Meeting Mister Keeton

[Jerry Marcantel]

Hey folks, I just ended a trip around the eastern half of the country as a Christmas visit to DIL and grandkids in Massachusetts. I needed to be in Lexington, Kentucky on the 30th of December to meet up with a tool manufacturer, and since Mr. Keeton lives near there, I thought if he was availible, we could meet. To my suprise, he agreed and offered to put Deb and me up for the night.
Well, I just have to say that I have never met a more gracious host and hostess as Mr. and Mrs. K. I felt totally at home there. I brought local wood from Tucson to give to John and foolishly thought that that jesture would finally lighten the already overly burdened load on my poor old truck, but he insisted I take as much as I could fit in the bed. ..... My poor old truck was talking to me the whole way home, as in new growling sounds rather than just ordinary road noise.
To make this story short, I'm back in Tucson with no unhappy raod reports other than I had snow all the way from Mass. into Mid Arkansas, and then a couple flurries near El Paso and Las Cruces, New Mexico. As we approached the Arizona state line, I saw sunshine for the first time since we started this trip on the 17th of December..... It's good to be home....... John has the pictures to prove we did meet............ Jerry (in Tucson)

[John Keeton]

Jerry, I was waiting for you to get home before posting pics, so I am glad you started a thread!! We had a great time and enjoyed you and Deb visiting. I do think I got the better end of the wood swap, though. This is mostly mesquite, with another burl thrown in that I forgot the name of -
WOOD.jpg
This is an olive stump that looks to be full of figure - just need to figure out how to cut it up!
OLIVE.jpg
Jerry said there had been some talk about me being short, and just so you will know the truth of it here we are and Jerry is about 5' 11", I am guessing.
JERRY AND JOHN 1.jpg
After spending a couple of days with Jerry, it was clear his first love is flint knapping. We had talked and he was aware I had played a little with some knapping, so he brought me a huge bucket of flint and other knappable materials - probably a good 40 lbs or more! It didn't take much to talk Jerry into knapping out an arrowhead for me.
THE KNAPPER.jpg
The one on the bottom is the one Jerry finished. The top point is from another knapper and was a gift from Jerry, as well. Great work on the arrowhead, but I had flint shards all over my nice, clean shop floor! They weren't there long, though!
ARROWHEADS.jpg

Oh, this is the real "tale of the tape"!!
JERRY AND JOHN 2.jpg

Thanks, Jerry, for taking the time to stop by, and hope you and Deb had a successful visit in Lexington. Email me and let me know how it went.

[Steve Busey]

John and his bride are class acts! Glad you're safely home in the land of sunshine once again!

[Roger Chandler]

Those who have visited JK's shop, er, uuh, studio is a pretty exclusive club so far! Hope to get out that way sometime myself!

Sure am glad you didn't let all that knapping debris get out of hand there, John......you know, you have set up expectations in all us mere mortals.......setting a good example was the right thing to do, otherwise we might actually believe your shop is for actual use, and not just for show!

Nice wood haul from Jerry.....looking forward to the olive ........where you goin' with that by the way? How about an urn with an arrowhead finial?

Thanks for sharing guys.......creeker visits always cheer us up and good for both of you! Jerry, glad you have safe travels on such a long road trip......and got back home safe and sound. Nice gesture on the wood swap, both of you!

[charlie knighton]

great visit, great wood, yall gonna start the big and tall wood store??????

[Bernie Weishapl]

I will attest also to the visit with John and Eileen. They are very gracious people. Glad you had a great time.

[David E Keller]

Looks like fun!

[John Keeton]

Those who have visited JK's shop, er, uuh, studio is a pretty exclusive club so far! Hope to get out that way sometime myself! ...How about an urn with an arrowhead finial?

Roger, please know you are welcome anytime!

The urn and arrowhead finial idea sounds like something I may have done before..., but I am not sure this olive will work for an urn - too many places for the cremains to escape!! Not good!

[Scott Hackler]

When I saw the first photo of John and Jerry, I thought "geez Jerry is really short"! Of course that's because my 5'10" self has stood next to John and I kinda remembered looking at him in a slight downward angle! Funny!

Looks like a good time and one of these days, I am going to road trip out that direction to see some of the folks out that way. I sure would like to go to the Tennessee Symposium but right now that isn't in the budget.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Always great to read about Creeker visits and the photos here help tell the story! I know you both had a lot of fun! Looks like quite the pile of wood there John and the arrowheads are amazing!! Looking forward to seeing what you each turn out of your new wood collection!! Thanks for sharing!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Congratulations to both of you! Creeker visits are great!

[Kathy Marshall]

Looks like you both had a fun visit!
Nice load of wood and cool arrowheads John. That olive stump should yield some really neat pieces, you might try getting some ne vessels!
I've been the recipient of some of Jerry's wood so I'm sure you'll get some great pieces from it!

[Nathan Hawkes]

Great gloat, and nice to hear the generosity and open-heartedness of the woodturning community! I love to give things away too, and spread the knowledge. I'm a young man, but many woodturners are not. It so important that we share our knowledge with each other.



On the flint napping, I'm very impressed!! Any websites that you know of that offer explanations on how-to??

[Jerry Marcantel]

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On the flint napping, I'm very impressed!! Any websites that you know of that offer explanations on how-to??

There sure are Nathan. Type in " Knappers R Us" or "Paleo Planet". Join, let them know where you live, and I'll bet someone will be in your neighborhood. As far as flintknappers go, it's just like the woodturning community. Knowlege abounds and is freely given. We're all old, most being over 60 years old. There is even one knapper who has been knapping longer than Wally Dickerman has been turning, but he's a not as old as Wally. With direct lessons from experienced knappers or woodturners, the younguns leap to heights in months that us old guys took years to learn on our own.
I've been sicker than a dog since I got back home and still have my wood from John K in the bed of my truck. Today I'll unload it and post a gloat, including the rock I got from Dan's Whetstones in Arkansas from a trade I made with the flintknapping son of the owner. The stone is the famous Arkansas Hardstone for sharpening woodworking tools, but is also knappable if cooked properly.... Jerry (in Tucson)

[Jerry Marcantel]

John K, you didn't post that chuck plate I gave you, or did you slip it back into my boxes of show n tell? Jerry (in Tucson)