The Natural Life - Chapter 6 - Tool Time Part 2

How to tackle any outdoor project.

What’s up ya’ll?

So last week we talked about a basic starting point for a tool collection that will allow you to work on almost everything around the house and even a little bit on your car/toys. Today we are going to go out back and start talking about what you need in order to complete some bigger jobs like construction, building maintenance, and anything else on your homestead.

If you are like me, you want to be able to do your own work outside instead of having to pay someone else. You’re going to acquire alot of honey do’s out here, especially if you marry a gypsy animal whisperer (who’s on twitter now, go follow her!). It could get expensive calling someone every time you need something built, added onto, or fixed. You’re going to run into small things like fixing a wooden door that broke on your chicken house, or big things like building your own shed. In order to get things done you will need tools, and as you will see there are thousands of varieties to choose from. For outdoor type tools I tend to go with higher quality, because these tools are going to get abused. The initial investment will pay off in the long run, I’m going to link to something similar to what I use, if not the actual tool I have, or the one I really wish I had. If you buy the tools I have linked below, you’re making a smart choice both in terms of price and quality, but dyor and get whatever meets your needs. After I go over tools today, we’ll start to cover one last section of tools…. Lawn and Garden! You didn’t forget about that did you?

Sawzall is handy, will cut through anything.

Construction Tools:

Hammer - Most of the work I do is outside, rough carpentry. For this type of work you will want to have a heavy hammer with a waffle pattern head, this helps to hit the nail and get the job done quickly. This is a link to a badass hammer at a good price, your frens are going to be impressed with your tool collection, trust me!

Tool Bag/Nail Pouches - Here is a bad ass tool bag set up with a belt. This is the only one you will ever need. Fill it up with various size nails, screws, and tools and hang it up in your barn and you’re good to go. These are great for working on projects because you can have everything you need at your fingertips. It’s good to have a comfortable one that you don’t mind wearing. I have some cheaper bags with magnetic strips on the bottom nail pouches… DON’T BUY THESE! They suck because the nails stick to the magnets, I don’t know why anyone would want that.

Level - You will need a 4’ level and and smaller torpedo style level. The longer level will help you plumb posts and beams. The smaller level you can keep in your back pocket and t-posts out in the field or anything else that’s crooked.

Chalk Line - Any brand you can find will work. The one in the link will get you going, you wont use this very often, but if you plan to cut anything long like a sheet of plywood or some metal roofing material you need one to pop a straight line.

Tape Measure - This is a good one that will last you forever. I have one with magnetic clip on the end and I hate it. You use this to take measurements and transfer onto the lumber you are cutting, you also measure anything with it. 25’ is a good length to have for outdoor projects.

Skill Saw - This is the exact one I have, if you are a Dewalt guy, go ahead with whatever brand you prefer. I would get a corded one, it’s best for when you need to make a lot of cuts or cut heavy stuff. It would be a good idea to get a battery operated skill saw for your smaller jobs, in addition to the corded saw. Bonus points if you buy a Milwaukee 18V Fuel Skillsaw so you can use your batteries you got for your drill in the last substack.

Sledge Hammer - I have one like this but it is not a Fiskar, not sure I would buy a fiskar sledge hammer, but it’s all I could find on amazon links. The one I have is a maul that will double as a sledgehammer. This is good because you can use it to split wood too. You will get in shape out here there’s a lot of work to do.

Speed Square - This is a handy tool to help you draw a square line on a piece of lumber, so you can make a proper cut. I’ll show you how to use it later.

Sawzall - You use these to cut through just about anything. This is the one I have and it’s bad ass, made in America too! You can get different blades for it and it will cut through steel, plywood, metal, nails, anything. This one is very powerful, they make less expensive ones. You will probably want a battery operated one for smaller jobs, so you don’t have to mess with an extention cord so get the 18V Fuel Sawzall here and it will go with all your other 18V tools and use the same battery.

Extention Cord - This is a good thick long one that you will need to power that sawzall a long way away, it’s good to have one of these. I would also get a few of these smaller, shorter ones to use for quick jobs.

Screws - You will need different lengths and types of screws. I would just go with outdoor type screws in various lengths for now, if you need a special type of screw for an indoor project you can just get those later. I would get 50-100 of each of the following just to have around in case you need them, you never know what might come up.

• Outdoor Screws - 1-1/4” - These are shorter screws that are good to have if you are screwing skinny pieces of wood together.

• Outdoor Screws - 2.5” - These are medium length for use on most of your outdoor projects.

• Outdoor Screws - 4” - These are longer screws that are good to have if you are connecting bigger pieces of wood together.

Nails - You will need different lengths of nails. I would just go with outdoor galvanized smooth type nails in a few different lengths, a box of each. There are “ribbed” type nails available, DO NOT buy these, they suck because they bend every single time. I don’t know why someone would buy these more than once.

• 16D Galvanized Nail - This is a big nail for connecting large lumber together.

• 10D Galvanized Nail - Little bit smaller, good for connecting small pieces together.

Drill Bit/Drivers - Here is a good kit with many different drill bits and drivers that will go good with your drill/impact you just bought. You will need this to drive screws or drill holes, very handy. This is actually a decent price.

Radio - Farmer cannot work without music. I have this radio and it’s awesome because it is very loud and connects to bluetooth easily. It works with the Milwaukee 18V batteries you bought the other day and it will also charge them… you’re welcome. Note: the blue radio shown in the picture below is this one, it’s awesome too… Well that covers most everything for this episode, I’ll holler at ya’ll later.