Rick wrote:
> 
> Hello all,
>  
> I guess you could say my interest in old planes & handtools started
> when I "helped" my carpenter grandfather turn old ratty lumber into a
> simple box back in the summer of '64. I can still recall all those
> firsts:  the sound of a well tuned No. 4, the smell of the wood,
> drilling pilot holes, driving brads, oiling the wood, ... all in a
> single afternoon. The deep pride I felt at seeing how nice it turned
> out.
[snip]
 The wordless lessons about pride, workmanship, mistakes, and
> correcting them have served me since.
[snip]  
> A couple of weeks ago my grandmother asked me over. On the coffee
> table sat a slightly rusty, paint spattered, heavy casted, vintage
> smoother. She told me she wanted me to have it and was sorry it took
> her so long to find it as he had been using it to make some birdhouses
> for a neighbor. I picked it up and ran my nail over the iron and it
> was still razor sharp.
>  
> The emotions I felt can hardly be expressed in words. A fine well
> built & well kept tool that was a part of my grandfather's working
> life for almost sixty years is now in my keeping. You can see my
> grandmother understood what a common plane meant to a poor carpenter
> she had been married to for almost sixty years. She must have seen him
> take it apart, oil the parts, and store it away inside countless
> times. She must have understood what it would have meant to be given
> to a grandson who now dreams of building fine wooden things. 
[snip]
>  
> Yesterday my 10yr old son picked up the plane and said "Hey dad,
> what's this thing used for?"
>  
> Hoping to be worthy of the bandwidth,
>  
> Rick
>  
It's worthy.  Welcome to the porch and have some hot cider.

Steve Noe in Indianapolis