Why Not To Hang Out On The Wreck

[Thomas Bunetta]

With your attitude, you will have to be a "winner"... AFAIK A riving knife is a small blade in a table saw that scores the surface of the piece, eliminating tear out. Tom

[Lawrence Wasserman]

Boo hoo hoo! You're braking my heart, man!

[Dave in Fairfax]

Luke 4:8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Dave in Fairfax

[bridger]

nope.

it's the european version of a splitter.

[fredfighter]

Therein lies the problem. Too many people regard rec.woowdorking as _their_ shed, not recognizing that it is a communal resource.

Further, the shop is not rec.woodworking, it is usenet. There are enough newsgroups that their is no excuse for starting an off- topic thread in any of them, that includes rec.woodworking. Rec.woodworking is ony one small room in the shop. Starting a thread about global change in rec.woowdorking is like walking into the paint booth with your belt sander saying:

1) Don't mind me, I'll only do a little sanding.

or

2) I'm not the only one who sands in here.

or

3) I'm don't know the guys in the sanding room so I'm going sand in here.

or

4) If you don't want to sand, just ignore me.

or

5) You're a jerk just leave me alone.

Here the room is analagous to UseNet and each conversation to indivivual newsgroups. Suppose you're at the pub and there is one group talking woodworking and another talking global climate change. If you poke your nose into the woodworlking group to talk global climate change how could you possible be upset if someone there asks to go talk to the other group?

Besides, barrooms are inherantly anarchist, whereas UseNet must be structured or it becomes unusuable.

[mac davis]

hmm... I'd rather have him in front of me, so I didn't have to watch me back... or my ass.. (damn donkey thieves!)

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[fredfighter]

So why not do a Google search to see wha thte gods of usenet have to say about off-topic posts.

[Thomas Bunetta]

[Patrick Conroy]

Tom Watson wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Funny...

When I started reading today, chronologically, I had the same sentiment.

Now, at the end, after reading two posts by Tom and Lew, I think I'll pop in from time to time.

Funny.

I don't know you people from Adam. But I've got a mental image of many of you. You strike me as the type of folks I wish as I had as neighbors.

Yep - funny, how life is. Especially as you grow older.

[nospambob]

[Fly-by-Night CC]

Something interesting appears to be happening over on rec.crafts.woodturning - some oldies who left a year or so ago are again visiting and beginning to participate again. It's good to see them back and offering their wisdom, experience and commentary.

I've been here since '99 or so and have memories of a few very insightful or incite-ful, and humorous folks. Some I miss, some not so much and at least one has gone on to whatever comes after this life. But there are still some interesting characters from the old days and who knows which current participant will become part of the wreck legend for future readers.

[CC]

Nope. A riving knife is a blade shaped curved piece that is attached behind the saw blade to act as a splitter. The small blade in front of the main blade is called a scoring blade. It cuts a very shallow cut, slightly wider than the main blade to precut laminate and other surfaces to prevent tearout and make a sharp crisp cut It's usually a small 4" wobble blade powered with a separate motor, the blade wobble is adjustable to allow for width of cut.. At least that is the way it is on the Altendorf I use in the shop. No, not my shop, but the one I work in. link to picture of riving knife in rear of tablesaw blade, third picture across.

[Dave in Fairfax]

Yup, let's hope that it's contagious.

Dave in Fairfax

[L. Wilson]

Tom, I hang out and have been a lurker for many years because of folks like you. I have learned so much here and on occasion have helped someone with my slim but accumulated knowledge. This is a community of like minded for the most part with a passion for the old and honored craft of turning Natures woods into a cherished and useful thing of beauty. I am at a time in my life when I can finally devote more time and energy to the woodcrafts and am looking forward to learning much more from you and your brethren. Some day I hope to be able to pass on the accumulated knowledge to someone else with the thirst to learn the woodcrafts. Don't let the bastards win. We all need each other.

Regards, Loren Wilson WoodWizzard Woodcrafts Colorado

[Patriarch]

Patrick Conroy wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I've got neighbors like you folks, too.

Sometimes loud and off-topic. Usually ready to help when there's a problem. Smarter & dumber than me at the same time, but we don't care. We like our neighborhood, most days.

I rather enjoy this one too.

Patriarch

[Swingman]

ALL the above applies to you, Tawm.

... don't you be thinking about running off now, Bubba.

[Thomas Bunetta]

Dave, You have to be right! What we all share is deeper than any tool or piece of wood... There is something in our souls that communicates to one another. Tom

[Tom Watson]

Thanks, Swing.

Since y'all is a musical sorta man, albeit not a musical theatre sorta man, I would like to pass along to you, the second tune in my new musical, Camel Lot.

You may remember the original musical, written by the two dead guys.

I have modified it a bit to fit the current times.

CAMEL LOT: A MUSICAL

"CAMEL LOT"

BIN LADEN:

It's true! It's true! The Quran makes it clear. The infidel must be killed all the year.

A law was made a distant moon ago here: No matter what the month it is too hot. And there's a law against us having snow here In Camel Lot.

Now Christmas is forbidden in December And Easter, March or April gets you shot. We worship the eleventh of September In Camel Lot.

Camel Lot! Camel Lot! I know it sounds a bit bizarre, But in Camel Lot, Camel Lot That's how conditions are.

The bombs go off from sunrise until sundown. By eight, the blue-eyed devils disappear. In short, there's simply not A more congenial spot For happily-ever-aftering than here In Camel Lot.

Camel Lot! Camel Lot! I know it gives a mullah pause, But in Camel Lot, Camel Lot Those are the holy laws.

The bodies turn to slush upon the roadside. By nine p.m. the nightfighters appear. In short, there's simply not A more congenial spot For happily-ever-aftering than here In Camel Lot.

(apologies to L and L, Good Taste, Positive Restraint, Manners, both learned and earned, Pat Buchanan, Uncle Bob, etc., etc., etc.,...)

Tom Watson - WoodDorker tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (email)

(website)

[TWS]

Tom, If I take a look at how hanging out on the Wreck compares to other activities in my life then I realize, without too much introspection, that I would MUCH prefer to spend time in the woodshop. Comparing further, I realize that I visit the Wreck when I have nothing else to do - very rare these days - or I'm doing something that is not all that compelling and a visit to the Wreck is a worthwhile distraction. For example, sitting through very boring international teleconferences late at night. Unfortunately, it only takes a few minutes to work my way through the 1350 posts since my last visit - a period far too short to gain full advantage during an hour's call.

I can confidently say that my woodworking has improved significantly from things I've learned on the Wreck (not necessarily applying the advice in the manner described, however). But like anything else, there is a normal distribution of contributors, and visiting the Wreck is really made worthwhile by the rare individual, such as you, who is clearly several standard deviations above the norm (Note I used lower case for 'norm'. It would be an interesting exercise to compare against the Norm but I'm neither qualified nor see any value in such a comparison). Unfortunately, I don't know the contributions of the individuals you praised, being a relatively new visitor to the Wreck and they have all departed. Equally, I don't really know the 'contributions' of the others you mentioned - probably having avoided those threads.

The really good news is that it doesn't take a whole lot of effort to search for the gems from contributors who do have something worthwhile to say. So I can safely say (knowing that I'll be having many telecons in the future) that I'll be back and looking forward to it.

The lamentable part, and the part I think you are really addressing, is that people who do have something to contribute are finding that it is not worthwhile to participate. They already know the gems and need to find a reason to contribute. I'm not sure why someone would want to join the 'shouting match' just to share something with a rarely appreciative audience. I guess we need to find some really boring things for them to do so they can visit the Wreck while waiting for the boring thing to end... I'm not sure what other incentive might exist.

Tom

[Dave Mundt]

Well, that is a point, although I feel constrained to point out that a person has to sift through a LOT of dirt to find the treasure of a truffle.

This is a point. People's lives go through cycles, so there are times when one has (too) much time to play about online, and, times when there is so much life that weeks may go by before one has time to even deal with Email.

Perhaps because one thing about woodworkers is that they are intelligent, considering people, who are quite willing to take up discourse on a wide variety of topics. Sometimes it is simply because, like cats, we have a bad tendency to jump at shiny things dangled above us and attack them.

Well, if a person feels that they are part of the problem and not the solution, the only honorable thing TO do is withdraw. I have had to do that a couple of times myself. It is very hard to do, and, I would hope that this vacation is only a short one. Often a little break can allow a person to come back with a clearer and calmer point of view. I deal with the problem of OT posts by hitting the "I" key (I use FreeAgent). That ensures that I don't see anything I am not interested in taking part in. Regards Dave Mundt