byhammerandhand

>"Unless you're a doctor, syringes are pretty hard to come by."

Not really. I buy 21 & 23 ga. syringes for 25 cents each at my local pharmacy. No Rx required. My SIL M.D. says the general theory is they'd rather let drug abusers have easy access to clean needles than have them share, reuse and risk blood-transferred diseases.

I also buy 16 and 18 ga. syringes in the veterinary section at my local farm supply store (Tractor Supply Co.) Syringes are in the back and needles at at the checkout.

My children (all girls) went to the shop with me to do 4-H woodworking projects for about 4 or 5 years each. While none of them does woodworking today, I think it instilled a sense of accomplishment and self-reliance in them. And we had good father-daughter bonding during those shop hours. I really smiled one day when my youngest was about 12 and my wife asked her to run to the shop for a screwdriver. My daughter immediately shot back, "Slotted or Phillips?"

And I agree -- I don't think anyone should head off into adulthood without having some training in these areas:
- Cooking and nutrition
- Basic mechanics and carpentry
- Finance 101 - fundamentals of credit, banking, interest, and investing.

Very interesting. I think I'm more of a table saw guy and don't think I could do without it. I'd be interested in your comments on a Festool only shop.


I've always wanted to build a tool cabinet, but never felt my portfolio of tools was stable enough. Now that I do most of my work in the field, I've assembled a "Pareto" tool kit in a tote that could probably populate that cabinet very well.

I took MACFAT class at Drew Langsner's back in the early '80s and have the same chair. We're tall people (I'm 6'5" and my wife is 5'12") and it's a little on the small side for us. I'd make it a little bigger next time.

Which brings to mind another question. My wife is spending a lot of time building quilts since her retirement and getting back pain. What is the correct ergonomic height for sewing or other detail tasks? I've already raised a banquet table up so that it's about elbow height for standing work such as layout and cutting.

I've used the method suggested by Dimtick and it works quite well. I used nylon twine that had a little stretch to it and glued up 1/8" bookmatched panels for some stationery box lids.

My wife made several sets of these (in cotton duck) for my sets of wrenches. Makes a nice, handy bundle and they're kept in size order. We used velcro for the closure. All from scrap material.

I do have a Speedy Stitcher for more than 30 years. I've used it to make leather tip protectors for chisels in addition to other repair jobs.

I have a friend who is in a one-man shop of 5000 sq. ft. He has about every conceivable power tool and two cabinet saws -- one for ripping and one for cross-cutting. He and another friend in a "six car garage" (estimating 3200 sq. ft.) with a Euro saw are the only two I know that don't have space limitations.

Ummm, no further comment on this:

> With a very thin top and a cartoonishly bulky bottom, ... audacious, feminine curves

I have to ask, what are advantages and disadvantages of having the router half move instead of the workpiece half move?

And now I take my routah with the harlf inch mautising bit and ... Hey, do you think I could really be ADD? ...plow out the mautise.

"Blade guard removed for photographic clarity." Geez - you guys are getting lax in your disclaimers.