"Knew" at Lee Valley!!! Anybody see this yet?

[bob blakeborough]

I didn't think people were objecting to the tool or its expense. I thought people were chuckling about the idea of buying such a tool for the purpose of removing dovetail waste. It's funny in the way that buying a $5000 racing bike and only using it to take leisurely rides along the canal path with your kids on weekends or buying a $500 french saucepan and only using to boil water for your hard boiled eggs. There's nothing wrong with the bike or the pan or their cost, but there is a chuckle in people buying the "best" only to never really put them to their use.

That is all so true. But unfortunately it is an all too common (and completely false) viewpoint that you are not going to be able to do an acceptable standard of work unless you have the very best of tools.

Very true that you don't need the best to do great work, but by the same token, you don't need a dovetailed, curly maple step stool that took 30+ hours and $$$ for the wood just to be able to reach the top shelf in your closet when a milk crate will do the job just fine, but we do stuff like that anyways because it is what we like. We appreciate it for what it is...

One of the reasons I always liked this site is because nobody ever seems to say that we HAVE TOO spend tons of money to do a good job or make people feel bad when they don't have lots of money to "waste" on tools, but lately it seems that everybody gets all upset when people do spend more money on premium tools and feels they have to explain why we are stupid for wanting to do it...

It is a bit frustrating in its own right that one must expect to feel shame for indulging when they are capable, especially when those people are doing nothing to make others feel bad...

*EDIT* - Please note I am not trying to say that either person I quoted is behaving poorly at all... Just commenting on the overall vibe I am feeling from this thread in general, and many others like it...

[Rob Lee]

Hey!!! People NEED those wheels or how will anybody else know how cool they are while sitting at a stop light??? That right there is thousands well spent my friend! lol!

Bob (who feeds his family and handtool addiction by selling wheels for a living...) Hahaha!

Hi Bob -

I have aluminum rims too.....! Next time... I'll use flatscreens or computers as an example....

Just trying to find a comparator that everyone is familiar with - both cost, and longevity....no value judgements!

Cheers -

Rob

[David Weaver]

So, since you're here Rob, I haven't seen you post about your joining the great woodie build-off (see a few threads below). You game?

And don't be slipping something that looks like a wooden tissue box cover over one of those holtey planes and calling it a woodie!!

[Sean Hughto]

Bob, I think the stool is a poor analogy. The fancy stool is being used precisely what a stool is intended for - to its full capabilities (unlike the bike, the pan, of the saw in my examples). In addition, it is doing more than the milk crate in that it is more aesthetically pleasing to have in one's home. It is decoration, or even art, as well as stool.

That said, I have lots of tools that I will likely never task to the max or which have much less expensive, and full capable, alternatives. So I suppose I'm laughing at myself plenty too. But that said, I wouldn't feel the need to get the biggest swing, fully loaded Robust lathe to only turn pens - it's just overkill. There's also the hero worship aspect where folks ape tool choices of woodworking personalities slavishly and at any cost - a Cosman hockey tape mallet won't likely make your dovetails any better. But for most of us, this is a hobby - so make yourselves happy!

[bob blakeborough]

Bob, I think the stool is a poor analogy. The fancy stool is being used precisely what a stool is intended for - to its full capabilities (unlike the bike, the pan, of the saw in my examples). In addition, it is doing more than the milk crate in that it is more aesthetically pleasing to have in one's home. It is decoration, or even art, as well as stool.

I hear you, but maybe I am a bit out of the norm though, where I get all the other aspects you are speaking of beyond just function. I personally love the beauty of my tools... I love the feel of them in my hand... I can go into my shop and pick up a tool, sharpen it, clean it and put it away without having used it and still have enjoyed myself. Heck, sometimes I will just walk into my shop and just handle a nice tool to make myself feel good! I can assign value to a tool that goes further than just using it, which is why I can justify the stool analogy.

I am a freak and I know it... lol

[Rob Lee]

So, since you're here Rob, I haven't seen you post about your joining the great woodie build-off (see a few threads below). You game?

And don't be slipping something that looks like a wooden tissue box cover over one of those holtey planes and calling it a woodie!!

Hi David -

Well.... I'm not sure I need any more wood planes....
Edm1.jpg

... but I may take a stab at it....

Cheers -

Rob

[Rob Lee]

So, since you're here Rob, I haven't seen you post about your joining the great woodie build-off (see a few threads below). You game?

(snip)

I call....

[David Weaver]

Well, after seeing that, I'll feel better about myself when my wife talks about how much shelf space is "wasted" due to tools

[David Weaver]

I call....

and I fold!

[bob blakeborough]

So when are you bringing that collection to "CALGARY" for sale??? Hmmmmmmmm???

Hi David -

Well.... I'm not sure I need any more wood planes....
Edm1.jpg

... but I may take a stab at it....

Cheers -

Rob

[Shaun Mahood]

Make a road trip on your fancy wheels!

[Rob Lee]

So when are you bringing that collection to "CALGARY" for sale??? Hmmmmmmmm???

Ummmm.... Bob......

Ya gotta click on it and check the file name....

Time to excercise some of those rims.... May 12th weekend.

Cheers -

Rob

[Leigh Betsch]

I kinda like the saw. I'll probably have one some day, not becasue I need it or that will make me a better craftsman or that it makes some sort of financial sense. But simply because I like it.

[Roderick Gentry]

I just bought one at LV, and appreciate that I could look it over first. The Scarb store rocks. It does have tension way higher than my other saws, and it is also very much lighter. I got the 5", and am happy with it. But it is so light it would be cool to have the 8". I didn't mind the price, I wish I hadn't had to buy the other two along the way. I will use it for dovetail waste, but I certainly prefer to chisel when possible. There are certain cases where it pays to saw, and if the saw really worked well there would be more. With a bad saw, one is chiseling anyway, so it really doesn't pay to do the same job twice. But these things exist to do other kinds of pierced work also.

[george wilson]

David and I and some others are saying the same thing: I'd buy the fret saw for sawing fine inlay work,but not for just getting rid of waste in dovetails. Actually,I've never used a saw to get rid of waste anyway. I just chisel it out. If you've seen my harpsichord and violin making movie,you will see me chiseling out waste on a row of angular dovetails,making the spinet harpsichord's case.