manly things are happening today

I’m not a handy man by nature. Or nurture. I’ve never really done anything handy around the house. Sure I’ve unclogged drains, replaced the belt for the dryer when that broke, and have done little odds and ends around the house, but nothing major.

I also have the bare minimum of tools, hand or power. There are a few handsaws, almost two dozen screwdrivers. I have a set of Allen wrenches that I bought many years ago because I would always lose those wrenches from Ikea. I have a few tape measures, my father’s old hammer with its electrical tape-wrapped handle. A smaller hammer which was probably his as well. I also have his old router, which I got for him for his birthday or a Christmas, which I have never used. Basically, I have a bunch of stuff that would make up a pretty basic tool box.

But this past Christmas, I asked for gift cards to the home improvement stores so I could get some power tools. I usually buy tools on an as-needed basis, but I don’t get power tools. And as I had a (small) project to do which would incorporate some real sawing of wood, I wanted to get a circular saw.

The project is quite simple: I needed to cut some wood as a base for our mattress. We finally got a new mattress after 13 years and when it was delivered and put on top of the boxspring, it was too high for her to get onto easily. So for the past six or seven months she would use a small foot stool to climb onto the bed. She asked if we could get rid of the boxspring, to which I agreed, but told her I would need to make a base for the mattress as, a. it is new and soft, and b. the bed frame is made of small bars so I figured the mattress will eventually sink in between those bars.

Now that I had a project, I needed the tools. So with gift cards in hand I went to the store and bought my first circular saw. And a pull saw, a pair of saw horses, and some wood.

Today, I opened the saw, attached the wood to the saw horses with vices, put on some safety goggles, and sawed the wood to size. Side note, saw dust is horrible and gets everywhere and don’t breath through your mouth when sawing.

Overall, everything went as planned. My measurements were spot on (which was a first), I still have my fingers, hands, arms, and feet, and our bed is now a great height for us to get onto.

Not bad for a newbie.