The most common energy source used in hand-held power tools is 240 volt 'mains' electricity.

However, as the performance of rechargeable batteries continues to improve, the range of 'cordless' power tools is ever increasing.

These days, just about every hand-held 240 volt power tool on the market is also available in a cordless variety.

Nonetheless, most of these battery operated versions are not yet performing at a standard required by professional tradespeople - with the big exception of the variable speed drill.

Cordless drills are now used everywhere, because they are so light weight and convenient.

The tools described below all play a role in adjusting cabinets on-site, particularly when panels or bench tops need to be re-shaped or re-cut.

Circular saw

A circular saw is useful when you need to re-cut a panel, dock timber, or rip material lengthwise. Installers try to avoid using a circular saw to cut melamine or other laminate-faced panels whenever they can, because it's so hard to achieve a clean edge to the cut.

However, if you find that you've got no alternative to using a circular saw to re-cut a laminated board, the best advice is to:

• put the visible side of the board facing down while you're cutting so that the teeth cut upwards, which will reduce the chip-out on that side
  
  
• use a tungsten carbide tipped blade.

Plane

An electric plane is the best tool to use if you need to take a small amount of material off the edge of a panel, particularly if you're trying to accommodate a deviation in the wall or a tapered gap between the panel and wall.

The cutters should be kept sharp and free from any nicks or damage.

Once they lose their sharpness, you should replace them straight away and have the old ones re-sharpened.

Jig saw

Jig saws are very manoeuvrable tools, and can cut curves, deviations and notches easily. There is a wide variety of blades available for different materials, including melamine and other laminates.

Like all power tools, you should make sure that the saw is allowed to cut at its own rate, without being forced through the material.

This will help to avoid chip-out on the edge.

It will also reduce the problem of the blade bending in the cut.

Drill

It's likely that you will take both 240 volt and cordless drills with you to the jobsite. The 240 volt drill will be used for the heavier work, such as drilling large holes or working with masonry. The cordless drill will do everything else, including drilling small holes and inserting chipboard screws.

But just a reminder - as we said in Section 1, don't use an electric drill to turn adjusting screws in door hinges or to make other sorts of fine adjustments, because you could easily strip the thread or burr the slots in the head.

Always use an ordinary screwdriver for this sort of work.