When Leslie started this blog, I was fully supportive of
it. I thought it would be a great outlet
for all the energy she spends researching, and accumulating, all things home
fashion. When she mentioned the idea of
having a Man Monday segment, I thought it sounded like a great idea and said
I’d do it. So that was in the
summer. Now it’s September, so it should
come as no surprise that I was vetoed when I wanted to write my first
installment about how bad an idea it is to write anything on a Sunday more than
a text to a friend making sure he saw the catch Megatron made in the 3rd
quarter. If you don’t know who Megatron
is, then I’ll assume you have no sympathy for me.
As you have probably gathered by now, we do lots of projects
around the house. If there’s one thing
I’ve learned through all of it, it’s to build a house, furnished, exactly how
you want it and never change it. Ever. Not
really, the truth is every project has proven to me that there’s a tool out
there that I don’t have that can do the job better. The first of these epiphanies was early in our
marriage and re-model lifestyle. I had
done a couple of projects with a handheld circular saw and a miter box. These tools worked great, but it wasn’t long
before I learned of something called a 10in Sliding Compound Miter saw. I’m generally a DeWalt tool man, but they are
very proud of their equipment, and so for this one I went with the Kobalt from
Lowes. It has been nothing short of
life-altering. Now I’m sure the DeWalt
is better, but the base model is about twice the price of the top Kobalt model.
This is by far the most useful and versatile tool in my
arsenal. It turns jobs that can take 10s
of minutes into 2 minutes saving you hours over the course of a big
project. You can cut anything from
standard 2x4s to wide sheets up to 18 inches or so. (TIP:
Cut as much of the sheet as you can, then flip it and cut the other
side. It’s a perfect cut, cleaner and
easier than a circular.) The tables we
build would be nearly impossible for us without a compound sliding miter. The cuts we use are mostly simple 45 degree
cuts but would take forever with a box.
The White House Table Co.
So the moral of this story is, if you plan to work on things
around the house, aside from mowing the lawn and changing light bulbs, it is
probably worth investing in one of these babies, it won’t take long to realize
its value.
Clay
PS- Tune in tomorrow for a post on our Fall Tablescapes and vignettes, and a link party!!
