Battery operated tools and appropriate technology

On Tue, 02 Jan 2007 20:11:54 -0500, Tom Watson <[email protected]>
wrote:

>This, along with my Plumb 20 oz. curved claw that I drove for thirty
>years would handle the trim (I know that you think that a 20 oz.
>hammer is more meat than a man should use for trim but if you talk to
>old finish carpenters, of which I am one, they will tell you that 13
>oz. trim hammers are for amateurs and pussies - and just plain don't
>have enough smack).

I've been a pussy for 25 years and proud of it!
I've carried the same Blue Grass 13 oz. hammer the entire time.
If you happen to have a Blue Grass 13 you don't need, I'll take it off
your hands.
BTW, if you offer me a job today where I actually need a 20 oz.
hammer, I'll find you another carpenter.:-)

Mike O.

"Tom Watson" wrote in message

> (Watson - Fairly Unbalanced)

LOL ... Both brag and fact!

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 1/02/07

Mike O. wrote:
> I've carried the same Blue Grass 13 oz. hammer the entire time.
> If you happen to have a Blue Grass 13 you don't need, I'll take it off
> your hands.
> Mike O.


I have one.... but you'll have to pry it out of my cold dead fingers....

Tom Watson wrote:

SNIP

>
> This, along with my Plumb 20 oz. curved claw that I drove for thirty
> years would handle the trim (I know that you think that a 20 oz.
> hammer is more meat than a man should use for trim but if you talk to
> old finish carpenters, of which I am one, they will tell you that 13
> oz. trim hammers are for amateurs and pussies - and just plain don't
> have enough smack).

No kiddin'. I started with Vaughan 999 20oz smooth face with a long
handle. My boss wasn't interested in my changing hammers when I
changed tasks, so he made all of us that worked under him find ONE
hammer that we liked, and that is what we wore in our tool bags. I
finally settled on a 22oz medium handled Plumb (not the framer) for all
the work after I had broken out so many wood handles doing concrete
form work. I still have that hammer, and it has driven so many nails
in its lifetime that the face is worn off almost 1/8" to one side
showing where I have a slightly sidearm swing. The inside of the claws
were smoothed out long ago, and if you don't catch a nail just right,
you can't pull it with that hammer.

When started full time, I worked for a guy that built small restaurants
from start to finish; so I started with the form work on slabs.
basements, etc., and worked all the way up to setting the doors and
installing the locks and everything in between. We didn't carry speed
squares as there was no such animal. Pneumatic guns were for pussies
that couldn't drive 16d nails all day, or didn't have the skill to
drive finish nails. Our big innovation of the day was to use our 3/8"
Milwaukee variable speed corded drills as screw guns. Man did we think
that was big stuff - we were on the cutting edge in our minds.

And my, how things have changed. I haven't had anyone work for me in
years that could stand out and drive nails all day. Remember learning
how to use a hammer by being the guy that had to nail out the decking
and do buildup? You know.. before they trusted you with the saw..

I can't imagine turning loose one of my guys with a hammer and some
nails and telling him to go hang a door or put up some paneling. They
can tap things and move them around with their hammers, but if they
have to use them all day instead of a framing or trim gun, they are
screwed.

I guess it is better in a way, though. I don't have to wait for them
to screw around and drive nails, and the use of air guns has sure cut
down on the pecker tracks on wood work. And it is so much faster than
hand driving - especially if you never learned how.

But in some bizarre, neanderthal way I am proud that I can sink nails
all day long without problems. It is fun to bet beers with the junior
beavers that work for me to see who can drive 12s or 16s with the
fewest whacks.

My framing nail bags are pretty much in retirement. They hold too
much. They make my back hurt. They pull my pants down if I am too
lazy to put the suspenders on. I like my smaller leather bags, and
like someone above mentioned, if I am hanging doors or working on
cabinets, I wear a canvas bag and put odds and ends in my pockets or
within easy reach.

Robert

Steve wrote:
>
> Gee, you make me feel special. I work on Habitat houses, and the insurance
> company won't allow power tools. We just built one from frames constructed
> in Grand Rapids and shipped to Fort Worth as part of the Katrina effort.

I didn't mean any insult to someone that doesn't do it for a living. I
didn't even mean it towards someone that does it for a living... it is
a sign of changing times and technology, and in these days where speed
means everything to anyone associated with a contracted project, nail
guns are the ticket.

Coupled with the fact that the learning curve is 1/1000 of learning to
drive all different kinds of nails, they are indeed the only for
today's work and workers.

Robert

I was in The HorseShoe Tavern one night, a few years ago. The HorseShoe
is a bit like Toronto's version of CBGB, a bit rough around the edges
and in those days mostly punk-ish.
The local promoter introduced his 'find' from Tokyo, a band of 4
spike-haired Japanese fellows.
The lead singer steps up to the mic and hollers: (and I'm not kidding)
" Hello TOLONTO!!! AL YOU LEDDY TO LOCK AND LOLL????"
Needless to say, the place came apart and everybody loved these crazy
guys.

r----> who used to like to go to The Shoe, 'cuz you just never knew
what you were going to get.
.
.
.
.
.
.
...and just in case anybody gives a shiat: (some big names in here)

Historically speaking, the 'Shoe is mythologized as the venue that
gave birth to legendary Canadian artists like Blue Rodeo, The
Tragically Hip, The Watchmen, Big Sugar, Amanda Marshall, Wide Mouth
Mason, Great Big Sea, Stompin' Tom Connors, The Band, Prairie Oyster,
and played host to the Toronto debuts of International mega-stars, The
Police, Hootie & The Blowfish, and emerging superstars, Wilco, Ben
Harper, Son Volt, Johnny Lang, Cornershop, Everclear, Tracey Bonham,
Goldfinger, Paula Cole, Sneaker Pimps, Leahy, not to mention ground
breaking shows by the likes of The Ramones, Cramps, Dick Dale, Link
Wray, Golden Smog, Los Lobos, RL Burnside, Super Furry Animals, Gomez,
and Neutral Milk Hotel.

It was the venue featured on Live on MTV in September of 1997, when the
Rolling Stones began their No Security Tour with a thundering 75 minute
show. (I still have that T-Shirt..lol)

On Tue, 02 Jan 2007 22:43:00 -0600, Mike O. <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>I've been a pussy for 25 years and proud of it!
>I've carried the same Blue Grass 13 oz. hammer the entire time.
>If you happen to have a Blue Grass 13 you don't need, I'll take it off
>your hands.
>BTW, if you offer me a job today where I actually need a 20 oz.
>hammer, I'll find you another carpenter.:-)
>
>Mike O.

Aw, hell, it was just for grins.



See this nine pound hammer (nine pound hammer)
Is a little too heavy (little too heavy)
For my size (for my size)
For my size

Now roll on buddy (roll on buddy)
Don't you roll so slow (roll so slow)
How can I roll (how can I roll)
When the wheels won't go

etc.






Regards,

Tom Watson (Fairly Unbalanced)

tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (real email)

http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1/

On Thu, 4 Jan 2007 17:43:10 -0600, "Swingman" <[email protected]> wrote:

>"Tom Watson" wrote in message
>
>> (Watson - Fairly Unbalanced)
>
>LOL ... Both brag and fact!


You remember when I asked you if you could find the Burrito's version
of Six Days On The Road, because all I had was a version that didn't
sound right to me?

I just bought myself a set of noise canceling headphones and I
listened to the version that I already have - through the headphones I
recognize it as the same version that my memory was looking for.

These old ears are playing bad tricks on me - but these spiffy
headphones help out a lot.

Now I'm going to try that Vassar Clements (sp?) version of Orange
Blossom Special and see if my ears and memory can be brought into sync
on that tune.


Regards,

Tom Watson (Fairly Unbalanced)

tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (real email)

http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1/

"Tom Watson" wrote in message

> Just lookin' at it made me tired, so I spent about an hour knocking
> together an old timey tote, with a closet rod for a handle and no
> dividers to add weight, or nuthin'.

Like this?

www.e-woodshop.net/images/BubbaBox.jpg

Still gets packed for every onsite job.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 1/02/07

On 2 Jan 2007 21:31:58 -0800, [email protected] wrote:

>> I've carried the same Blue Grass 13 oz. hammer the entire time.
>> If you happen to have a Blue Grass 13 you don't need, I'll take it off
>> your hands.
>> Mike O.
>
>
>I have one.... but you'll have to pry it out of my cold dead fingers....


I feel the same way but sometimes I think that day might be getting
closer.<g>

I don't know what happened to the company but I've searched and never
found much info about it.

Mike O.

I think it was "Swingman" <[email protected]> who asked:

>What is the earliest mention of the phrase "rock-n-roll" you've ever heard
>in a song?

1943

"When the Prairie Sun Climbs Out of the Hay" by the Sons of the
Pioneers:

And we'll be rockin' on the rollin' range;
When we greet the rising sun.



(OK, so it's not "rock-n-roll" but it's the earliest I've heard of
"rocking" and "rolling" being on the same line in any song. I hear it
almost every Monday morning on Minnesota Public Radio's "Morning Show"
with Dale Connely and Jim-Ed Poole.)

--
Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine

On Wed, 03 Jan 2007 04:52:35 GMT, Lew Hodgett
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Mike O. wrote:
>
> > I've been a pussy for 25 years and proud of it!
> > I've carried the same Blue Grass 13 oz. hammer the entire time.
>
>
>Tell me that Blue Grass hammer came from Belnap in Louisville?

Yes it did. That thing has just become a part of me and I've never
found another. If I lose it, it'll be time to retire! :-)


Mike O.

"Swingman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> Like this?
>
> www.e-woodshop.net/images/BubbaBox.jpg
>
> Still gets packed for every onsite job.

How does it hang on your belt?

Swingman wrote:

> In 1934, the Boswell Sisters, recorded a song called "Rock and
Roll" ... the
> earliest recording of the actual phrase itself that I've been able
to find.
> In 1931 Duke Ellington recorded a tune called "Rocking n' Rhythm",
which was
> close, but not quite.

One of the reasons the Rock-N-Roll hall of fame is in Cleveland is Freed.

As a DJ, he was the first to cross the color line and play what had
been basically black music to a white audience.

This would have been the early '50s, before he went to NYC.

During the mid-late 50's, WERE in Cleveland had the most powerful
group of DJs in the country.

If they didn't play your song, it didn't get played anywhere in the
country.

That power led to the payola scandals.

Lew

Swingman wrote:


> What is the earliest mention of the phrase "rock-n-roll" you've
ever heard
> in a song?
>

Probably when Bill Haley & the Comets released "Rock Around the Clock"
or else when Alan Freed had his bash in Cleveland at the public hall
which puts it in the '53-'55 time frame.

Lew

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> On Thu, 4 Jan 2007 17:43:10 -0600, "Swingman" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >"Tom Watson" wrote in message
> >
> >> (Watson - Fairly Unbalanced)
> >
> >LOL ... Both brag and fact!
>
>
> You remember when I asked you if you could find the Burrito's version
> of Six Days On The Road, because all I had was a version that didn't
> sound right to me?
>
> I just bought myself a set of noise canceling headphones and I
> listened to the version that I already have - through the headphones I
> recognize it as the same version that my memory was looking for.
>
> These old ears are playing bad tricks on me - but these spiffy
> headphones help out a lot.
>
> Now I'm going to try that Vassar Clements (sp?) version of Orange
> Blossom Special and see if my ears and memory can be brought into sync
> on that tune.
>

Prolly won't help your ears. Vassar's band was the loudest I ever
heard! (Well, I was sitting at a table right in front of the speakers
in a small club...)

>
> Regards,
>
> Tom Watson (Fairly Unbalanced)
>
> tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (real email)
>
> http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1/
>

--
John

[email protected] wrote in news:1167803899.739373.126620
@a3g2000cwd.googlegroups.com:

> Tom Watson wrote:
>
> SNIP
>
> I can't imagine turning loose one of my guys with a hammer and some
> nails and telling him to go hang a door or put up some paneling. They
> can tap things and move them around with their hammers, but if they
> have to use them all day instead of a framing or trim gun, they are
> screwed.

Gee, you make me feel special. I work on Habitat houses, and the insurance
company won't allow power tools. We just built one from frames constructed
in Grand Rapids and shipped to Fort Worth as part of the Katrina effort.

Steve <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> [email protected] wrote in news:1167803899.739373.126620
> @a3g2000cwd.googlegroups.com:
>
>> Tom Watson wrote:
>>
>> SNIP
>>
>> I can't imagine turning loose one of my guys with a hammer and some
>> nails and telling him to go hang a door or put up some paneling.
>> They can tap things and move them around with their hammers, but if
>> they have to use them all day instead of a framing or trim gun, they
>> are screwed.
>
> Gee, you make me feel special. I work on Habitat houses, and the
> insurance company won't allow power tools. We just built one from
> frames constructed in Grand Rapids and shipped to Fort Worth as part
> of the Katrina effort.

If I were writing insurance for an unknown group of volunteers, building
houses, I'd think long and hard about some of the power tools, too. Air
nails don't always go where they were expected to go.

Thanks, BTW, for the work on Habitat. It's a very good thing, and the Gulf
Coast still needs it a lot.

Patriarch

[email protected] wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> Steve wrote:
>>
>> Gee, you make me feel special. I work on Habitat houses, and the
>> insurance company won't allow power tools. We just built one from
>> frames constructed in Grand Rapids and shipped to Fort Worth as part
>> of the Katrina effort.
>
> I didn't mean any insult to someone that doesn't do it for a living.
> I didn't even mean it towards someone that does it for a living... it
> is a sign of changing times and technology, and in these days where
> speed means everything to anyone associated with a contracted project,
> nail guns are the ticket.
>
> Coupled with the fact that the learning curve is 1/1000 of learning to
> drive all different kinds of nails, they are indeed the only for
> today's work and workers.
>
> Robert

No offense taken. Actually, I do do it for a living. The first day we
started framing, I asked if I could bring my power tools. They politely
told me, "No".

Interestingly, they DO provide palm nailers, and provided me a finish
nailer to put up window trim. There was a group of accountants there that
day, and I had a great time teaching one how to use the power nailer.

I asked:

>> Tell me that Blue Grass hammer came from Belnap in Louisville?

Mike O. answered:

> Yes it did. That thing has just become a part of me and I've never
> found another. If I lose it, it'll be time to retire! :-)

It's a small frigg'in world.

Belnap was a hardware wholesaler that along with other wholesalers,
supplied the retail hardware store I worked in as a kid which was
before Rock-N-Roll came along.

Understand Belnap is long gone.

Lew

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message

> Belnap was a hardware wholesaler that along with other wholesalers,
> supplied the retail hardware store I worked in as a kid which was
> before Rock-N-Roll came along.

What is the earliest mention of the phrase "rock-n-roll" you've ever heard
in a song?

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 1/02/07

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
> Swingman wrote:
>
>
> > What is the earliest mention of the phrase "rock-n-roll" you've
> ever heard
> > in a song?
> >
>
> Probably when Bill Haley & the Comets released "Rock Around the Clock"
> or else when Alan Freed had his bash in Cleveland at the public hall
> which puts it in the '53-'55 time frame.

In 1934, the Boswell Sisters, recorded a song called "Rock and Roll" ... the
earliest recording of the actual phrase itself that I've been able to find.
In 1931 Duke Ellington recorded a tune called "Rocking n' Rhythm", which was
close, but not quite.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 1/02/07

Mike O. wrote:

> I've been a pussy for 25 years and proud of it!
> I've carried the same Blue Grass 13 oz. hammer the entire time.


Tell me that Blue Grass hammer came from Belnap in Louisville?

Lew

"Tom Watson" wrote in message

> It gets better.

Damn ... I hope you didn't have all that hanging off a toolbelt! ;)

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 1/02/07

On Wed, 3 Jan 2007 19:44:40 -0600, "Swingman" <[email protected]> wrote:

>"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
>
>> Belnap was a hardware wholesaler that along with other wholesalers,
>> supplied the retail hardware store I worked in as a kid which was
>> before Rock-N-Roll came along.
>
>What is the earliest mention of the phrase "rock-n-roll" you've ever heard
>in a song?


Matthew 27:60
And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the ROCK:
AND he ROLLed a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and
departed.KJV.

Mark 15:46
Then he bought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the
linen. And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the ROCK,
AND ROLLed a stone against the door of the tomb.NKJV.


:-)


(Watson - Fairly Unbalanced)




Regards,

Tom Watson

tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (real email)

http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1/

On Tue, 2 Jan 2007 19:16:07 -0600, "Swingman" <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>"Tom Watson" wrote in message
>
>> It gets better.
>
>Damn ... I hope you didn't have all that hanging off a toolbelt! ;)


You done hit on a sore spot.

I was looking at my California Style Leather Toolbelt the other day
(you know the one - costs a weeks pay and weighs twenty pounds empty -
they'll sell you shoulder straps with lamb's wool pads, 'cause they
know a normal man can't bear the full burden on his hips - yeah, that
one).

Just lookin' at it made me tired, so I spent about an hour knocking
together an old timey tote, with a closet rod for a handle and no
dividers to add weight, or nuthin'.

Now, I can fit my needed non-battery operated, non-pneumatic tools
into the thing and get damned near everything done that I need to get
done around here. I did put a 24" Rigid wrench into it the other day
- and that was wrong - but if I only keep carpenter tools in it - she
swings sweet and carries light.

I reckon I'll sell that leather belt.



Regards,

Tom Watson

tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (real email)

http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1/

On Thu, 04 Jan 2007 00:56:25 GMT, Lew Hodgett
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
> >> Tell me that Blue Grass hammer came from Belnap in Louisville?
>
>Mike O. answered:
>
> > Yes it did. That thing has just become a part of me and I've never
> > found another. If I lose it, it'll be time to retire! :-)
>
>It's a small frigg'in world.

Interestingly enough, after talking about these hammers, I looked on
Ebay and found a guy with a whole selection of "New" Bluegrass
hammers. I assume they must be new old stock from somewhere. Not
cheap but still tempting....

>Belnap was a hardware wholesaler that along with other wholesalers,
>supplied the retail hardware store I worked in as a kid which was
>before Rock-N-Roll came along.
>
>Understand Belnap is long gone.

Well here seems to be the scoop about the Belknap company. It seems
they were also a manufacturer and Blue Grass was one of their brands.
http://www.thckk.org/belknap-bluegrass-hist.html

Mike O.

In article <[email protected]>,
Tom Watson <[email protected]> wrote:
<...snipped...>
>
>My wife passed by as I was sitting on the couch and asked what I was
>doing.
>
>When I explained my predicament she asked me, "What did you do before
>you had a cordless drill?"
>

Couldn't you just have told her you wanted to watch the game?

--
No dumb questions, just dumb answers.

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore, Maryland - [email protected]