Simplify Door Replacement with a Lock Installation Kit

Irwin Tools Wooden Door Lock Installation Kit

As the owner of a large, somewhat nervous Lab (see note†), from time to time I find it necessary to replace doors she’s damaged. In truth, finding a replacement door is not usually very difficult because the sizes of door slabs are fairly standard. What is difficult is moving the hardware from one door to the other. I’ve picked up a couple of simple tools along the way to make it possible. One is a butt template, the other is my Door Lock Installation Kit, made by Irwin Tools (their catalog number 3111001). When it comes time to install the lockset, this tool makes life a lot easier.

Now This is a Hot One!

BernzOmatic 2 Piece Brass Utility Torch Kit UL100

There’s something seductive about using a propane torch for soldering: the scent of hot metal, the sizzle of solder flux beneath the flame, the nearly invisible blue flame, and that faint tang of incompletely burnt light hydrocarbons tickling the cilia at the back of your nose. Yeah, sweating pipe – it’s my latest addiction: no namby-pamby soldering irons and little globs of solder on wires for me, gimme that graceful cone of blue fire any time.

OK, buy me that graceful cone of blue fire… my tool of choice is an everyday ordinary brass torch from the people who brought propane torches to the masses: BernzOmatic. My Dad had one of these puppies at least forty years ago (hmmm, wonder where that one disappeared to?), so it's made by a venerable company. I picked up one of their UL100 kits when I started sweating pipe myself this past spring, and here’s what I got: