A Sawstop Saw Defeats my Thrifty Neighbor

[Thomas Pender]

Have a 91 year old neighbor whose family made him buy a Sawstop after a couple of incidents - including losing part of a finger several years ago (BTW he is a retired Dairy Farmer, but it is a table saw that injured him).

He is thrifty and imaginative and uses recycled wood he gets from the Mennonite Gift and Thrift in Harrisonburg where he volunteers two days per week (yes, he is amazing). He was cutting some recycled wood the other day and a piece of metal in some recycled cherry fired the brake on his Sawstop. He bought a new cartridge and blade at the Co-Op hardware store and was having some difficulty getting the brake installed until his wife sent me an email asking for help. I walked over and figured out he was missing the upper hole point on the cartridge and so it would not push in (something I had learned not to do since I change mine to a Dado set up and back again from time to time). We reset it and set the gap between the blade and the brake.

Well, I pointed out to him the cost of replacing a good blade and cartridge would probably pay for a bunch of good wood and that recycled lumber has its own cost/benefit ratio. He agreed. Do not think he will be using much recycled wood, if at all, on this Sawstop in the future. (BTW-he makes lots of furniture (tables, benches, etc.) for the Mennonite Relief Sale at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds every year and it gives me pleasure to make a piece myself and give him stuff I cannot use, so that he can build more stuff. My only reward so far (and it is more than enough) is the Shoefly Cake his daughter makes that is simply tremendous.)

[Richard Coers]

What do you think loosing a couple more fingers will cost him? At his age, the brain doesn't work like it used to.

[Mike Kees]

Hope he/or you find a new source of material to keep him busy on that saw. Would hate to hear that someone that generous and motivated would have to stop production for lack of material.

[Andrew Seemann]

That generation sometimes let dollars slip by because they were so focused on saving their pennies. 15-20 years ago I was piling maybe 100 pounds of scrap steel by the alley so it would "magically disappear" in the next couple days (standard city living thing, anything you put out next to the alley was fair game to whoever wanted it. I really miss that where I live now).

My dad (about 10 years younger than your neighbor), decided that he was going to take it to the scrap yard because he didn't want the $15 to go to waste, or whatever the going rate was. I say fine, I just want it to go away and don't have time to deal with it. He loads it up in his truck when he leaves that day.

Next day, he comes back and his hand is all bandaged up. I ask what on earth happened, and he said he hooked his hand on a piece of metal while unloading at the scrap yard and cut it up bad and had to go get it patched up. I shook my head and asked if that cost more than $15. He said yes, and we didn't talk about it again:) I think that was the last time he went to the scrap yard.

[Ed Aumiller]

Richard... quote.. At his age, the brain doesn't work like it used to. unquote

In the Shenandoah Valley we have MANY folks his age who are extremely alert, capable, active, etc... Age alone does not define capabilities...
My neighbor made many items for the Church of the Brethren Relief Auction into a very ripe age...

[Lee Schierer]

(BTW-he makes lots of furniture (tables, benches, etc.) for the Mennonite Relief Sale at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds every year and it gives me pleasure to make a piece myself and give him stuff I cannot use, so that he can build more stuff. My only reward so far (and it is more than enough) is the Shoefly Cake his daughter makes that is simply tremendous.)

Buy him a Little Wizard II Nail Finder Woodworking Metal Detector (https://www.amazon.com/Wizard-Distribution-Little-Metal-Detector/dp/B00005NMUO). They work really well and it should save him a blade/cartridge or two.
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It might earn you another cake or two.:D

[Jim Becker]

Lee took the words and image right out of my head!! Very important tool to have when using anything "pre-used" and even sometimes new material, depending on where it was milled..."homeowner" logs often have metal in them, too.

[Thomas Pender]

Thank you all on the Little Wizard. I suspect it will make his daughter (my next door neighbor) and his wife happy. If it gets me a Shoefly Cake it is a bargain. :). BTW he (the 91 year old) is still sharp as can be and unbelievably strong. He is a joy to be around and besides woodworking, he knows apples, which, since I have a small Orchard on my New Market Farm, is helpful. His wife has turned some of my apples into real baked treats.

Ed probably understands, but for the uninitiated, Rockingham County is either the heart or near the heart of the Valley (plus around 700M in farm income/year with 20% in the Shenandoah National Park and other parks) and we have many woodworkers - so it is a shame the nearest specialty workworking supply store is probably in Roanoke, although the Rockingham Co-Op sells SawStops and other high end woodworking tools and almost every kind of screw size (SAE and Metric) you can imagine. It is also home to a very large Anabaptist population, two universities, one college, a buggy factory, a harness shop-maker, a blacksmith, a ski resort, several poultry plants, dairy cows, and more poultry than you can imagine, plus a super duper county fair.

[Jeff Bartley]

Thank you all on the Little Wizard. I suspect it will make his daughter (my next door neighbor) and his wife happy. If it gets me a Shoefly Cake it is a bargain. :). BTW he (the 91 year old) is still sharp as can be and unbelievably strong. He is a joy to be around and besides woodworking, he knows apples, which, since I have a small Orchard on my New Market Farm, is helpful. His wife has turned some of my apples into real baked treats.

Ed probably understands, but for the uninitiated, Rockingham County is either the heart or near the heart of the Valley (plus around 700M in farm income/year with 20% in the Shenandoah National Park and other parks) and we have many woodworkers - so it is a shame the nearest specialty workworking supply store is probably in Roanoke, although the Rockingham Co-Op sells SawStops and other high end woodworking tools and almost every kind of screw size (SAE and Metric) you can imagine. It is also home to a very large Anabaptist population, two universities, one college, a buggy factory, a harness shop-maker, a blacksmith, a ski resort, several poultry plants, dairy cows, and more poultry than you can imagine, plus a super duper county fair.

Thomas, you forgot Klines!!

Jeff (now in Woodstock, formally Singers Glen)

[Charles Coolidge]

Lee took the words and image right out of my head!! Very important tool to have when using anything "pre-used" and even sometimes new material, depending on where it was milled..."homeowner" logs often have metal in them, too.

I have logs covered, my Minelab GPZ 7000.

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[Frederick Skelly]

I have logs covered, my Minelab GPZ 7000.

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Yup, for $8,000, I'll bet you do. Must be a heck of a machine!

[Charles Coolidge]

Yup, for $8,000, I'll bet you do. Must be a heck of a machine!

It will detect ridiculously small bits of metal and with gold at $1800 an ounce the machines pay for themselves. Well that and silver, diamonds, emeralds and shipwreck treasure.

[Thomas Pender]

Jeff-I presume you mean Kline’s Dairy Bar (there are several) one even across the street from our church in downtown Harrisonburg. They are busy even in the winter and are wonderful - long lines. There is also a really great ice cream place outside of Bridgewater - Smiley’s, that sells ice cream of premium quality - their peppermint bark around Christmas is a local and now a regional favorite - not too far off of the exit on I81.

[Thomas Wilson]

Jeff-I presume you mean Kline’s Dairy Bar (there are several) one even across the street from our church in downtown Harrisonburg. They are busy even in the winter and are wonderful - long lines. There is also a really great ice cream place outside of Bridgewater - Smiley’s, that sells ice cream of premium quality - their peppermint bark around Christmas is a local and now a regional favorite - not too far off of the exit on I81.

I will remember to wave in your general direction next time I pass through on my way to visit my daughter in DC. The area is rich in many ways.

[Jim Becker]

Make sure you are very clear with your friend that the metal detector is a really good thing but it's still not foolproof. He will still need to take care with recycled/upcycled material.