We want to hear about your goals for 2013! Are you finally going to build that storage unit? New garden beds? Fix that old bike?
The Vancouver Tool Library wants to help you achieve your goal. You could win $100 from RONA to get started on your project. Fill out this form and explain what your project is, which VTL tools you’ll need to complete it, and how you’ll use the $100 if you win. A bonus entry will be given if you upload sketches or designs to our Facebook page or tweet them to us (@vantoollibrary). The contest entry deadline is January 31, 2013. A winner will be randomly selected on February 1, 2013.
If you have questions about the contest, e-mail lauren [at] vancouvertoollibrary [dot] com.
Happy building!
Last July, the VTL turned 1 year old. As we grow older, we are beginning to understand our co-op more and more. Due to high fixed costs and our determination to move off of grant revenue, the Vancouver Tool Library needs to adjust its prices. This email is to notify you that the Board of Directors has approved a new fee structure that will take effect on January 1st, 2013. Our new fee structure takes into account the feedback we heard from our members in a survey conducted earlier this year, as well as our better understanding of the costs associated with running the library.
The new fee structure is:
- Standard Annual Maintenance Fee: $45
- Low Income Annual Maintenance Fee: $30
- Power Tool Loans: A new fee of $2 per loan period will be applied to all power tool loans. Power tools only!
Note that the Membership Share value ($20) will remain unchanged.
We believe that the new fee structure is affordable and fair, and will allow us to keep our doors open into the future. If you have questions or concerns about the price increasesor the special offer on annual maintenance fees, please talk to us in the shop or reach us online at info@vancouvertoollibrary.com.
We’re always looking for tool donations to keep building and improving our tool inventory. We currently have a few big ticket items that we’re on the lookout for. If you have any of the following tools and would be willing to donate them, please get in touch with us via our Tool Donation Form.
Thanks for your consideration!
November Tool Wish List
- Electric Pressure Washer
- Belt Sander
- Random Orbital Sander
- Mouse Sander
- Cordless Drills
- Diamond Tip Drill Bit Set
- Electric Air Compressor
- Pneumatic Framing Nailer
We’re always excited to receive new donations of tools here at the VTL but it was an especially good day when we heard we’d be getting a Porter-Cable Pneumatic Finish Nailer. This had been on our wish list for a while now and we are happy to now be able to offer this to our members!
Photo courtesy of Home Depot
Pneumatic tools use compressed air instead of electricity to produce a mechanical motion. In the case of the finish nailer, the air helps drive a fastener into the material with which you’re working. There are a few advantages to this type of tool over their power tool counterparts:
- Simple to use and control – they are quite light and lessen the risk of splitting your material;
- More reliable – they require less maintenance and have longer operating lives; and
- Safer – these tools do not jam as easily.
Pneumatic finish nailers are used for projects where a hammer just won’t cut it. Sometimes, a hammer is all it takes – I wouldn’t advocate the use of a finish nailer to hang a picture, for example – but a finish nailer is excellent for those projects where one hand is necessary to hold a piece of material in place or the work surface is large. Speed and efficiency is the name of the game with this tool.
With the pneumatic finish nailer, it is easy to set the position of the fastener, control where the fastener goes, and move swiftly. A home project that could’ve taken hours is reduced to a few minutes.
The great thing about the Porter-Cable finish nailer specifically is that it has an adjustable exhaust air vent which allows the user to direct the air away to deflect contaminants. This adds to the safety features of the tool. The nails are easily loaded into the magazine and, unlike some other nailers, it does not require oil for the magazine.
Popular Mechanics has a great run-down of a few different types of finish nailers: Finish Nailer Face-Off: We Test the Top 10 – Popular Mechanics
Here is an informative video from Porter Cable that touches on the mechanics of the nailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkghLLWDphE.
If you’ve done a project with a pneumatic finish nailer before, upload your pictures to our Facebook page or tweet it to us.
The Vancouver Tool Library is very excited to have been included in talented illustrator Sam Bradd‘s map of the co-operatives of East Vancouver.
A group from a number of housing co-ops on the Eastside came forward with the idea and Bradd designed a map that spans from 16th and Clark to Victoria and Hastings. Although the VTL falls just shy of the map’s borders, our little tool-lending library received an honourable mention! We’re proud to be among such great company: 19 housing co-ops, Vancity, modo car co-op, East End Food Co-op, People’s Co-op Books, and CCEC Credit Union, to name a few.
This is an especially opportune time to plot these co-ops on a map, give that 2012 has been declared ‘International Year of the Co-op’ by the United Nations! By supporting co-ops, you’re helping development happen in your community from the ground up. Be involved in the creation and management of the organizations and businesses in your neighbourhood: join a co-op you care about! Spread the word about your local co-ops by telling your friends and family about this handy map.
See the full illustration here: http://www.sambradd.com/co-op-map-of-east-vancouver/.
Written by The Vancouver Tool Library, November 13th, 2012 | No Comments »
Filed under: News, Uncategorized | Tags: cartography, CCEC Credit Union, Co-operative Housing Federation of BC, co-operatives, East End Food Co-op, illustration, International Year of the Co-op, map, modo car co-op, People's Co-op Books, Sam Bradd, support local, Vancity, Vancouver Tool Library
