Dear Galoots, I have just returned home from my first meet and i gotta
tell you if you have never gone to one you need to join and go at the
first opportunity.Lots of nice people and tons and tons of interesting
old tools.I sincerely want to thank everyone who responded to my queries
about getting into the meet.I went looking for a stanley 46 and ended up
with 3,for the price of one and a whole set of blades to boot......it
was really cool!!!!Thank!!Don Goldenhersh in rainy columbia. Missouri

 
Tool Gathering Galoots,

I'd like to reiterate all that Don said about the St.
Louis meet(except the part about buying three Stanley
46's, skewed plough plane, Jeff).  It is a great place
to go to buy tools and meet friendly, talkative,
like-minded people.

I didn't really expect to attend this meet because of
work and distance constraints so it was an unexpected
pleasure to be able to go.  I really wasn't looking
for any particular tools but still ended up buying a
Yankee bit extension in the box, and W. B. Sears split
nut backsaw, several books and a Clark and Williams
"Dominy" style smoother.  I've been using a lot of
wooden planes lately and couldn't pass up the
opportunity to buy the smoother after talking to Bill
Clark and listening to Ralph Brendler wax poetically
about using the small Clark and Williams coffin
smoother he had just acquired.

The highlight of the show for me was talking to all of
the people demonstrating and viewing the displays. 
The demonstrators were very well represented by
Galoots.  Ralph Brendler made Shaker boxes, Tom Volpe
showed the fine points of veneering, Samual Peterson
built a workbench before our eyes, and Bill Clark and
Larry Williams answered any and all questions about
planemaking in the 18th Century style.  Outside during
the Thursday tailgating session, Scott Stager had a
forge set up and spent the day pounding away at hot
metal.  All of the demonstrators were very skilled and
knowledgable about what they were doing.

The displays at these meets just seem to keep getting
better and better, too.  There were several about
different boring tools, Cliff Fales had a nice display
about Yankee screwdriver inventor, Zachary Furbush,
several good displays about planes including one
showing the use of special purpose Stanley planes, and
a display by Phil Baker about Jackson, Richardson, and
Harvey Peace backsaws.

The backsaw display reopened the can of worms about
Jackson backsaws that was discussed on the Porch last
spring or so.  Phil had several Jackson saws on
display that he thought were made in the early 19th
Century before the Disston Jackson line.  These saws
had English looking handles with brass backs and were
quality saws, definitely not 2nd line.  The J in
Jackson was also just a little different then the
Disston Jacksons.  There was also one saw marked
Jackson and Co.  From the saws on display, I think it
is safe to say that there were probably two different
companies marking saws with the name Jackson before
Henry Disston started using that moniker.

All in all it was a great way to spend a couple of
days and I would like to echo what Don said, join
MWTCA(even if you are not a collector) and attend any
meetings in your area, you will have a ball.

Jim Crammond  

		
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I have to add my $0.02 to Dan and Jim's raves about St. Louis-- what a meet!

Hats off to Mike Urness for putting on one of the best shows I can 
remember.  The number and quality of the demonstrations was great, the 
displays were fabulous, tons of tools for users and collectors, and some 
of the nicest folks you'll ever meet to hang out with for a few days.

The extra-cirriculars this year were especially good.  After the 
tailgate, a group of 6 of us went to a great pool hall near the hotel, 
and spent a couple of hours shooting pool after the tailgate.  B.B. King 
and Chuck Berry on the jukebox, and buckets of non-Anhauser Busch beer-- 
can't be bad <grin>.  The barbecue joint next door to the hotel was good 
enough that I ate there *twice*, and the hospitality room was hopping 
every night.  What a blast!

As Jim said, I was set up doing Shaker box demonstrations on Friday.  I 
made 3 stacks of boxes during the day, and answered a ton of questions. 
  There were a steady stream of people in the demo area, and everyone I 
talked to thought the number and quality of the demos was really good 
this year.  I also managed to sell a bunch of box stacks, which gave me 
some scratch for the tool room!

I only managed to come home with one marking gage, but it was a beaut-- 
an 1891 Asa Goddard roller gage with perfect nickel.  The casting had a 
small crack in it, but it was otherwise perfect.  These are rare as hens 
teeth to begin with, and to find one with such nice nickel was a real 
surprise.

Highlight of the show for me,though, was picking up one of Bill Clark's 
new mini smoothers.  This is #1-sized coffin smoother, about 5-1/2" long 
and 1-1/4" wide, with a 50 degree bed and one of Bill's trademark 
miniscule mouths.  I got early in the show, and soe got to use it for my 
Shaker box demonstration.  After spending the day making boxes with this 
plane, I have officially retired my block plane.  This thing is FABULOUS!

I think my raves about this tool must've gotten Clark and Williams 
orders for 3-4 more of these.  Everyone who tried it wanted one...

The really big news came from the director's meeting on Saturday 
morning, though.  In response to suggestions from some directors 
(including myself) to make the meet a little more friendly for working 
stiffs, they are going to try something new in Decatur-- a Saturday-only 
pass!

If you are a member of the MWTCA, you can come to the meet on Saturday 
for a measly $10.  This price includes access to the tool room, display 
room, and the auction (but not the banquet).  I encourage anyone who has 
never attended an MWTCA national meet and lives within driving distance 
of Decatur to take advantage of this.  Membership is $25, so if you join 
before the meet you get to see what the MWTCA has to offer for a total 
outlay of only $35!

Once you have seen the nationals, you'll be hooked.  Just ask Dan G. ;-)

  Ditto to what everyone else has already said about the St. Louis
meet.  The highlight for me was meeting Larry Williams and Bill
Clark.  

  I was hoping someone else would mention the give away first
so I wouldn't have to toot my own horn.  But since no one else
has, check out http://www.nonesuchtools.com/mwtca/
Everyone who attended received a doorstop that looks surprisingly
like a chisel plane!  Mike Urness will probably be posting a
FS to unload err sell the extras.

  My previous "you must be a galoot" moment came while 
simultaneously baking the japanning on 5 shooting board plane 
castings.  My new moment came while driving 500 miles to pick up 
600 chisel plane doorstops.  At 1.7 pounds each that's 1020 pounds
or one more than slightly overloaded mini van's worth.

 To answer Mike Hamilton's question, the next meet is in Decatur, IL
June 16-18, 2005.

Russ Allen
Chicago