This post is titled:
Toolsday: Paint Can Opener
Here's another mundane little tool that I think everybody should have. It's just a little pry bar for opening paint cans.
Paint Opener
You'll wreck your screwdrivers if you use them to open paint cans. Bending or twisting a screwdriver blade makes it useless for transferring force into a screw, so unless you have an extra screwdriver that you don't mind destroying, you're better off picking up one of these little prybars in the painting tool section the next time you buy a can of paint or wood finish.
At the very least, you're likely to get paint on any tool you use for opening paint cans. If you then use that tool on something important, you might get bright red paint on your pale wood project, or something equally unhappy. I've been known to use this paint opener as an impromptu stir stick, and it's good to know it probably won't come near anything important.
These things only cost a dollar or two, so you won't mind using them to pry at other things besides cans. If you're having people over to help paint, I recommend getting a bunch of them so that there's always one handy. You can give them away afterwards. The "handle" end of this one is even designed to be a bottle opener for the end of the day, so there you go.
2010.07.20 at 10:00am EDT
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