Diminishing Returns

[Richard Gillespie]

Been sliding down the slope for several years now and for the past year felt like I fell off a cliff. Bottom feeding on Ebay has become an addiction. Just received a shipment of 5 hand saws plus a hand made rasp and old hatchet that I bought on Ebay for $5.00 plus shipping. It's a mixed bag. There are Two Diston rip saws in the batch, one D-7 with a broken handle and a D-23 in good shape. Most of the rest of the stuff was junk.

I now have about 15 hand saws that have to be cleaned sharpened and maintained. That's on top of the 35 or so cast iron planes I have. I think I'm beginning to see a time that I'll be spending more time bringing tools back from the brink or maintaining them then I'll be spending working with wood.

I need to build a saw till to store the saws but I've just about run out of wall space. I think what I really need to do is put a halt to tool acquisition till I catch up say the year 2006, Nah!

[Vince Sandy]

Richard,

I understand! I'm not up to the kind of numbers you're at, but I have about a dozen old hand saws and about two dozen old planes, among other old tools that I've found interesting.

I have found that I really enjoy the process of bringing the old ones back to useable life. Some tools become quite a restoration project and take a long time but most can be brought back to life in a few hours or in a day or two. Since my children are young and very time consuming (as it should be), my woodworking projects are few and far between. I'm working in a small area of our drive-in basement (no room for car or truck now ;) ) so I have to be careful about what I bring home. I'm kinda looking at it like amassing the tools and equipment that I think I'll want when I reach the point of finally getting a dedicated shop. And hand tools don't take up as much space as power tools (I have both and use both). As an example of one of my big restoration projects, I've been restoring a 1940 Unisaw for about a year now. :o

I do plan on thinning the hand tool herd. I'll get rid of duplicates and tools that I find "better" versions of. I hope you're enjoying the ride as much as I am. I've found it to be a not-too-expensive and very enjoyable slippery slope. The results of which can be both rewarding and quite useful.

Keep on slippin, Vince in NC