My tool drawer 12 years ago contained the following: a hammer, needle-nosed pliers, and a Philips screwdriver. That's it. If I needed a flat screwdriver, I used a butter knife. If I needed to measure something, I used a ruler. If I needed to drive a screw, I asked my neighbor to do it for me.

This was a state soon altered when I married a journeyman electrician and we moved onto 4 acres in the mountains and started building a house - with our own hands. If I knew then, how much I didn't know then, I never would have believed we could do it.

But, we did build the house. And then we constructed a greenhouse with garden shed. Next, we raised a free- standing wood shed. Our ultimate achievement was when we finished constructing our timber framed barn.

As we added buildings to our compound, we added tools to our collection. For starters, my husband gave me a tool belt equipped with a good hammer, speed square, measuring tape, and utility knife for a birthday present soon after we began building the house.

I loved having my own set of tools with me at all times. With these, and my newly developed chop-saw skills, I was set for a while.

As I acquired more confidence with the power tools, I could take on more aspects of the house-building. Soon, I needed my own screw-gun, and a circular saw that was easy for me to manage, (unlike our 1970s Skil saw that had a tricky switch and weighed about as much as I do).

For my next present, I got the five-piece DeWalt power- tool kit. It is pure pleasure to work with good tools. With the DeWalt kit, I had a light weight, battery powered circular saw; a super powerful cordless drill; a saws-all (reciprocating saw), and high powered flashlight, all in one place.

As we added tools to our collection and I learned to use them, I realized some general principles about buying, using, and maintaining equipment.

About buying tools, the central principle is this: it never pays to cheap-out on tools.

Even for the ones we rarely use, like the bow saw, it's better just to spend the extra money in the first place. Otherwise, you're eventually going to have to go out and replace the cheap tool that breaks the second time you use it, or that performs poorly and wastes your time and materials.

This advice holds true for everything from paintbrushes to table-saws. Make the extra investment. It's worth it because it will save you time and headache.

About using tools, the central principle is this: get the right tool for the job, and then work within the operating capacity of that tool.

For example, my light-weight battery powered circular saw could cut a green 4 x 6 if I had a super-charged battery and I forced it. But that's not what the little saw is meant to do, and I could damage it, mangle the wood, injure myself, or have some other problem from using the tool for something it wasn't designed to do. Using the right tool properly contributes to your efficiency and overall pleasure in the process.

About maintaining tools. Well, consider this. Once you've made the investment and you've gotten into the habit of using the tool properly for the job it's meant to do, if you also put a little attention on maintenance, then most good tools will last a life-time.

Keep it simple and do-able. For most tools, all you have to do is keep them dry, blow the saw dust out of them before you put them away, and keep them in a safe place.

For battery powered tools, keep the batteries fully charged for a long life and better performance. Keep blades sharp on saws so the motor doesn't have to work as hard. Generally, take care of your investment. If you just do a little maintenance as you use each tool, you're all set.