Good-bye to some not-so-old friends
For the last few months Ive enjoyed using not one, but four great saws that arent mine. Now the time has come for them to go back, and parting is…
For the last few months Ive enjoyed using not one, but four great saws that arent mine. Now the time has come for them to go back, and parting is indeed sweet sorrow.
One of the great things about being a woodworking writer is that you get to use and evaluate lots of tools. Some companies dont want them back once theyve been evaluated. In those cases they end up going to work in my shop, are gifted to woodworking friends, or donated to a woodworking or technical school.
Most companies want them back, though, and thats the case with these four saws. Youll recall from my Aug. 7 blog (New toys), that I was working on a review article of track saws. As I mentioned then, Id used them occasionally at shows but never really had the opportunity to put them to work extensively. That review article allowed me to do just that, and I loved them all, finding it difficult to choose a best one for the article.
Until something Ive written is published, I hang on to everything related to it until the article or magazine actually hits the street every note, photo, every computer file and e-mail, and the tools involved. Just in case theres a last minute need to redo something, I have everything right there. So, in the time Ive been waiting for my track saw article to come out, those saws have still been in my shop. They havent been languishing there, however. Ive put them to work numerous times breaking down sheet stock for the projects in my birdhouse book as well as personal shop chores, and Im really going hate to see them go.
Yeah, the saws, the half-dozen tracks the manufacturers sent, the various accessories (and all the boxes and packing materials, which Ive had to keep) take up a lot of shop space Ill be glad to recover. But in the several months Ive had them, Ive been able to take a multifaceted and lengthy test drive of these machines few woodworkers ever dream of.
One thing is certain: A track saw is at the top of my tool wish list. With the exception of a full-size panel saw or a big slider, no other shop tool comes close for fast and efficient reduction of sheet goods. Although not in the budget at the moment with the holidays coming up, you can bet that some portion of the first big check I get in 2010 will go to the purchase of one.
Then, Ill not only be able to welcome a not-so-old friend back to my shop, but itll be tax-deductible.
Till next time,
A.J.

A.J. Hamler is the former editor of Woodshop News and Woodcraft Magazine. He's currently a freelance woodworking writer/editor, which is another way of stating self-employed. When he's not writing or in the shop, he enjoys science fiction, gourmet cooking and Civil War reenacting, but not at the same time.