    virtual daily 'personal newspaper' of all of your favorite blog
    'articles' (aka rss feeds or posts) which you can read one after the
    other right there under your account — or you can click on a link to
    each post if you prefer to read new posts in their original setting
    within a blog (my preference).

    A lot of info?  Let me just say it
    is totally worth looking into.  The time you spend learning your way
    around Bloglines or another aggregator will easily pay off in spades. 
    One hour learning how to use an aggregator could easily gain you three
    hours more free time in the next week or two alone. 

    I knew about Bloglines long before I set up my own account.  The day I finally did I was completely kicking myself for not doing it sooner.  A seriously good tool.

    (I'm
    sure I'm preaching to the choir here.  If you already use an
    aggregator, help me convince everyone else how great they are!  If you
    recommend a different aggregator than Bloglines, tell us about it.)

  • The Pen is Mightier than the Spatula

    ByHeather Bailey

    CooksIllustratedCvr
    Isaac loves to cook.  His sister, Evie, gave him a subscription to Cooks Illustrated magazine
    for Christmas one year and now we're hooked.  I'm pretty sure I would
    never have picked up this magazine from the shelf of a bookstore.  But
    it's great! 

    Cooks Illustrated covers the science of
    cooking in a fun, easy-to-follow format.  In any given issue, you might
    learn how to best hard-boil an egg so the yolk stays centered (helpful
    for deviled eggs), or which brand of stone-ground mustard is the most
    flavorful, or the science behind aged cheese.  Who knows — all kinds
    of interesting things. Their test-kitchen cooks tirelessly compare
    techniques and recipes to arrive at the best methods and flavors.  Then
    they quickly outline their test results and make suggestions in the
    magazine.  Even better, their research and info is completely unbiased
    – like Consumer Reports
    for cooking techniques, food, & recipes.  The magazine doesn't have
    any ads and is illustrated in old-fashioned pen-and-ink-drawings, which
    I love.

    Anyhow.  Yes, I'm recommending a cooking magazine as a favorite tool for March of the Tools.  Next time you're out shopping, stop by the magazine row and take a peek through Cooks Illustrated.  I love knowing the 'why' behind a good recommendation.  And Cooks Illustrated is full of 'whys' — and good recommendations.