Let it run - Mike - let it run...

[Doug W Swanson]

Jeez, my kids have made more shavings than that lathe has. That's a crying shame, too. At least put a scratch on it!

[Peter Elliott]

Good guys, keep the pressure on... don't let his little medical issue fool you.. (kidding Mike)..

Since a few had asked about our adventure, let me try to describe our afternoon.

This is tool related - as we went looking for lathe stuff and Mike was drooling for a sander as well.
---

As I am resting a broken foot and in a velcro cast, on crutches, etc. Mike offered up a chance to get outdoors and go for a ride. He told me that he answered a Craigslist ad about some woodworking tools. OK, first warning was the word Craigslist.

I told Mike I needed some beer called Mad-Elf from Troegs and his local liquor store was on the way. Mike also needed to run some errands at the local post office and get some meds for his "so called illness" .. So a good chance to get out of the house, I thought!

So I arrived at Mikes (about 20mins away) and he has his paperwork in line with the email exchanges and address for the shop. I notice one problem.. It's in West Virginia.. ok this is the 2nd warning (sorry ken and other WV folks). But I said what the heck, Ken is a great guy, what could go wrong.

OK, now the theme some from American Pickers should be playing. Mike plops his GPS on the dash and plugs in the address. Just like going to Kens, no address found. We laugh, I make fun of a few things and plug the address into my droid x. We see the address and truthfully it's only over the MD/WV line near Shepherdstown. So we talked shop for a bit while en route. Mike has his band saw restoration going on and I have a bunch of projects piling up since the broken foot. As we past the scenic downtown of Shepherdstown, we now get out into the sticks. Our turn was right before a church and yep, we missed it. It was a old dirt road that looked like it had nothing to do with a house and barn. So of course I give Mike crap for missing the turn, since we missed about 20 turns going over to Ken Hills house.

As we proceed down the dirt road, I got that funny feeling. No, not that Gloat feeling but a "why did I come", "what the hell were you thinking", "Mike you a$$-h".. We make the turn down the driveway and can barely see a farm house. As we got closer, it started to look ok. But we are looking for a barn not a house. So we drive a bit further and then it appeared. The shack of all barns, 2 stories, weathered and chopped up like it had a living spaced welded on. A few abandoned homes, cars and chickens running around.

So out of a dead silence Mike goes "I'm glad you came with me today".

I proceeded to ask many questions on how you found this place, did you speak to them and how I am suppose to run away on freaken crutches Mike..... it was funny.

So Mike steps out of the truck and I sat for a second (I wanted to lock the doors) and Mike goes " Hellloooooooo", nope nothing? again, Helloooooo anyone around?? A lady comes from the farm house and asked what we wanted. Mike decides to go into why he was there at 60mph of talking. The lady simply says, ok let me get my worker?

What did I hear? worker? ohh what are we doing here... So I get out and navigate towards the barn. Mike and I just starred at the place and the JUNK all around. I said, well doesn't look like much here, let's go...

Then like a ghost, a man appears, I'm not kidding, he comes out of some place and says hello.

Let me try to describe this guy: about 5-2 tall, about 100 lbs wearing a full coverall suit that is covered in grease, dirt, sawdust, metal shavings, etc. On his head was one of those full wool hats that each side ties up. Long ratty grey beard and probably could use a shower or two. You could barely see his face in all this.

But.. the guy was nice, pleasant and well spoken. He offered to show us around.

Soooo.. we go into what looked like a metal shop. Tools everywhere that looked so worn out and everything scattered all over the place. Mike goes towards an edge sander that he saw the ad for. It was a Grizzly that was about 14 yrs old. Beat up, didn't run right, parts not working, etc. Mike decides to ask questions about this sander. I'm thinking, what the HELL are you doing Mike (Think american pickers now). So I try to divert Mike and this guy, so Mike won't make a mistake and buy this junk.

But NOOOOOOO. Mike digs in and asking all these questions. Then out of blue, Mike goes " Your Kidding ME", "You want this much for this".. Now I am starring at Mike to be quiet. Don't offend the guy for sakes and Mike did throw in the " I don't mean to offend you but"... Mike makes a ridiculous offer on it and the guy was silent. Great, now he is going to call in his magical worker friends that are going to appear out of the blue like he did and I'm on these darn crutches.

Sooo, I try to divert Mike again and he asking about if the owner will take $100. The guy wanted $650. Ya, we're not even close, game over, let's go!

They both stare at each other and after what seems an eternity, the guy goes "nope".

So now I shout out, Thanks... time to hit the road Mike. Mike asked about other tools and lathe stuff. They had nothing but junk but Mike kept digging.. Uggg!

We get back to the truck and I just dug into Mike on what the hell he was thinking of buying that junk. Mike proceeded to tell me that if it didn't turn out as he wanted, he could sell it.. Well, we argued about what just happen until we got to the liquor store.

Oh, on the way out, we saw this massive tree and I stated this is worth more money than that whole darn place and they had no clue. I had to take a picture of it..

So in the end:
Mike = $0
Peter = -$90 in beer
Value = Priceless

Just another day, American Pickers - SMC Style...

Capture.jpg

[Jim Burr]

I want the root ball!!!
And what what do you mean another cortisone shot!? I'm gonna turn with a chest tube!! Get busy young man!!

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Mike,
Don't let these guys get the best of you. If you hurt, you hurt. Of course, you could always invite a fellow turner over to do the honors. Someone would be happy to steal the "first time" on that beauty. You really did do a great job of restoring and upgrading that lathe.
faust

[Mike Cruz]

Okaaaaay, well, here it goes....

Jim, the problem is that it is BOTH arms, not just one. Yeah, pretty frustrating.

For everyone else, let me give you an idea of how debilitating tennis elbow is. During flare ups, you can't lift a can of soda grabbing it from the top (overhand). Gripping anything is like having a knife jambed into your forearm/elbow. Keep your arm bent for 5 minutes in one position and it may take 15 seconds or so (feels like minutes) to straighted it back out. That said, I will see what I can do about toughing it out and turning something this week...not for me, but for you.

As for the story above, well, some of the names have been changed to protect the guilty. We must have been in the Bermuda (I mean West Virginia) Triangle because the time line seems like it is a bit off. But a couple things for sure...I DID thank Peter a number of times for being there with me. Hey, if nothing else, they always pick the slow one in the herd, right? And Peter's account of the property was spot on. He didn't make as big a deal over the chickens as reality dictated. I mean, he didn't even MENTION the fact that the male (yes, I know what they are supposed to be called) was having fun with his flock, harem, or whatever a gaggle of chickens is called. Not to mention the suicidal one that ran in front of my truck as we were trying to leave. Peter was sure I was going to run it over and we were going to be chased with a 12 gauge for killing their prized poultry. And yes, it did have the American Pickers feel. I'm sure they had some real treasures in that barn.

As for the edge sander, hey, for $100, if I had to sink another $100 into it, it still would have been worth it. They did come down to $200. But I KNEW it would need SOMETHING, if not a hand full of things, replaced. And I wasn't going to end up $300 plus in for something that I could buy new for under $600...not when it was in that shape. But again, for $100, I'd take the chance. It isn't a table saw, lathe, planer, or jointer. It's an edge sander...not exactly a precision piece of equipment. It just needs to be able to track.

Thanks for the enjoyable read, Peter. I got some good laughs. Maybe we could sneak back there and haul that tree off in the middle of the night. Heck, I can't weigh more than 10 tons could it? We're going to need a bigger trailer...

[Mike Cruz]

Oh, and I forgot...

Faust, you gonna join us to cut up that maple on my property this Saturday?

[Bernie Weishapl]

Mike know what you mean. My wife has flair up's now and then. She can't even pick up her coffee cup.

[Rick Markham]

I've had Carpal tunnel and it's no joke, get better buddy! It's more than a little disconcerting when you can't open your hand, and when you can your soda can slides right out of it.

Peter, after all of that Mike still made you buy all the beer? How does that work out?
You know why he was "glad you came with me today!" It's because he knew he could outrun a guy on crutches, he probably would have even had time enough to fidget with his keys to get them in the ignition since his hands aren't 100%! Since you survived you got the honor of "buying the beer"... Now that's a friend!!!

[Mike Cruz]

Now waaaaaaaaiiiiiiitttttt a minute. Here's the story to that story. He needed beer for HIM. He wasn't buying "us" beer. He wanted a particular beer that his local beer store was either out of, or didn't carry. So, he jumped on the chance to come over because it meant picking up that beer...Mad Elf. When we got back from our excursion, we did have a cold one. I had one of his beers, and I gave him one of mine (one he hadn't tried before). Jeesh...

Rick, I am considering the surgery to fix my arms. It supposedly isn't really a big deal. The biggest issue for me is that I may/will have a 6 week down time. Meaning I will have to pay someone to come do all our farm chores for 6 weeks! Yikes! Add on top of that that I have a $1000 deductable on my insurance, and this surgury might add up to $3000 out of pocket. I was HOPING to last until next fall, when the chores here really drop off. But I am leaning more and more towards just doing it...

Anyway, back to the thread. Turn, me, turn...yeah, I know and I will. Keep the harassing coming. It might actually motivate me to tough out a turning.

[Rick Markham]

Well OK Mike, fair enough... You had your own beer! You're still not denying the fact that Peter was your sacraficial lamb for the hillbillies... Tossing Peter to the wolves (couldn't resist that one.)

I managed to avoid surgery for carpal tunnel, though it sounds that yours is much worse than mine got. I was lucky, and am very careful about how I do things. (mine was definitely due to improperly doing certain things repetitively.) Cutting up several million pounds of beef a year will do your wrists in for sure!

[Mike Cruz]

To be honest, I think the worst is over. They are much better than they were 6 months ago. But, a day of doing the wrong things certainly sets me back a little, and it is tough to get back up to speed where I can just take care of the daily chores around here. I'm at the point right now, that if you didn't know my arms hurt, you probably wouldn't know it. I know it, but unless you actually asked me to do something that I can't/shouldn't, it would be unapparent. The best part about the cortisone shots is that they put a numbing agent in with the cortisone. So, for an hour or two, I feel no pain. It is amazing what you can get used to...

[Jim Underwood]

Both arms eh? Ouch. Sorry. Hope you can get back to playing soon.

So what's the solution to the tennis elbow? I have a mild case right now in the right arm... and it sorta comes and goes. I'm trying to avoid that overhand pickup.. but what else do you do?

If I could figure out what's caused the problem in the first place, I'd cease and desist. It just came outa nowhere...

[Dan Hintz]

The biggest issue for me is that I may/will have a 6 week down time. Meaning I will have to pay someone to come do all our farm chores for 6 weeks! Yikes!

We really need to meet and discuss my project ideas... maybe we can work out some form of trade? I can certainly help on the weekends, not so much during the week.

[Mike Cruz]

Jim, cortisone shots DO work, especially if it isn't too bad. The first one I got worked wonders. Until I stupidly overstrained my right arm too early...yeah, dumb... Anyway, the solution, if cortisone shots don't do the trick is a minor surjery. The basically rupture the tendon to that when it heals, it scars over...thus creating a new folcrum/pressure point, instead of right on that little part of the bone on the top of your elbow. The kicker is what do you do for a living? If you are in the business of USING your arms (like I do taking care of our small horse farm) healing ain't really easy. If you have a desk job, it might be a little easier. Aparently, the WRONG thing to do is lift and twist. That engages all the tendons in your forearm. Sorry, but there are some things I do that just require that motion. Ugh... I do try to NOT do that as much as possible now, though.

[Mike Cruz]

Hey, dude, you don't return my calls, emails, or PMs...how are we going to arrange a meeting?