Hello World.

Hi folks. I am starting this blog to replace the one I had previously neglected on my website. There are a few reasons for this:

First, I’d like a way to communicate with everyone who visits my website beyond the little blurb at the top of the tool list. I’m not really into Twitter/Facebook/Instagram and the email list became unmanageable. Blogs have been around long enough that they can be considered old-school at this point. So.. the blog is the way to go.

Second, I have a lot of stuff to write down. This will both help ensure I don’t forget it and also help make sure the information doesn’t disappear if I get hit by a bus tomorrow.

Finally.. hell, I forgot my final reason for doing this. I’ll update this post when I remember.

I’m going to try to import some of the more pertinent posts from my older blog. There was some useful stuff there and good conversations about tools and woodworking.

I can’t promise I’ll update this often. When I do I’ll make a note of it on my website.

That’s it for now. Thanks for reading.

Halloween and Hurricanes

Hello everyone,

Here in Connecticut we’re supposed to get hit pretty hard by hurricane Sandy. The coast is at the greatest risk from the predicted huge storm surge. Thankfully we’re 500 ft. above sea level up here in the hills so we shouldn’t have any flooding. I am worried about something falling on the house, but there’s nothing I can do about that. We have the generator ready and plenty of food put up. Let’s hope for the best.

I’m going to postpone the tool sale I had planned for tomorrow. I’ll have a house full of kids and a possible interruption of power and/or Internet access so it’s best to push it off a week to November 5. This will give me another week to put together even more good tools which should make this an enormous list of tools for sale. Lots of fun stuff coming up- I promise.

We spent some time today carving pumpkins for Halloween. The kids are all excited about our town’s Trick-or-Trunk event at the school on Halloween. We live in the middle of nowhere so door-to-door trick or treating isn’t practical. Instead, everyone gathers at the high school and decorates their trunks/trucks and passes out candy. My daughter has been working hard on our display this year- she picked a Plants vs. Zombies theme. Hopefully the hurricane won’t wash out Halloween again like it did last year. Here are some photos of the pumpkin carving. As you can see, old tools were utilized. I have a Harvey Peace keyhole saw that I’ve modified just for this purpose and it works great. A center bit in a brace is a good way to cut a pilot hole for the saw, and plus it makes fun curly pumpkin shavings that the kids love.

Boring a pilot hole with my 4in brace and center bit.

Removing the top with my specialized pumpkin-cutting keyhole saw- my son's favorite part.

Curly pimpkin shavings curtesy of a razor sharp center bit.

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading!

Josh

Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event Recap

Two weeks ago I attended the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event in Manchester, CT. I mentioned this on my blog and invited you to stop by and say hi. A number of you asked for a report so here it goes, complete with pictures.

The two day event was a huge success for me. I went there with high hopes but almost no expectations.  My idea was to setup a few tables of tools for sale and set out some tools from my own shop to demonstrate. Having never setup at an event like this my goals were simply to meet a few of my customers I had previously only communicated with by email, and perform a few demonstrations without making a fool of myself. Along the way I hoped to sell some tools as well.

I’ve Been Schwarz’d !!

This morning Chris Schwarz was kind enough to mention my web site on his blog. Chris warned me ahead of time so I had some time to prepare, but I wasn’t expecting this level of response! I left the house this morning, right after Chris published his entry, headed to my daughter’s Pre-K “Thanksgiving Feast” at school. I returned, full of good food and with one tired kid, to find more than 50 email messages waiting for me. I’m just responding to them now, processing them in the order they were received. If you haven’t heard from me yet, you will. I appreciate your patience!

Thanks for reading,

Josh