March 15, 2025 • 39 mins
In this 400th episode of the RepcoLite Home Improvement Show, host Dan Hansen celebrates a significant milestone before diving into fascinating historical segments. The episode covers the invention and impact of the paint roller, shedding light on the contributions of Norman James Breakey and the reluctance of painter unions to accept this revolutionary tool. Hansen also explores the exceptional craftsmanship of H.O. Studley's tool chest, emphasizing its lessons for DIY enthusiasts. The show concludes with practical advice on choosing the right roller cover for different painting projects, highlighting the importance of quality tools and materials.CHAPTERS00:00 Introduction and Milestone Announcement03:03 Historical Focus: The Invention of Paint Rollers03:34 The Fascinating Story of H.O. Studley12:38 Lessons from Studley's Tool Chest18:50 Upcoming: The History of the Roller Cover19:08 Life-Changing Inventions20:38 The Revolutionary Paint Roller21:44 The Struggles Before the Roller Cover25:57 Norman Breakey: The Unsung Hero32:06 Choosing the Right Roller Cover37:59 Final Tips and Recommendations
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Well, good morning everybody. You're listening to the Ripkele Light
Home improvement show sponsored by Benjamin Moore. I'm Dan Hansen,
and before I say anything else, I've got to introduce
or I'm not introducing anything. Good grief. What a big
letdown that is. I was building to such brilliant, such
an exciting announcement, and I've already messed it up. I
(00:24):
want to announce that this is our four hundredth episode,
four hundred times I've started the show, and I still
can't do it right. Yeah, that's what I've really just
shown myself. So my whole plan is kind of thrown off. Anyway.
We're not going to celebrate. We're not going to really
do anything. It's kind of a letdown. I did want
(00:47):
to announce it, and I should have had a plan.
That's what I should have done. I should have gotten,
you know, some special guests. I should have gotten the
famous people who listen, you know regularly, who listen on
the podcast. I'm sure there's got to be some of them, right,
you know, they could have all checked in, Tom Cruise,
(01:07):
Paul McCartney, mom, you know, the people who catch it
every week, the big names out there, but I didn't
think to do any of that, didn't think about it
at all. So we're going to just imagine that all
of these A listers and mom are calling in and
sending me their greetings. They're thanking me, you know, Paul McCartney,
(01:28):
thanking me for all the knowledge that we've instilled, you know,
the thinking repcol like thanking Betsy, thanking Haley, thanking all
of us for all this knowledge that we've instilled over
the course of four hundred episodes. You know, let's imagine
that we're getting all this things and think about that
four hundred episodes. That's eight years worth of stuff that
(01:48):
we've been doing it And when you do the math,
it's pretty crazy. At about forty minutes an episode, that's
about two hundred and sixty seven hours of stuff. I
mean good stuff, I mean the best. It's good. It's good.
We always do that it's not the best, but it's
not the worst. It's good stuff. Two hundred and sixty
(02:09):
seven hours of good stuff. And that means if you
would think about this, if you'd listen for eight hours
a day while you were at work, you know, just
on workdays, you could start an episode on March seventeen,
this coming Monday, and you wouldn't be done listening until
April thirty. Think about that. Eight hour days April thirty
from March seventeen you could listen. That's a lot of shows.
(02:31):
And if you do want to catch some of them,
you can go to repco light dot com and you'll
find a show archive there, and there's also a tab
rite on the page where you could click that and
subscribe to the podcast, and if you do that, you'll
never miss another episode. I mean, who knows how many
more are in the can. Maybe there's four hundred more
just waiting to be released, we don't know. Go check
(02:52):
it out, enjoy some of those past episodes. There's a
lot of good stuff out there. Check it out. All Right,
that's enough of that, Way too much time spent on that.
Let's get onto the stuff that I've got planned for today.
And today is actually going to be kind of a
history day on the show. I've got two particular segments
that focus on some historical stuff and I'm pretty excited
about it. We're going to look at the invention of
(03:14):
paint rollers, you know, where they came from, which is
surprisingly pretty you know, pretty sad. It's a sad little story,
could almost be a Hallmark movie with sad vibes. It's
going to get you right in the fields. I promise
you that you're gonna like it. We'll talk about that,
and then we'll talk about roller covers themselves, which ones
you should use in which situation. All of that is
(03:35):
coming up, but right now, let's get to the other
major historical segment that I've got for the day. And
a couple of months ago, I ran into a photo
online that caught my attention, and it was a wooden box.
It was opened up, it was displayed on a tabletop
and in the box. At my first glance, you know,
as I just scanned over the picture, at my first glance,
(03:56):
I saw hundreds and hundreds of gadgets and gizmos all
laid out and displayed to perfection in this box. You know,
the thing looked amazing and I wanted to go get one,
and I wanted to put it on a stand in
the hallway of my home. It was beautiful enough to
be home decorps, you know, in my house. At least
it would have fit. It would have worked. So that
(04:16):
picture caught my eye. But when I read about it.
I was really surprised to learn the full story of
this item. It was the h O. Studley tool chest.
That's really the guy's name Studley. I mean, there's so
many jokes that I could make, but times of the
essence here. So I can't dwell on the fact that
Studley is a name I'm going to say over and
(04:36):
over again without even once besides right now referring to
myself and my nickname in high school Studley. Anyway, h O. Studley.
He made this tool chest, and it's actually one of
the most incredible That wasn't my nickname in high school.
I mean, that's a ridiculous lie. I can't go go
further without explaining that, so I apologize for having to
(05:01):
take a quick break to apologize. But that was completely false.
Anybody who knows me and they probably switched off the
radio because it was that ridiculous. Whatever the opposite of Studley,
that was my nickname in high school? All right, Anyway,
this HO Studley's tool chest one of the most incredible
feats of craftsmanship ever built. It's so intricate, so precise,
(05:21):
so mind blowingly beautiful that it's become legendary so let's
talk about that. Let's start with the man behind the piece,
mister Studley himself. I wonder what his nickname in high
school was anyway, Who was Ho Studley? Well, he was
born in eighteen thirty eight in Lowell, Massachusetts, and he
wore a lot of different hats. He was a carpenter,
a mason. Most notably, he was a piano and organ maker.
(05:44):
But most likely before all of that, when Studley was
twenty three, the Civil War broke out. We don't have
a lot of definitive information about him during this period.
It's a little bit frustrating, but it's generally thought that
he served with the fifteenth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. The fifteenth
Massachusetts saw significant action, we know that much, and if
(06:04):
Studley was indeed with them, his experience in the war
would have been pretty intense. That particular unit saw a
lot of different engagements throughout the war, a lot of
heavy fighting, a lot of heavy casualties in that particular unit. Now,
what we do know for sure is that Studley was
captured and was taken prisoner during the Battle of Galveston
(06:25):
on January one of eighteen sixty three in Texas and
this battle involved Union forces, including Massachusetts troops, so does
seem like he might have been in that group. They
were all attempting to hold this port against the Confederate counterattack.
The Union lost in that particular battle, and many soldiers,
including Studley, were captured. Now, after Studley's capture, he spent
(06:46):
time as a prisoner of war, but details you know
about where he was and how long he was held
there are pretty scarce. He was likely paroled or exchanged
later in eighteen sixty three, and then he returned to
Massachusett It's after the war, and ended up presuming civilian life,
And that's when he likely began or at least fine
(07:06):
tuned his skills as a carpenter and mason and eventually
as a piano maker when he joined the Pool Piano
Company in Boston. Now, this is where things get interesting,
you know, not that none of that was interesting, but
here's where it gets, you know, interesting to the story
that I want to talk about. Sometime between eighteen ninety
and nineteen twenty, we don't have an exec date, but
sometime in there, while he's working on pianos and all
(07:29):
of that, he also begins to build and pour his
heart into this personal project. A tool chest that's not
just a toolbox, but literally a work of art. Now,
if you've never seen this Studley tool chest, this ho
Studley toolchest, I should call it that. If you haven't
seen it, you need to google it and go check
it out. It's amazing. When it's closed, it's about twenty
(07:51):
by forty inches, it's roughly the size of a big
wall cabinet. When it's opened up, it unfolds to forty
by forty and it reveals this incredible interior. You know,
inside this mahogany box decked out with rosewood, with ebony,
with mother of pearl inlays. Studley somehow fits three hundred tools.
Three hundred and we're not talking just random junk here.
(08:12):
These are precision woodworking tools. Some of them he bought,
some of them he made himself. Now, the craftsmanship of
this box, this tool chest is absolutely next level. You've
got to check it out. Empty, when there's nothing, Empty,
when there's nothing in it. Four hundred episodes, and I'm
you know, that's what you got. This is what happens
(08:33):
when you pay to be on the air. I pay
to be on the air, so I'm allowed to do
things like that. The chest weighs seventy two pounds when empty,
that's what I was trying to get at one hundred
and fifty six pounds when loaded. So it's it's a
heck of a thing to move around. You need a
team of people or just one really beefy guy who
can do it. Either way, it wasn't just super easy
(08:55):
to move. Studley had you know, I've seen pictures of them.
Studley had to have helpante it. His nickname in high
school probably wasn't Studley either. Anyway. He's designed this thing
to hang on a wall. It opens like a book.
It's got these clever little hinges all of that. It's
really cool. Every little tool in there has its own
custom spot, you know, so think hidden compartments, flip up
(09:16):
trays and layers that all nest together. It's almost like
this three D puzzle thing. You know, you push a
tool in and it clicks into place. Even now you
know it's one hundred years old or so or more,
and the tools still click into place. It's so tight.
There's absolutely no waste in space. Now. I was listening
to craftsmen who's seen it in person, and it was
(09:37):
really interesting. They're talking about how in pretty much every
woodworking project you can look at the end results and
if you're skilled enough in the craft, you can find
you know, all the imperfections, the places where the woodworkers humanity,
you know, kind of shows through the mistakes, you know,
the imperfections that are in everything. They're talking about how
you can see those, and then they say, well, the
(10:00):
affections are in almost everything. Because these same people were
talking about this particular toolchest, the Aho Studley toolchest, and
they were saying that you could spend you know, basically
a lifetime looking over this toolchest that Studley built, and
you wouldn't find a mistake. It's the perfection of the craft.
It's that cool, and I think you're probably picking it up.
(10:21):
But it's not just a beautifully functional piece. You know,
everything's in the right place and all of that, and
it functions really well as a toolchest. It does, and
that part's beautiful, but it's also esthetically beautiful. The inlays
of ivory and mother of pearl, you know they screen
piano maker. You know clearly that was a part of
this that he brought into it, you know, a part
of his his skill that he brought into this. There's
(10:43):
this Victorian flair to it when you look at it.
When you see it, it really does look like a
work of art. You know, clearly Studley was flexing a
little bit and showing off all of his skills. And
he didn't do this because he had all kinds of
extra time on his hands. You know, this was a
statement piece. You know, even today, with all of our
modern storage solutions, peg boards, rolling cabinets, laser cut foam inserts,
(11:05):
things like that, you really be hard pressed to find
something as beautifully functional as what Studley created. I love
that name. What Studley created by hand over a century ago.
So really cool stuff. But what in the world does
all of that have to do with us right now? Well,
I think there are some real cool lessons in here
for anybody who tackles DIY or home improvement projects, or
(11:28):
honestly just lives in a house. I mean, there's a
lot of good stuff here, and we're going to get
to those after the break. And while we are on break,
check out the Studeley Toolchest online. Just a couple of
quick photos is really all you need to see what
I'm talking about and how cool it is. So check
that out and we'll be right back in just a minute.
And stick around, and we're back here listening to the
(11:55):
Repcolite home improvement show sponsored by Benjamin Moore. And we
just finished talking about h Oh Studley, a mason, a carpenter,
an organ and piano maker, a guy with a crazy
cool nickname. He lived between eighteen thirty eight and nineteen
twenty five. We just finished talking about him and this
magnificent work of art toolchest that he built. And I'm
(12:17):
not just throwing that phrase around lightly. You know, work
of art toolchest. Studley's toolchest spends time in the Smithsonian
on exhibit because it really is an amazing achievement of
skill and engineering and dedication to the woodworking craft. So
check it out online. You know, if you haven't googled
it already, google it, the Studley Toolchest. It's worth it.
(12:38):
Check it out right now, let's dig a little deeper
into it. I love these historical stories, you know, these
deep dives into people and events and tools and all
of that. But what makes them really entertaining for me
is what we can learn, I guess is the best
way to say it. What lessons we can pull from
these you know, these these stories. So let's do that here.
What can we as everyday people who probably don't have
(12:59):
this skills or the crazy cool nickname of ho Studley.
What can we learn from him and put into practice
right now? Well, here's one quality over quantity. Studley passed
away one hundred years ago or so, just over that,
and yet the tools in that chest, that tool chest
would still be considered high quality, remarkable pieces today, even
(13:20):
after a century. Now. I used to buy cheap tools
all the time, and I broke them, you know, all
the time. They just didn't hold up. But over the years,
I've kind of changed my philosophy. As I've matured, I've
become wiser. I've started investing in higher quality tools. And
they're not only just lasting longer, which is great, they're
also performing better, which is even more important to me,
(13:42):
you know, And that's something that can be difficult to
wrap your brain around if you're new to buying tools.
You know, a hammer's a hammer, right, Well, no, it's not.
A good hammer. Literally does feel different in your hand,
it functions differently, it lasts longer, but it also does
its job better. And the same is true for pretty
much everything. Saws, power tools, you name it. Now. If
(14:03):
it's a tool that you're only going to use once
in a while, sure go for the budget option. But
if it's something that you're going to reach for regularly,
don't skimp on it. And that brings me to paint. Yeah,
a lot of people assume that paint is paint, that
there's no real difference between brands or quality levels. It's
just liquid in a can, right, can't be that different.
But just like with tools, the difference really can be
(14:24):
huge between different products. High quality paint doesn't just look
better for longer. It's easier to work with. It applies smoother,
it levels better, it spatters less, It covers and hides better.
If you've hated painting projects in the past and just
felt like you're not good at it and you struggled
through it, there's a really good chance you'll think about
what paint you used. Did you use a high quality
(14:46):
paint or did you cheap out and buy something that
might not have been the best product out there. When
you use a better product, the whole process goes more smoothly,
You enjoy it better. You know, when you talk to
people who like painting and we all know those people.
You know some of us are those people, but you
definitely know that you've talked to people who just love
tackling that next project. Ask them what they're using. They're
(15:09):
going to be using higher quality paints. So a Brepcolite product,
a Benjamin Moore product, it's going to make your project
easier and you're going to enjoy it better. So quality matters,
that's the bottom line. Whether you're talking tools, paint, furniture, whatever.
It's tempting to go cheap, but investing in better materials
pays off in the long run. So that's one lesson
that we can learn from mister Studley and his tool chest.
(15:30):
A second lesson organization matters. You know, if you've ever
spent twenty minutes digging through a messy toolbox for a screwdriver,
you know the value of organization. Studley's toolchest, it's not
just about beauty, it's also about efficiency. You know, everything
has a place, and that made him more productive. So
for any home project, taking the time to organize your workspace,
you know, whether it's a garage, a kitchen, you know,
(15:52):
even your junk drawer. Take that time and it's going
to make your life so much easier. Another good lesson.
Third lesson, take pride in your work. Give yourself a break. Now.
I love this one because it's kind of like a
two fur you know, it's two lessons in one. Studley
didn't have to make his toolchest a masterpiece, but he did,
and he did that because craftsmanship and all of that
really mattered to him. He was trying to make a
(16:14):
statement piece here, and that mindset is pretty exciting. It's inspiring.
It's something that it's worth embracing. Whether you're painting a room,
building a deck, fixing a cabinet door, whatever you're doing,
doing a job well, even if nobody notices, it really
does bring real satisfaction. And remember, here's the second part,
to give yourself a break, so you actually can pull
(16:35):
all of that off. You know, what I'm getting at
here is that we live and die by schedules. We're
driven to check things off of our little lists and
move on. And that's not bad, you know, that's a
good thing. Procrastination isn't the goal, That's not what I'm after.
But Studley's toolchest, Remember this thing took years for him
to perfect, So don't let self imposed deadlines push you
(16:55):
to cut corners. You know, that's where schedules and deadlines
really are our littles and their counterproductive. Don't let them
push you to cut corners, especially those self imposed ones
that really, you know, they're not grounded in any real serious,
you know reality. You know, sometimes time pressures are real
and you have to push through, But often the stress
to finish is just in our heads. You know. True
(17:17):
craft isn't about speed. It's about care and precision. So
when you paint, do the prep work, wash the walls, sand,
you know, fill the nail holes, let the spackle dry
before standing. That is one of my biggest, biggest struggles.
I just don't want to wait. Let the spackle dry.
Trust me, you're gonna be way happier if you do.
The results will look way better if you do. Do
all of that stuff right. Don't rush your second coat,
(17:39):
use tape if it helps you. Bottom line, take pride
in your work and give yourself a break so you've
got the time to take the pride in the work
all right. Lesson for small spaces can be used efficiently.
Studly fit three hundred plus tools into this little cabinet
that he built. And if that doesn't scream maximize your space.
I really don't know what does. So if you're struggling,
you know, with a tiny laundry room, maybe a cramped kitchen,
(18:01):
a cluttered closet, a little bathroom, Studley's tool chest proves
that smart design does make any space work better. So
creative solutions exist for you. You know, whether they're through
expert advice, you know, ready made products out there, or
just thinking outside of the box. You know you can
find these solutions. You may not achieve Studley level perfection,
but there are esthetically pleasing ways to improve any tight space.
(18:24):
And as we talked about a couple months ago, paint
alone can transform a space in a big way. The
right color can make any room feel bigger instantly. So
stop out at any repolite paints and let us help
you with that part of your project. You know that
alone can help you get that space feeling a little bigger.
All right, there's some lessons from the amazing tool chest
of H. O. Studley. Go check it out. It's definitely
(18:46):
something to dig further into. Find some pictures. All right,
let's take a break. When we come back, let's look
at the history of the roller cover that's all. Next
stick around and we're back. You're listening to the Repco
Light Home improvement show was sponsored by Benjamin Moore. And
let's talk about some great inventions, you know, life changing inventions.
(19:10):
I've got an invention that I want to get to,
but let's talk about or think about. There's no real
talking on the radio, there's no back and forth at
this point. Let's think about some inventions though that really
changed everything. The wheel, right, we wouldn't be driving places
without the wheel, The printing press, the steam engine, the computer,
the refrigerator, you know, freezer, stuff like that. Where would
(19:33):
we be without all of these things? They've really, when
you think about it, it had stunning impact on how
the world functions. A few weeks ago, I talked about
the invention of glass. In fact, it's funny, this particular
segment that I'm going to get to right now that
we're doing was supposed to take place a couple of
weeks ago, and glass was going to be my introduction,
(19:54):
you know, just one of the inventions that I threw
out in the introduction. But it was so interesting how
that came about and the impact that it's had on
cultures in society in general. The world turned it into
its own segments. So go back and check out the
history of glass if you want to. That's a couple
weeks back. But you know, lots of big inventions, lots
(20:16):
of big things that have had huge impact on the world.
The electric light bulb blah blah blah, on and on,
the flushing toilet, the indoor toilet. You know, you definitely
want to have a flushing toilet. If you have a
toilet that doesn't flush, well, that's got to be fixed.
Nobody wants that. That's an invention that will have some impact,
but it's not positive impact anyway. All of those things
(20:36):
are out there in the greater world. Let's look at
the world of home improvement and specifically the world of
like DIY painting. Let's really dial it in and when
we take a close look there, I think there's one
particular invention that stands out more than any other one.
And if you didn't hear the open of the show,
then maybe I will surprise you. I don't know, probably
(20:57):
not going to surprise you because I narrowed it down
to the the world of DIY painting. But if you
heard the open, you know that I'm talking about the
roller cover. You know, the invention of the roller cover,
and you know, the roller frame, the paint roller, that
whole thing all in one, I think is probably the biggest,
most important tool when it comes to the entire concept
in the world of DIY painting. You know, today it's
(21:20):
so common we hardly give it a second thought. But
when it first arrived on the scene in the nineteen forties,
it's not that old. In the nineteen forties, when it
first arrived, it was nothing short of revolutionary, you know,
And like many great innovations, it wasn't welcomed with open arms.
In fact, a group of people, a very powerful group
of people, actually stood against it and fought against it.
(21:42):
All right, let's go back, Let's let's tell the whole story.
Let's go back to the dark ages, you know, the
times before the roller cover existed, the times prior to
nineteen forty. Go back there in your mind. Think about
what painting was like if you've never thought about it before,
you know, think of all the times that you've used
a roller cover to do any painting at all. Think
about that, and then let it sink in that there
(22:03):
was a point not that long ago, really, when the
roller cover and the roller itself didn't exist. You know,
it's not surprising. We all knew it had to be
admented at some point, but it is interesting to think
about what painting might have looked like at that time. Well,
back then, if you wanted to paint a wall or
a ceiling, you basically had one option a brush. And
(22:24):
I don't mean a little brush, because I would take forever.
It's a massive, wide, thick brush, you know, sometimes five
or six or more inches across, seven eight inches across
an inch thick or more. I know, that's the brush.
That's what we're talking about. And imagine that, and you
can imagine, you know, if you've got that in your mind,
you can imagine how heavy that thing must have been
(22:46):
when it was loaded with paint. You know, popeye arms.
The painters back then, they had to have popeye arms.
It's the only way they could have done it, you know.
And that's just the brush itself. Painting with one of
those incredible amount of work. I mean, nowadays painting isn't terrible, right,
but it's still not like it's a leisure activity. You know,
you don't get into your pajamas after your shower at
(23:07):
night and just do a little painting, you know, to
unwind for the day. You know, it's still work, but
it's way better than it used to be. But back
then you're talking serious grueling work, you know, messy work,
exhausting work, you know, imagine it. You're ready to paint
your ceiling, let's say. So you grab the best ceiling
paint that you can find, you know, Benjamin Moore's Premium
ceiling paint, and you do that because you've listened to
(23:30):
episode two fifty of Repcoal Lights four hundred home improvement
show episodes. You listen to episode two fifty and you
know that the Benjamin Morre's Premium ceiling paint is a
dead flat you know, no matter what color it's been
tinted to, and that it covers and hides so much
better than other ceiling paints. So you grab that one
because you were informed, and that's the one that you chose.
(23:53):
So you get that. You pop the top on the
ceiling paint. You grab your huge enormous brush that everybody
uses for their painting, and you know it's eight inches
across if it's an inch, and you bend down under
its weight because it's so heavy, and you dip it
into the can, and of course it doesn't fit, you know,
into the can, it's too big, so you wiggle it
a little bit, you know, you kind of go sideways.
You figure it's an angle thing, you know, if you
(24:14):
mush the bristles this way, you know, to the side
and try to sneak it in. No, that doesn't work.
The can flips over. So now two hours later you're back.
The carpet's still wet, but the paint's been cleaned up.
You know, the paint that you spilled, that's been cleaned
up because you listen to episode three seventy six of
the Repcolite home improvement show and you knew how to
handle it. So it's two hours later. Your carpet doesn't
(24:36):
need to be replaced, but you still need to paint.
But you're smarter now, right, So you pour your paint
into a tray. You fill up the brush that way,
brilliant perfection. Now you lift it up. You know, your
arm waivers under the weight. You climb up your ladder
and you start to move the brush towards the ceiling.
But of course the paint's going to start to drip.
Down from the bright bristles a little bit. There's so
(24:57):
much paint. There's like a half a gallon of paint
in that enormous so down the ladder you go really
quickly and you fix that, then back up the ladder,
and finally you find yourself actually brushing paint onto the ceiling.
It covers in hides, just like I told you it would.
But soon the brush is out. You know, it's emptied out,
and you need to go back and get more. So
you refill a brush, You do a little more brushwork,
then you refill it over and over and over and
(25:18):
over and over, all the time holding that heavy brush
over your head hundreds of times to work your way
around the entire ceiling. By the time you're done, your
shoulders are aching. You got popeye arms. They feel like
they're going to fall off, but they're pope eye arms.
Your face and head you're speckled with paint. It's a mess.
That's kind of like what it was way back then
before the roller cover. And because of that, it wasn't
(25:41):
something that regular folks ever really did. It was a
job for professionals. Nobody did their own DIY painting. It
just wasn't a thing. You hired skilled tradesmen who came in,
who knew how to handle a brush, who could control
all the drips and get a smooth finish. They came
in and did your painting for you. And then in
nineteen forty everything changed. Enter Norman James Braakey, a man
(26:03):
that we know frustratingly little about, which is kind of
fun because that means I can add lib and nobody
can say that I'm exactly wrong. But I'm not gonna
add lib here. I'm gonna stick to the facts as
we know them. We know he was born in eighteen
ninety one in Pearson, Manitoba. We also know that Breakey
was living in Toronto when inspiration struck. What we don't know,
(26:23):
and which drives me a little bit nuts, is what
he was doing that sparked the inspiration. You know, was
he painting his own house? Probably not, people really didn't
do that back then. Was he watching a painter struggle
with a brush that could have been Did he stand
on a toilet seat to hang a clock in his
bathroom and slip and fall? You know? Did inspiration strike
him like it struck Doc Brown? Christopher Lloyd in Back
(26:45):
to the Future, because that's what he was doing. That's
how he dreamed up the flux capacitor. He fell off
the toilet, he hit his head while hanging up a clock.
If you don't believe me, you can look that up.
That's facts, all right. Sadly with Norman Breaky, we don't know,
we'll never know. What we do know is that he
came up with an idea. He came up with the
concept of brushing paint under the wall with a roller
(27:06):
of some sort. He envisioned this cylindrical core covered with
a fabric material that would absorb and distribute the paint. Now,
that concept worked in his head, but what he needed
was some way to hold it, you know, hold that
cover while still allowing it to roll freely. And he
had a second Eureka moment and came up with the
handle bent into the shape of a seven for control.
(27:26):
You know, it was so simple, But there you go.
We've got the roller cover dreamed up and the roller frame,
the roller handle that holds It's so obvious when you
see it, and yet it took all that time before
it happened. And Brakey was the one who came up
with this concept. Well, he took this design to Tom Hamilton,
and Tom Hamilton was a fabric expert in Toronto. Now
Hamilton had no idea what break he was talking about
(27:49):
rolling paint on. But he recommended. You know, he's a salesman.
He's not going to just say no and send the
guy out. He's going to make a recommendation. That's how
it works. He recommended a green mowhair von Lure, the
same fabric used to cover realway touring coaches. So Break
he sees that, buys a bolt of it, cuts it
into strips, glues it to his prototype roller, and then
(28:11):
sets off to test it. And the results of his
tests it's a game changer. It works. He's super excited.
Walls can now be painted faster, more evenly, with less
mess and perhaps most importantly by anyone. So Break he
sees all of this. I mean, he has completely revolutionized
this industry. So he files for a patent in Canada
(28:32):
and it should have been the start of a great
success story, but it wasn't. See Breaky never ends up
getting the credit or the fortune that he deserved for
creating this. Like so many inventors, Break he faced a
problem and it was money. It's not just inventors that
struggle with money. We all have a problem called money sometimes,
(28:54):
but inventors specifically can sometimes see things go awry because
of money. He needed investors to mass produce and market
his roller, you know, this whole system. But finding financial
backers wasn't easy. People just didn't see the potential. They
didn't see where this could go. They didn't think it
was the big idea that it really was. And in
(29:14):
the midst of that, then something happened. An American inventor,
Richard Croxton Adams, working for a major US paint company,
claimed that he had invented the roller the same year.
Now adams version was slightly different, but the concept, you know,
the whole concept itself was identical. He had something, though
that Breaky didn't, and he had financial backing. So he
(29:36):
fought for the patent and wins. Breaky he doesn't have
the funds to battle it out in court, and he
loses control of his own invention. Adams went on to
manufacture and sell roller covers, and the industry took off.
Now his words spread about the new tool, a strange
thing happened. You know. I mentioned earlier that a group
of people fought the roller cover, and not everybody was
(29:57):
happy about it. Painter unions, surprise, saw the roller as
a threat, you know, rather than seeing it as a
timesaver or something that was going to help them out,
they saw it as something that cheapened their trade, that
it made painting too easy, too fast. If anybody could
roll paint on a wall, what was going to happen
to skilled brush painters. So some unions even went so
(30:19):
far as to ban their contractors from using rollers. Just
can't do it. You can't use rollers. They refused to
endorse them, and they were hoping to hold back the
tide of change. But you generally can't hold things like
this back. You can't put the genie back in the bottle.
And painters who embraced the roller found that they could
complete jobs faster, They could take on more work homeowners,
(30:41):
you know, they were no longer intimidated by the thought
of wrestling with a massive paint brush, so they started
painting their own walls, and just like that, the DIY
painting boom had begun. Now, meanwhile, while all of this
is happening, we got to get back to the saddest
part of the whole story. While all of that is happening,
normal and break Ye fades into obscurity. He passed away
(31:03):
in nineteen sixty five, a relatively poor man. The world
had changed. Think about that completely changed. The DIY world
for sure, had changed because of his idea, and the
painting professional world because they embraced the roller cover as well.
All of that changed because of his idea. And hardly
anybody knows his name. So the next time you pick
up a roller, take a moment moment of silence to
(31:26):
appreciate the man who made it possible, a man who,
despite all these obstacles that he had revolutionized the way
we paint. You gotta love these history segments. That is
so much fun to see how that played out and
shook out over time. All right, let's take a break.
When we come back, we're going to talk about roller
covers in a little more depth. Specifically, I'm going to
tell you everything you need to know so you can
(31:47):
navigate that roller display confidently. That's all. Next stick around
and we're back. You're listening to the Recolite home improvement
shows sponsored by Benjamin Moore, And last segment, we talked
about the history of the paint roller. And now in
this final segment, the final segment of episode four hundred,
(32:10):
I want to talk about something that confuses a ton
of people, choosing the right roller cover. And I really
don't blame you if you've ever felt if you've gone
into the store and felt completely overwhelmed in the paint
roller aisle, don't blame you a bit. You know, with
all of the different technologies and fabrics and marketing claims
that are in your face, picking the right roller cover
for your paint can feel incredibly daunting, and honestly, to
(32:34):
make it even worse, you know, to make you know,
to raise the stakes, there really is a right roller
cover that you should pick for certain products. And to
make it even worse, there are wrong covers that you
can pick that will lead to subpar results. So getting
it right matters even more than you might have thought
it did. And that's exactly why buying paint from a
(32:55):
specialty store really does help you out. You know, at Repcolite,
paint isn't just one of the products that we carry
amongst you know, tons and tons of other things. It's
what we do day in and day out, So our
team knows the ins and outs of roller covers and
they're going to make sure that you leave with the
right one for your paint and for your projects. So
if you don't want to memorize or digest or you know,
(33:18):
consume all of the information that I'm going to dish
out here in the next few minutes, just just stop
in it Repcolite. We'll get you the right product. But
with that said, it's still good to have some info,
and so we're going to spin through it. And in
order to make this information on roller covers as easy
as possible, I've done a couple of things. I've compiled
it the segment in kind of I've broken it into
(33:40):
some different categories, you know, different surfaces that you might
be painting, and then a recommended cover for those surfaces
and you know, for different paint products. So we'll look
at it that way, and to help even more, I've
got a guide that you can find online. Just go
to repco light dot com and I've got a roller
cover guide right on the home page, so you can
check that out. All right, let's look at some different
surfaces and different types of paint that you could be
(34:02):
using and figure out which roller cover is going to
be best for that. And let's start with cabinets doors trim.
You know, you're painting your kitchen cabinets. What cover would
you want to use for that? You know, it's a
common project, lots of people are doing that, and if
you happen to be brushing and rolling the product on,
not spraying it on, an ideal roller cover to use
would be the Wooster microplush roller cover. Now, these covers
(34:24):
are woven and they're shed resistant. Now the shed resistant
is really important. You're not going to end up with
linty little fibers left behind in your paint, so you
want to make sure you get something that's shed resistant.
The microplush cover, the micro in its name is referring
to the fibers, you know, the fiber size, the fibers
that make up the cover, and it's highlighting the fact
that these fibers in this particular cover are ultrafine compared
(34:48):
to other roller cover fibers. And what that means is
that they're going to leave behind way less texture as
they apply the paint. It's going to give you almost
a sprayed like finish. The Wooster microplush cover is very
densely packed. You know, all the fibers are densely packed,
and that means it's gonna hold less paint. So that
is something you'll be dealing with. It's gonna hold less paint,
(35:09):
you'll have to be refilling it more often. The good
thing is this slows down the application process and creates
that ultra smooth finish that you're looking for. These covers
can be used with any paint and they're absolutely ideal.
Like I said, for cabinets, doors, and trim, you can
use them on walls. You know, every now and then
somebody thinks they want that ultra smooth finish on their walls.
But the frequent dipping and refilling that's necessary usually means
(35:32):
you're working way too hard to get the paint on
your walls. It's just not worth all that extra work. Generally,
what you gain in smoothness on your wall isn't worth
what you lose in speed and efficiency. But again for cabinets, doors,
and trim, the microplush cover it's a great choice no
matter what paint you're using. All right, let's talk walls
and ceilings. I've got a couple options that I'm gonna highlight.
(35:53):
If you're painting either of those surfaces. The Wooster Produzy
and the Wooster Produzy FTP, these are our go to
covers really for painting walls and ceilings. The Produzy is
a professional quality, all purpose roller cover that works on
dry wall, plaster, smooth to lightly textured surfaces, pretty much
anything you know, walls and ceiling wise, it holds a
(36:14):
good amount of paint, it's going to move fast, it's
going to release the paint evenly. It's a great all
purpose roller cover. Now the Wooster Produzy FTP, now this
is another professional quality cover, but it's making use of
a slightly different technology for a very specific reason. That
FTP in the name that means for today's paint, and
that really should make this whole thing pretty easy to
remember modern paints. Today's paints, you know, high quality products
(36:38):
like Benjamin Moore's Aura or Regal Select, they're often thicker,
they've got higher solids content, They're thicker, they dry quicker,
and that means that standard roller covers might not pick
up enough paint, might release it unevenly, and they might
leave streaks if the flow isn't just right now. The
controlled release in the FTP covers solves this by ensuring
that the roller picks up the optimal mount of paint
(37:00):
and distributes it evenly onto the surface. So it fixes
all of the concerns that you could have when you're
using modern, you know, high solids products. So bottom line,
with the Prodzy line of covers for general wall painting
with lower solids paint, standard produce he covers work just fine.
If you're using a premium high solids paint, go with
the produce E FTP covers, but they will work for
(37:22):
lower solids paints as well, so you're kind of safe
all the way around with the FTP covers. All right.
I know that's a ton of info, but to wrap
it all up to kind of summarize. For ultra smooth
finishes on cabinets, doors and trim, go with the microplush
covers from Wooster. For standard walls and ceilings with lower
lower solids paints, use the Producey covers. For high end
(37:44):
paints on walls and ceilings, you know, paints that have
a high solids content like Regal select or Aura, then
you're going to want to upgrade to the Produzy FTP covers.
There's a ton more that we could say about roller covers.
I know that's enough info for a Saturday morning. Choosing
the right cover does make a big difference in your
final result. So the next time you're at the paint store,
(38:04):
don't just grab the cheapest roller cover. Think about your paint,
think about your surface, and think about the desired finish.
And also, right now, for the rest of the month,
we do have a big sale on the producy FTP
covers that I talked about. These are those workhorse covers.
They're ideal for modern paints and they'll work beautifully with
lower solids paints as well. You really can't go wrong
with them. They're going to give you a beautiful finish,
(38:26):
smooth application, they're shed resistant, so no roller lint in
your finish. They're perfect and right now you can grab
them for as low as three forty five each, which
is a savings of up to a buck seventy per cover.
So that is all happening right now at all Repcolite
locations now until the end of March. All right, that's
a ton of info, but I've got the full notes
at repcolite dot com. Just head there and check out
(38:48):
the roller cover guide on the homepage. It's going to
help you navigate that part of the store a little
bit better. And if you're still unsure, just stop out
at Repcolite and will make the right recommendation. You honestly
don't need to know all this stuff help, so rest easy.
All right. That's all the time we've got. We're gonna
have to wrap this one up. If you want to
catch it again, you can find it online at Repcolight
dot com. Remember your next project is way easier than
(39:11):
you think it's going to be. Stop out at any
repco Lite Paints and let us help. Have a great weekend, everybody.
I'll see you next week. I'm Dan Hansen. Thanks for listening.
Well, good morning everybody. You're listening to the Ripkele Light
Home improvement show sponsored by Benjamin Moore. I'm Dan Hansen,
and before I say anything else, I've got to introduce
or I'm not introducing anything. Good grief. What a big
letdown that is. I was building to such brilliant, such
an exciting announcement, and I've already messed it up. I
(00:24):
want to announce that this is our four hundredth episode,
four hundred times I've started the show, and I still
can't do it right. Yeah, that's what I've really just
shown myself. So my whole plan is kind of thrown off. Anyway.
We're not going to celebrate. We're not going to really
do anything. It's kind of a letdown. I did want
(00:47):
to announce it, and I should have had a plan.
That's what I should have done. I should have gotten,
you know, some special guests. I should have gotten the
famous people who listen, you know regularly, who listen on
the podcast. I'm sure there's got to be some of them, right,
you know, they could have all checked in, Tom Cruise,
(01:07):
Paul McCartney, mom, you know, the people who catch it
every week, the big names out there, but I didn't
think to do any of that, didn't think about it
at all. So we're going to just imagine that all
of these A listers and mom are calling in and
sending me their greetings. They're thanking me, you know, Paul McCartney,
(01:28):
thanking me for all the knowledge that we've instilled, you know,
the thinking repcol like thanking Betsy, thanking Haley, thanking all
of us for all this knowledge that we've instilled over
the course of four hundred episodes. You know, let's imagine
that we're getting all this things and think about that
four hundred episodes. That's eight years worth of stuff that
(01:48):
we've been doing it And when you do the math,
it's pretty crazy. At about forty minutes an episode, that's
about two hundred and sixty seven hours of stuff. I
mean good stuff, I mean the best. It's good. It's good.
We always do that it's not the best, but it's
not the worst. It's good stuff. Two hundred and sixty
(02:09):
seven hours of good stuff. And that means if you
would think about this, if you'd listen for eight hours
a day while you were at work, you know, just
on workdays, you could start an episode on March seventeen,
this coming Monday, and you wouldn't be done listening until
April thirty. Think about that. Eight hour days April thirty
from March seventeen you could listen. That's a lot of shows.
(02:31):
And if you do want to catch some of them,
you can go to repco light dot com and you'll
find a show archive there, and there's also a tab
rite on the page where you could click that and
subscribe to the podcast, and if you do that, you'll
never miss another episode. I mean, who knows how many
more are in the can. Maybe there's four hundred more
just waiting to be released, we don't know. Go check
(02:52):
it out, enjoy some of those past episodes. There's a
lot of good stuff out there. Check it out. All Right,
that's enough of that, Way too much time spent on that.
Let's get onto the stuff that I've got planned for today.
And today is actually going to be kind of a
history day on the show. I've got two particular segments
that focus on some historical stuff and I'm pretty excited
about it. We're going to look at the invention of
(03:14):
paint rollers, you know, where they came from, which is
surprisingly pretty you know, pretty sad. It's a sad little story,
could almost be a Hallmark movie with sad vibes. It's
going to get you right in the fields. I promise
you that you're gonna like it. We'll talk about that,
and then we'll talk about roller covers themselves, which ones
you should use in which situation. All of that is
(03:35):
coming up, but right now, let's get to the other
major historical segment that I've got for the day. And
a couple of months ago, I ran into a photo
online that caught my attention, and it was a wooden box.
It was opened up, it was displayed on a tabletop
and in the box. At my first glance, you know,
as I just scanned over the picture, at my first glance,
(03:56):
I saw hundreds and hundreds of gadgets and gizmos all
laid out and displayed to perfection in this box. You know,
the thing looked amazing and I wanted to go get one,
and I wanted to put it on a stand in
the hallway of my home. It was beautiful enough to
be home decorps, you know, in my house. At least
it would have fit. It would have worked. So that
(04:16):
picture caught my eye. But when I read about it.
I was really surprised to learn the full story of
this item. It was the h O. Studley tool chest.
That's really the guy's name Studley. I mean, there's so
many jokes that I could make, but times of the
essence here. So I can't dwell on the fact that
Studley is a name I'm going to say over and
(04:36):
over again without even once besides right now referring to
myself and my nickname in high school Studley. Anyway, h O. Studley.
He made this tool chest, and it's actually one of
the most incredible That wasn't my nickname in high school.
I mean, that's a ridiculous lie. I can't go go
further without explaining that, so I apologize for having to
(05:01):
take a quick break to apologize. But that was completely false.
Anybody who knows me and they probably switched off the
radio because it was that ridiculous. Whatever the opposite of Studley,
that was my nickname in high school? All right, Anyway,
this HO Studley's tool chest one of the most incredible
feats of craftsmanship ever built. It's so intricate, so precise,
(05:21):
so mind blowingly beautiful that it's become legendary so let's
talk about that. Let's start with the man behind the piece,
mister Studley himself. I wonder what his nickname in high
school was anyway, Who was Ho Studley? Well, he was
born in eighteen thirty eight in Lowell, Massachusetts, and he
wore a lot of different hats. He was a carpenter,
a mason. Most notably, he was a piano and organ maker.
(05:44):
But most likely before all of that, when Studley was
twenty three, the Civil War broke out. We don't have
a lot of definitive information about him during this period.
It's a little bit frustrating, but it's generally thought that
he served with the fifteenth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. The fifteenth
Massachusetts saw significant action, we know that much, and if
(06:04):
Studley was indeed with them, his experience in the war
would have been pretty intense. That particular unit saw a
lot of different engagements throughout the war, a lot of
heavy fighting, a lot of heavy casualties in that particular unit. Now,
what we do know for sure is that Studley was
captured and was taken prisoner during the Battle of Galveston
(06:25):
on January one of eighteen sixty three in Texas and
this battle involved Union forces, including Massachusetts troops, so does
seem like he might have been in that group. They
were all attempting to hold this port against the Confederate counterattack.
The Union lost in that particular battle, and many soldiers,
including Studley, were captured. Now, after Studley's capture, he spent
(06:46):
time as a prisoner of war, but details you know
about where he was and how long he was held
there are pretty scarce. He was likely paroled or exchanged
later in eighteen sixty three, and then he returned to
Massachusett It's after the war, and ended up presuming civilian life,
And that's when he likely began or at least fine
(07:06):
tuned his skills as a carpenter and mason and eventually
as a piano maker when he joined the Pool Piano
Company in Boston. Now, this is where things get interesting,
you know, not that none of that was interesting, but
here's where it gets, you know, interesting to the story
that I want to talk about. Sometime between eighteen ninety
and nineteen twenty, we don't have an exec date, but
sometime in there, while he's working on pianos and all
(07:29):
of that, he also begins to build and pour his
heart into this personal project. A tool chest that's not
just a toolbox, but literally a work of art. Now,
if you've never seen this Studley tool chest, this ho
Studley toolchest, I should call it that. If you haven't
seen it, you need to google it and go check
it out. It's amazing. When it's closed, it's about twenty
(07:51):
by forty inches, it's roughly the size of a big
wall cabinet. When it's opened up, it unfolds to forty
by forty and it reveals this incredible interior. You know,
inside this mahogany box decked out with rosewood, with ebony,
with mother of pearl inlays. Studley somehow fits three hundred tools.
Three hundred and we're not talking just random junk here.
(08:12):
These are precision woodworking tools. Some of them he bought,
some of them he made himself. Now, the craftsmanship of
this box, this tool chest is absolutely next level. You've
got to check it out. Empty, when there's nothing, Empty,
when there's nothing in it. Four hundred episodes, and I'm
you know, that's what you got. This is what happens
(08:33):
when you pay to be on the air. I pay
to be on the air, so I'm allowed to do
things like that. The chest weighs seventy two pounds when empty,
that's what I was trying to get at one hundred
and fifty six pounds when loaded. So it's it's a
heck of a thing to move around. You need a
team of people or just one really beefy guy who
can do it. Either way, it wasn't just super easy
(08:55):
to move. Studley had you know, I've seen pictures of them.
Studley had to have helpante it. His nickname in high
school probably wasn't Studley either. Anyway. He's designed this thing
to hang on a wall. It opens like a book.
It's got these clever little hinges all of that. It's
really cool. Every little tool in there has its own
custom spot, you know, so think hidden compartments, flip up
(09:16):
trays and layers that all nest together. It's almost like
this three D puzzle thing. You know, you push a
tool in and it clicks into place. Even now you
know it's one hundred years old or so or more,
and the tools still click into place. It's so tight.
There's absolutely no waste in space. Now. I was listening
to craftsmen who's seen it in person, and it was
(09:37):
really interesting. They're talking about how in pretty much every
woodworking project you can look at the end results and
if you're skilled enough in the craft, you can find
you know, all the imperfections, the places where the woodworkers humanity,
you know, kind of shows through the mistakes, you know,
the imperfections that are in everything. They're talking about how
you can see those, and then they say, well, the
(10:00):
affections are in almost everything. Because these same people were
talking about this particular toolchest, the Aho Studley toolchest, and
they were saying that you could spend you know, basically
a lifetime looking over this toolchest that Studley built, and
you wouldn't find a mistake. It's the perfection of the craft.
It's that cool, and I think you're probably picking it up.
(10:21):
But it's not just a beautifully functional piece. You know,
everything's in the right place and all of that, and
it functions really well as a toolchest. It does, and
that part's beautiful, but it's also esthetically beautiful. The inlays
of ivory and mother of pearl, you know they screen
piano maker. You know clearly that was a part of
this that he brought into it, you know, a part
of his his skill that he brought into this. There's
(10:43):
this Victorian flair to it when you look at it.
When you see it, it really does look like a
work of art. You know, clearly Studley was flexing a
little bit and showing off all of his skills. And
he didn't do this because he had all kinds of
extra time on his hands. You know, this was a
statement piece. You know, even today, with all of our
modern storage solutions, peg boards, rolling cabinets, laser cut foam inserts,
(11:05):
things like that, you really be hard pressed to find
something as beautifully functional as what Studley created. I love
that name. What Studley created by hand over a century ago.
So really cool stuff. But what in the world does
all of that have to do with us right now? Well,
I think there are some real cool lessons in here
for anybody who tackles DIY or home improvement projects, or
(11:28):
honestly just lives in a house. I mean, there's a
lot of good stuff here, and we're going to get
to those after the break. And while we are on break,
check out the Studeley Toolchest online. Just a couple of
quick photos is really all you need to see what
I'm talking about and how cool it is. So check
that out and we'll be right back in just a minute.
And stick around, and we're back here listening to the
(11:55):
Repcolite home improvement show sponsored by Benjamin Moore. And we
just finished talking about h Oh Studley, a mason, a carpenter,
an organ and piano maker, a guy with a crazy
cool nickname. He lived between eighteen thirty eight and nineteen
twenty five. We just finished talking about him and this
magnificent work of art toolchest that he built. And I'm
(12:17):
not just throwing that phrase around lightly. You know, work
of art toolchest. Studley's toolchest spends time in the Smithsonian
on exhibit because it really is an amazing achievement of
skill and engineering and dedication to the woodworking craft. So
check it out online. You know, if you haven't googled
it already, google it, the Studley Toolchest. It's worth it.
(12:38):
Check it out right now, let's dig a little deeper
into it. I love these historical stories, you know, these
deep dives into people and events and tools and all
of that. But what makes them really entertaining for me
is what we can learn, I guess is the best
way to say it. What lessons we can pull from
these you know, these these stories. So let's do that here.
What can we as everyday people who probably don't have
(12:59):
this skills or the crazy cool nickname of ho Studley.
What can we learn from him and put into practice
right now? Well, here's one quality over quantity. Studley passed
away one hundred years ago or so, just over that,
and yet the tools in that chest, that tool chest
would still be considered high quality, remarkable pieces today, even
(13:20):
after a century. Now. I used to buy cheap tools
all the time, and I broke them, you know, all
the time. They just didn't hold up. But over the years,
I've kind of changed my philosophy. As I've matured, I've
become wiser. I've started investing in higher quality tools. And
they're not only just lasting longer, which is great, they're
also performing better, which is even more important to me,
(13:42):
you know, And that's something that can be difficult to
wrap your brain around if you're new to buying tools.
You know, a hammer's a hammer, right, Well, no, it's not.
A good hammer. Literally does feel different in your hand,
it functions differently, it lasts longer, but it also does
its job better. And the same is true for pretty
much everything. Saws, power tools, you name it. Now. If
(14:03):
it's a tool that you're only going to use once
in a while, sure go for the budget option. But
if it's something that you're going to reach for regularly,
don't skimp on it. And that brings me to paint. Yeah,
a lot of people assume that paint is paint, that
there's no real difference between brands or quality levels. It's
just liquid in a can, right, can't be that different.
But just like with tools, the difference really can be
(14:24):
huge between different products. High quality paint doesn't just look
better for longer. It's easier to work with. It applies smoother,
it levels better, it spatters less, It covers and hides better.
If you've hated painting projects in the past and just
felt like you're not good at it and you struggled
through it, there's a really good chance you'll think about
what paint you used. Did you use a high quality
(14:46):
paint or did you cheap out and buy something that
might not have been the best product out there. When
you use a better product, the whole process goes more smoothly,
You enjoy it better. You know, when you talk to
people who like painting and we all know those people.
You know some of us are those people, but you
definitely know that you've talked to people who just love
tackling that next project. Ask them what they're using. They're
(15:09):
going to be using higher quality paints. So a Brepcolite product,
a Benjamin Moore product, it's going to make your project
easier and you're going to enjoy it better. So quality matters,
that's the bottom line. Whether you're talking tools, paint, furniture, whatever.
It's tempting to go cheap, but investing in better materials
pays off in the long run. So that's one lesson
that we can learn from mister Studley and his tool chest.
(15:30):
A second lesson organization matters. You know, if you've ever
spent twenty minutes digging through a messy toolbox for a screwdriver,
you know the value of organization. Studley's toolchest, it's not
just about beauty, it's also about efficiency. You know, everything
has a place, and that made him more productive. So
for any home project, taking the time to organize your workspace,
you know, whether it's a garage, a kitchen, you know,
(15:52):
even your junk drawer. Take that time and it's going
to make your life so much easier. Another good lesson.
Third lesson, take pride in your work. Give yourself a break. Now.
I love this one because it's kind of like a
two fur you know, it's two lessons in one. Studley
didn't have to make his toolchest a masterpiece, but he did,
and he did that because craftsmanship and all of that
really mattered to him. He was trying to make a
(16:14):
statement piece here, and that mindset is pretty exciting. It's inspiring.
It's something that it's worth embracing. Whether you're painting a room,
building a deck, fixing a cabinet door, whatever you're doing,
doing a job well, even if nobody notices, it really
does bring real satisfaction. And remember, here's the second part,
to give yourself a break, so you actually can pull
(16:35):
all of that off. You know, what I'm getting at
here is that we live and die by schedules. We're
driven to check things off of our little lists and
move on. And that's not bad, you know, that's a
good thing. Procrastination isn't the goal, That's not what I'm after.
But Studley's toolchest, Remember this thing took years for him
to perfect, So don't let self imposed deadlines push you
(16:55):
to cut corners. You know, that's where schedules and deadlines
really are our littles and their counterproductive. Don't let them
push you to cut corners, especially those self imposed ones
that really, you know, they're not grounded in any real serious,
you know reality. You know, sometimes time pressures are real
and you have to push through, But often the stress
to finish is just in our heads. You know. True
(17:17):
craft isn't about speed. It's about care and precision. So
when you paint, do the prep work, wash the walls, sand,
you know, fill the nail holes, let the spackle dry
before standing. That is one of my biggest, biggest struggles.
I just don't want to wait. Let the spackle dry.
Trust me, you're gonna be way happier if you do.
The results will look way better if you do. Do
all of that stuff right. Don't rush your second coat,
(17:39):
use tape if it helps you. Bottom line, take pride
in your work and give yourself a break so you've
got the time to take the pride in the work
all right. Lesson for small spaces can be used efficiently.
Studly fit three hundred plus tools into this little cabinet
that he built. And if that doesn't scream maximize your space.
I really don't know what does. So if you're struggling,
you know, with a tiny laundry room, maybe a cramped kitchen,
(18:01):
a cluttered closet, a little bathroom, Studley's tool chest proves
that smart design does make any space work better. So
creative solutions exist for you. You know, whether they're through
expert advice, you know, ready made products out there, or
just thinking outside of the box. You know you can
find these solutions. You may not achieve Studley level perfection,
but there are esthetically pleasing ways to improve any tight space.
(18:24):
And as we talked about a couple months ago, paint
alone can transform a space in a big way. The
right color can make any room feel bigger instantly. So
stop out at any repolite paints and let us help
you with that part of your project. You know that
alone can help you get that space feeling a little bigger.
All right, there's some lessons from the amazing tool chest
of H. O. Studley. Go check it out. It's definitely
(18:46):
something to dig further into. Find some pictures. All right,
let's take a break. When we come back, let's look
at the history of the roller cover that's all. Next
stick around and we're back. You're listening to the Repco
Light Home improvement show was sponsored by Benjamin Moore. And
let's talk about some great inventions, you know, life changing inventions.
(19:10):
I've got an invention that I want to get to,
but let's talk about or think about. There's no real
talking on the radio, there's no back and forth at
this point. Let's think about some inventions though that really
changed everything. The wheel, right, we wouldn't be driving places
without the wheel, The printing press, the steam engine, the computer,
the refrigerator, you know, freezer, stuff like that. Where would
(19:33):
we be without all of these things? They've really, when
you think about it, it had stunning impact on how
the world functions. A few weeks ago, I talked about
the invention of glass. In fact, it's funny, this particular
segment that I'm going to get to right now that
we're doing was supposed to take place a couple of
weeks ago, and glass was going to be my introduction,
(19:54):
you know, just one of the inventions that I threw
out in the introduction. But it was so interesting how
that came about and the impact that it's had on
cultures in society in general. The world turned it into
its own segments. So go back and check out the
history of glass if you want to. That's a couple
weeks back. But you know, lots of big inventions, lots
(20:16):
of big things that have had huge impact on the world.
The electric light bulb blah blah blah, on and on,
the flushing toilet, the indoor toilet. You know, you definitely
want to have a flushing toilet. If you have a
toilet that doesn't flush, well, that's got to be fixed.
Nobody wants that. That's an invention that will have some impact,
but it's not positive impact anyway. All of those things
(20:36):
are out there in the greater world. Let's look at
the world of home improvement and specifically the world of
like DIY painting. Let's really dial it in and when
we take a close look there, I think there's one
particular invention that stands out more than any other one.
And if you didn't hear the open of the show,
then maybe I will surprise you. I don't know, probably
(20:57):
not going to surprise you because I narrowed it down
to the the world of DIY painting. But if you
heard the open, you know that I'm talking about the
roller cover. You know, the invention of the roller cover,
and you know, the roller frame, the paint roller, that
whole thing all in one, I think is probably the biggest,
most important tool when it comes to the entire concept
in the world of DIY painting. You know, today it's
(21:20):
so common we hardly give it a second thought. But
when it first arrived on the scene in the nineteen forties,
it's not that old. In the nineteen forties, when it
first arrived, it was nothing short of revolutionary, you know,
And like many great innovations, it wasn't welcomed with open arms.
In fact, a group of people, a very powerful group
of people, actually stood against it and fought against it.
(21:42):
All right, let's go back, Let's let's tell the whole story.
Let's go back to the dark ages, you know, the
times before the roller cover existed, the times prior to
nineteen forty. Go back there in your mind. Think about
what painting was like if you've never thought about it before,
you know, think of all the times that you've used
a roller cover to do any painting at all. Think
about that, and then let it sink in that there
(22:03):
was a point not that long ago, really, when the
roller cover and the roller itself didn't exist. You know,
it's not surprising. We all knew it had to be
admented at some point, but it is interesting to think
about what painting might have looked like at that time. Well,
back then, if you wanted to paint a wall or
a ceiling, you basically had one option a brush. And
(22:24):
I don't mean a little brush, because I would take forever.
It's a massive, wide, thick brush, you know, sometimes five
or six or more inches across, seven eight inches across
an inch thick or more. I know, that's the brush.
That's what we're talking about. And imagine that, and you
can imagine, you know, if you've got that in your mind,
you can imagine how heavy that thing must have been
(22:46):
when it was loaded with paint. You know, popeye arms.
The painters back then, they had to have popeye arms.
It's the only way they could have done it, you know.
And that's just the brush itself. Painting with one of
those incredible amount of work. I mean, nowadays painting isn't terrible, right,
but it's still not like it's a leisure activity. You know,
you don't get into your pajamas after your shower at
(23:07):
night and just do a little painting, you know, to
unwind for the day. You know, it's still work, but
it's way better than it used to be. But back
then you're talking serious grueling work, you know, messy work,
exhausting work, you know, imagine it. You're ready to paint
your ceiling, let's say. So you grab the best ceiling
paint that you can find, you know, Benjamin Moore's Premium
ceiling paint, and you do that because you've listened to
(23:30):
episode two fifty of Repcoal Lights four hundred home improvement
show episodes. You listen to episode two fifty and you
know that the Benjamin Morre's Premium ceiling paint is a
dead flat you know, no matter what color it's been
tinted to, and that it covers and hides so much
better than other ceiling paints. So you grab that one
because you were informed, and that's the one that you chose.
(23:53):
So you get that. You pop the top on the
ceiling paint. You grab your huge enormous brush that everybody
uses for their painting, and you know it's eight inches
across if it's an inch, and you bend down under
its weight because it's so heavy, and you dip it
into the can, and of course it doesn't fit, you know,
into the can, it's too big, so you wiggle it
a little bit, you know, you kind of go sideways.
You figure it's an angle thing, you know, if you
(24:14):
mush the bristles this way, you know, to the side
and try to sneak it in. No, that doesn't work.
The can flips over. So now two hours later you're back.
The carpet's still wet, but the paint's been cleaned up.
You know, the paint that you spilled, that's been cleaned
up because you listen to episode three seventy six of
the Repcolite home improvement show and you knew how to
handle it. So it's two hours later. Your carpet doesn't
(24:36):
need to be replaced, but you still need to paint.
But you're smarter now, right, So you pour your paint
into a tray. You fill up the brush that way,
brilliant perfection. Now you lift it up. You know, your
arm waivers under the weight. You climb up your ladder
and you start to move the brush towards the ceiling.
But of course the paint's going to start to drip.
Down from the bright bristles a little bit. There's so
(24:57):
much paint. There's like a half a gallon of paint
in that enormous so down the ladder you go really
quickly and you fix that, then back up the ladder,
and finally you find yourself actually brushing paint onto the ceiling.
It covers in hides, just like I told you it would.
But soon the brush is out. You know, it's emptied out,
and you need to go back and get more. So
you refill a brush, You do a little more brushwork,
then you refill it over and over and over and
(25:18):
over and over, all the time holding that heavy brush
over your head hundreds of times to work your way
around the entire ceiling. By the time you're done, your
shoulders are aching. You got popeye arms. They feel like
they're going to fall off, but they're pope eye arms.
Your face and head you're speckled with paint. It's a mess.
That's kind of like what it was way back then
before the roller cover. And because of that, it wasn't
(25:41):
something that regular folks ever really did. It was a
job for professionals. Nobody did their own DIY painting. It
just wasn't a thing. You hired skilled tradesmen who came in,
who knew how to handle a brush, who could control
all the drips and get a smooth finish. They came
in and did your painting for you. And then in
nineteen forty everything changed. Enter Norman James Braakey, a man
(26:03):
that we know frustratingly little about, which is kind of
fun because that means I can add lib and nobody
can say that I'm exactly wrong. But I'm not gonna
add lib here. I'm gonna stick to the facts as
we know them. We know he was born in eighteen
ninety one in Pearson, Manitoba. We also know that Breakey
was living in Toronto when inspiration struck. What we don't know,
(26:23):
and which drives me a little bit nuts, is what
he was doing that sparked the inspiration. You know, was
he painting his own house? Probably not, people really didn't
do that back then. Was he watching a painter struggle
with a brush that could have been Did he stand
on a toilet seat to hang a clock in his
bathroom and slip and fall? You know? Did inspiration strike
him like it struck Doc Brown? Christopher Lloyd in Back
(26:45):
to the Future, because that's what he was doing. That's
how he dreamed up the flux capacitor. He fell off
the toilet, he hit his head while hanging up a clock.
If you don't believe me, you can look that up.
That's facts, all right. Sadly with Norman Breaky, we don't know,
we'll never know. What we do know is that he
came up with an idea. He came up with the
concept of brushing paint under the wall with a roller
(27:06):
of some sort. He envisioned this cylindrical core covered with
a fabric material that would absorb and distribute the paint. Now,
that concept worked in his head, but what he needed
was some way to hold it, you know, hold that
cover while still allowing it to roll freely. And he
had a second Eureka moment and came up with the
handle bent into the shape of a seven for control.
(27:26):
You know, it was so simple, But there you go.
We've got the roller cover dreamed up and the roller frame,
the roller handle that holds It's so obvious when you
see it, and yet it took all that time before
it happened. And Brakey was the one who came up
with this concept. Well, he took this design to Tom Hamilton,
and Tom Hamilton was a fabric expert in Toronto. Now
Hamilton had no idea what break he was talking about
(27:49):
rolling paint on. But he recommended. You know, he's a salesman.
He's not going to just say no and send the
guy out. He's going to make a recommendation. That's how
it works. He recommended a green mowhair von Lure, the
same fabric used to cover realway touring coaches. So Break
he sees that, buys a bolt of it, cuts it
into strips, glues it to his prototype roller, and then
(28:11):
sets off to test it. And the results of his
tests it's a game changer. It works. He's super excited.
Walls can now be painted faster, more evenly, with less
mess and perhaps most importantly by anyone. So Break he
sees all of this. I mean, he has completely revolutionized
this industry. So he files for a patent in Canada
(28:32):
and it should have been the start of a great
success story, but it wasn't. See Breaky never ends up
getting the credit or the fortune that he deserved for
creating this. Like so many inventors, Break he faced a
problem and it was money. It's not just inventors that
struggle with money. We all have a problem called money sometimes,
(28:54):
but inventors specifically can sometimes see things go awry because
of money. He needed investors to mass produce and market
his roller, you know, this whole system. But finding financial
backers wasn't easy. People just didn't see the potential. They
didn't see where this could go. They didn't think it
was the big idea that it really was. And in
(29:14):
the midst of that, then something happened. An American inventor,
Richard Croxton Adams, working for a major US paint company,
claimed that he had invented the roller the same year.
Now adams version was slightly different, but the concept, you know,
the whole concept itself was identical. He had something, though
that Breaky didn't, and he had financial backing. So he
(29:36):
fought for the patent and wins. Breaky he doesn't have
the funds to battle it out in court, and he
loses control of his own invention. Adams went on to
manufacture and sell roller covers, and the industry took off.
Now his words spread about the new tool, a strange
thing happened. You know. I mentioned earlier that a group
of people fought the roller cover, and not everybody was
(29:57):
happy about it. Painter unions, surprise, saw the roller as
a threat, you know, rather than seeing it as a
timesaver or something that was going to help them out,
they saw it as something that cheapened their trade, that
it made painting too easy, too fast. If anybody could
roll paint on a wall, what was going to happen
to skilled brush painters. So some unions even went so
(30:19):
far as to ban their contractors from using rollers. Just
can't do it. You can't use rollers. They refused to
endorse them, and they were hoping to hold back the
tide of change. But you generally can't hold things like
this back. You can't put the genie back in the bottle.
And painters who embraced the roller found that they could
complete jobs faster, They could take on more work homeowners,
(30:41):
you know, they were no longer intimidated by the thought
of wrestling with a massive paint brush, so they started
painting their own walls, and just like that, the DIY
painting boom had begun. Now, meanwhile, while all of this
is happening, we got to get back to the saddest
part of the whole story. While all of that is happening,
normal and break Ye fades into obscurity. He passed away
(31:03):
in nineteen sixty five, a relatively poor man. The world
had changed. Think about that completely changed. The DIY world
for sure, had changed because of his idea, and the
painting professional world because they embraced the roller cover as well.
All of that changed because of his idea. And hardly
anybody knows his name. So the next time you pick
up a roller, take a moment moment of silence to
(31:26):
appreciate the man who made it possible, a man who,
despite all these obstacles that he had revolutionized the way
we paint. You gotta love these history segments. That is
so much fun to see how that played out and
shook out over time. All right, let's take a break.
When we come back, we're going to talk about roller
covers in a little more depth. Specifically, I'm going to
tell you everything you need to know so you can
(31:47):
navigate that roller display confidently. That's all. Next stick around
and we're back. You're listening to the Recolite home improvement
shows sponsored by Benjamin Moore, And last segment, we talked
about the history of the paint roller. And now in
this final segment, the final segment of episode four hundred,
(32:10):
I want to talk about something that confuses a ton
of people, choosing the right roller cover. And I really
don't blame you if you've ever felt if you've gone
into the store and felt completely overwhelmed in the paint
roller aisle, don't blame you a bit. You know, with
all of the different technologies and fabrics and marketing claims
that are in your face, picking the right roller cover
for your paint can feel incredibly daunting, and honestly, to
(32:34):
make it even worse, you know, to make you know,
to raise the stakes, there really is a right roller
cover that you should pick for certain products. And to
make it even worse, there are wrong covers that you
can pick that will lead to subpar results. So getting
it right matters even more than you might have thought
it did. And that's exactly why buying paint from a
(32:55):
specialty store really does help you out. You know, at Repcolite,
paint isn't just one of the products that we carry
amongst you know, tons and tons of other things. It's
what we do day in and day out, So our
team knows the ins and outs of roller covers and
they're going to make sure that you leave with the
right one for your paint and for your projects. So
if you don't want to memorize or digest or you know,
(33:18):
consume all of the information that I'm going to dish
out here in the next few minutes, just just stop
in it Repcolite. We'll get you the right product. But
with that said, it's still good to have some info,
and so we're going to spin through it. And in
order to make this information on roller covers as easy
as possible, I've done a couple of things. I've compiled
it the segment in kind of I've broken it into
(33:40):
some different categories, you know, different surfaces that you might
be painting, and then a recommended cover for those surfaces
and you know, for different paint products. So we'll look
at it that way, and to help even more, I've
got a guide that you can find online. Just go
to repco light dot com and I've got a roller
cover guide right on the home page, so you can
check that out. All right, let's look at some different
surfaces and different types of paint that you could be
(34:02):
using and figure out which roller cover is going to
be best for that. And let's start with cabinets doors trim.
You know, you're painting your kitchen cabinets. What cover would
you want to use for that? You know, it's a
common project, lots of people are doing that, and if
you happen to be brushing and rolling the product on,
not spraying it on, an ideal roller cover to use
would be the Wooster microplush roller cover. Now, these covers
(34:24):
are woven and they're shed resistant. Now the shed resistant
is really important. You're not going to end up with
linty little fibers left behind in your paint, so you
want to make sure you get something that's shed resistant.
The microplush cover, the micro in its name is referring
to the fibers, you know, the fiber size, the fibers
that make up the cover, and it's highlighting the fact
that these fibers in this particular cover are ultrafine compared
(34:48):
to other roller cover fibers. And what that means is
that they're going to leave behind way less texture as
they apply the paint. It's going to give you almost
a sprayed like finish. The Wooster microplush cover is very
densely packed. You know, all the fibers are densely packed,
and that means it's gonna hold less paint. So that
is something you'll be dealing with. It's gonna hold less paint,
(35:09):
you'll have to be refilling it more often. The good
thing is this slows down the application process and creates
that ultra smooth finish that you're looking for. These covers
can be used with any paint and they're absolutely ideal.
Like I said, for cabinets, doors, and trim, you can
use them on walls. You know, every now and then
somebody thinks they want that ultra smooth finish on their walls.
But the frequent dipping and refilling that's necessary usually means
(35:32):
you're working way too hard to get the paint on
your walls. It's just not worth all that extra work. Generally,
what you gain in smoothness on your wall isn't worth
what you lose in speed and efficiency. But again for cabinets, doors,
and trim, the microplush cover it's a great choice no
matter what paint you're using. All right, let's talk walls
and ceilings. I've got a couple options that I'm gonna highlight.
(35:53):
If you're painting either of those surfaces. The Wooster Produzy
and the Wooster Produzy FTP, these are our go to
covers really for painting walls and ceilings. The Produzy is
a professional quality, all purpose roller cover that works on
dry wall, plaster, smooth to lightly textured surfaces, pretty much
anything you know, walls and ceiling wise, it holds a
(36:14):
good amount of paint, it's going to move fast, it's
going to release the paint evenly. It's a great all
purpose roller cover. Now the Wooster Produzy FTP, now this
is another professional quality cover, but it's making use of
a slightly different technology for a very specific reason. That
FTP in the name that means for today's paint, and
that really should make this whole thing pretty easy to
remember modern paints. Today's paints, you know, high quality products
(36:38):
like Benjamin Moore's Aura or Regal Select, they're often thicker,
they've got higher solids content, They're thicker, they dry quicker,
and that means that standard roller covers might not pick
up enough paint, might release it unevenly, and they might
leave streaks if the flow isn't just right now. The
controlled release in the FTP covers solves this by ensuring
that the roller picks up the optimal mount of paint
(37:00):
and distributes it evenly onto the surface. So it fixes
all of the concerns that you could have when you're
using modern, you know, high solids products. So bottom line,
with the Prodzy line of covers for general wall painting
with lower solids paint, standard produce he covers work just fine.
If you're using a premium high solids paint, go with
the produce E FTP covers, but they will work for
(37:22):
lower solids paints as well, so you're kind of safe
all the way around with the FTP covers. All right.
I know that's a ton of info, but to wrap
it all up to kind of summarize. For ultra smooth
finishes on cabinets, doors and trim, go with the microplush
covers from Wooster. For standard walls and ceilings with lower
lower solids paints, use the Producey covers. For high end
(37:44):
paints on walls and ceilings, you know, paints that have
a high solids content like Regal select or Aura, then
you're going to want to upgrade to the Produzy FTP covers.
There's a ton more that we could say about roller covers.
I know that's enough info for a Saturday morning. Choosing
the right cover does make a big difference in your
final result. So the next time you're at the paint store,
(38:04):
don't just grab the cheapest roller cover. Think about your paint,
think about your surface, and think about the desired finish.
And also, right now, for the rest of the month,
we do have a big sale on the producy FTP
covers that I talked about. These are those workhorse covers.
They're ideal for modern paints and they'll work beautifully with
lower solids paints as well. You really can't go wrong
with them. They're going to give you a beautiful finish,
(38:26):
smooth application, they're shed resistant, so no roller lint in
your finish. They're perfect and right now you can grab
them for as low as three forty five each, which
is a savings of up to a buck seventy per cover.
So that is all happening right now at all Repcolite
locations now until the end of March. All right, that's
a ton of info, but I've got the full notes
at repcolite dot com. Just head there and check out
(38:48):
the roller cover guide on the homepage. It's going to
help you navigate that part of the store a little
bit better. And if you're still unsure, just stop out
at Repcolite and will make the right recommendation. You honestly
don't need to know all this stuff help, so rest easy.
All right. That's all the time we've got. We're gonna
have to wrap this one up. If you want to
catch it again, you can find it online at Repcolight
dot com. Remember your next project is way easier than
(39:11):
you think it's going to be. Stop out at any
repco Lite Paints and let us help. Have a great weekend, everybody.
I'll see you next week. I'm Dan Hansen. Thanks for listening.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.