Old Tools Get the Job Done
I ran across this post on the Usenet newsgroup rec.woodworking (affectionately known as the “wreck”). I thought it was rather humorous but also makes a valid point. Here’s the text of the original post by Tom Watson:
The other day I needed to take the bathroom door out of its opening to move it into the shop for some planing, scraping, fixing and painting.It turned out that my cordless drill had run down its battery (from lack of use - but if you say that to my wife I will deny everything).
I threw my hands up, jammed the battery into the charger, and sat down to watch the Eagles’ B team throw the final switch on Mora’s job at Atlanta.
My wife passed by as I was sitting on the couch and asked what I was doing.
When I explained my predicament she asked me, “What did you do before you had a cordless drill?”
You know, women are sorta like cats - they’re cute when they’re young but spend the rest of their lives making annoying noises and coughing up furballs on the carpet. OK, the carpet thing was a little over the top.
She was right, though - again.
I went down to the shop and got out my old Yankee 131-A and sucked the screws out of them hinges in about half a heart beat. It gets better.
The other part of the bathroom job was to run a bit of trim and my old Paslode Trimpulse (the original model, unfortunately) had a battery that would not take a charge.
Knowing that my wife would ask me the same question again, I looked into the box and pulled out my slightly rusty Yankee push drill.
This, along with my Plumb 20 oz. curved claw that I drove for thirty years would handle the trim (I know that you think that a 20 oz. hammer is more meat than a man should use for trim but if you talk to old finish carpenters, of which I am one, they will tell you that 13 oz. trim hammers are for amateurs… - and just plain don’t have enough smack).
Let it suffice to say that I was done my chores in less time than it took for the batteries to charge and I made new friends with old friends.
Regards,
Tom Watson
tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (real email)
http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1/
You can read the complete thread with responses to Tom’s original post here. To read more about Yankee-type screwdrivers, pick up a copy of ShopNotes No. 91.
Karl Rookey said,
Thanks for posting this riotous commentary: I was rolling on the floor. I’m actually a big fan of self-powered hand tools for small jobs. It seems that for small jobs the time and possible frustration of finding charged batteries and/or extension cords is often greater than any extra time spent with a hand-powered drill, screw driver, etc. I also love the ability to have a conversation with my wife and daughters while I’m working: something that’s not so easy with powered tools.
(posted on January 3rd, 2007 at 12:55 pm)