Julian Cassell's DIY Blog

The best toolboxes for the DIY market, and the professional market for that matter, are supplied by Stanley. As a company, Stanley seem to have made it their mission to design the perfect toolbox range by carefully thinking through exactly what ‘we’ require, rather than just slapping a couple of hinges on a box, which is what many other manufacturers have clearly done. The following guide looks at the essentials for toolbox design, and which Stanley option is, in my opinion, the best toolbox in their range. read more »

Using a hammer correctly not only makes your DIY work much more efficient, but also saves you from injuring thumbs and fingers. It’s clearly not the most complicated of operations, but many people don’t hold a hammer correctly, or look after the head of the hammer so that the majority of the blows you make, hit the intended target. Below are a few simple points about the correct way to use a hammer. read more »

A junior hacksaw is a seldom used, but still essential part of any DIY toolkit. It tends to knock around at the bottom of your toolbox, rarely sees daylight, and only pops out on the odd occasion before disappearing back down into the depths of toolbox oblivion. However, any self respecting DIY enthusiast simply can’t do without it, as although a junior hacksaw is not an everyday tool, there are just some jobs you come across, where it’s always going to be the ideal choice. read more »

When buying screwdriver bits for your cordless drill, you really need to think about ‘stocking’ two categories of bit, in order to cover most DIY tasks. Effectively, you need a small, but high quality selection of the most used bits, and a large, inexpensive, lower quality selection of every other bit. This guide will explain why this is the case, and what the best options are for buying screwdriver bits. read more »

The best tape measures on the market are manufactured by Stanley, but as is the case with most DIY tools, there is an enormous range to choose from, and so deciding what is the best option can be tricky. Therefore, below I’ve outlined the key features to look for when buying a tape measure, and why this is a case where I always find that two is better than one. read more »