This Forum is so .... ( )

[hbmcc]

I have many, many vintage tools, including many vintage dividers (usually dirt cheap, even at antique malls).  I've been using dividers regularly for many years, but for the dividers I have, the ones I use most are a 12" pair, bought at, of all places, Harbor Freight.  Lock up nicely, and I ain't afraid to drop 'em, and cost all of $5.00 or so.  I'm sure HF has  mash hammer also, and probably a set of french curves.  To the hobby noobs here, it ain't the tools, but knowing how to use them.

There! Your tool review and back scratching. 

Shop at HF this Christmas. Just don't buy anything with a tail, a battery, the colored screw driver tips, those things containing rubber (mothball stench), and the wood tool chest or workbench. What else have I forgotten.... ? Make sure anything with a measurement is accurate.

[Tony Z]

There! Your tool review and back scratching. 

Shop at HF this Christmas. Just don't buy anything with a tail, a battery, the colored screw driver tips, those things containing rubber (mothball stench), and the wood tool chest or workbench. What else have I forgotten.... ? Make sure anything with a measurement is accurate.

A HF fanboy I ain't! But there are a few things (very few) there worth getting.

To our noobs here, soon they will all discover there isn't a vintage tool that can't do all the things that modern boutique maker's tools do. Sooner or later, that $300 handsaw will need sharpened, as will that chisel or handplane.

[AHill]

Chris Schwarz operates or at least appears to operate on the basis of networking. He is surrounded by a close knit or circle of friends -- some famous, some less -- who support and publicize his work or business through their TV or magazine or blogs. It is therefore natural that from time to time he will "recommend" tools that may or may not be from his circle of friends. Better have more friends than enemies when you operate a small business by word of mouth. As the saying goes, you scratch my back and I will scratch yours.

Simon

Once he started Crucible Tools with his two buddies, Schwarz stopped doing tool reviews.  Even before that, he never did a tool review on a tool that he didn't purchase himself.  From that perspective, I value his past tool reviews slightly more than some magazine shootouts where all the tools were provided for free, or by other woodworkers who are paid to hawk their tools.

[jgourlay]

It's so hard to become relevant in the world of woodworking.  Chris made his mark by advocating hand tool techniques will posted at Popular Woodworking.  His body of work on workbenches merits acclaim.  The referenced blog entry was sour grapes to me.  I wonder how many very good woodworkers were underhandedly dissed by Chris' diatribe on words he doesn't care for?  For example, his disdain for "award-winning".  If I'm an aspiring custom furniture maker, what better way to gain some notoriety than by entering a few juried contests and getting my name out there?  Heck, PWW chose winners and losers by publishing tips and doing tool reviews.  Seriously, Chris, you're part of the problem.

Describing some of your work as "art" is legitimate.  If I sell a turned vase at a gallery, it'll command way higher a price than if I post it on Etsy.  Galleries sell art.  Sometimes, in the case of furniture and some woodworking, it's functional art.

Maybe Chris is suffering a mid-life crisis.  Must be slow in the world of publishing.  I haven't purchased a Chris Schwarz book in a long time.  Most anymore are not relevant to what I do.  The Roubo stuff is interesting from a historical perspective, but it doesn't make me a better woodworker and it doesn't add skills to my repertoire.

  Chris' writing has brought a lot of value to me over the years.  He's got a tough row to hoe, however.  Let's face it, this hobby/activity/profession is not one of lifelong *intellectual* learning.  It is one of lifelong SKILL BUILDING.    The problem is that "skill building" isn't a 'write about it' type of thing.

Not just Chris, but every long term author and publication runs on a 3-5 year cycle on what topics they cover and in what depth, because that about the amount of total content there is.  It is, therefore, quite difficult to make a lifetime career out of the writing part of it.  Maybe he is going through a funk.  Okay, let's show the man some grace.  He's done great work for all of our community, and I think we should give him a lot of support.  Pass over his faults, give him some goodwill, and over time he's likely to find a fresh new angle on old topics.

[Admiral]

  Chris' writing has brought a lot of value to me over the years.  He's got a tough row to hoe, however.  Let's face it, this hobby/activity/profession is not one of lifelong *intellectual* learning.  It is one of lifelong SKILL BUILDING.    The problem is that "skill building" isn't a 'write about it' type of thing.

Excellent insight.