We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. You can tell a dull drill bit more or less immediately. If you're drilling wood, you'll likely see thin wisps of smoke as it starts to burn.

Call me thrifty or just call me a skinflint, I can't bear to throw a tool away if I think I can repair it. That may seem obvious with big-ticket machinery, but it may not be worth the hassle on ...

It's hard to overstate how much 72-year-old Steve Schmauch loves knives and knife sharpening. He's been doing it professionally for 21 years, after all. Leaning over his custom-built sharpening ...