Selected Power & Hand Tools For The Well-Prepared Handymen

Every well-equipped household needs a compact set of power & hand tools for basic repairs and maintenance. Whether you are a competent handyman, keen amateur or unwilling fixer-upper, something around your house, boat or camper van will break-down at an inconvenient time and need mending in a hurry. That is when a well planned kit can be a godsend and a lifesaver, literally.On a fundamental level, one of the first decisions to be made when planning what to include in a tool kit is whether to emphasize hand tools or power tools. This is not a light decision. Sure, power tools accelerate workflow; but some professional carpenters, cabinetmakers and furniture makers that have spent decades using power tools, deliberately use hand tools when working on projects where there is pressure of time. They find using hand tools a more satisfying experience and use power tools only when it improves accuracy or minimizes the drudgery of repetition.For example, cruising yachts allow only a tiny amount of storage space and yet must be reasonably self-sufficient in case they experience an emergency at sea. Their tool kit must be highly prioritized.Others argue that the best way to learn a skill or technique is by first using hand tools. They insist that power tools be used only once the technique has been mastered by manual methods. This is believed true for both woodwork and metalwork.As far as power tools go, they usually justify their expense because of the accuracy they promote and the time they save cutting, shaping and smoothing. Product quality and production efficiencies have improved dramatically over recent decades. Most branded power tools are nowadays reliable, versatile and reasonably priced. Must-haves include the predictable drill driver, angle grinder, angle drill, orbital sander, and reciprocating saw. One stand-out worth mentioning is a multi-master unit.Ratchets or sockets are useful units to have ready to hand. Widely used imperial sized drives include one-quarter inch, three-eighths inches, one-half inch and one inch. A variety of SAE and metric sizes are also useful. Standard units have 12 point heads but units with six point heads are also available in each size. They units are also available in standard depth or deep depth.Another handy unit to consider is a right angle drill (or driver) kit. This tool is great for boring holes in hard-to-get-at spaces. Depending on the brand and model, angle drills operate at about 0 to 1,000 rpm and deliver about 100 inch-pounds of torque. They typically have a chuck size of about three-eighths of an inch.Rotary cutters are less critical than power drill but nevertheless useful. They can cut through metal in minutes. Slicing through metal fasteners to open up locked cabinets and lockers is a common application. Some units are less than ten inches long making them very manoeuvrable in small spaces. They operate at 5,000 to 32,000 rpm.As a final point, power & hand tools are indispensable for open ocean yacht cruisers and recreational camper van enthusiasts that need to be equipped for self-sufficiency. Given the tight space constraints in RVs and boats, cordless (rather than plug-in) power tools are likely to be the preferred option since their flexibility, portability and ability to work in confined spaces are likely to make them the preferred option.