RobS123

The best part is the new foam-encased light bulb in its own display box. How funny!

John Economaki, the owner of Bridge City Tools calls those who make accusations of cheating "The Woodworking Taliban."

He tells a story of just such an accusation when he was demonstrating how to cut dovetails on his JointMaker, a machine that he himself designed and built. Economaki asked his accuser how he thought it should be done and the indignant reply was that he should use a handsaw.

John handed the man a dozuki and asked him to show him. "I can't do that! That saw doesn't have a back." Came the reply.

"But that's cheating!" Economaki replied.

His adversary left in a huff.

I once had visions of a shop with wooden floors, wooden cabinets on the walls and a smell that reminded me of Colonial Williamsburg. Instead I have acres and acres of white pegboard and a cat box I have to kick out of the way to use the planer. I need help!

In fact, you can disable the SawStop safety mechanism by the simple turn of a key. My question is if you had a SawStop machine given to you, free of charge, how many of you wingers would actually use the bypass or direct your employees to while you sat in your office thowing darts at Obama's picture? Not many, I'll bet, unless it couldn't be helped.

SawStop's literature says they've logged over 700 "finger-saves" so far. That's something to be proud of and a savings of ancillary costs in the millions. And think of the lawyers (including two of the owners of SawStop along with Gass)who won't get a lucrative case. Why wouldn't you spend the extra money to protect the people who work for you?

I'm going to vote with my wallet and buy one this month so that I can take their free dust collection offer.

Amazingly, I agree with many of the knee-jerk, fact-ignoring, and lawyer-hating (until they need one) heroes who think these devastating accidents only happen to someone else. The government probably doesn't need to intervene. The market will instead.

A large retailer of construction tools in Denver told me two weeks ago that 85% of his table saw sales are now SawStops. Only 5% of the remainer go for Deltas and Powermatics. General (the Canadian manufacturer) and the others share the other 10%. Neither Delta or Powermatic now makes a contractors saw. General still does. Delta's and Powermatic's cabinet saw offerings are priced similarly to the SawStop. If you own a small cabinet shop or are a construction contractor with a couple of employees and workers comp and insurance bills to pay, which way are you going to go?

If the Denver retailer's statictics hold even close to true elsewhere then SawStop already has a considerable part of the market share. Three cheers for SawStop's willingness to inovate and take risks. I hope they get rich.

I just feel badly for the poor schumcks who find themselves working for all the "rugged individualists".

Santa and I have always been on a first-name basis. No doubt it's due to my clean living. Right. Why is it that my list to Santa for woodworking things never grows shorter or cheaper? There's probably a message in there somewhere. But I really do need a Lie-Nielsen low-angle joiner.

Thirty years ago I came upon James Krenov's first book in a small bookstore in Wyoming. It launched me into the world of woodworking and, although my own efforts as an amateur have been fitful, I always knew that I could find the best description of a true craftsman's mindset in Krenov's books.

Others more knowledgeable than I will surely comment here and elsewhere about his influence upon the art and craft. I wish instead to highlight James Krenov's writing style. I've admired that as much as his work.

There was a refreshing enconomy of words in the way he wrote. He was a master at styling his sentences and paragraphs as sparsely as the lines on his cabinets. But the necessity of caring about what one does with wood and one's craft and one's life came through with incredible clarity.

I'm a lawyer. I've tried to emulate Krenov's philosophy, writing and speaking style in my work. This has served me well. Farewell, Jim.