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Replies
Sorry pushed a button before finishing. I just saw this pic on another site. It's used by a cabinetmaker in the Phillipines.
Makes you wonder just how much we really need the fancy accessories we all spend a fortune on.His fence adjuster is the hammer on the ground.........just nails the strip of wood where he wants it
Brent
I love seeing contraptions like this! That brings new meaning to the term "wood saw"!
I'd bet his 16 foot plank is about 1/16 inch off!
Hey Will,
Let's see.........................cost of biesmeyer,unifence,incra or maybe HTC, versus a box of 11/2" common nails.........................hmmmmm............................I could probably learn to live with the discrepensey. LOL
Brent
single belt...must be the contractor model
Do I see a pull starter? LOL.Hi, I'm Len and I'm a Toolaholic...
OSHA approved I'll bet. :)
A bad day woodworking is better than a good day working -- yes, I'm retired!
On the right side it has a horizontal boring attatchment! I think it is a shop smith.
brent,
Yes, it's admirable to know that woodworkers through the ages created great furniture even with these kinds of machines.
However, we should not romanticize these kinds of machines too much. Woodworkers in "the old days" were accustomed to losing limbs and eyes. It just went with the job, the same way that people who worked in coal mines expected to die young of lung cancer. How often have you met a woodworker from the "good old days" who has all ten fingers? I wonder how many fingers the woodworker who uses this saw has?
Another thing is that while the best furniture of any era survives, every era also included a lot of junk. But we only see the pieces that survive -- the junk from that era fell apart long ago. We look around us and see a lot of sub-par furniture being made today, and we only see the well-made pieces from bygone days, and it creates the false impression that everything from the previous era was better.
Give me modern and updated machinery any time. Today, people create funiture every bit as good as the "good old days." Even if there is an equal amount of junk, at least people aren't losing as many body parts to do it.
Edited 3/18/2005 8:21 am ET by Matthew Schenker
Yes the junk dies (or is cut up and burned, or the wood is used for something else - can't tell you how much good wood I've saved from bad furniture :-)M.
Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk, cut it with an ax.
Matthew,
I'm not saying we should go back to the stone age.All I'm saying is that a person of low means can and will get the job done by whatever is available to him.Whether the owner of this saw is a master craftsman or a hack makes no difference.He has made due with what he has and for that should be applauded.All I'm saying is how much of the new and improved that every manufacturer tries to sell us ,do we really need.
Brent
brent,
I agree with what you're saying. It is definitely a legitimate question to ask how much we really need to do quality woodworking. I guess I would sum up my position by saying that I have respect for those who can create great works with very few or very primitive tools, but on the whole, I will take the latest technology any day!
Brent,
I have to say I'm with Matthew on this - It's more than an interesting piece, but it looks unsafe as all get out. Your point re: what we need vs. what we want is more than valid, though. But with respect, this clod, for one, needs more than that!
Cheers,Mitch
"I'm always humbled by how much I DON'T know..."
Mitch and Matthew,
I'm certainly not suggesting we all go out and buy one of these saws( would you look in the lumber or machinery section of a catalogue? ) ,I posted it just to show people what some people use and as a question about our buying habits.I too,wouldn't trade the safety and accuracy of my unisaw for this.Although, when I was 14 and didn't have the money to buy big, I took my Black and Decker 3/8 hand drill with a stand they made, an arbour with a 3" blade on it and built a small table around it.It didn't work very well,and I was too young to realize the danger involved, but it was what I could afford at the time.As I said, some people have to make due with alot less than we in North America take for granted.As for safety, have you ever seen the Sam Malouf video? The way he uses a band saw is crazy.He even says not to do it that when he started he didn't know any better and has just gotten used to it that way. So while I agree with you both ,and am not trading in my saw, who are we to judge what other people can afford or use.
Brent
brent,
Don't take me the wrong way. I'm not criticizing you or the people who use this machine. There are places in the world where people don't have the money or the choices we have in this country, and I respect their persistence at doing good woodworking with whatever they have. But I do wish that everyone had access to safer and better machinery. Those woodworkers who "get by" with machines like the one you pictured would probably give it up in a minute for a newer, safer one.I have a personal account related to this idea. My wife is from Russia, and her grandfather was a serious woodworker. We have pieces in our house that he made back in pre-WWII days in Leningrad. In my mother-in-law's apartment, there are photos of him in his wood shop, and I always stop to look at them. I don't see any power tools, but I see hand planes and several other hand tools in the background, and I see a lot of very rough-looking wood! Every time I see those photos, I tell myself I have nothing to complain about and remind myself how lucky I am.Not only did he make lasting furniture without power tools, he also had to figure out how to obtain basic supplies that today we just run out to the store to get. And he had to contend with an oppressive Communist government that did not like his kind (that's how his son, my father-in-law, ended up here). I don't know how long I would survive in that situation, much less be creative and make furniture that lasts. So, believe me, I fully respect people having to make do.PS: I have to scan those photos one of these days.
Edited 3/26/2005 9:47 am ET by Matthew Schenker
However, we should not romanticize these kinds of machines too much. Woodworkers in "the old days" were HAPPY!
How often have you met a woodworker from the "good old days" who has all ten fingers?
My grandpa just had nine! I think he lost a finger pokin' on me to tell me off for what I was doing Wrong!
Hey yall,
My wife is Filipina (their spelling) and I've spent about a year all togather over there. Their craftsmen are amazing. All work is done by hand often on very hard woods. They are some of the most resourcefull people ever. Check out the Jeepney. These cars are made from scratch and fabricated by hand.
http://home.iae.nl/users/piepenbr/jeep/butuan10.htm
Mike
Love those Jeepneys. I spent a weekend in Manila and couldn't stop photographing them. Would love to get one back to the states. Todd
Ditto Todd,
I have an extensive collection. Have you ever riden one? Interesting. For fun my buddy and I would pick two tricycles (these are side cart motorcycles for those who have not been there) and offer an extra $10 to which ever one got us there first. Talk about a crazy ride! $10 is more than a days wage for them.
Mikeplease excuse my spelling.
Had one of those hooked up to a small block Chevy. 400HP!
Called it the Boss Saw or the Boss Hoss Saw.
brent
I just finished cutting some expensive (for me) wood on my POS table sawand surprised myself with how well it turned out. I realized that it was the time involved in setting up the cut that made the difference, not the tool. Your post made me smile.
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