A Few Handy Tool Tricks to Save You Finding the Other Ones...

Basically these are a few handy tricks to save you going to the toolbox and whatnot, Im sure everyone will know at least one of these already but some might not so I'll post away. Do rate if you like, not for winning things but it's an easily quantified feedback.

Step 1: Removing Nails...

Why bother going down to get the hammer if you're just dragging a nail out for safety reasons, really why bother with the claw hammer that'll probably take an hour or two to find in the end when you have pliers, any kind'll do and even wire cutters in a pinch.

So you take a grip on the nail with the pliers, using the nose end, lift up to the head of the nail and turn the pliers through 180 degrees, the nail should now be out and shaped like a staple, if it isn't try giving it a yank to pull it straight and repeat near the bottom of the visible part of the nail.

Step 2: The Swiss Army Knife

Ok now some of these sound just plain silly but they work. I'll only do a couple a page for image loading purposes.

Opening an Xbox (original) with the bottle opener...

I know how this one sounds, but I did it with zero damage to screws or knife. sadly this one has no pictures as i havn't got the Xbox anymore... Wellnot enough of it to demonstrate. Basically you use the hooked bottle opener with the blade, It has a small tip on it that somehow fits just about perfectly in to the screwheads, though some amount of downward pressure is needed to remove the intial tension on the screws.

A belt punch...

Using the very sharp blade on the back (the one with the eye in it, most swiss army knives have it), use the pin of your belt as a marker. To do this pull the strap hard against the pin to make a mark at the desired length, wear the belt throughout this, so it's anchored to you. Now take the blade and push lightly twisting a few times just to start the hole. Now remember which side the blade folds in and apply force so that the blade is forced away from closing while pushing it through the belt. If it's synthetic a quick touch with a lighter lowers fraying chances. For thinner belts a hole punch can work with a swift stamp on it (use your wit and use a sturdy one).

Step 3: Swiss Army Knife Continued...

That big eyelet in the blade on the back makes it and excellent giant needle for s couple of stitches, any more and it's very tedious... Simply thread like a standard needle, push through and pull the string through and out. Repeat as necessary.

Using the bottle openers as hooks, makes an excellent hanger, just use something on the opposite side, loop string around the attachment and close it, or if you have the same knife as me you can cheat, as it has a hook there. Or use the eyelet of the blade mentioned above.

That same hook is also great for carrying heavy plastic shoppong bags without wrecking your hands or the bag too easily.

Step 4: Lazy Cuttin's

Now we do all know that small stuff can be lathed in a drill but when it comes to cutting most of us forget this. Example: So I can't even find the hacksaw, I have blades and I'm cutting the end off of a bullet casing, ok no way in hell am I doing this without a saw handle, hmm looks like it'll fit the drill chuck. Five minutes later and I have a perfect burr free cut...

Simply using a hacksaw blade to cut throught the rotating object is easy and pretty effortless if your drill has a trigger lock...

the photo depicts a victim of this technique, a solid brass bullet casing, the end completely removed.

Step 5: Why Go Get the Hammer, Again.

So you're tapping a nail into some soft wood or the like, even drywall. Well you would be but you forgot the hammer, here are a few objects that work for the light stuff, there's a * beside the ones where common sense is involved...

Another bit of wood - easy and usually nearby
A beer bottle* - obviously be carefull but we were putting up the decorations for xmas in the bar...
Your phone* - yet again careful but a phone can do more than you'd believe
A screwdriver - use the handle end, don't expect particularly straight results
A highlighter / lighter - use it as a nice hard flat surface then hit the pen / lighter.
A full hip flask - not your favourite or made of pewter, it'll work very well if it's flat
A swiss army knife - hold it by a non sharp blade or the bottom of the handle and do small taps
A harddrive/remains - that lump of metal will do nicely and most of us have a dead one somewhere

I think you get the idea, Right in a few hours I'll have the video up and add it just need to do some editing, took me four goes to make it audible... i live in a building site...

Step 6: So That's It for Now

These were just a few handy tips that I had lying around my head, I hope they come in useful to some of you at some point, those short of tools should be helped a bit by the substition of tools for others...

Thanks for reading - killerjackalope