"Kevin Vang" wrote in message
t...
In article ,
says...
Maybe we should talk about handtools vs. powertools instead. :-)
Well, you gotta at least pick something that is debatable!
I'll start! We just tore down our deck and re-built it, the old
deck having succumbed to a terminal case of dry rot. I suppose that
I could have built it without a reciprocating saw, circular saw,
compound miter saw, cordless electric drill, air compressor and
pneumatic framing nailer, but I sure as hell wouldn't have wanted
to. I will admit to feeling virtuous when I watch a paper thin
shaving curl up out of a handplane, but I don't think that cross
cutting 2x6's with hand saw would give me the same warm fuzzy
feeling, especially not when it's 95 out.
Hm......
Well, a compressor and a couple few pneumatic nailers are certainly "must
have" tools, but for a deck?
We just built our own deck a couple of weeks ago. This was our first major
project in a couple of years (the fence we did last summer doesn't really
qualify as "major"). Prior to that, we built about 8 decks and 2 16 foot
gazebos over the course of the last 7 years. The only time we used nails
was for joist hangers and for shingles on the gazebos. Everything else is
done with screws.....well, except for a few carriage bolts on the framing.
A boy MUST have dedicated electric screw shooters, and cordless (as handy as
they are for other applications) simply will not do.
"Reciprocating saw" is kinda vague. In fact, a boy needs both a Sawzall
(Milwaukee Electric Tool's proprietary name for their product......and
Milwaukee still makes the best on the market) for heavy duty work, and a
smaller portable jig saw for tight curves, stop cuts, etc.
And where the hell are your belt sander, electric planer, disc grinder,
hammer drill, heavy duty 1/2 inch drill, etc.?
Kevin
(and yes, I know that building a deck isn't really woodworking...)
Sacrilege!
Wolfgang