Another Trip to Town

@JudyEv (323744)
Rockingham, Australia
February 22, 2016 5:46pm CST
I posted about dropping a Stanley knife down a drainpipe when we were repairing our guttering. @paigea commented that DIY chores often involve multiple trips to town too which is quite correct. The guttering is hard to cut as it is not a straight piece of tin and it is hard to bend out of the way as you cut. It seemed impossible to cut with the tin snips that we had. So it was off to the hardware store and home again with both left- and right-handed snips - and a new knife! It is amazing how the correct tools can make a job much easier. Are you left-handed? Do you find it difficult using some tools? I know you can buy left-handed scissors – and golf clubs. Anything else?
23 people like this
22 responses
• United States
23 Feb 16
You're left-handed? I am too and I know my husband usually has to make more trips into town, but not for new tools, but other equipment he might need. As for using right-handed tools, at my daughter's shop she has a special dematting comb that cuts minor mats out, but unless I use my right hand, it doesn't work for me. And these are over a hundred dollars, and since grooming isn't my calling, I am not going to invest in a comb for me to use, I just use my right hand and do the best I can.
2 people like this
• United States
23 Feb 16
I also remember using school desks that are for right-handed students, that stunk...
2 people like this
• United States
23 Feb 16
@JudyEv It's about left-handed people using tools made for right-handed people, right? (or correct?)
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (323744)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Feb 16
I didn't explain it well. It's not so much for left-handed people but for making cuts either from left or right. I'm not left-handed but my son is and my husband does some things left-handed, including carving meat. He would like a left-handed knife for that.
1 person likes this
• United States
23 Feb 16
Glad to hear they make proper tools for left handed people too! I am not left handed but I cannot imagine using the wrong tool, vice versa.
2 people like this
• United States
23 Feb 16
@JudyEv Ohh! I guess I mis-read sorry! But having the proper tools will help the project. Did you ever find the tool you dropped?
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (323744)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Feb 16
I didn't explain it very well. It's not so much for right- and left- handed people but for cutting the angles the correct way.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (323744)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Feb 16
@infatuatedbby You didn't really mis-read - I mis-wrote and didn't explain it properly. The trimmer is too far down the pipe for us to ever get it back. We had to buy a new one.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (39965)
• Laguna Woods, California
23 Feb 16
I am not left-handed, but I read one time that left-handed people are more prone to accidents because so many common tools are not made correctly for them. I hope that issue is corrected eventually!
2 people like this
@JudyEv (323744)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Feb 16
It would be very awkward using some tools if they're designed for right-handed people.
@Lucky15 (37346)
• Philippines
23 Feb 16
I am right handed. What i really wanted is for the government to make more armed.chairs for left handed students.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (323744)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Feb 16
I can imagine it would be very awkward using some desks.
@AnneEJ (4917)
• Dollard-Des-Ormeaux, Quebec
22 Feb 16
No I am right handed, but have grandsons who are left handed. One, especially, has a hard time with scissors
2 people like this
@JudyEv (323744)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Feb 16
My son is left-handed. These tools were really to cut from the left or the right, not so much for right- or left-handed people.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43451)
• Denver, Colorado
23 Feb 16
Left handed can opener? I got nothing.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (323744)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Feb 16
Then you've saved yourself a lot of expense! We joke that we pay the wage of one of the hardware employees.
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
1 Apr 16
I would have expected you to use a jigsaw to cut that type of material in irregular shapes.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (323744)
• Rockingham, Australia
4 Apr 16
A jigsaw would have been awkward to hold in the air while cutting. It wasn't possible to place it flat because the guttering was a weird shape.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
4 Apr 16
@JudyEv It only needs to laid down and turned as the jigsaw is used. I am referring to cutting the new section, not that which is currently in place along the guttering.
1 person likes this
@AmbiePam (84647)
• United States
26 Feb 16
I am right handed, so I haven't ever considered how many things are inconvenient for the left handed among us.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (323744)
• Rockingham, Australia
26 Feb 16
It's nice to be in the majority sometimes.
• United States
10 Apr 16
Glad you found the right tools for the job. I hope with out too much additional expense. I know they have some left handed equipment. Though I only write left handed most everything else I do with my right.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (323744)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Apr 16
It's funny how some people do a bit of both isn't it? My husband writes right-handed but does delicate hammering with his left hand. I think he would have been left-handed but it was discouraged back when he was going to school.
@LadyDuck (454994)
• Switzerland
23 Feb 16
My husband is left handed and it's not easy to find tools for left handed people.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (454994)
• Switzerland
23 Feb 16
@JudyEv As the right handed people are more numerous, we cannot find tools for left handed here. For many tools it's not a problem, for some specific tools it is.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (323744)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Feb 16
I have never taken much notice of what left-handed tools are available. I had an idea there was a website devoted to left-handed implements.
1 person likes this
@Jessicalynnt (50525)
• Centralia, Missouri
23 Feb 16
never fails a DIY trip is multiple Lowe's runs as things come up that are needed and not on the guides
1 person likes this
• Centralia, Missouri
24 Feb 16
@JudyEv I got a couple of those boxes of lots of types, that helped, mostly, it's usually a drill bit or an odd handtool, although the more projects the less that crops up because we bought one last time!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (323744)
• Rockingham, Australia
24 Feb 16
@Jessicalynnt There are some very fine drill bits and they often break so we buy them 2 or 3 at a time.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (323744)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Feb 16
There is always a drill bit or a screw which you don't seem to have. We have screws coming out our ears (in a manner of speaking) but it seems they're never the ones we need.
1 person likes this
@just4him (303373)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
23 Feb 16
I'm not left handed, but having the right tools is important.
1 person likes this
@just4him (303373)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
23 Feb 16
@JudyEv That works for any project you're working at, not just hanging gutters. I'm glad you got what you needed this time and it's working better for you.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (323744)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Feb 16
If you don't have the right tools, it can make it very hard to do a neat job.
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
23 Feb 16
I am left handed, and have just learned to use my right hand for certain things. My parents were both right handed, they had 5 kids, 3 of us are left handed. Very unusual.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (323744)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Feb 16
I wonder were they made to be right-handed? People were back then weren't they? I think Vince might have been left-handed if he'd had his own way. One son is left-handed but plays his bass right-handed.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (323744)
• Rockingham, Australia
25 Feb 16
@fishtiger58 If Vince has to tap in a tiny nail in a delicate place he'll use his left hand and he carves left-handed.
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
24 Feb 16
@JudyEv I know long ago parents made their kids be right handed. My parents never did that and have 3 or 5 kids left handed. I do basically two things right handed, play my guitar and when I play baseball I bat right handed.
1 person likes this
@Ladypeace (2028)
• Singapore
23 Feb 16
Well this is most interesting. I'm a left-hander, but lucky because I can use a pair of right handed scissors perfectly fine. I hold the scissors using my right hand. I have a friend who's a leftie who has difficulty using scissors but I can't understand why. If I get a chance to I would try a pair of leftie scissors and see if they are good for me.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (323744)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Feb 16
Vince is right-handed but uses his left hand for some things. If he'd born a few years later he probably would have been allowed to become left-handed. One son is left-handed but plays his double bass right-handed.
1 person likes this
@Ladypeace (2028)
• Singapore
23 Feb 16
@JudyEv Maybe in a past life Vince was a leftie LOL. Same, I would play a guitar right-handed. It's interesting how we don't notice until references are needed.
1 person likes this
@slund2041 (3315)
• United States
23 Feb 16
I am only right handed. My brother can use both of his hands, because when he was little he broke his right and and arm, and wanted to still play so he used left hand. He got use to using his left hand, and even today he can use either hands.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (323744)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Feb 16
I sometimes try to use my left hand in case something goes wrong with my right one day. It might be useful one day!
• Preston, England
24 Feb 16
I think there are stores online that specialize in making left handed tools and musical instruments like guitars
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (323744)
• Rockingham, Australia
24 Feb 16
I thought I'd seen something about online stores where everything is left-handed.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61050)
• United States
23 Feb 16
I am not left handed but two of my good friends and 3 of my grandkids are as well as one of my brothers so I know that it is difficult for them to use implements created for right handers.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (323744)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Feb 16
They do cater more now for left-handed people.
1 person likes this
@GreatMartin (23678)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
23 Feb 16
My mechanical ability is zero--I have the test to prove it!! LOL
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (323744)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Feb 16
You've saved yourself a lot of work then! Good for you.
• Eugene, Oregon
23 Feb 16
I am right handed. I do recall hearing of a left-handed monkey wrench.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (323744)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Feb 16
I didn't explain myself well. The tin snips have the blades angled differently according to whether you're trying to cut from the left or the right. I think that's the story.
@paigea (35511)
• Canada
24 Feb 16
That is great that you found useful tools. One city in Alberta is starting a tool library. A place where you can borrow tools so you don't have to buy new ones that you might only use once. Sounds like a great idea but too far from where we live.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (323744)
• Rockingham, Australia
25 Feb 16
That is a marvellous idea. We have toy libraries and hire places where you can hire DIY stuff but it's mostly bigger tools and/or machines.
1 person likes this