Professional advice when working with inventory and tools

Recommendation points

• Tuning garden wheelbarrow
• Board
• Wheel axle
• Thin metal
• Transferring long lengths and large sheets alone
• Rebar tying hook
• Method 1. If there is welding
• Method 2. Without welding
• Smooth cut with a jigsaw
• Conductors for confirmations
• Hammer holder

In this article, you will find ways to improve the tool and keep it in working order. We will also describe small handy devices that you can make yourself. You will learn how to make working with a familiar tool easier and more convenient.

Construction is not only working hands, but also faithful helpers – tools and devices. Some require careful maintenance, others require improvement or revision. Helpful tool tips save you time and money.

Tuning garden wheelbarrow

If you bought a new inexpensive garden or construction wheelbarrow with one wheel – do not rush to operate it, especially on concrete works. Budget models have three weak points that should be strengthened immediately..

Board

The edges of the sides “fall apart” in the first place. To strengthen them, run a metal mounting tape or a UD profile flattened into a strip along the outer perimeter. Bend the edges of the tape and place the bolt and nut. Roll over the edge of the trough with a mallet, pinching the tape. Drill holes at 50-100 mm intervals and rivet the reinforcement.

Wheel axle

The axle of the wheel fails due to its simple design – the axle simultaneously serves as a tightening of the levers. Install in the shaft hole a piece of metal-plastic pipe 5–10 mm longer than the thickness of the wheel seat disk. This bushing will be both a limiter (will allow you to reliably tighten the nut on the axle) and a gasket (will eliminate play and make the stroke softer). Such a tube is easy to replace, but it wears out for a long time.

Thin metal

The weak points include the attachment of the trough to the frame. It accounts for 60-70% of the weight. In dynamics, during operation, thin metal is pressed through quickly – on the 10th day it is very noticeable, in a month there will be a crack. Make a “spare bottom” of 2.5–3 mm metal – reinforcement is 20 mm larger than the bottom of the trough. Drill holes in it and install on a wheelbarrow.

If possible, replace the pneumatic wheel with a polyurethane one to avoid unpleasant “surprises” in the midst of work. The cost of a cast wheel is about $ 5. e. After such “tuning” an ordinary garden wheelbarrow is ready for hard work – delivery of concrete, crushed stone, sand and other goods up to 80 kg. As a rule, a wheelbarrow of this class (improved) costs 2–2.5 times more than a garden one.

Transferring long lengths and large sheets alone

Moving and lifting sheet material – chipboard, plywood, gypsum board – is best done with a partner, but there are situations when you have to do it alone. To do this, you need to make a primitive traverse (pickup) from wire or reinforcement O 8-12 mm.

Such a hook can be improved by putting a tube on it and making a soft winding (for gypsum board). The device allows you to carry alone sheets up to 3 m long and weighing up to 40 kg in rather narrow places.

Rebar tying hook

Reinforcement is an invariable stage of concrete work. To tie the reinforcement cage, you need a special crochet hook. However, such a tool is not always available for sale. You can make it directly at the facility.

Method 1. If there is welding

If you have a welding machine, it is easy to make a knitting hook – just select a reinforcement rod of Ø 8–12 mm, sharpen it on one side (with a grinder) and bend it in a convenient shape. If you do not put the movable tube on the handle, it will wipe and tear the gloves. Welding is only needed to fix the bolt or ball at the end of the handle (so that the tube does not come off).

Method 2. Without welding

The crochet hook can be made from a threaded rod (stud) Ø 12–14 mm and a pair of nuts with washers. In this case, the rod is also sharpened and bent. Then we screw on the nut and put the washer in the place of the bend (the beginning of the handle). Install the tube and screw on the nut and washer at the end of the handle. The end nut is better secured by welding..

Smooth cut with a jigsaw

It is generally accepted that it is impossible to saw off anything smoothly with a manual jigsaw. If there is such a need, but there is no circular saw, use a temporary stop from a rail or profile, compressed with clamps.

Smooth cut with a jigsaw on video

Another problem is that when cutting sheets of laminated chipboard, chips appear due to the reverse movement of the teeth, located with the edge towards the material. This can be avoided by installing a pressure plane on the jigsaw plate. Such a plastic “cover” is always included in the kit, even in cheap models, but it is ineffective due to the softness of the plastic and gaps.

It is best to make it yourself. To do this, we cut a piece of plywood so that the edges are 5 mm larger than the plate. We drill a hole for the file exactly in the right place and install the platform, for example, on double-sided tape. The plywood edge will press the laminate layer and it will not chip.

Sawing without chips – a step-by-step video of making a clamping bar

Conductors for confirmations

Those who assembled furniture with their own hands are familiar with the problem of inaccurate mounting holes for confirmations. To get a constant accurate result, you need to make an additional guide device – a jig. It can be made from a small (100 mm) cut corner 30×30.

In the shelves of the corner, we drill holes in the right places and put stops. In place of the holes, it is better to weld (strictly vertically!) Bushings or pieces of pipes – the drill stroke will be ideal. One jig can be adapted to several sizes.

Professional conductor for confirms, video

Hammer holder

During carpentry, and especially roofing work, you need to constantly have a hammer on hand. There is a special loop on the factory “unloading”, and this is a very handy little thing. You can make such a holder yourself. For this you need to knock off the glaze from the electrode (O 3-4 mm) and clean it. Then bend in the shape of a clip with hooks under the belt and grind the ends so as not to pick up clothes.

Each of these options can be modified, improved and customized to local conditions. Your own experience based on useful advice will always be more reliable.