David L. Farquhar, computer security professional, train hobbyist, and landlord
Kobalt is Lowe’s house brand for power tools and hand tools. As a house brand, they are less expensive than the big name brands. But are Kobalt power tools good? And who makes Kobalt power tools for Lowe’s? I did some digging to find out.
Kobalt power tools are made by Chervon, one of the 10 largest OEMs of power tools in the world. Chervon has been in business since 1993.
Elmer’s Glue is an iconic product. Or, should I say, pair of products. Elmer’s Glue All and Elmer’s School Glue look a lot alike, and stores often sell them side by side. And Wikipedia says there’s no difference. But is there? Let’s look at Elmer’s Glue All vs School Glue.
Although the two glues share the same ingredients, the formulation isn’t identical. Elmer’s School Glue is easier to wash out, and forms a more flexible bond than Elmer’s Glue All. Depending on your use case, each can have definite advantages.
Husky is one of Home Depot’s house brands for hand tools. As a house brand, they are less expensive than the big name brands. But are Husky hand tools good? And who makes Husky hand tools for Home Depot? I did some digging to find out.
Most Husky tools are made by Apex Tool Group, a company owned by Bain Capital. Apex also makes several brands you may have heard of, including Wiss, Allen, and Weller. Apex also makes tools for numerous Home Depot competitors, including Lowe’s, Menards, and Sears.
It never fails. After the first freeze of the year, the tire light goes on in the car. Frequently both of the family cars. And if it only happens to one, it’ll happen to the other when the first really deep freeze of winter hits. Low tire pressure when cold isn’t just your imagination. Here’s why it happens and how to know if it’s a 75-cent problem or a $200 problem.
Every 10 degree drop in temperature can lower your tire pressure by about a pound, which can cause low tire pressure in cold weather. Don’t drive on a tire with less than 20 pounds of pressure in it.
We use the two terms interchangeably. But is isopropyl alcohol the same as rubbing alcohol? Not necessarily, but the difference may or may not matter, depending on what you’re using it for. Let’s look at isopropyl alcohol vs rubbing alcohol.
Rubbing alcohol can be either isopropyl or ethyl alcohol, but the main difference is purity. Rubbing alcohol is 70% pure, where products sold as isopropyl alcohol are typically 91% or 99% pure.
Can you stain pine wood to look like oak? You can, but it takes some patience and the right materials to get consistent results you’re likely to be happy with. Practice helps too. Here’s how to stain pine to look like oak.
This trick can be helpful if you want to attempt a DIY project like a picture ledge, but want it to match other furniture in the room. And it also applies to other finishes, not just oak.
I have a combination home office/man cave that I work out of. It’s a basement room the previous owner never finished. I fixed some mistakes and adapted it to my own needs. One thing it always lacked was a ceiling. After weighing my options, I decided to use wood planks. Call it rustic. Call it cheapo. Or whatever else you want. Rustic planks are in now, and for a do-it-yourselfer, planks offer a compelling option.
GFCI and AFCI are both safety measures, but they are distinct and not interchangeable. Let’s compare and contract GFCI vs AFCI so you can be sure you’re getting the right thing.
If you don’t know, buying combination GFCI/AFCI outlets or breakers is an option, and it’s not a bad idea. But if you can’t afford the higher price for a combo unit, or want to maximize convenience, knowing GFCI vs AFCI is important so you get the right safety feature for your application.
Power strips are a necessity when you don’t have enough outlets, but they can be unwieldy. One way to get them to stay where you want is to mount them to your wall, desk, workbench, or entertainment center to keep them out of the way. Here’s how to mount a power strip.
I used this trick to mount a power strip to my train table, my desk for my work computer, and to a monitor stand I made for one of my retro computers. It works well. This allows me to keep it where I want it, whether that means completely in reach in the case of a workbench, or out of sight but very easy to reach, in the case of my retro computer monitor stand.
I needed some shelves for my office. Most of the ready made shelves I could find wouldn’t fit in the space I had. So I made some myself using cheap wooden crates. Here’s how I make DIY wood crate shelves that are attractive, functional, and reasonably durable.
You can buy three wooden crates for $36 and they will make a shelf that’s equivalent to a $40 particle board shelf in terms of storage space. But the crates give you more options in terms of versatility, both in the way they look and the way they work. And while I wouldn’t call them super strong, they’re at least as durable as particle board.