Library builder

KEN AND MICHELLE AMDAHL moved into their Habitat house just before Christmas of 1997. Since then, they’ve both contributed countless volunteer hours to many other Habitat projects in Winneshiek County, Iowa. That in itself isn’t so unusual, but the Amdahls aren’t your average volun­teers or Habitat homeowners. Ken, though developmentally dis­abled, not only built the […]

When vou decide to build a house, there’s a / whole new vocabulary you have to master. Every part of a house has a name and, ns with most endeavors, learning the lingc will take you a long way toward getting the job done. There are plenty of terms that intuitively make sense, such as […]

OLD DRILLS WERE MADE with enclosed trigger guards like those on firearms. Carpenters sometimes had their trigger fingers caught and broken from time to time, such as when a drill bit got hung up on a knot in a board and spun suddenly. For safety reasons, workers often used a hacksaw to cut out the […]

SOMETIMES IT’S NECESSARY to cut a hole in the middle of a board or a panel. You can do this with your circular saw if you know how to make a plunge cut. (Don’t attempt this unless you’re an experienced circular-saw user.) Start by leaning the saw forward over the cut line. Rest the front […]

WORKING ON A CONSTRUCTION SITE is not a * Don’t drink (or do drugs) while doing construe- sunny stroll in lhe park. There are all kinds of tion work. unusual, uncomfortable, and potentially hazardous conditions you may encounter—uneven ground, troublesome weather, boards with protruding nails, and sloped roof surfaces that challenge your bal­ance. Learning how […]

і Helping Hand Shrink-wrap strengthens a wooden handle. Available from electrical suppliers, plastic shrink-wrap can add strength to a wooden ham­mer handle right where it counts—where the handle meets the head. Slip a 6-in.-long piece of the plas­tic wrap onto the handle, then shrink it in place with a hair dryer. strength, feel well balanced, […]

A MEASURING TAPE IS SIMPLY a long ruler in a convenient easy-to-use package. Just like a ruler, a tape is laid out in feet, inches, and fractions of inches. Knowing how to read a tape quickly and accurately is an essential skill for anyone involved in the building trades. The key to being able to […]

So what do you look for when buying a tool? Well, it helps to remember that tools are not like stretch socks, where one size tits all. A cir­cular saw, for example, may have the rightcombination of power and weight but still fed out of balance or awkward when vou hold it. 4 A tool […]

THE CRAFT OF CARPENTRY HAS A LONG AND HONORABLE HERITAGE. Ages be Гоге we began recording our history, our ancestors were shaping and joining materials to create various types of shelters. Today, we are the fortunate inheritors of centuries of accumulated knowledge, experience, skills, and tools. Although carpentry continues to be transformed by technology (from […]