Complete Illustrated Guide to Everything Sold in Hardware Stores

Presents major tools and building materials found in hardware stores, including easy-to-obtain and obscure items, with tips on use

Seeking to "echo the friendly advice a good clerk would give you as you leave a store," the authors explain the basic hardware a homeowner or apartment dweller will require to make home repairs, its name and how to recognize itfrom sledgehammers to toggle bolts, hinges to thinnersin 77 chapters and an appendix. Their directory, which includes numerous line drawings, is organized, accessible and cheerfully reassuring, though not without flaws: the writing is occasionally less than clear; you may have to guess the size of some gadgets; and, perhaps inevitably, a few of the hardware store's dusty corners are left uncharted. Still, most of what you'll need to beg, borrow or buy for do-it-yourself home projects is forthrightly unveiled. Especially handy are the use and buying tips given for all equipment, advising whether to spring for a top-of-the-line item or one straight off the rollor out of the barrel. Philbin ( The Encyclopedia of Hardware ) is the author of many previous "how-to" titles; this is Ettlinger's first book.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

If you've ever pondered over whether to buy a cat's paw or a pry bar, wonder no more. Philbin has compiled more than 2000 items found in a hardware store and sorted them into 11 chapters. Chapters include those on general materials, paints, wood, plumbing, and safety equipment. The chapter dealing with common hand tools has sections on hammers, pliers, wrenches, and the like. The tools are described, and hints for using and buying them are given. Variations of a tool, such as center, drift, and pin punches, are defined. The table of contents and index make this book, filled with clear line drawings, an easy reference. A boon to do-it-yourselfers. Should be in demand.
- Patty Miller, New Hampshire Vocational-Technical Coll. Lib., Laconia
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.