Essay # 9 – In-Class Process Essay - Tools

Essay # 9 – In-Class Process Essay

Tools

I love tools!  Gardening tools and carpentry tools especially.  My gardening tools I’ve had for years, and each has become almost a part of my physical body when I choose just the right one for my gardening task, but it’s only been a few years since I learned the enjoyment of carpentry, and, oh, there are so many wonderful tools still to explore!  Having already settled on the perfect gardening tools, how do I now fulfill my carpentry tool need?  I’ve come to realize that tool acquisition entails 3 factors: need, knowledge, and purchase (not necessarily in that order…)

Generally, as you’re working on that big project, the point comes when things aren’t working as planned.  That can mean different things to different people and even to the same person at different times.  A case in point was when I was struggling to hold up and hammer on a trim board destined to hang above my son’s long closet doorway.  Right in the midst of that particular project, while I was going into contortions trying to get that first darn nail hammered into the right spot, so the board would end up level and centered; I got a phone call;  good excuse to take a break and rethink this project.  It happened to be a carpenter I knew who asked why I was huffing and puffing.  When I explained what I was trying to do, he just laughed and said, “That’s what air guns are for.  Pop!  It’s in place.”  Now, I wasn’t going to stop my project, jump into the car and buy the nearest air gun, but the seed had been planted in my brain.  I had 7 more closets to do, eventually, never mind the doorways and window trims.  That sure would be handy…  A need had been determined, and in this case the knowledge of just what I needed had been decided.

Other times, you know the need, and you have to search for the solution.  Books are usually my first line of defense when I lack the knowledge of what’s available and am actually looking for an answer.  I’m a book-lover, as well as a tool-lover, though most of my books could actually count as tools.  They are generally how-to and reference books, since I taught myself most of what I know.  In those books are often solutions to problems.  (Did you know there is a nifty little “siding tool” to zip along vinyl siding to both unlock and lock a piece when it needs to be put on or replaced?)  The internet is another source of information that can easily be accessed from home, and which I use regularly.  Then there are stores.  Hardware stores, whether they’re the local mom-and-pop type or the bigger box-type, have knowledgeable people available to tell you not only what you need, but how to use it.  Then, being curious and always on the lookout for interesting ways of doing things, I sometimes find solutions before I even have a problem!  I remember watching my son’s scoutmaster using a sliding miter saw for a project they were working on.  Nifty!  I didn’t need one then, but later, when I began my own journey into carpentry I remembered that tool and its uses, and eventually got one of my own.

So, the need has been determined, the solution has been decided.  Now, it’s time to make that purchase!  This can be the tricky part, unless you’re rich and can just go out and buy anything you want whenever you want to.  (And if so, can we become friends?  I’m sure we’ve got a lot in common…)  I’ve acquired my own tools in many ways, always trying to get a good deal, doing without until the optimal moment appears.  The absolute cheapest way to acquire tools is to get them for free, which though not common, can happen.  I’ve gotten some tools given to me, and gotten some tools from our old dump’s Bargain Barn, where people left usable stuff they didn’t need, and took home usable stuff they did need.  Those are usually small hand tools, but those are also the ones that get used the most.  The next best place is yard sales.  Yard sales contain treasures waiting to be found.  But, as with any treasure-hunting, it can eat up the hours.  Plus, it requires just the right combination of luck and timing or you can waste days that are needed for other projects. (Yet, that is how I eventually got an almost new framing air gun for $10, so that can be used to argue the point.)  Of course, regular sale-shopping is always an option, keeping an eye on the papers to see if that particular item you’ve been looking for finally goes down to the price you’re willing or able to pay.  The Day after Thanksgiving Sale has become my personal annual gift-to-myself sale.  I usually splurge and buy something I’ve really been wanting, but haven’t found used.  Sears and Home Depot often have terrific discounts early in the day, and thankfully, here in Maine we don’t have the ridiculous stampedes they have in more populated areas like New York City.  That’s where I got a set of 4 air guns with compressor for about the price of one, and where I bought that coveted sliding miter saw that I now use regularly. 

So, that’s how I’ve been working on my tool collection – determining the need, finding a solution, and making the acquisition, but not always in that order.  Some tools are just so cheap (especially if free) they can’t be left there all alone; you’ve just got to give them a good home.  Then later the immense usefulness of that prize is discovered, when finally just the right project needing just the right tool becomes the project for the day.  My own tool collection is nowhere near complete.  And I really should stay away from places like Home Depot where my mouth drools as I see almost endless possibilities for more projects needing more tools.  So maybe it’s a good thing my wallet is small, or else I’d have to add another addition onto my house …