2 weeks ago I met the former president. Today I met a REALLY important person!

[John Shuk]

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Thomas Lie-Nielson. He was pitching his wares at a show in Saratoga Springs with just a name tag that said Thomas. I asked if he was he and he said yeah that's me. All the people around really came alive when they realized who he was. I spoke to him a while and I'm sold on the 4 1/2 when I have the MOOLA. What a great guy. Obviously he is very knowledgeable but he was just so nice. I also got to meet Garrett Hack and Ernie Conover as well. Like most woodworkers they are both great people. I had a nice day with good friends.

[Ray Bersch]

John,
Glad to see that you have improved the company you keep - also glad to hear that the show was a success - I had given thought to traveling up to the show but the bad weather kinda put a damper on my tolerance for travel.

I met Thomas Lie-Nielson at his shop two years ago during a seminar he sponsored with David Charlesworth. I had a chance to watch him as he spoke to others about his products and I was very impressed with his approach and attention to quality - I have since bought a couple of his planes, but more importantly, that trip introduced me to a great tool. His shop is about two hours away from my summer home in Maine - but the trip was worth every minute of the drive - I plan on going back this summer.

Ray

[Dave Anderson NH]

Well John, you should take more care in choosing who to hang around with. :rolleyes: Tom is not only nice and can cost you big bucks, but Garrett is worse. If you hang around with Garrett you are going to become interested in British infill planes and they will make the LN stuff look cheap by comparison. Both of these guys are truly dangerous to your pocketbook.;) :D

[Jim Becker]

John, your next step up the food chain should be to meet Dave... ;) Now, he makes some extraordinarily beautiful tools that compliment all those other toys you've been drooling over...

[John Shuk]

I have one of Dave's striking knives. It is really nice. Our family has a summer house in Maine as well. In Pine Point/South Portland. I guess LN isn't too far of a drive for a summer day.... Among the prominent folks I have met I can count Jim Becker as well. As good an influence as any good ask for.
John

[Ellen Benkin]

LN is about a 2 hour drive from Portland -- near Rockland/Rockport/Camden on US Rt 1. They have a sales room/lobby where you can spend hours talking tools with the guy who does demos for you. He's also the guy who answers questions from people who call the shop. You can also touch and play with all the tools and there is a 10% discount for buying them there. It's also a beautiful part of Maine to explore.

[Rich Konopka]

I had the pleasure of meeting and having lunch with Garret Hack. He is an incredibly nice fellow and awesome woodworker. He was teaching an inlay techniques class which was way too cool and how simple he made it look.