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16625 Chuck Lewis, N4NM <clewis@r...> 1997‑04‑11 Bio: Chuck Lewis (Belated)
Hello,

Time to stop lurking and put a foot on the porch step. 

I am 58 years old, married, and a recent NASA retiree, although I will
probably unretire, for a while, after our house remodelling is done. I
should be finishing up the last bit of definition on the house plans,
but somehow manage to rationalize reading witty e-mails about old tools,
and my conscience nags constantly (any prescriptions for this malady?).
I think I have always been a tool freak, even as a baby pounding pegs
back and forth through a little workbench (do they still make those?),
so this late-blooming interest in old tools is natural. I have begun to
collect and restore old radios, too, and enjoy using tools and test
equipment contemporary with the radio.

I own and use plenty of electric noisemakers, and will no doubt resort
to them for the house project; except, of course, whenever a handtool is
the better choice. Therein lies my value system (grounded, no doubt, in
my training as an engineer): "Use the best tool for the job, considering
cost, schedule and functional requirements" (don't worry...aesthetics is
inherent in 'function'). So, although I'll probably never be a handtool
purist, this philosophy allows for a lot of evolving judgement as to the
'best' tool and, being retired, aesthetics is more compelling than
schedule!!! 

When my wife and I were part of a crafts-cooperative about twenty years
ago (we did stained glass), we decided to call our little store
"Handmade is Better" and our woodcarver put that on our shingle. We did
pretty well...folks respond positively to that notion. Eventually we
grew tired of making the same stuff over and over; but it's still a good
name, isn't it?

Here in Huntsville, Alabama, there is a preserved/conserved hardware
store, Harrison Brothers' Hardware, which is being run as an operating
hardware store/museum (National Register of Historic Places), now
celebrating 100 years in the same location on the city square. I work as
a volunteer in this store on a regular basis, and have really enjoyed
the feeling of the old wooden floors, the bins of nails & screws, the
ladders on tracks to reach the high shelves, the hundreds of drawers for
stock items (mostly long gone, alas) and the original four-drawer cash
register we use for every sale. You galoots would love it! I've found
only a few of the old tools that are the subject of this forum (I
suspect most were scooped up long ago), but the environment is
wonderful. All it takes is the canvas apron and your elbow propped on
the till, and you're instantly transformed into a '20s vintage hardware
clerk. It's easy to imagine large stocks of Simonds, Disstons and
Stanleys in original boxes lined up on those shelves. (See, there's hope
for me yet!) More of this later (I'll send a brochure to any of you who
wish). 

Main project in work, other than the remodelling/restoration is the
ubiquitous workbench. Gotta have time for Hockey and Ham Radio, too
(been a ham for 43 years, but only took up ice hockey late in life. 

Retirement's great!! 

Chuck Lewis
Uses the Best Tool for the Job



Recent Bios FAQ