Now that we're buying an old house, I fear that my existing set of skills and knowledge will prove inadequate to provide maintenance and upkeep. For an undertaking of this nature, one ought to know something of plumbing, electrical work, and, especially, woodworking.
I've not done much with woodworking in my life. Dad had a nice selection of tools, but I always resented them. I took shop from Mr. Choate in seventh grade. I built the three raised beds we use for our vegetable garden. One Saturday morning a decade ago, I built a small greenhouse while Dad sat nearby, dying of cancer, giving me advice, watching me work. I've repaired the back fence behind the house. Three times. Poorly.
Now I'm faced with daunting tasks of all sorts: reinforcing floor joists, shoring sagging porches, building a set of steps (with railing?) for the back porch, etc.
I have no doubt that I can learn handyman skills — if nothing else, I can take shop classes at the community college — it's just that I don't currently have them, and because of that, I feel intimidated.
My brother, Tony, finds this all very amusing. He knows I've lived for thirty-five years in a world made mostly of thought. He is entertained by the prospect of his big brother confronted by the real, by the physical.
"You'll need to get some tools," he told me.
"I have some tools," I said. But then I thought about it a bit. "But not many."
"Do you have a drill?" he asked.
"Yeah, I've got a cordless drill," I said.
"How big is it?" he asked.
"I don't know," I said. "I guess about this big." And I framed its size with my hands.
"No," said Tony. "How many volts?"
"I don't know. I think it says something like 8.4v on the side."
Tony laughed. "You're going to need some new tools."
And he's right, of course. I've always been proud to have avoided the need for tools, especially power tools. They were anathema to me. Now, suddenly, they're atehma. (Okay, so I made up that last word...)
To get help, I posted a question at AskMetafilter, and got some wonderful responses. (Have I mentioned that I love AskMetafilter? It's superior to the main site in many ways. I love the idea that a member can post any question and the other members will do their best to answer it.)
Fortunately, many of my friends have already begun to set up shops. Craig has a nice shop. Joel (S.) has a nice shop. If I buy the basics, I'm sure I can borrow tools for specialized tasks, or rent them.
Still, it would help to actually know what I need.
On the way to work this morning, I stopped at Thriftway to buy a copy of Fine Woodworking magazine. I've got to start someplace.
On this day at foldedspace.org
2005 — In the Land of Wonderful Dreams The process of self-medication seems to be paying dividends. I'm sleeping soundly through the night. I'm dreaming wild and vivid dreams. I wake feeling better rested than I have in years. I don't need to nap during the day. I feel great.
2003 — Sexy Songs It'd be fun to make a mix of very sexy songs, but I don't know nearly enough of them. Do you have any suggestions?
Ye gods.
I know you. You'll uber-focus on this and end up with all sorts of fancy junk you don't need. Norm Abrams on This Old House has a laser guided chop saw.
Here's what you need:
Notice the lack of many power tools there?
Stuff that's Nice, and maybe needed for special projects:
Anything beyond that starts to get esoteric, IMHO. Granted, I don't have a house, but my Gramps was a farmer and we did a fair amount of helping out him or Dad as kids. Carpentry is a lot like UNIX -- small tools which do one thing well, requiring you to be clever in how you fit them together to accomplish a job. A cross-cut saw, a hammer, screwdrivers, a drill, wood-glue, a tape-measure, and a level can take you an awful long way.
Start watching This Old House and pay attention to Tommy and Norm. They know what they're doing. And ignore Norm's wizz-bang gadgets -- you can do everything he does with much simpler, cheaper, equipment.