How To Sharpen Your Tools
Really, that's not a euphemism. You may think we're all about croissants on Sunday mornings, long snowy walks in the local park, and cute crafty projects here in the Nest - but let me tell you, we sure like our power tools too.
So far on the power tool front our kitchen, bathroom and garden renovations have required a jigsaw, circular saw (awesome tool - very, very loud, and weirdly pungent), cordless drill, electric screwdriver, tile cutter (super-loud and messy - it spurts tile-dust-infused water absolutely everywhere), several sanders, and an electric plane.
We have masses of traditional tools, too - everything from hammers and saws to those cool measuring thingies that enable you to pencil a straight line down the side of a piece of wood that needs a bit cutting off. Liking it.
Problem is - over time, a lot of these traditional tools lose their sharpness, especially when you do silly things like using specialist wood chisels to prise hideous fifty-year old tiles in your bathroom:
Gotta like a picture featuring a chisel and a Mason Pearson hairbrush (in the white bag) in the same shot. And yes, those pink work gloves are mine :-)
And also in your kitchen:
We didn't think the tiles in the kitchen were fifty years old. They looked to be twenty years old. But when we chiseled 'em off, we found - you've guessed it, a layer of fifty year old tiles underneath. Nuthin' like screwing future homeowners over by tiling on top of tiles.
Anyway, after all that tile removal, our chisels and screwdrivers (yep, I also used the occasional screwdriver to chip off a particularly recalcitrant tile) were looking a little sorry for themselves. Enter The Grinder...
The Grinder is our latest power tool. It's used for sharpening tools. Check it out:
Just hold your chisel blade against one of those twin spinning wheels and watch the sparks fly:
Pretty cool, eh. Plus it's made by Draper, which makes me think of Mad Men, which pleases me even more. Naturally, I wasn't allowed to use it. Andre banned me from all power tools after I dropped a gate on my foot. His argument being, if I'm not safe with a garden gate, I'm probably not safe with 18v of DeWalt power. He may have a point.
By the way, you can see what our bathroom looks like now by clicking here, and what our kitchen looks like by clicking here.
Well, I think it's the weekend now. Have fun, and I'll see you again next week!
Psst! If you like this, you may also like:
DIY: Kitchen installation guide - figure out your budget
Interiors: Room design based on romantic London home
Recipe: Paris bistro-style salad
I'm Loving It | tagged Bathroom, Kitchen
Reader Comments (5)
Hmm, I wish I had your powertool know-how. Let me ask you this: I need to jigsaw a hole into a french door that has a single pane of glass in it. (Installing a cat flap). Think we can jigsaw the door without breaking the glass pane? We will be jigsawing right up next to the pane...
Yes, I think that should work. Tape up the bottom part of the window pane, as this will keep it stable. Draw the square for the cat flap on the door in pencil, and then carefully drill a row of small holes along the top of the square, below the pane of glass. That way, you will effectively be using the jigsaw to cut from hole to hole, rather than freehand, which will give you more control. If your door is a bit rattly (all the doors in our house are as wonky as the walls) then have someone push against it firmly to keep it steady while you're cutting. Good luck :-)
Brilliant tips! Thank you! The tape and drilling the holes first make a lot of sense. We had tried taking the door off to do it but the hinges have been painted over x 500. Yep, wonky walls and doors in our house too.
Thanks missus, I'll let you know how I get on!
UPDATE: We did it today! Thank you so much! Your tips gave me the encouragement to have a go. We bought a £20 jigsaw from Argos today. And drilling out a guide first was a GREAT tip. All done, I just need to prime and paint it all tomorrow, then secure it.
So pleased: the local catflap man quoted us £180!
Sweet. Happy to help. Your kitties will enjoying coming and going as they please, I think!
I don't know what I'm more astonished by - that such a profession as Cat Flap Man exists, or that the cheeky swine would try and charge you £180 to cut a hole in a piece of wood!