Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2014 i Family Handyman

GREAT SAW FOR SMALL SHOPS If you do your woodworking in a small space or need a table saw to haul around, we recommend the new DeWalt Compact Jobsite saw, model 7480. It’s got full-size guts (a 10-in. blade and a 15-amp motor) in an incredibly tiny but sturdy package. It weighs only 45 lbs. and has comfortable handles so you can carry with both hands or just one. And the rip fence is sweet! It has a rack-and-pinion arrangement, so it’s smooth, easy to move and stays adjusted (just like the fences on the larger DeWalt saws). Most important, though, is that this year the saw’s rip capacity has been increased to 24-1/2 in., so you can cut to the middle of a sheet of plywood. Other features include…

After more than 30 years of woodworking, I’ve gone through my share of shop aprons. None have performed better than my Fire Hose Bib Apron from Duluth Trading Co. I wear an apron not only to keep my clothes clean but also to keep my essential marking and measuring tools at hand. Any apron with pockets can perform these two tasks. The features that set the Fire Hose Bib Apron apart for me are the three mesh bottom pouches that let sawdust flow right through, and the straps that take the apron weight off my neck and put it squarely on my shoulders. The pouches are where I keep my tape measure, square and hearing protectors. Behind those pouches, there are additional pouches where I keep less-used tools. I really…

Ingenious products field-tested by our editors “The right tool for the job” should be the motto of every DIYer. The right tool doesn’t need to be a fancy specialty item that costs hundreds of dollars. It can be a simple tool or product you already have around the house. We asked our Field Editors as well as the editors here at The Family Handyman to tell us about products and tools that they’ve recently used to solve a specific problem. Once again our editors came through with some smart tips that can help you solve one of your never-ending DIY challenges. editors@thefamilyhandyman.com Mark Petersen, Contributing Editor Brush vault With some TLC, a good paintbrush will last for years. I found a product that protects my brushes long after the case…

Use scrap wood guides for a perfect fit It’s dang near impossible to get the length and position of a mitered part right unless you can butt it up against the adjoining miters. To provide a guide, tape or clamp mitered scraps in place. Remove the scraps as soon as you glue the part in place—otherwise, stray glue might make those temporary guides permanent. Match wood grain Whether you’re banding a tabletop or making a picture frame, make sure the wood color and the grain pattern match at the miters. Selecting matching wood at the lumberyard takes only a few extra seconds and gives you much better-looking miters. ALIGN WITH BISCUITS It’s not easy to align and clamp miters, especially when they’re lubricated with a coat of slippery glue. That’s…

Working With PEX There are a lot of reasons why PEX (cross-linked polyethylene) plumbing pipe is so popular. PEX is less expensive than copper. It can be run in long lengths without any fittings, which reduces the chance of leaks. It’s less likely to burst in low temperatures. And the biggest advantage of PEX is that it’s super easy to work with. But just because it’s easy doesn’t mean you can’t screw it up. We asked Les Zell, our resident expert, to share some tips, preferences and techniques to help your next PEX install go as smoothly as possible. MEET THE EXPERT Les Zell has been a plumber for almost 30 years. He is the owner/operator of Zell Plumbing & Heating in Hudson, Wisconsin. For more tips & goofs, download…

DON’T FENCE ME IN When my sister and brother-in-law recently bought a new house, the only thing missing was a backyard fence for the dogs. The first weekend we put in all the fence posts. The following weekend, we hired a guy with a pickup to help us haul all the preassembled panels from the home center to the backyard and assemble the panels. He pulled the truck into the center of the yard to save on carrying materials. Finally, after a long day turned to evening, we were admiring the finished job. Then we suddenly looked at each other and immediately realized our mistake. We’d fenced in the truck! Ralph tremato A close call In the double garage of our first home, we had a one-piece swing-up garage door,…

Show those nails who’s boss One of my favorite tools for demolition is the Crescent Code Red Nail Pulling Pliers. It’s a pliers-like nail puller that can pull anything as long as you have at least 1/8 in. sticking out to grab on to. I bought it when we remodeled our basement and had to pull out the hundreds of finish nails that held the pine bead board on the ceiling. For really tough nails like coated framing nails, you can put a pipe over the handle for additional leverage. It will pull large screws that way as well, but it makes a mess of the board. I’ve even used it to pull concrete screws out of concrete when the head was stripped or rusted. You can get one for…

GREASED LIGHTING We’ve all been there: A lightbulb breaks away from its base when you try to remove it, and then you’re stuck with broken glass and a tough-to-getout bulb base. You can solve this problem easily (especially in damp areas like porches and bathrooms) with Bulb & Socket Lube. I just smear a dab on the threads of the base and tighten the bulb as usual. Look for Bulb & Socket Lube at your home center or hardware store. H. ed Chapman sr. No sawdust in the house! We have this policy at home that I can’t come into the house from the garage with as much as a speck of sawdust on my clothes (somehow my vote didn’t count!). To keep the dust off my clothes, I picked…

When we moved into our house there were dull areas on the black plastic door of the microwave. A closer look revealed that the dullness was not dirt or smudges but fine scratches because someone had used an abrasive cleaning product. I happened to have a swirl remover product intended for automobile paint. I followed the instructions for “hand application,” and the results were amazing. Just be careful about using it on a surface that has text printed on the plastic because it will remove the printing.…

Replace a sink strainer Kitchen sink basket strainers/drain assemblies work great when they’re new. But with daily use and cleaning, the chrome or painted finish starts to wear off. The basket strainer stopper may also start leaking. Once that happens, you can forget about soaking pots and pans overnight. You might think that the solution is to buy a new basket strainer. Good luck finding one that fits and seals. You can buy a “universal” replacement that’ll work as a strainer. But it usually doesn’t seal well because it’s not an exact fit. So your best option is to replace the entire drain assembly. You can replace the drain assembly yourself, but it’s much easier with two people. You’ll save about $100 in labor. The hardest part of the job…

Our expert, Les, knows a plumber who did a job in northern Wisconsin in the middle of winter. The building had no heat, and all the pipes and fittings were freezing cold. When the furnace was fired up and the water turned on, they sprang dozens of leaks. Most PEX manufacturers recommend you work with pipe at temperatures above freezing. The whole length of the pipe doesn’t need to be warm, just wherever you make a connection. You can heat those cold pipes and fittings with a heat gun or hair dryer, leave them in a warm vehicle for a while or keep fittings in your pocket. Heck, you can even warm a pipe in a thermos of hot water.…

Connect more gadgets to your TV To cut costs, many TV manufacturers are putting fewer HDMI input ports on the back of the set. That’s a problem if you have a cable or satellite box and you want to add more devices like a Blu-Ray DVD player, a Roku streaming device and a game console. The solution: Add an HDMI switch box. This isn’t the least expensive model (No. 5312 4x2 True Matrix; $58 at monoprice.com), but it provides all the best features for a reasonable price. Plug up to four HDMI devices into the switch box and output them to your TV using as many as two HDMI cables. Then sit back, open a bag of chips and switch from one device to another with the switch box remote…

It seems like no matter how much closet space you have, there’s never quite enough. But building attractive clothes cabinets like these allows you to expand storage into your bedroom or a spare room and gain the extra space you need. You can build one storage tower or connect several together. Each tower consists of a drawer base, a wall cabinet with doors, and two side panels with holes for adjustable shelves. We’ll show you how to build the cabinets and assemble the towers. And we’ll also include details for adding a clothes hamper drawer, a pullout pants-hanging rack and shoe storage between the two towers. Even though the style is simple, building these cabinets requires close attention to detail and accurate cuts. If you can cut plywood precisely and…

Got some real valuables to hide? Frankly, the best advice is to get a safedeposit box at your bank. But that’s not very fun. Plus, it’s a hassle if you need to get to your valuables often or quickly. Here are a bunch of clever, simple ways to hide those items from all but the smartest, most determined crooks. 1 The old hollowed-out book trick We’ve all seen the hollowed-out book, but there’s not much room in one of those. Instead, use several books with a plywood box attached to the back. If you have a band saw for cutting out the pages, great. If not, you can use a jigsaw. (After all, books are just a form of wood.) If the sides of the books will be visible, fold…

HOW TO PAINT A CEILING Ceilings present some unique painting challenges. For starters, they’re usually much larger than any single room wall and are often illuminated with raking light that accentuates even the smallest flaw in the paint. Add to that the challenge of working overhead and things can get messy in a hurry. That’s why we called in Bill Nunn, one of our favorite painting consultants, to help you out with his best ceiling painting tips. MEET THE PRO Bill is the owner of William Nunn Painting, which specializes in classic old home painting. Bill has been painting for more than 35 years. 1 Use a stainblocking primer to cover flaws Roof leaks, overflowing sinks, tobacco smoke and big spills can all leave ugly ceiling stains or dinginess that…

Winter tires are supposedly much better than even the best all-season tires for winter driving. We wondered if that was true and if they were worth the extra cost and hassle. So we contacted four large tire manufacturers—Goodyear, Michelin, Bridgestone and Cooper Tire—to find out exactly what drivers get for their money. The manufacturers pointed us to independent tests showing how winter tires compare to allseason tires. The test results were impressive. But the out-of-pocket expenses are equally as impressive. So we crunched the numbers to find out exactly how much they cost per year. Here’s what we found. Not just for snow Winter tires perform much better than the “snow” tires you may remember (if you’re old enough). They work better in snow, ice, slush and mud and on…