The Magic of Tools

Noel bought a wonderful tool.

We had a rough day a while back trying to knock the heads off the plugs and then cut them flat to the deck. Lots of chipped plugs that needed to be drilled out and replaced. Lots of time and effort. Much sighing.

He'd seen this awesome thing at Japan Woodworker, and it was a little more expensive than we like for a tool we've never even heard of before. But after a day of grief with the plugs, he went and bought it.

Its name is Multi Master, and it is just that. It has a bunch of little interchangeable heads. One of which is this tiny flat saw.

The plug heads just come right off without anybody crying or cursing at them. I mean, you could cry or curse, but that would be secondary, and not a result of little Mr Master.

Whoosh. All the plugs off the deck just like that.

Makes you feel kind of giddy.

There's even a sanding head.

So he could switch over and sand the last rough bit off and leave the deck smooth.

When we go to put a finish on the deck, we're going to run a sander over it again, but wow. Nice smooth deck, much less effort.

Now, admittedly Noel did not do all this work alone. The dogs helped him, including Special Guest George, who is not afraid of the edge of the deck. George has come to stay in the countryside (normally he lives in San Francisco in an apartment, so our house is like the countryside for him) for a week. He started us out right by crying for his mummy half the night, then waking me up at 5am. The cats have no idea what to make of him and the dogs have decided he is in charge. He's good fun.

posted by ayse on 05/23/12