Hacksaw Tips

Here are a few tips that I'm not sure I would have thought of:

• If you're cutting thin metal tubing, run a wooden dowel through it before cutting to prevent any crumpling or bending.


• If you're cutting a thin metal sheet, sandwich it between two scrap pieces of wood and clap it in a vise before cutting.


• If you're in a tight space, try reversing the blade.


• And my favorite, perhaps because it just seems so obvious now, cut wider slots by mounting multiple blades in the saw.

Handy Book for a Handyman

Elle just brought this book home today and I couldn't resist claiming it for myself. One of the perks when the wife is a dealer of items vintage. Honestly though, she knows me too well not to have expected me to call dibs, and is probably exactly why she picked it up in the first place.

There are so many things that make this cover awesome, from the pipe in the man's mouth to the fact that he's even got a band saw in his workshop. But my favorite is that both people (it's the 60s, so let's assume husband and wife) are just so darned happy looking. I imagine the wife looking on with joy as her husband drills a hole, probably making shelves or cupboards for the kitchen (okay, I don't know why he'd be drilling what looks like a large hole, but just roll with it for now). He has a confident smile, knowing that he's providing a, dare I say it (how can I resist), Better Home for his wife. Yes, by drilling a hole. Just let it go.

Anyway ... I just really dig the artwork.

This is the 1966 edition. Hopefully I'll have time to post any cool tips and ideas I come across while going through it. Sometimes it's like rediscovering lost or forgotten lore.