Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #312224 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1097 pages

From the Author
All the whatchamacallits and thingamajigs explained!
I have always been the befuddled consumer in hardware stores, wondering what the various gadgets and goops and tools were for, which were best for me, and so on. But that's not why I wrote this book.

One day, when I was starting to renovate an apartment, a carpenter who was bidding on the job saw me staring at the floorboards I wanted to rip up. "Get yerself a cat's paw, son, and you'll have those boards ripped up in no time!" he said, as he sauntered out of the picture. Armed for once with the name of the specific tool I wanted, though not having a clue as to what it looked like, I strode boldly up to the macho clerk at my corner hardware store and demanded a cat's paw, sure of myself for once (not asking for "...the doo-hickey that you use for, you know....."). But he had never heard of one. "Whaddya think this is, a pet store?!?" he snarled. When I told him what I planned to use it for, he said sarcastically, "Oooh, what you need is a Wonder Bar!" and proceeded to sell me what turned out to be the wrong tool.

It took me forever to rip up those boards, and I looked through all my big how-to books for a cat's paw, without finding even a mention.

That's when I said, "Someone oughtta do a book that just lists the darn stuff!" and sketched out what I thought it should look like.

Well, the book looks like my sketch, after two years of raw research and another year of updating. The cat's paw is on page 18, by the way.

You'll also find a nut driver, window zipper, groover, stud finder, tung oil, pig's foot, and a butterfly trowel, among a thousand other doo-hickeys.

Very helpful to the no-nothing do-it-yourselfer, and fun for the old pro, too.

Customer Reviews

A real help to fixing things that go wrong in one's house
This book is beautifully written and illustrated, but the neat format makes it an easy, really usable reference and that makes it outstanding. This book came out quite a few years ago, but now this updated paperback version is so much better! There are so many puzzling things in home and hardware stores, and knowing what you need and what to do with it -- and incidentally, what NOT to buy -- is a terrific help. It was good in its original version, and this is better. Good for the woman who needs to maintain her home by herself and is unfamiliar with many tools and methods. Excellent!

Eagerly awaited publication of this updated version .
The first "Complete etc." was the best advice, guide, help of any of this genre for the do-it-yourselfer, so this updated version is long overdue and very welcome. The illustrations are fascinating; descriptions clear, but best of all is the genuine assistance the book offers for using the particular tool -- and why to buy it. Just so much better then comparable books of the same type!