Vol. XXVI · No. 04 • Workshop Almanac
— The Everyday Handyman —
Est. MMXIX
Vol. XXVI · No. 04 • Workshop Almanac
Est. MMXIX
Every category we cover, every guide we have written, every recommendation we will stand behind. Browse by department, by recency, or by the editors’ picks at the foot of the page. The catalogue is set in type — but it is never set in stone.
§ IV — Directory
No. 01
Twelve essentials, set straight
No. 02
Twelve essentials, set straight
No. 03
Twelve essentials, set straight
No. 04
Twelve essentials, set straight
No. 05
Twelve essentials, set straight
No. 06
Twelve essentials, set straight
No. 07
Twelve essentials, set straight
No. 08
Twelve essentials, set straight
No. 09
Twelve essentials, set straight
No. 10
Twelve essentials, set straight
No. 11
Twelve essentials, set straight
No. 12
Twelve essentials, set straight
§ II — Reader’s Manual
Most people land on a tool buying guide already half-decided. They have a brand in mind, a price ceiling, and a vague sense that one of the products in the round-up is going to be “the answer.” That is not how to use a buying guide. That is how to read marketing.
A buying guide is a comparison instrument. Used well, it sharpens your decision. Used poorly, it confirms a decision you already made and lets you skip the actual thinking. Below are five ways we read our own guides — and how we hope you will read them too.
Begin with the kind of tool you actually need, not the brand you have heard of. A weekend gardener does not need a contractor-grade chainsaw, and a roofing crew does not need a hobbyist drill. The right category narrows the field by ninety percent. The brand only matters within the right category.
Begin with the kind of tool you actually need, not the brand you have heard of. A weekend gardener does not need a contractor-grade chainsaw, and a roofing crew does not need a hobbyist drill. The right category narrows the field by ninety percent. The brand only matters within the right category.
Begin with the kind of tool you actually need, not the brand you have heard of. A weekend gardener does not need a contractor-grade chainsaw, and a roofing crew does not need a hobbyist drill. The right category narrows the field by ninety percent. The brand only matters within the right category.
Begin with the kind of tool you actually need, not the brand you have heard of. A weekend gardener does not need a contractor-grade chainsaw, and a roofing crew does not need a hobbyist drill. The right category narrows the field by ninety percent. The brand only matters within the right category.
Begin with the kind of tool you actually need, not the brand you have heard of. A weekend gardener does not need a contractor-grade chainsaw, and a roofing crew does not need a hobbyist drill. The right category narrows the field by ninety percent. The brand only matters within the right category.
Begin with the kind of tool you actually need, not the brand you have heard of. A weekend gardener does not need a contractor-grade chainsaw, and a roofing crew does not need a hobbyist drill. The right category narrows the field by ninety percent. The brand only matters within the right category.
Read the guide. Then close the tab, walk away, and come back to it tomorrow. The tools that still feel right after a night’s sleep are usually the right ones to buy.
§ II — Specimen Pages
§ II — Specimen Pages
Every buying guide on this site is, in part, an act of leaving things out. Twelve products tested for every five recommended. Forty drill bits tried for every seven that earned a place. The cuts are the most useful part of the process, but they rarely make it onto the page.
Below is a partial list of the kinds of tools we have stopped recommending — not because of any single brand, but because the category itself is rarely worth your money. Read it as a counterweight to every other “best of” list on the internet, ours included.
Half the pieces are too soft for real work. The bits strip on the first use. You will replace eight individual tools within a year and resent the case the rest takes up. Buy fewer, better, separately.
Half the pieces are too soft for real work. The bits strip on the first use. You will replace eight individual tools within a year and resent the case the rest takes up. Buy fewer, better, separately.
Half the pieces are too soft for real work. The bits strip on the first use. You will replace eight individual tools within a year and resent the case the rest takes up. Buy fewer, better, separately.
Half the pieces are too soft for real work. The bits strip on the first use. You will replace eight individual tools within a year and resent the case the rest takes up. Buy fewer, better, separately.
Half the pieces are too soft for real work. The bits strip on the first use. You will replace eight individual tools within a year and resent the case the rest takes up. Buy fewer, better, separately.
Half the pieces are too soft for real work. The bits strip on the first use. You will replace eight individual tools within a year and resent the case the rest takes up. Buy fewer, better, separately.
One email, every Sunday. New tool reviews, the best tip of the week, and a single recommendation from the editors. No clutter.
