Finding the Right Tool for the JobFinding the right tools to complete a specific part of a project you’re undertaking can be difficult, particularly if you have a large toolset to sift through. Even professionals sometimes spend several minutes trying to latch a few different wrenches onto a bolt before finding the perfect fit. In the quest to find the right tool many men have botched jobs and lost hardware pieces. Fortunately, if you adhere to the following tips you can minimize the hassle and time expenditure associated with trying to find the best tool for the job:

 

  • Plan Ahead and Organize

Before undertaking any construction/repair project it is a good idea to devise a list of tools and resources you’ll need to see the endeavor through to completion. Planning ahead and keeping your tools neatly organized and categorized will give you the foresight and preparation needed to eliminate the time-wasting effort involved with digging through a seemingly endless sea of hand tools. Organizing means not only keeping your toolset well-kept, but also removing the tools that will be needed and placing them nearby so they’re easy to access during the project.

  • Use Instruction/Owner’s Manuals

If you’re assembling or repairing an item that came with instructions or an owner’s manual you should be able to find details regarding the project requirements and/or recommended tools for specific tasks. In some cases the owner’s manual will only list the name of the hardware part, but you could use this information to run a web search and find out which tool would be most suitable for handling the specified component.  Simply abandoning your stubborn mindset and turning to a manual for guidance can prove to be both a humbling and helpful experience.

  • Know Your Toolset

Since all tool sets are different, particularly in regards to storage configurations, it is important to become accustomed with the location of each of the major tool group compartments. This way, when you think to yourself, “now where is the 1/8 socket wrench that I had the other day?” You’ll be able to quickly locate it and see if it is the appropriate tool for the task at hand. If you do wind up having to cycle through tools individually in order to find the best one for the job, be sure to put each tool back in its designated place after testing it, as this will help you avoid cycling through the same tool twice.