*** SURVEY: THE IDES OF MAY *** *LINK*

a passionate response

Bill Tindal, E.TN

>My wishes:

1. A router with illumination on the bit and a switch than can be reached while securely holding onto the handles. WHY don't all Mfg's of routers make them so one can turn them on and off while securely holding the handles?!? The switch needs to be in the handle or reachable with the thumb. The light needs to illuminate where one is cutting.

2. Router bits sized for 13/16" or 7/8" stock. Most edging profile bits are designed for 3/4" thickness.

3. Router bits where the profiles are sections of an ellipse, not circles. Hand plane profiles are ellipitical sections because the blade is bedded at an angle. Elliptical profiles are more attractive in my mind than profiles based on circles, especially so for coves.

4. A source for cast iron plates for sharpening with loose diamonds.

5. Brass flat head screws where the aris is sharp so they seat in hinges nicely like they used to.

6. Screw drivers that are sized to fit the slots in these brass screws. I never understood why screwdrivers have tapered blades.

7. More sources of plans for practical period furniture. My definition of practical is something useful in a modern home- desks, beds, chests tables, etc. One could begin with the handsome desk on the cover of the recent LV catalog. There are lots of people building period furniture and they typically have to create their plans from pictures, a tedious process fraught with error. Seems like a good market opportunity for museums that have this stuff.

Re: *** SURVEY: THE IDES OF MAY ***

McKay Sleight

>Education is everything in my book. The trades are not supported in the schools anymore and I believe that it is because everyone thinks that academics is more important. If the manufactures would push school boards and board of regents, then maybe we could put "craft" back into the mainstream.

Re: *** SURVEY: THE IDES OF MAY ***

Ed Mulligan, Cape Cod

>All routers should have a built-in dust port.

Re: *** SURVEY: THE IDES OF MAY ***

Stephen Shepherd in the State of Deseret

>Now this may come as a surprise to some of you. I want you all to take a moment and forgive me for what I am about to say. This is compleatly out of character for me to respond in this particular manner. I will of course deny ever having said it. Now again please forgive me and I appologized but...

If you are going to make those forked tailed whiney, screaming tools to do the work of simple quiet hand tools, just put on a simple negative ion generator on them to reduce dust at its source. This is not rocket surgery!

Stephen

Re: *** SURVEY: THE IDES OF MAY ***

Bart Leetch

>They don't have enough old hand tools so are not eclectic enough to comment on.

Re: *** SURVEY: THE IDES OF MAY ***

Wiley Horne--So. Calif.

>Ellis,

One of the biggest holes I find in the current market place is the lack of a flat cast iron plate to use with diamond paste for sharpening. The cost of the leading sharpening systems on offer right now is high, and diamond paste offers an effective alternative that is cheap. Bill Tindall has discussed numerous times on this forum.

Wiley

Re: *** SURVEY: THE IDES OF MAY ***

Patrick Gibbons, Houston, TX

>It's very frustrating that hand tools are made with no thought to how they are used. If a tool is made for a specific purpose but the characteristic that equips it for this purpose is compromised by the manufacturer then it is poorly made. For example, I bought a broad hatchet recently. The back is not flat, and indeed, it has a back bevel on it. I have to put hours of work into the tool to bring it up to speed. Why? Also I'm left handed. Why can't I buy a hatchet without the handle attached? As is I have to cut off the old one, buy a new handle and then attach it. Do these things really take a rocket scientist to figure out?

Back beveled hatchet

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>Patrick, the way you convince the manufacturers is to stop buying unsuitable tools, and be sure to return the ones that turn out to be unsuitable. There are plenty of axes with one side flat available, maybe not American, I don't know, but keep looking.

Pam