Hand Tools

About 85 million U.S. households, or three of every four, do some sort of gardening and lawn care, according to the National Gardening Association. Those households each spend an average of about $400 a year on plants, power equipment, fertilizer, sod and other products and services that make up the $34.1 billion lawn and garden industry. To help you get the most bang for your buck, here are tips from experts: Do it yourself. The most obvious way to save money is not to hire a landscaper to mow the lawn, mulch and weed the flower beds.

The 2008 Maryland NAMIWalks for the Mind of America walkathon will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Centennial Park in Ellicott City. Registration begins at 10 a.m. Family activities are also planned. There is no fee to participate, but walkers are encouraged to collect donations. NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) offers support, education, research and advocacy programs for the mentally ill in Maryland. About 70 NAMI walks are expected to be held around the country. Information: 410-772-9300 or visit www.nami.

People who make a habit of working on houses often are, or become, tool lovers. Having the right tool for every job is not just a matter of necessity (there are some tasks that only a pry bar will perform) but also a matter of satisfaction.Nothing eases a task more than having the right equipment at hand -- provided, of course, that you know how to use it.What tools does a serious rehabber need?A complete list of basic hand tools could be as bewildering as the hardware department of a major home-improvement center.

Gerry Felix learns patience and pride one spindle at a time. In the seven years he's handcrafted 100 Windsor chairs, making spindles for the backs of the 18th-century-style chairs has been a lesson in getting it right. "It's a little bit of guesswork," he says, running his hand along a spindle to feel its subtle taper. "You make the octagon, then get rid of it, but the octagon is important. "My earlier spindles were pretty bulky. My daughter has one of my first chairs, and when I go see her, I'm pretty embarrassed to look at it."

Police logHighland: 7600 block of Browns Bridge Road: Someone forced open the rear garage door of a house Thursday between 1 p.m. and 11:30 p.m., stealing several hand tools.

Police logPasadena: Someone broke into a garage in the 7100 block of Fort Smallwood Road between 3: 30 p.m. Saturday and 5: 30 a.m. Sunday and stole several hand tools and jacks, police said.Pub Date: 10/02/96

Police logElkridge: 5700 block of Furnace Ave.: Burglars cut and pulled back a fence at the rear of McGuire Inc. Tuesday night, pried open the door of a construction trailer and stole a Yamaha generator and various hand tools.Pub Date: 3/14/96

POLICE LOG*Ellicott City: 8900 block of Mount Patapsco Court: Light fixtures were taken from a house under construction Wednesday or Thursday.4900 block of Dorsey Hall: A $350 CD player was stolen from an Isuzu truck Wednesday or Thursday.8400 block of Baltimore National Pike: A radar detector, stereo and hand tools were stolen from a Chevrolet Camaro late Saturday or early Sunday.

Police Westminster: A resident of Marbeth Hill told police Thursday that someone tampered with her vehicle and took belongings. Loss was estimated at $240. Westminster: A resident of West Main Street told police Sunday that someone broke into a toolbox in the back of his truck and took hand tools. Loss was estimated at $950. Westminster: A resident of Robins Way told police Sunday that someone damaged his vehicle while it was parked at Cranberry Mall. Loss was estimated at $150.

John R. Gerwig Jr., who donated his prized collection of 18th- and early-19th-century tools to the Smithsonian Institution, died Aug. 12 of kidney failure at St. Agnes Hospital. He was 80 and lived at Charlestown Retirement Community in Catonsville.Until he retired several years ago, he was owner and president of J. Raymond Gerwig Co. Inc., a homebuilder.His interest in old tools began as a young man after a fire in his father's office damaged his grandfather's tool chest, which contained several moulding planes.

About 85 million U.S. households, or three of every four, do some sort of gardening and lawn care, according to the National Gardening Association. Those households each spend an average of about $400 a year on plants, power equipment, fertilizer, sod and other products and services that make up the $34.1 billion lawn and garden industry. To help you get the most bang for your buck, here are tips from experts: Do it yourself. The most obvious way to save money is not to hire a landscaper to mow the lawn, mulch and weed the flower beds.

Drought is not only hard on a garden. It's also tough on trees, whose systems go into survival mode. "In drought, the stomates [breathing pores] shut down to photosynthesize more slowly," explains Paul Meyers, director of the 100-year-old Morris Arboretum in Chestnut Hill, Pa. While a tree may survive a summer of this, several can kill it. "Stress is cumulative," he says. "The stress on urban trees, especially, during drought is high because of soil compaction and because so much of the roots are covered by pavement."

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes from police reports in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Baltimore City Eastern District Robbery: Police were seeking a teen-age male who robbed John's Bargain Store in the 2100 block of E. Monument St. of $40 at gunpoint about 6 p.m. Monday. Police said the robber fit the description of a gunman who had attempted a holdup at Hopkins Beauty Salon in the 2000 block of E. Monument St. about 30 minutes earlier. Robbery try/shooting: A man, 21, was walking in the 1400 block of Hoffman St. about 5:10 p.m. Monday when a gunman demanded his money.

Police Westminster: A resident of Marbeth Hill told police Thursday that someone tampered with her vehicle and took belongings. Loss was estimated at $240. Westminster: A resident of West Main Street told police Sunday that someone broke into a toolbox in the back of his truck and took hand tools. Loss was estimated at $950. Westminster: A resident of Robins Way told police Sunday that someone damaged his vehicle while it was parked at Cranberry Mall. Loss was estimated at $150.

IT'S 2 A.M., you're standing on a shaky ladder with a screwdriver in one hand and screws between your teeth, and you start to wonder. How did this happen? Why am I up here installing this light fixture instead of someone who knows what they're doing?Some of the answers can be found in "Do It Yourself: Home Improvement in 20th Century America," by Carolyn M. Goldstein (Princeton Architectural Press and the National Building Museum, 1998, $17.95). The book traces the origins of these impulses on the part of ordinary people to take up tools and tackle some "home modernizing" project to the turn of the last century, when the Arts and Crafts Movement made manual labor fashionable.

A KISS is still a kiss, sweetheart, but pliers may never be the same.In recent years, manufacturers like Sears and Black & Decker have been rethinking traditional tools and coming up with new and improved versions, or with new devices altogether to perform traditional -- and some nontraditional -- tasks.In 1993, Sears introduced its Craftsman Professional Robogrips, a type of carefully engineered, hand-friendly pliers that are spring-loaded and self-adjusting. "As of early this year, they became the best-selling tool in the world," said Mike Mangan, of MKM Communications in Chicago, a home-improvement consultant for Sears.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes from police reports in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Baltimore City Eastern District Robbery: Police were seeking a teen-age male who robbed John's Bargain Store in the 2100 block of E. Monument St. of $40 at gunpoint about 6 p.m. Monday. Police said the robber fit the description of a gunman who had attempted a holdup at Hopkins Beauty Salon in the 2000 block of E. Monument St. about 30 minutes earlier. Robbery try/shooting: A man, 21, was walking in the 1400 block of Hoffman St. about 5:10 p.m. Monday when a gunman demanded his money.

The 2008 Maryland NAMIWalks for the Mind of America walkathon will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Centennial Park in Ellicott City. Registration begins at 10 a.m. Family activities are also planned. There is no fee to participate, but walkers are encouraged to collect donations. NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) offers support, education, research and advocacy programs for the mentally ill in Maryland. About 70 NAMI walks are expected to be held around the country. Information: 410-772-9300 or visit www.nami.

Police logPasadena: Someone broke into a garage in the 7100 block of Fort Smallwood Road between 3: 30 p.m. Saturday and 5: 30 a.m. Sunday and stole several hand tools and jacks, police said.Pub Date: 10/02/96