Neander Version of What Comes First the Chicken or the Egg?

[Mike Allen1010]

I want to share a conundrum in my shop, that I know others here in the Cave share (even if we really don't want to admit it!). I appreciate any advice fellow Neanders can offer to help me with my "problem".

The conundrum goes something like -- given there is a never-ending population of beautiful, vintage hand saws that:

A) "really deserve to be rehabilitated" or

B) “I might need for some -- fill in the blank use",

do I first liberate the old beauties from their dusty current home, or do I first build a worthy till to put them in?

This may not be a problem for some of you with the luxury of space, however I work in a two-car garage that SWMBO insists must still house two cars at the end of the day (obviously totally unreasonable), therefore space is at a premium.

To kickstart your consideration of this "chicken or egg" question -- I've attached some pictures of a cherry saw till I just finished and the deserving applicants hanging in the rafters looking for a new home.

Disclaimer: of course when SWMBO ultimately and inevitably notices the new Saw till hanging in the garage (that I obviously hung up when she wasn't home) and the ongoing multiplication of saws in the garage/shop, she responds to my explanation “yeah but I sold the tablesaw and I really do use these", with a roll of the eyes and a slow, sad shake of her head. She clearly thinks I have a serious problem!

Any and all advice/suggestions are welcome – as long as it's nothing outlandish like give away/sell some saws - I'm looking for some quality excuses here! The Neander community needs to stick together!

Best regards, Mike Allen
:)
“That's my story and I'm sticking to it"

[Jim Neeley]

Mike,

I don't have any great words of wisdom on what to say but I've got a couple on what *NOT* to say...

* But you've got more pairs of shoes than I have saws...

or


* Collecting saws is a lot cheaper than collecting girlfriends!

Either of those are likely to result in the saws being removed from their current till and placed in another repository, painfully!! <g>

[Andrae Covington]

I want to share a conundrum in my shop, that I know others here in the Cave share (even if we really don't want to admit it!). I appreciate any advice fellow Neanders can offer to help me with my "problem".

The conundrum goes something like -- given there is a never-ending population of beautiful, vintage hand saws that:

A) "really deserve to be rehabilitated" or

B) “I might need for some -- fill in the blank use",

do I first liberate the old beauties from their dusty current home, or do I first build a worthy till to put them in?...

I started buying hand tools (including said saws) about four years ago. I am just now building a tool chest to hold them. I have often been frustrated trying to find a tool because it is buried under others in a box or otherwise misplaced. I am definitely looking forward to having a dedicated location for my tools, at least the ones I expect to use most frequently. Of course, you need the tools to build the storage...

[Joe A Faulkner]

Looks to me like you have it figured out - 1. Rescue saws and provide them with temporary, yet adequate, simple housing. 2. Build beautiful saw till to house rescued saws that have been transformed into good users. 3. Transform rescued saws and transition them from simple, yet adequate housing to the beautiful saw till. It is a good thing you do for these old saws. :)

[gary Zimmel]

All my shop cabinets have doors on them, including my saw tills.
Any new additions to the stable seem to go unnoticed by my boss.
My office address is used for the delivery of new toys.
Doing these two little things has saved me from make any excuses for a long time.....

[Jim Neeley]

+++1, Gary.. Doors, drawers and office addresses...

[Brian DeLore]

Never put all your eggs in one basket. Large numbers of planes or saws don't make sense to the wife. They all have different uses, but they are all one type of tool. I sprinkle planes around the house and make sure too many don't sit in one place. Make sure to leave some empty spaces in that till so it dosen't look full. Closed storage keeps things clean and helps with out of sight -out of mind.

[Joe McMahon]

Tell her that you are picking these saws up for $2 each. Your master plan is to rehab them and then SELL them at a handsome profit. Sell a couple of your duplicates and let her see you ship them off. When she gets the mail and sees letters from strangers from all over the country, tell her that these are payments for your sales. She will then think that this is a business and pay it little mind. As a matter of fact, as the till fills, she will only see $$$$$ signs and be happy as a clam.

[john brenton]

I concur with all of this underhanded sneakiness. Office address plus occasional sales are a life saver. I have my wife convinced that all of my tools were free since I bought them using all the profits from the rehabs. Now, I have made some good profits here and there and have upgraded tools with it...but yeah, no way in hell all my stuff is free.


Tell her that you are picking these saws up for $2 each. Your master plan is to rehab them and then SELL them at a handsome profit. Sell a couple of your duplicates and let her see you ship them off. When she gets the mail and sees letters from strangers from all over the country, tell her that these are payments for your sales. She will then think that this is a business and pay it little mind. As a matter of fact, as the till fills, she will only see $$$$$ signs and be happy as a clam.

[Mike Siemsen]

This is an easy one,
Your question was,
"
do I first liberate the old beauties from their dusty current home, or do I first build a worthy till to put them in?"

The answer is to clean up a ripsaw and a crosscut saw that you then use to build the till. Put saws that are not cleaned up in one end those that are ready to go in the other.
Mike

[Jay Maiers]

I concur with all of this underhanded sneakiness. Office address plus occasional sales are a life saver. I have my wife convinced that all of my tools were free since I bought them using all the profits from the rehabs. Now, I have made some good profits here and there and have upgraded tools with it...but yeah, no way in hell all my stuff is free.

Please help me get this straight...
You partake in sneaky tool acquisition, and then post about it in an open forum???
You're clearly underestimating your wife ;)

To the OP, make several tills at 14" wide, remove a bit of drywall and stick them in the cavity between studs. Cover with a piece of pegboard.

Find a bust of Chris Schwarz, install a switch and a motor...
200995 200994

(BTW, Nice till! Do you have a second till for your backsaws?)

[Mike Allen1010]

Many thanks to all who've provided extremely creative and helpful suggestions for my problem!

I knew I was coming to the right place for advice - once again my faith has been confirmed the Neanders have all the answers! I can clearly see all the years of experience at work here!

I especially like Jay's suggestion for the "Bat Cave" hidden saw till, complete with switch for the concealing motor in the bust of Chris Schwarz - awesome!

Yes Jay- In answer to your question, I clearly underestimated the seriousness of my "problem" and I am embarrassed to admit what started out as "the only saw till I'll realistically need" has now grown to 4 tills; Cherry, African mahogany, walnut and a smaller pine till for my backsaws. If there's interest, I'd be happy to post pictures -- probably have to do it anonymously to hide my shame!

Regards, Mike

Thanks, Mike