L,G,& M make a valid point, some scary reading, and something interesting relating to China...
I've been thinking a lot about tools the last few days and something a little unsettling happened while I was visiting the local Home Depot. I wanted to buy a new Japanese pull saw. As it happened, they did not have any but as long as I was there I decided to look for a new brace. Not finding any, we asked the "Tool Guy" where they kept their brace and bits or hand drills...
"What's a brace?" he asked...We proceeded to explain what a brace & bit was and then when the vacant look on his face did not go away, we asked where the hand drills were...
"What's a hand drill?" he asked...Needless to say, we did not buy any hand tools at Home Depot that day. For those interested a brace looks like this...
... it's one of the best and most handy tools you could have on a boat.
The scary thing about hand tools is that, to a great extent, they have become antique toys or silly priced tool chest bling rather than tools. I mean take a look at this beautiful work of art crowning plane it's awesome but I'd never use a plane that cost that kind of money. If I had one, I'd put it in a safe and look at it from time to time.
Tools are meant to be used not admired.
For those interested, a very good resource on the tools (both hand and power) that are needful for boatwork is Fred Bingham's "Boat Joinery & Cabinetmaking Simplified" which deserves a place on everybody's bookshelf...
Listening to Billy Currington
So it goes...
