My apologies to the dead craftsman

[Jack Gray]

I was recently tearing some old pine lumber off a very old shack on our property, just working and thinking how primitive and rough those guys had it. They didn't really have access to the building information we have now days. Probably just threw these old shacks together any way they could. Probably did't even have a square. Hell, Didn't know what square was. It's a miricle these old houses didn't fall down in a year or so. Rough sawn pine on the outside from an old circle mill, never any type of treatment or preservative.

Well, when I started pulling that old siding off, much of which is still plenty solid, I noticed that the top plate was a solid 4x4 or 4x5 and all the studs are mortised into it. When I get to the corner, the corner is mortised into the top plate and pegged. The peg is still holding. Come to think of it, this was my great granddads old house. About 125 yrs. old. It just fell down about 5 years ago.

I didn't think those guys knew much about building. Shoot, I wish they could come back and teach me some stuff!!

with new respect, jack

[Larry Jaques]

On Tue, 23 Sep 2003 16:31:08 -0500 (CDT), [e-mail] (Jack Gray) pixelated:

All made from good heart wood from eons old trees.

Yeah, they took their time, did it once, and did it right.

Look for a "timber framing" class in your area if, and only if, you have the body which can handle tossing 8"x12"x30' beams around with one hand. ;) Ah, to be young again...

P.S: Thanks for not mentioning broken Searz products (as I first thought the thread might do.)

---------------------------------------------------------- --== EAT RIGHT...KEEP FIT...DIE ANYWAY ==--

- Schnazzy Tees online

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[Mark & Juanita]

... snip

ah, that would be like shooting fish in a barrel Larry. After all is there any other kind of that product other than dead or disabled?

[Jack Gray]

the house wasn't timber framed though. It appeared to be conventional framing. Studs on 24 instead of 16, but every darn stud was mortised into the top beam. The pegs were hand whittled as well. Damned'est thang I ever saw. Must have taken a day for one short wall.

[Traves W. Coppock]

On Wed, 24 Sep 2003 04:18:20 GMT, Mark & Juanita Crawled out of the shop and said. . .:

[Traves W. Coppock]

On Wed, 24 Sep 2003 04:18:20 GMT, Mark & Juanita Crawled out of the shop and said. . .:

not all craftsman tools are dead or disabled,,,some are dying. . .*G*

it just seems that all of mine are dying REALLY slowly, and show no signs of the "last gasp for air"

Traves, Who is pleasantly waiting the flames. . .hehe

*G*

[Vic Baron]

I dunno - I agree. I have an old, dying Craftsman 1/4" Router circa 1963 - all aluminum housing, etc that is still going strong. As an aside, the instruction manual diagrams the PROPER way to rout is *against* the rotation of the bit, IE climb cutting - your router would move from right to left along the outside edge of the board. Did it that way for years with no problem.

Also have a Craftsman 10" Contractor saw circa 1957 that is still *dying* - loves the WWII blade too.

Also have a plate joiner - relatively new that has been dying for about 4 years.

I have also had my share of crap. It's sort of like Harbor Freight - you have to look at each thing individually -some is a good buy, some is garbage.

I get a little irritated with the constant use of "Crapsman" or "M$" but then, at my age, I get a little irritated about a lot of things.

Vic Baron

[Traves W. Coppock]

On Wed, 24 Sep 2003 22:27:47 GMT, "Vic Baron" Crawled out of the shop and said. . .:

*gasp* you mean im NOT all alone? i am NOT the only one who owns and actually likes a Craftsman tool or machine? *G*

Traves "Hello, I'm Traves and i own Craftsman tools. . ."

[Silvan]

Nup.

Hello, I'm Silvan, and I own Craftsman tools...

Mixed bag. I love a couple of them, live with a couple of them, and I absolutely detest my router. The only good thing about that router is... um... The only good thing about that router is the feeling of satisfaction I will get when I toss it into a concrete wall with my trebuchet some day.

[JMartin957]

I believe you have it backwards.

Climb cutting is cutting with the direction of rotation, so that the cutting action tends to pull the cutter along. As in a radial arm saw. It can give you a better finish, but it is more dangerous. Most routing is done with normal (non-climb) cutting.

John Martin