|
|
|
Snips... ;-)
Wachusett Mountain...
So, what's knew this side of Wachusett Mountain you ask?
Well, the big story is that I have decided to get rid of all my
tools, and I am now just going to collect anvils, over 100 pounds.
This way I'll free up a lot of space currently taken up by all those
saws and planes.
Wait, Wait! Hey, Quit That! Owe! I'm just kiddin',
Really! Come on, get rid of tools, that's crazy talk.
What would all my Yankee ancestor say? My mom once had over a
hundred ice trays in her basement, cause they were all good.
Why would anyone want to accumulate stuff like that anyway?
I've been hangin' out heeya for a while now, and I can still say
that the folks here are all top notch. I am very impressed
with everyone I have conversed with off-line, and all the guys I
have met at auctions and LFOD.
There is no better group anywhere. The knowledge I have
gained by just sittin' back and listenin' is amazing. I
remember once upon a time when a plane was just a plane, a saw just
a saw, all the same. When I had no idea how to sharpen
anything. I thought you bought another saw when yours got
dull.
When I used to hang out lookin' at mail order tool catalogs, and
wincing at the prices, not even knowing that I had a gold mine of a
flea just 10 minutes away. When I used to watch Norm spend an
hour fixin up a jig to guide one of those evil machines and didn't
question it, well, until I saw Brother Underhill do the same thing
in 5 minutes with a chisel and a stair saw.
My friend Sweeney was helpin' me 10 years ago to put up some
plastic over a pictya window for the winta, when he asked me if I
had a block plane. I replied, "No, but I got a cheese grater."
Sweeney laughed for a half an hour. It's been a strange trip,
from cheese graters to knowin' what a Stanley #65 looks like, and
why you WANT to bring it home.
Again, thanks to everyone, to the ListMoms, and to those highly
skilled craftsman who share their work and knowledge with the rest
of us. I hope that as my GITs get a little older, that I'll
have more time to spend building benches, saw tills (maybe a saw
barn), making rustic furniture, etc.
I think my path leads down that way, choppin' trees, makin' hewing
benches and shavin' horses. Axes and hatchets, can a man ever
have too many axes? Why do I find axes so attractive, why do
they feel so comfortable? I remember visiting Higgins Armory
in Worcester, Mass, as a kid, and thinkin' that I wanted those big
axes.
I got most of the iron planes I want, or would ever need or use.
Lately I been thinkin' I need some woodies. All I got is a
mixed set of beaders. I sharpened up a Greenfield round, and
was intrigued by it's action. Hmmm, is that a slope ova heeya?
Looks like it drops off right quick. I'm still (not often
enough) playin' around with drawknife and spokeshave, fiddlin' on
that Mountain Laurel walking stick. It seems to me that this
could also be somewhat addictive.
Well, I wish I could hang out here all day, but I got mouths to
feed, and a couple-o-packages to wrap.
Long live the Porch.
Al Perreault
Wachusett Galoot
December 14, 2005
|
