how does someone learn to become handy?

[natto fire]

Common sense helps;It is not abundant on this forum.
Can you drive a 16-penny nail home with 3 whacks?

That depends, can I use my trusty 20 oz. Estwing?

 

[schmuckley]

That depends, can I use my trusty 20 oz. Estwing?

indeed you can.

 

[Red Squirrel]

A trick with the Estwing hammers is when you buy it there's a little sticky wing on it, you leave that there, it makes it faster. It's not just decoration for when it's in the retail store.

 

[Carson Dyle]

when I've got time to kill and I'm out of internet articles to read

it makes me wonder, how to people actually learn to become handy so they can put the work into a fixer-upper rather than having to contract it all out?

You answered your question before you even asked it ... You don't spend all your free time sitting in front of a computer sucking up worthless knowledge online. You get up, get out of the house and you do something real.

Help a friend build a deck, paint a house, replace a roof, install a water heater, repair a car. Now do that for 10 or 15 years and you'll be very handy. Spend 10 years in front of a computer and you'll be just about as useless 10 years from now as you are today.

 

[nageov3t]

You answered your question before you even asked it ... You don't spend all your free time sitting in front of a computer sucking up worthless knowledge online. You get up, get out of the house and you do something real.

Help a friend build a deck, paint a house, replace a roof, install a water heater, repair a car. Now do that for 10 or 15 years and you'll be very handy. Spend 10 years in front of a computer and you'll be just about as useless 10 years from now as you are today.

to clarify, "when I've got time to kill..." refers to the random spare moments I have at work while waiting for a process to finish, queuing up a task, etc.

 

[natto fire]

A trick with the Estwing hammers is when you buy it there's a little sticky wing on it, you leave that there, it makes it faster. It's not just decoration for when it's in the retail store.

That isn't even the trademark blue and maize rubber grip. I get it if you are a Stanley sympathizer, I have a Bostitch hammer myself, but disparaging speed jokes of Estwing will not be tolerated.

Really my favorite hammer was lost in New Mexico unfortunately, it was a Craftsman 32 oz. ball peen.

 

[natto fire]

You answered your question before you even asked it ... You don't spend all your free time sitting in front of a computer sucking up worthless knowledge online. You get up, get out of the house and you do something real.

Help a friend build a deck, paint a house, replace a roof, install a water heater, repair a car. Now do that for 10 or 15 years and you'll be very handy. Spend 10 years in front of a computer and you'll be just about as useless 10 years from now as you are today.

Now, now, the world really needs more people to express their political opinion on forums, for all the cool people that abstain from Facebook and Twitter.

There are armchair majors in pretty much every discipline if you scour the internet enough.

 

[MongGrel]

No sir;not at all.

You definetly aren't, Red seems to know what he's talking about.

*shrug*

 

[MongGrel]

I prefer using things like this, but they are tight to fit into the corners.

 

[Red Squirrel]

That isn't even the trademark blue and maize rubber grip. I get it if you are a Stanley sympathizer, I have a Bostitch hammer myself, but disparaging speed jokes of Estwing will not be tolerated.

Really my favorite hammer was lost in New Mexico unfortunately, it was a Craftsman 32 oz. ball peen.

That is a different handle than the typical blue, I think it's leather, pretty sure I saw that one on How It's Made actually. Just found on Google. Mine has a genuine blue handle. It's a 24oz though. I framed my whole basement with it and 3" 1/2 nails. The head kinda took lot of abuse though, when I first started my aim sucked. Got better with time.

Frame nail + rebar wire also makes a great concrete fastener. Faster and stronger than tapcons. Drill hole, insert pieces of rebar wire, make sure nail does not fall in hole, then hammer it in. Hopefully you never want to take it out.

 

[natto fire]

That is a different handle than the typical blue, I think it's leather, pretty sure I saw that one on How It's Made actually. Just found on Google. Mine has a genuine blue handle. It's a 24oz though. I framed my whole basement with it and 3" 1/2 nails. The head kinda took lot of abuse though, when I first started my aim sucked. Got better with time.

Frame nail + rebar wire also makes a great concrete fastener. Faster and stronger than tapcons. Drill hole, insert pieces of rebar wire, make sure nail does not fall in hole, then hammer it in. Hopefully you never want to take it out.

Again, I am used to commercial work (nothing is permanent) , so Tapcons and Ramsets are all I know on concrete. Tapcons and zipties or #12 wire also make good fasteners. Cinder block is easy to destroy with Hilti power.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Ramset is fun too. Though TBH had I found out about the frame nail trick I probably would not have bought the ram set. While fun to use, the other way got the job done well without needing another tool. I'm not sure if it's considered an approved way of fastening though, so in a commercial/industrial setting you probably could not use it.

Sleeve anchors are fun too for stuff like server racks.

 

[bbhaag]

I learned a lot from helping my old man. I still call him for advice on things I'm not sure about though. Otherwise I do a little googling and if I don't find what I'm looking for I jump in and learn along the way.

 

[tcsenter]

I have seriously been thinking about approaching a local Chinese restaurant that I really like and making them a proposal: I'll come and work for free a few hours per week, chopping vegetables (prep), cleaning toilets, scrubbing walls, or whatever, and in exchange, they teach me how to cook all my fav dishes there. Say, one dish per week should cover the six or seven fav dishes I have, plus I could just apply what I learn to near-enough variations on my own. And from there, with the help of some cook books or YouTube videos, the sky is the limit.

I see no reason you could not find a general contractor for home repairs/improvements in your area, and just offer to come work for free for a couple-few hours every week, if they will have you.

 

[Ruptga]

You learn by doing; for many people that means just buying their first house then screwing it up and spending as much as they saved (+/-50%) by buying a fixer. Some things like drywall are pretty hard to screw up and not that expensive to learn, but I wouldn't touch something like electrical or plumbing unless it was an extremely simple job in just one room. Recruit or meet a knowledgeable friend for anything you can't afford to screw up and spend twice the money on.

 

[kevbot]

I would just like to say that you have got quite a bit of good advice. All I have to add is try not to be too hard on yourself with the jobs you do. I replaced some tile in a foyer inside the front door of my house. I never did that kind of work before, but to be honest, maybe Mike Holmes would laugh me out of town. But, in reality no one really notices the irregular gaps and so far there are no cracks. Righty tighty, loosey lefty. just do it.

Also networking. Real craftsmen like to share their knowledge. I got all the info I needed just by talking to people. You reap what you sow. Lots of people will be willing to help you if you try.

Of course, it's one thing to not have have something perfect, and a whole nother thing to have the ceiling fall on your infant in the middle of the night!

Hope this makes sense and maybe helps. Good luck.

 

[John Connor]

I used to be handy, now I'm lazy. LOL Basically I have more tools than my dad, but he has more automotive shit. I can fix a computer, but not a car. One project I have to do this summer is replace the electrical outlet and switch in the garage.

 

[Moonbeam]

I used to do wood work, pottery, weaving, and sandal making. I used to paint, pictures and houses, and dig for fossils. I wanted to make things. Do something you like for its sake and you will become handy at it. I want to learn to work stone and make a wok stove that burns charcoal. I'd also like to learn to knit.

 

[schmuckley]

I used to do wood work, pottery, weaving, and sandal making. I used to paint, pictures and houses, and dig for fossils. I wanted to make things. Do something you like for its sake and you will become handy at it. I want to learn to work stone and make a wok stove that burns charcoal. I'd also like to learn to knit.

..but can you fix a broken toilet float?
..or collapsed leach field?
..level a house?

 

[poofyhairguy]

Recruit or meet a knowledgeable friend for anything you can't afford to screw up and spend twice the money on.

It also helps it the friend/family has a full set of tools you can borrow.

As a recent homeowner who has tried to be more handy, the biggest limitation is often that the tool or set of tools I need to do the job RIGHT is often pretty pricy- like pricy enough I need to do that job more than once to justify it. Which, in the end, kinda pushes you to fix even more...

 

[sdifox]

Watch red and green show

 

[manimal]

back in the day I had to learn or my ass would get lit up. Cant tell you how many times my brother or dad yelled at me for screwing up something stupid. I may have a few complexes because of it but damn my work is always meticulous and I double check EVERYTHING.


I also pay someone to do my lawn now and I leave the door open with AC on occasionally just because I can



My four year olds all have eye protection and they help me out in the garage and workshop all the time.

My son has his own welders mask with stickers on it.


Last week a teacher of theirs car broke down and was late to lessons and one of the girls asked her if it was getting spark and fuel....


shes 4


so proud

 

[1sikbITCH]

I have seriously been thinking about approaching a local Chinese restaurant that I really like and making them a proposal: I'll come and work for free a few hours per week, chopping vegetables (prep), cleaning toilets, scrubbing walls, or whatever, and in exchange, they teach me how to cook all my fav dishes there. Say, one dish per week should cover the six or seven fav dishes I have, plus I could just apply what I learn to near-enough variations on my own. And from there, with the help of some cook books or YouTube videos, the sky is the limit.

I see no reason you could not find a general contractor for home repairs/improvements in your area, and just offer to come work for free for a couple-few hours every week, if they will have you.

Sure pal.

Contractors are licensed and bonded. They aren't bringing happy harry homeowner into someone else's house so they can fuck up all their shit while "learning." LOL
So no they won't have you.

 

[NetWareHead]

its not just being handy, its being good at it and time efficient. that comes through experience and learning from you mistakes, which I think is the most important part. I mean cmon, alot of the things we are talking about are just easy and common sense. Its the buffoons who have no common sense that are sources of income for handymen, plumbers, electricians. I can do plumbing and electrical. But the big things I leave to a professional. For instance I will run my own cable, split it out at junction boxes and wire up electrical outlets or switches. But I won't touch the breaker panel. Thats electrician territory.

Next weekend I have to fix a toilet at my tenant's place. The wax ring needs to be replaced after leaks were noticed in the ceiling below. Tips and tricks that you pick up over the years make this an easy job and a few strategic choices will make the job quicker, easier and more pleasant for you. For instance, bring some disgusting old rag that you are going to throw away anyway. Use that to stop up the sewer hole when the toilet is removed. Better to work in a smell free bathroom and prevents a dropped wrench, screw etc... from being lost in the hole. Use an old beatup putty knife to remove the wax ring so you can just chuck it. Or bring along some bleach to sanitize the putty knife if you dont want to chuck it. I also flush the toilet about 10x before unmounting it to dislodge any stubborn poo before I remove the toilet. And rubber gloves are good in case you need them.

 

[Mixolydian]

ball peen.

lol. :awe: