This is Technology Bytes, episode 59, for April 21st, 2024.
Technology Bytes is a microcast where I share brief bytes on interesting technology.
My name is Joel.
Enjoy, and here we go.
So this week I’m going to talk about power tools.
I don’t think I’ve talked about that before.
In general, because I’m a technology nut, power tools aren’t often in my realm of work.
But that doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy them.
So this past number of weeks, I guess, I’ve been thinking about building a workbench in my garage.
And so I was looking online to see what kind of ideas people have, what I might want to do.
And so I found this plan on the internet, and it was like $7 for the PDF and the cut table and the definition and the plans for putting it together, hardware needs, and all of those kind of things.
So I purchased that and then a little modification on my part.
And this weekend, I put that bench together with the help of my lovely wife.
So what is the technology of power tools?
It’s just power and the tool that already existed.
And while that is true, there are a lot of differences in today’s tool set than maybe in the not so distant past.
I think of the manual labor that I remember doing with my father.
And you still have those manual tools, squares and carpenter pencils and those kind of things to mark and measure before you cut the whole thing that your dads teach you, which is measure twice, cut once kind of thing.
And then you have the hand saws that I could never seem to get to cut in a straight line.
I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the saw’s problem.
Or the screwdrivers that would strip the head of the screw because I wasn’t applying enough pressure in relationship to the torque.
And so that would become frustrating in the pain of my shoulder or arm from a saw going back and forth or my wrist or my forearm and my shoulder from trying to screw a screw into a piece of wood or holding two pieces of wood together.
And the reality is, as you all know, that whatever your dominant hand is, that is what you use.
So I try to go back and forth when I have time is that I have to use regular screwdrivers so that my arm and forearm aren’t as sore.
But I just can’t do it left handed like I can right handed.
And putting tools to use with both hands is not an easy thing to do.
So in a workbench, two by fours, four by fours, three inch screws, half inch plywood, inch and a half screws, all kinds of things that are going to be used to put things together.
And you’ve got bolts and nuts if you’re going to do it crazy like I did it.
And that takes some work.
And even though the time is different and the physical labor is different, it still takes work.
But man am I happy for the technology of cordless power tools.
So in my use this weekend I have a drill driver that I basically used as a drill only and used it to drill pilot holes, to drill holes for bolts to go through and those types of activities.
And then I have an impact driver that I use to do the screwing of things together with the different length screws and then putting the nut on the back side of the bolts that I put through to hold the legs to the table.
And those kind of things.
And then I also have a little cut off saw that I use to be able to cut plywood so that it fits around the legs and those kind of things.
And so timing wise it still took the better part of a day.
I think I probably started at 8 and I got done about 4.30.
Obviously not working straight through, but still there’s time involved.
I can’t imagine what kind of time it would have taken to do that with manual tools.
But I would be working on it Saturday, Sunday, maybe Monday night, maybe the next weekend.
So it still takes time and effort.
But the technology of the tools is so cool.
And in my little world I have chosen to use Ryobi as my tool set.
And so I have a nail driver.
I’ve got a cut off tool.
I’ve got a little cut off saw.
I’ve got a drill driver.
I’ve got an impact driver.
And they all use the same battery.
And so I can just be charging two or charging one while I’m using two.
Those kind of things.
And it’s just really cool technology when you want to do a little project like this.
Especially when you are not of the carpenter persuasion.
Lots of measurements.
Lots of double measurements.
Lots of hand wringing before you commit a piece of lumber to a position.
But in the end, my wife and I are both very happy with how it turned out.
We are also very happy with the technology of cordless tools to use to put it together.
And we are still happily married.
If you have any thoughts, any questions, any comments.
You can reach out to me at technologybytes at marriagefamily.com And for today that is all I have.
And I want to thank you again for listening to the Technology Bytes microcast.
Sorry about that.
And I always look forward to next time we are together taking another bite of technology.
