The hammer is arguably the most used tool in any carpenters toolbox, even with the introduction of nail guns, the hammer is still widely used all over the world. There is also strong evidence which shows that the basic hammer is one of the oldest tools ever used.

The look of the hammer may vary but the basic design is the same, the usual trend being that the hammer will have a head with a flat striking point to it, designed for whichever job the hammer was made for. It also has a long shaft with a gripped handle at the end, these handles can vary in length to be used for the hammer with maximum effect.

Different hammer types are designed for different trades. A carpenter would use a claw hammer, which has a shaft which can vary in length, the longer the shaft the more force can applied to your swing. At the end of the shaft you would find a rubber grip as to stop the hammer slipping out your hands. At the head end you will find a weighted head, one side will have a flat striking point to fix nails and knock timbers together etc, the other end will have a claw to it which can be used to unhook nails out of the timber. Other hammer types can include sledge hammers, pin hammers, framing hammers, wooden mallets, rubber mallets, these types of hammers all have different jobs to do, but can be used in carpentry, usually the claw hammer is the most popular.

Now as the length of the hammers shaft can vary, so can the heads of the hammers, the flat surface can increase in size giving a larger suface area to strike things with, the claw on the other side can flatten out or curve greater, making you able to prize timber apart easier, or to enable you to pull out nails with better effect. Hammers also are made in a variety of materials depending on the job your doing, varying from plastic shafts and heads, wooden mallets, to the more popular steel shafted hammers, which are very hard wearing, which is good for making the hammer last longer.

No matter what the job is, from site work, commercial, or even private work, you can almost guarentee that there are alot of people on that job that will have a trade specific type of hammer to use.

As a carpenter, cutting timber is a major part of any job, thus using the correct tool for the job is vital. A quicker option for cutting wood would be to use the very popular circular power saw. It is faster than cutting with a hand saw and can produce excellent straight line cuts, at a variety of angles.
There is alot of different brands producing power saws nowadays but one thing for certain is that they all come with virtually the same features.

Safety

Before you begin using your power saw there are a number of safety issues to take into consideration. If you are working on site you will either have to run your saw off a transformer or a generator therefore you are required to run it at 110v. It is different for working off site, for example doing a DIY job at your home you may use 110v or 240v to run your saw.

Safety on site requires wearing the correct clothes P.P.E. (Personnal Protective Equipment) to be worn, you’ll have to wear steel toe capped boots, a high visibility shirt, and a hard hat. Another piece of equipment to wear using a power saw would be safety goggles, these are very effective in protecting your eyes from any damage, espescially when there is such a variety of materials that can be cut.

Types of Blades

There are a variety of blades you can puchase for a large amount of circular power saws. First obviously there are the timber cutting blades, these can be used on a variety of wood from hard to soft. You can also get blades with different amounts of teeth, the more teeth on the blade the better the cut, there are also different types of thickness to a blade giving a finer cut the thinner the blade gets.

Secondly you can purchase metal cutting blades purposely made for the circular power saw, this has the same effect as a disc grinder without having to purchase another tool to do another job.
Thirdly you can get blades which will do a variety of materials all from the same blade, which comes in handy when you may have to cut wood, metal, and plastic all on the same job. It’s fare to say that there is plenty of choice of blades for whatever job you need to do.

Safety Features of the Saw

The most important safety feature of any plugged saw is the plug itself, if it’s not plugged in, you can’t get hurt. Other features some saws include are the trigger switch, which has to be pushed in first to then pull the switch in to start the saw. There is also a guard built around the blade of the saw to protect yourself from getting cut on the blade. The motor is protected by the casing of the machine, and a base plate is fitted for more stability in cutting whichever material you need to use for the job.

In conclusion to this, you will find that virtually every carpenter will have a circular power saw in their array of tools. You will find that it is a faster and more effective way of cutting materials than a hand saw, with different sized saws, with adjustable depths to cover cutting most timber sizes. This makes the circular power saw one of the most used and popular on the market today.