I’ve recently been working on a renovation project. I helped my brother in law refinish a basement. Between what he has, I have, and my father-in-law has, we have a good collection of great power tools that has made the job go relatively smoothly. The house we are working on is more than 100 years old, and its had me thinking, how would the job be different without electricity? What if we were doing all of the project with hand tools? So, I’ve tried to identify all the major power tools we’ve used in the project and looked for their hand tool equivalent or multiple hand tools, depending on the tool. I try to keep backups of all my power tools in my tool box just in case crap hits the fan, and I have to operate without electricity.
Drill/Driver
We used a drill and driver all the time. We had both milwaukee and Makita drills and drivers on the project. I’m a Makita man (not a sponsor… yet), but I would say that for the drill and driver, the Milwaukee was about the same level, with the Milwaukee hammer drill perhaps being a step above the Makita.
I would say it would take 3 tools to take this one’s place. A hand crank drill, a bit brace hand drill (the one that looks more like an auger) and a screw driver set.
This hand crank drill is what you’d need for the more precise holes. The bit brace hand drill you’d need for bigger or more serious holes, and the screw driver set you’d need for driving screws into sheetrock, wood, and other things. This would certainly be more miserable without a drill or driver, and I’d probably use more nails, personally.
Saws
There are a lot of power saws we used on this project. We used a Jigsaw, Circular saw, table saw, sawzall, and my personal favorite, a Dewalt sliding chop miter saw. I don’t run any of the dewalt battery tools, but they nailed it with that sliding chop miter saw.
To replace all the saws we used, you would need a coping saw, a hack saw, a crosscut saw, a ripping saw, a keyhole saw, and the one I’d probably use the most would be a crosscut saw with a miter box. I don’t like using a miter box, but you can get your square cuts, and a good 45 degree cut as well with that box, which would take care of 90% of the cuts you’d have to do. The rest would just be more of a pain, but people got by before Dewalt did its thing. The miter box I have only has the 90 degree angle, and the 45. This one from Craftsman has the angle in between as well, which is nice.
Oscillating Tool
This is a tool I hadn’t used a lot before this renovation project. It’s a game changer. This does 90% of the work you’d do with a chisel, scraper, and even some of your saw work. I used it almost as much as a knife on this project, and bought one for myself during the middle of the project. I’ve used both the Milwaukee and the Makita, and Makita wins here. The power is pretty much the same, but the Makita blade release is much much cleaner and easier.
As I said, this tool did the work of a lot of different tools I would have normally used (and I’m not going back if I can help it!). It did a lot of work that I would have done with my razor blade, a hack saw, and a floor scraper, but the biggest one it replaced is the chisel. When I worked construction, I would always carry around the beater chisel that you’d use to cut any sort of item that you’d need cut in a small confined space. There was always one on my tool belt. This tool did everything I’d want a chisel for, and did it quicker, cleaner and easier. Makita really should be sponsoring me. To get by without this tool, I’d have to go back to the chisel. I have some nicer ones, but for the beater chisel for my tool belt, I’d go with these good middle of the road chisels.
My Favorite Hand Tools I Currently Use All the Time
Right now, even with all the amazing power tools out there, I still use hand tools all the time. I still use my hammer, knife, tape measure, and wrenches all the time. If I was to highlight one that I would call my favorite, it would be the spring powered nail set. It eliminates the need to use a hammer for setting a nail. It’s more precise, so you’re less likely to put an extra hole in your project, and you will not smash your finger with it. It’s about $10, and I got introduced to them while working as a finish carpenter. Everyone on the crew had one. They’re magical.
Other Hand Tools you Should Have
There are a lot of other hand tools that would be useful. The ones listed above I feel like would do 95% of the job, but it’s usually the 5% that sends you back to Home Depot 7 times, so it’s good to think about, especially in an apocalyptic world that might not have a Home Depot or Lowes just around the corner.
- Hand Plane
- Plyers
- Channel locks
- adjustable wrenches in a variety of sizes
- speed square
- clamps
- wire cutters
- pry bar
- framing square
- knife
- wet stone
- tape measure
- level
- pipe wrench
- allen wrenches
- torx wrenches
- (any other type of wrench you’ve got a head for, or might get)
- limb saw
- loppers
- Lanterns or candles- no electricity, what’s your next plan?
- ax
- hatchet
- hammer
- sledge hammer
- wire brushes
- anvil
- bench vice
- bow saw
- sand paper
Did I miss any? Leave a comment below so I can update my list.
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