Tools in Gear

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A Dripping Faucet Tells You Which Part Failed

Where the water shows up decides whether you need a 50-cent washer, a $6 seat kit or a $28 cartridge. Diagnose before you buy anything.

GuideHomeWes Dunbar22 Sept 20266 min

The paint job that still looks right in three years

Most rooms don't fail because of the paint. They fail at the caulk line, the patch you didn't prime, and the coat you called good enough.

Ask BRO

What should I wear to this?

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GuideSkillsWes Dunbar23 Sept 20266 min

The tape hook is supposed to wiggle

Sixteenths, crow's feet, kerf, and the ten-second test that tells you whether your level has been lying to you.

Shirts.com — Design it with AI. Wear it this week.

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Can You Fix It6 min read

Patching Drywall Without Making It Worse

Nail pops, doorknob holes and the four-foot disaster behind the couch, fixed in the order a working guy actually does them.

Poll

How often do you see your closest friends?

GuideHomeWes Dunbar22 Sept 20266 min

Five house repairs you should stop paying someone else to do

A running toilet, a blocked sink, a hole in the wall, a dead switch, failing caulk — all of them are an evening's work with tools you already own.

GuideSkillsWes Dunbar23 Sept 20266 min

Why patios sink, and how to build one that doesn't

The flat patio and the wavy one get built the same way above ground. The difference is what happened in the first afternoon.

Delicious.com — Nine thousand recipes and a plan for tonight

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GuideFoodWes Dunbar22 Sept 20266 min

Sharpening a kitchen knife without wrecking it

Most home knives aren't dull, they're bent. Knowing the difference, and learning to feel for the burr, is the whole skill.

Quiz

Is your money actually in order?

Six questions. No email required, no sales pitch at the end.

GuideDatingMarcus Vale22 Sept 20266 min

Ninety days on the app, then off it

Treat a dating app like a tool with a job and a deadline, and it stops being the thing that quietly eats your twenties.

GuideSkillsWes Dunbar23 Sept 20266 min

Sharpen a knife, an axe and a mower blade the same way

Three tools, three angles, one test. Do them in this order and you'll stop guessing whether the edge is actually finished.

Ask BRO

Rewrite my CV so it actually gets read

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GuideHunting & ShootingWes Dunbar22 Sept 20266 min

Cutting up your own deer without wasting half of it

What home butchering actually takes — the cold space, the tools, the legal checks, and the mistakes that cost you meat.

CancerDefying.com — The research, protocols and reading in one place

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GuideCountry BroWes Dunbar22 Sept 20266 min

Running a chainsaw without ending up in the emergency room

Kickback and falling wood cause most of the damage. Both are predictable, and both are avoidable if you change how you stand and how you cut.

Poll

Where does your phone charge overnight?

GuideSkillsWes Dunbar23 Sept 20266 min

A four-by-eight raised bed, built in one afternoon

Four feet wide, nine inches deep, three boards and a box of screws. The build takes 90 minutes. Hauling the soil is the real work.

GuideHomeWes Dunbar22 Sept 20266 min

Ten tools that cover ninety percent of household repairs

Most jobs around a house fail for want of the right tool, not the right skill. This is the short list that handles nearly all of them.

Coconut.com — Tell us when. We find where the sun is.

PartnerCoconut.com

GuideCountry BroWes Dunbar22 Sept 20266 min

The corner posts decide whether your fence lasts twenty years

Most paddock fences fail at the ends, not in the middle. Build the assemblies right and the rest is just wire and patience.

Quiz

Does your wardrobe actually fit you?

Five questions, honestly answered, and a plan for the next fortnight.

Skills6 min

Re-caulking a bath and shower without it peeling in a year

Skills6 min

Basic Welding: A First Weekend With a MIG

Ask BRO

Give me something to do with my kids this weekend

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GuideSkillsWes Dunbar23 Sept 20266 min

Why Fences Lean, and How to Set Posts That Don't

A fence never fails at the pickets. It fails in the first eight inches of dirt below grade, and that part is decided on day one.

Dude.com — 16 advisers who listen, talk and pray with you

PartnerDude.com

Skills6 min read

Changing your own oil without making a mess of it

The order to do it in, the two mistakes that dump five quarts on your driveway, and the parts nobody tells you to buy.

Poll

How many days a week are you actually training?

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