Candy stores

Everyone has a favorite "candy store." For me, it was a place called Handloggers.

They are still in business but have moved and morphed into more of a flooring store. But they used to be a small shop offering a very limited selection of the most amazing wood ever seen.

They had several slabs of the quilted Honduras mahogany (at five grand a pop!) that was pulled out of a ravine in the 1980's and that became known to woodworkers everywhere by virtue of an article in Fine Woodworking. I used to go there at every opportunity even though I could rarely afford the woods they had.

There was another outfit in the Bay Area that was run by a guy who was a collector of antique tools and rare woods. His vast exotics showroom was a sight to behold. Rows of tall, pyramid racks each holding a different species. Small 3/4” x 3/4” x 12" sticks on one end; 4"-thick, 3’-wide, 16' long planks on the other. Every piece perfect and unflawed. Didn't even want to ask the price! Around this was a mezzanine filled with glass display cases holding one of the finest collections of rare and antique woodworking tools ever assembled. Every one in perfect mint condition.

I would dream about being given all those tools, pointed at the wood and told to make something.

D.D.