Tools are vital for every home, and tool maintenance is an extremely important part of owning tools. You never know which tool you’re going to need the most, and that is often the case with power tools. They are often more difficult to maintain than regular tools but are even more rewarding to use. The difficulty of maintaining them comes from them featuring more electronic parts, such as a motor. No workshop should be without its precision tools, and that can easily be said about power tools, as they’re incredibly versatile and useful in many situations.
Store Them Properly
One of the most important things to keeping all power tools safe and in working condition is to keep them stored properly. That means keeping them in a dry and clean spot because dirt and moisture can really damage your tools. That’s because dampness and moisture can really get in the electronics and destroy them from the inside out, while dirt can damage the tools’ moving parts. You definitely don’t want your tools to corrode and fall apart, especially if you plan on using them, which is why keeping your power tools safe is extremely important. Simply storing them in a dry and clean spot can keep your tools functioning for years.
Take Care of the Batteries
Batteries are some of the most important things you need to keep an eye on for every power tool you use. When you need to use specialised batteries for the tools, the cost can add up, especially if you don’t store them in the right environment. Batteries should be cleaned at the connector ends after every usage, and they should never be left in direct sunlight because the heat only kills the batteries faster. On top of that, don’t drain out your batteries completely before you charge them because that can significantly lower their lifespan, which would only cause you to buy new batteries earlier.
Clean as Often as Possible
It might seem a little bit on the nose, but cleaning your power tools is immensely necessary. After all, the reason you buy power tools is that you want to use them and not leave them in a state of disrepair. The basic rule of cleaning power tools is cleaning them after every single usage. The way you clean them might be different from tool to tool, but you should never forget to do it. That’s because a simple wipe after usage can completely stop material from building up in your tool, as simply having dust inside the tool can degrade it very quickly. To clean the tight spots as perfectly as possible just make sure you blast them a bit with some compressed air from either a can or an air compressor.
Tighten and Sharpen
Even if you only occasionally use your power tools, their sharp bits will definitely degrade after a while. Working with dull tools is completely counterproductive, so sharpening the bits can greatly extend their lifespan. If you have a power tool with a blunt bit that’s supposed to be sharp, then the tool’s motor will have to work extra hard just to fulfil its intended purpose, which can kill the motor very quickly. On top of that, tightening your power tools from time to time can be very beneficial. The tools’ bolts tend to loosen up after some usage, so you can simply tighten them once in a while. Don’t overdo it, though, because tightening the bolts way too much can have the opposite effect.
Don’t Mishandle Them
Any and all power tools will degrade way quicker if you use them for something else other than their intended use. Such an example of mishandling tools would be using brushes or heavy accessories in die grinder collets instead of traditional abrasives, which deteriorates the collet holder and spindle. With such mishandling, you run the risk of the tool completely disassembling itself after usage, or it can even break apart randomly, which might directly cause harm to you. With proper usage, you’ll always be safe from any unnecessary risk happening to either you or the tool. That’s why it’s very important to follow the instructions left by the manufacturer.
Don’t Modify Them
Altering power tools can cause very negative effects to the tools. All power tools are designed and manufactured to work in a very specific way, and you altering and modifying them will almost certainly increase the risk of some unwanted damage happening. For example, a small alteration would be removing the safety guard from angle grinders so as to have more manoeuvrability. Angle grinders aren’t designed to be used that way, and without the safety guard, the operator is exposed to abrasive particles that can cause significant harm. Unless you’re a true expert in the field, which very few people are, don’t tamper with the power tools because that will only bring bad news.
Allow Tools to Cool Down
A lot of people don’t know that allowing the tools to simply cool down will greatly expand their lifespan. Leaving them to cool down doesn’t mean you should immediately stow them away after usage because most containers aren’t meant to be used as cooling places. When heat builds up, it can cause a lot of damage to the tool, so it might break or stop working very quickly unless you allow it to cool down in a dry spot that doesn’t have a lot of direct sunlight.
