THE TOOL STORE BLOG

    When life gives you lemons then your make lemonade.  Or at least try to make lemonade.
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/perfect_lemonade/

    Today I am going to talk about shop safety and New Year’s Resolutions, because I am so full of Cold Medication that I dare not get any closer to a power tool than looking at them on the Internet.

   So, for the New Year let us resolve to work safe by:

- wearing a dust mask.  Probably we should wear one all of the time but the perfect mask that doesn’t fog my glasses has yet to be found.  We need to take care of our lungs.

-continuing to replace those old machines with terrible dust collection with new machines designed to hook up to our shop vacs.

-rolling up our sleeves.

-keeping our tools sharp

-using  the correct tool for the job

-protecting our eyes

-not mixing work shops (or motorcycles) and alcohol. The beer is the reward for a good day’s work, not the lubricant that makes it happen.

-not working in our shop when we are really tired, honestly, no project is worth a finger. Projects will grow back, fingers....not so much.

Now for the Do’s:

-do try and learn a new technique this year.  Adding a new skill will broaden the range of projects you can make.

-do try and build something that you’ve never built before and were not sure that you could build at all, make it your Masterpiece for 2012.

- encourage someone to give wood working a try, especially a young person.  We are getting to be a grey haired group and new blood means new ideas, and new ideas are good.

-do some wood carving.

-volunteer, make some toys to give away, or use your skills as a D.I.Y guy to help your church or your neighbour or something outside of yourself and bigger than you are.

Work Safe, Have a Good Time and a Happy and Healthy 2012.