Put a paint brush, camera, electric mixer or sewing machine in my hands and I’m right at home. No worries. No nervous twitches. POWER TOOLS – that’s another story. I have these thoughts that I won’t be able to control a drill press, table saw or power sander. Silly, I know. Thoughts that they will somehow over take me. Thoughts that I won’t be able to shut them off. These are all very normal thoughts. Right?I ask my husband to help me with anything requiring a power tool. He has been really accommodating with all my DIY requests lately and there have been a lot. I know “it’s” coming though – the day he says that he can’t help me right now. And to be totally honest I don’t want to have to ask him to help so much. I really want to learn how to do some of these projects requiring power tools myself.Donna from Funky Junk Interiors has initiated the “One Scary Thing” challenge and so I jumped on board and decided to take on my fear. Challenges motivate me.
My plan was to make a coat rack out of a piece of wood using these knobs I bought on sale at Anthropologie over a year ago. I asked my husband to take me through the steps, but this time I wanted to be the one using the power tools and he could take the pictures (his “one scary thing”).
Overcoming My Fear of Power Tools
1. I wanted the coat rack to be 36″ long. I measured the length of the 3 – 1/2 inch board and marked it at 36 inches.
2. I used the chop saw to cut the board at the mark.
3. I had six knobs that I wanted to place evenly across the board, so the next step was to measure six evenly spaced marks for drilling holes for the knobs
3. I drilled the holes using a drill press and then sanded the wood using a power sander.
4. The knobs were then lightly tightened using a socket wrench.
5. It was then screwed into the wall using a power drill.
Well, guess what? It was really fun using the power tools… crazy fun… empowering fun… I loved it! It helped having my husband by my side. He is really comfortable with power tools. I’m not going to lie though. I’ll still be asking for his help and easing my way into using power tools, but at least I’m making progress.
Linking with:
Funky Junk Interiors – One Scary Thing Challenge
Between Naps on the Porch
Coastal Charm
House of Hepworths
At The Picket Fence
I’m with you. My hands break out in a sweat when I use power tools! It sounds like you are overcoming your fear. You go girl!
I just started using a chop saw and a circular saw…. the best advice I ever read was from another blogger who’s grandfather told her…. “Always know where your hands are”…. I think of this every time I turn on a saw…. You can never be too cautious!
Susan
Homeroad
Good good good for you!!!! Trust me when I say, once you feel comfortable with the tools, you’ll no longer ‘wait’ for someone to help you out. You won’t need to. It’s very empowering doing a project from start to finish yourself as you now well know. Keep learning and growing! The more you know, the more amazing stuff you’ll be able to create!
Donna
My family calls me the power tool diva..
I’d have a work room full of them if
space allowed, except I can’t use the
battery powered, they can turn off my
pacer/defib …lol
I really like your rack with those sweet
door knobs.. nice
Enjoyed your post
Sandy
Great job! I absolutely love power tools…in fact, I use them more (way more) than my hubby does 🙂
Power tools are fun! Love how this turned out! I made something similar with some old wood and white knobs last year, but I love how yours looks with the colorful knobs!!