I shot myself in the foot (long and kind of OT)

Learn to play it? ;-)

Dan Donaldson

>

Can't joint with it though 8-(

Hoa Dinh in Alameda

>

Bonus points

Jim in Burlington On

>Let's face it your day will come. And it does have some wood in it:)

You don't need it...

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>Hi Hoa, the following is IMHO...

That fence looks close to useless to me.

First off you really need to learn to joint a board freehand. This thing is just a pair of training wheels as far as I'm concerned, you’re better off learning to joint a board with out a crutch.

Second, it doesn't tilt. This is the only time I use a jointer fence, on angled/ mitered edges. Miller Falls or the Stanley no. 389 (not sure of the Stanley number) tilts to accommodate different angles. All though this can be done with the LV fence you'll have to cut a board (quite accurately I might add) to mount to the LV fence. Way too much work for me cutting and mounting board to it, when I can just use an angle gauge to set the Stanley or MF fences. You need to ask your self do you need it or want it.

The fence is only $32.

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>

Re: I shot myself in the foot (long and kind of OT

Jack Guzman

>Hoa,

That's not the same thing.Even though you lust after it,the jointer is a necessary tool to improve your woodworking capabilities.Have I convinced you? Good,now convince the family.---Jack

Investments vs. expense items

Wiley Horne--Glendora, CA

>It's more blessed to give than to receive. However, if you would like to get some of your reward early, while you're still on earth, here's a way to think about it......

The electric piano is an investment. It is for the long term. It is going to bring years of pleasure to your wife, and give your son an education he would not otherwise have. Agreed? OK. Now. A jointer is also a long-term investment. After a day's or week's aggravation, it will slow your heart rate down, put a smile on your face, and add quality (and years) to your life. This thing is not going to be gathering cobwebs--it'll be a mainstay for you.

So I would argue that both the piano and the jointer are investments, not short-term expense items. They're an investment in your family life. So consider them capital items, to be amortized over time, and go for it. If you buy quality, it only hurts once.

Wiley

Hoa, couple of thoughts

Roger Myers

>First, I admire the approach you took with teaching your son the lesson about needing to make sacrifices and limiting the value of gifts. I was instantly reminded of the posting that you made a while ago with your sons writing, and the values that he is growing up with - so my vote is to pass on the plane for now...even though the money is set aside for it. You will continue to reap the investments that you are making in your son. The plane will still be there next year.

Second, if you don't play the piano, consider learning to play at the same time as your son... That can be an incredible experience. I learned as an adult on the piano that I gave my wife, and when my daughter learned to play, it was a joy that we could experience together.

Planes, as much as I love them too, come and go...family is forever.

Roger

Re: You don't need it...

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>Now, let me get this straight...

You need to plane a board at a very precise angle in order to plane another board at another very precise angle? How are you going to get the first board planed so precisely, without the jigged fence? And, couldn't you just use the same method to plane the second board without the first board?

That's a rhetorical question, of course, and from one board on the fence, you could precisely reproduce the complementary angle many times, but I think it supports your training wheel analogy.

Re: You don't need it...

ThomD

>I've never used a fence for jointing, usually just pair the boards, but it might come in handy if you had to do two boards, each near the max dimension of the blade. Anywho, we all want to get the freebie I guess.

My recomendation. Make a wooden jointer. It's an easy couple of hour project, and you can play with different styles, for just a few bucks, instead of waiting months for LV to bring on the latest candy.

piano's rule!

frank_shic (walnut ck, ca)

>hoa, don't you want your son to have the benefit of growing up playing piano just like EVERY other asian child? i'll never forget going to the piano competitions as a youth staring at all these other hapless souls who were unwittingly forced into learning piano because it was such an ASIAN thing to do!

i've since lost a lot of my original skill at playing sheet music but i've since learned how to do simple improvisations on nursery songs which keep my 2 1/2 year old daughter amused which is PRICELESS when you compare it to any of the other toys sitting in the garage.

anyways, just be grateful that your wife didn't force you to get a grand piano!!! don't cry too much - i'm sure that jointer will eventually show up on your steps some day!

Re: I shot myself in the foot (long and kind of OT

Arw01

>I agree that you don't need the fence. Learn to use your finger along the bottom of the sole as your fence. And then learn the David Charlesworth steering method of jointing a board. I've gotten reasonably adept at it, and often prefer to take a few minutes and hand joint a rough cut board then run it over the power jointer.

Alan

My Advice

Todd Hughes

>Take this electric piano back now, look in the paper in the "For Free" adds for a Piano [no doubt origanaly bought for a now un interested kid or wife to learn to play on ] and get it for your wife. Call a friend you ain't to fond of that owns a truck to help haul it. Tell your wife it is a vauable antique piano and cost you a pile but you think she deserves something better then that "cheap" electronic thing. Take $20 or so out of the piano money you get back and buy an old Stanley plane and put the rest in your tool fund. Nice touch about telling the kid you can only spend $5 for christmas presents.I'd leave some $10 price stickers on his stuff so he will think you splurged ....How old is this kid? If he's old enough to play a Piano shouldn't he be doing more productive "character building" things like cutting the grass, painting the house or changing the oil in your car rather then banging on a piano anyway?

...This way your wife is going to love you and think your are beyond swell after she believes you spent even more money on her, you will get your money back, get a nice plane and have a large future tool fund to boot. Sure your kid will hate you but at least he ain't going hate you for making him play a piano and you will be getting the grass cut.....Todd

OK. Here's the deal.

Hoa Dinh in Union City

>1. No jointer plane for me, at least for this year. I already told my SWMBO and my son that it would be a Christmas gift for me. Then I told them no expensive Christmas gift this year. I can't turn around and buy that plane, even though there's a budget for it. Fence or no fence becomes a moot point.

2. OK. I'll learn to play piano. I realized it getting into this. My son will not maintain the level of interest unless at least Mom or Dad gets involved.

3. The fund for the plane is going to go to a Teach Me Piano software and a USB-MIDI cable and some piano books.

It's interesting that Frank mentioned that piano was an ASIAN thing. I didn't know that until a Japanese friend of my wife's said something to that effect a few years back. But she said it was a CHINESE thing. Come to think of it, none of my VNese friends has a piano, except for two - one has a band, and one teaches piano for a living.

Some asked about my son. He's turning 10 next month. He's been homeschooled for more than a year now and would not go back to the traditional classroom environment. Besides 6th grade curriculum, he's finishing up Honors Geometry and just started AP Physics II this month. He swims at least 3 30-minute sessions a week. TV? About 2 hours a week - either History Channel or Food Network.

See? He does need a piano.

Thanks, folks.

-- Hoa

Re: OK. Here's the deal.

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>I don't think piano has always been an asian thing. When I was growing up, it was the thing to play. You wouldn't believe the pain I had to go through to get a guitar, much less get lessons for it; although I was free to take piano lessons (and did).

You're right, it's important to stick to your promises.

Pam

Guitar?

Hoa Dinh in Union City

>Interesting.

When I grew up in VN, almost every family with teen-aged boy(s) had a guitar. Unless the family was very well-off, pianos and violins were not accessible.

Instructions, however, were costly and "unnecessary" so the boys just learned from each other. I played classical guitar until leaving VN, and just re-started it a few months ago. I've never had any formal schooling in music (same as woodworking).

-- Hoa

Re: OK. Here's the deal.

Bob Hackett

>You have been doing very well for yourself and your family by following whatever you feel is best up to this point.Why stop listening to that small voice in your head now?

We should all have such a well developed ability to not give in to perceived "needs".

Once again you`re setting a fine example for your son.

Mainely,Bob

Totaly amazed

Ernie Miller

>I like todd's answer the best but it is not the right one I just like his thinking on it. It seems like we are all kind of steriotypical here with the Asian piano thing. This groop just became a little narrow minded I think. Do you have a jointer? Yes than it is no big deal to wait untill after the first of the year. No? better join the secret santa thing and pray some one will send you one. $5 Christmas presents don't exhist any more they cost $20. You have made your decision so live with it and you will be happy. If you have a guitar teach you son to play yours and get him a Sax. you wife has the piano and the other two instruments will make for a rockin Jazz band.

do re mi, do re mi...

frank_shic (walnut ck, ca)

>hoa, great job on raising the little overachiever thus far! that's an AMAZING course load that your tyke is taking on and would NEVER get in the traditional public school system. are you doing the home schooling yourself? hats off to your wife as well - aren't they always the unsung heroines?

funny that you should mention the chinese thing since i did notice that a lot of the other kids down in south florida at the time i was growing up were also the same ones that i saw at chinese school although i'll confess that i dropped out early only to regret it later when i got to college and found that most of the other asian kids could still speak their natives languages! hope your son is still speaking vietnamese!

anyways, you'll find that the guitar playing will actually help you with the piano playing since you still use the same notes to construct the various chords. who knows, you might even enjoy it as much as... woodworking!?!

HAR

Jim Reed @ Tallahassee

>I spit coffee out of my nose over your post!

Re: My Advice

paul womack

>Take this electric piano back now, look in the paper in the "For Free" adds for a Piano

That'd get you a piano.

But if you want an piano that's in tune, the dollars start to fly away in flocks.

A piano needs tuning around 2-4 times a year, depending on climate, use, and your degree of fussiness.

http://www.snoproart.com/truekey.htm

"My pricing normally averages between $50 and $175"

Electronic starts to sounds like the smart move. What's more, when junior is learning, you can make him/her use headphones...

How'd ya' put a price on that :-)

BugBear