Last month, my mother asked if I would come out and go through the rest of my dad's tools, so that she could have here garage back, and I could get some more of my dad's tools. All the stars aligned when my father in law wanted to give us a car, and I had a chance to take a few weeks of leave. The plan was to fly out to Seattle, pick up the car from my father in law, drive it to my mom's house, help her clean out the garage, load what I wanted to take into the car and drive it back to North Carolina. Easy day. I bought the plane ticket, took my leave, and realized that the car is a 1981 Honda Accord hatchback. Ok, so the trip is a little crazy. The car did make it from Seattle to my mom's house in Vancouver, WA (with the assistance of a tow truck), and after some minor repairs (a new water pump) I was ready to put this plan into action.
Standing in my dad's shop was a surreal experience. Knowing what I know about woodworking and what you can learn about a person's journey in life by the tools they own and the tools they use. Here is what the shop looked like when I got there:
It was pretty obvious that my dad had not used the router table, or jointer for quite some time. This didn't surprise me, as he was more interested in hand tools for the last several years of his life. The lathe got more use. Then I opened the cabinet that housed his most often used tools:
Here I found several Lie-Nielsen dovetail saws, hand plane parts, every type of sharpening system I have ever heard of (Scary sharp, oil stones, water stones, shapton stones, and a wide variety of strops. Oddly though, there were no diamond stones). This cabinet also had all his marking knives and gauges, angle gauges, inlay tools, pen kits, and a few special pieces of wood. Next I opened the cabinet that housed his planes:
Now, over the past year, I have developed a wish-list of hand tools. Things that I felt like I needed to be able to work better. There was not a single tool on my list that my dad did not have. The one thing I can't figure out is why he had a Lie-Nielsen #1 in his most often used plane drawer. It's cool and all, but I don't see too much usefulness.
Going through my dad's shop, I learned that he loved fine tools, and I could see parts of his personality in his progression. For example, in the plane drawer was a small router plane that he made, using a sharpened allen key for the iron. It worked, but was pretty limited. My guess is that he needed one for a project, didn't have one, made one, then decided to buy one. You will note the Veritas router plane. This was the way my dad was. He would use what he had on hand to solve the immediate problem, but if the problem was recurrent, he would invest in the proper tool for the job. He was a practical man, and a problem solver, but as an engineer, he also appreciated the tool just as much as the work it performed (I can't say I am much different. Hand tools are beautiful). He also loved fully functional miniatures:
He had several like this, as well a several of the miniature Veritas planes and clamps. They were all sharpened, and set up to cut. I don't know if he ever used them, but they were ready to work. I feel like I got to know my dad a little better, and that as I take and use his tools, I can add to his legacy a little. Buried in the back of his cabinet, I found his first dovetail joint. It is signed by both he and Frank Klautz. His first dovetail turned out a lot better than mine, but he did have a better teacher...
While there, my mom asked me to make some flower boxes for the house, and a shelf for the fireplace. For both projects, I used lumber left over from making my dad's casket. I also made a small toy knife for my brothers kids while I was waiting for glue to dry:
On the fireplace, you can see a bowsaw made my Stephen Shepherd that my mom really likes, and on the desk behind my nieces and nephew is a flag case made by Dale Lenz. Both are cherished by my mother. On my last day there, my mom, brother and I posed for this picture (note my WoodCentral shirt), and visited my dad's grave:
And I started the drive across the country. In the 1981 Accord, I had my dad's lathe, dust collector, hand planes, chisels, saws, clamps, turning tools, hide glue, special pieces of wood, and other miscellaneous tools. All told it was about 900 pounds worth of tools. I actually had to put blocks in the rear springs to prevent them from bottoming out.
Miraculously, the car made it to Utah, where I had a wonderful visit with Stephen Shepherd:
It was nice to meet him, see his shop, and enjoy his hospitality. He was kind enough to give me the parts to make a bowsaw like the one he made for my dad, I will blog about that when I get it done.
Well, the car made it all the way home, 3188 miles, and just to make sure that I knew it was a miracle, the morning after I got home, the car wouldn't start.
