staples and tacks is not one of the tasks that anyone enjoys. Fighting a stubborn fastener only makes it more frustrating. A generic tack lifter is useful but not the go-to tool. The best tool I’ve found is the Berry’s staple remover. Ask anyone who has used one and he or she will tell you that it works. It lifts even the most difficult tacks, staples, and small nails. Its unique wooden handle design just fits into your hand comfortably and removes the tough staples and tacks with almost no effort.
If you ever replace a convertible top, you need a good staple lifter. Tack and staple removers are available in many styles and they all seem to work fine. The best staple remover in my opinion is the Berry’s staple remover. It fits in your hand perfectly and it removes the toughest staples with ease.
Hammer
A wide range of hammers is available, each designed for a specific job. Choosing the right one for the task at hand will give you professional results.
An assortment of hammers to handle any task that comes up. From left to right: dead-blow, interchangeable head, 32-ounce ball-peen, 12-ounce ball-peen, magnetized tack, soft-tip tack, split-tip tack, general body, and wide-tip pick hammer.
You just cannot do every job with a basic carpenter’s claw hammer, and no upholstery shop should be without a tack hammer. The C. S. Osborne Company makes about the finest tack hammer you could ever want. One end is magnetized for setting tacks, and the other end is for driving them in. They are also useful for setting trim pins on stainless and countless other tasks.
A soft mallet is handy for setting wire-on welt and persuading door panel clips into place without marring the surface of the panel.
A machinist hammer (ball-peen) is useful for setting rivets and hammering a hole punch through panel board. I have several sizes and weights of machinist hammers for these tasks.
Because you are working on cars, it only makes sense to have some body hammers for straightening and shaping metal. A wide-tip pick hammer is great for repairing flared-out screw holes in the tack rail of a convertible.
Pegboard
Pegboard comes in 4 × 8–foot sheets and is available in different thicknesses. I prefer the 1/4-inch thick because it does not warp and holds the pegboard hooks better. I also prefer the heavy-duty pegboard hooks instead of the standard hooks. The option is up to you.
Every room has some empty wall space, and by applying pegboard to a bare wall, you can conveniently store the tools that you use every day. This is a low-cost solution to free up floor space, allowing you to work more efficiently. Imagine what tools you would like to have hanging on the wall ready for use on that next project. The wall must be measured to determine the size to cut your pegboard. Make the pegboard as large as possible from the start. Don’t worry if you cannot fill it up right away; eventually you will.
Make a reference line for aligning the bottom of the pegboard by using a long level. This helps you when mounting the pegboard to the wall. Keeping the pegboard straight and even allows the tools to hang right on the pegboard hooks. The use of all-purpose screws to apply furring strips to the wall as a foundation for the pegboard is a good choice. The furring strips are cut from 1/4-inch plywood and they are 1¼ inches wide and run the length of the pegboard. The furring strip prevents the pegboard from sinking into the wall.
Use hot glue to attach 3/8-inch nuts to the pegboard to work as a standoff providing a gap between the wall and the pegboard. This way you do not lose any extra peg holes once the pegboard is on the wall. The location of the wall studs is transferred to the backside of the pegboard so that you know where to glue the standoff nuts. When the pegboard is set into position on the wall, the 3/8-inch nuts should land on top of the furring strip backer that is already on the wall.
Hot glue a 3/8-inch nut over an existing hole on the backside of the pegboard as a standoff so that it allows enough space for a pegboard hook to be inserted. The nut only blocks one hole as a furring strip covers up many. The pegboard is aligned to the wall with the nuts contacting the furring strips. A broad-head cabinet screw is inserted through the hole with the nut behind it to secure the pegboard to the wall. The screws are snugged up but are not overtightened.
Dust off the surface of the pegboard and give it a coat of primer and two topcoats of topcoat paint to protect the surface of the pegboard from wear. White is a good color because it highlights your tools and makes them easier to select. Pegboard hooks are inserted into the holes of the pegboard and tools can now be hung up. The best advantage of pegboard storage is the ability to rearrange the hooks so that the tools you use most often are ready and at your fingertips.
Installing Pegboard
1 Because floor space is always at a premium for storage racks and toolboxes, consider your shop walls a wealth of ample space for tool storage. By using pegboard to hang tools and supplies, you not only gain easy access to them but also find that this is a low-cost storage solution. Pegboard also gives you the freedom to change or rearrange items as your needs change, making it much more useful than a drawer or shelf.
2 You need to know how much wall space to cover with pegboard. Measure your wall to determine the dimensions of pegboard you require. Measure the pegboard and mark where it needs to be trimmed. Cut the pegboard to the desired wall size.
3 The pegboard should be hung level on the wall. Use a long level to make a mark on the wall as a reference baseline to fit the pegboard to.
4 Cut furring strips 1¼ inches wide and the width of your pegboard from 1/4-inch plywood and attach them to the wall with all-purpose screws. Use the furring strip as a backer so that the pegboard standoffs do not sink into the drywall. The pegboard covers over all of this. The length of the mounting screw needed is determined by the thickness of your materials, i.e., 1/2-inch drywall + 1/4-inch furring strip = 3/4-inch material depth + 3/4-inch penetration depth = 1½-inch screw.
5 Before mounting the pegboard to the wall, measure and locate the wall studs, transfer the stud locations onto the backside of the pegboard, and then hot glue some 3/8-inch nuts to the backside of the pegboard at the marked stud locations for a standoff. Glue the nuts over a hole in the pegboard so that a screw can go through the hole and nut. Space the nuts about 12 inches apart.
6 You could use furring strips as a standoff instead of the spacer nuts, but you lose a lot of useful holes if you do. The 1/4-inch pegboard is rigid enough and it spans between the studs in the wall just fine.
