More Than A Little Weird
I’m a little weird.
Some might say more than a little but let’s just stay with little in the short term and see if we need to add some weirdness scales as we go along.
And before you claim a complete absence of weirdness in your own being it may be prudent to reconsider.
We all have a certain level of weirdness lurking just under the skin and it’s what makes each one of us unique in his or her own right. I believe that it’s in embracing our weirdness that we become more complete. However this is a woodworking blog and not a philosophical one so let me tell you how my weirdness relates, and I’m sure that you may very well identify with at least the first half of what makes up the whole.
Let’s start with getting presents which is both a blessing and less so. You see I love getting presents and this joy makes me a really good present giver - blessing - but the other side of the coin is that I like getting wrapped items so much that I secretly harbour some guilt when I’m told that giving is better than receiving - less than a blessing.
As a side I have even been know for choosing my own gifts when my wife is at a loss for what to get me and even when knowing what’s inside I still get exited with anticipation when tearing off the wrapping. Notch up one on the scale of weirdness I know, but I think I should at least get some credit for not being one of those who carefully removes the wrapping and folds it neatly for possible re-use.
Not me, I’m a true tear it off kind of guy!
My love for getting wrapped packages has, as you might have guessed it, translated into ordering the occasional item on line and I have at times tracked some packages on an hourly basis, only losing momentum for eating and sleeping and oh, the disappointment when the end of a business day arrives without a call from the courier to confirm delivery and having to go one more sleep without my latest acquisition safely in the workshop.
True disappointment knows no boundaries…….
I know that some of you may relate to my story thus far, after all getting stuff in the “mail” is fun.
That covers half of the weirdness, well at least in my case.
The other half is what happens after the packages finally arrive at my doorstep, and I think that may be where I diverge from other humans.
Once a new acquisition arrives I want to spend my own time unpacking, setting up and “experiencing” the new tool for myself and it’s here where the weirdness kicks in. I do not like to be rushed during the experience and I have been known to keep items in their boxes for as long as a few weeks before finally setting aside the time to open and start using the item. I recall saving for months for a new camera lens and once it arrived it stayed in it’s box for almost a week before my wife asked me if I wasn’t going to take it out or another occasion when I spoilt myself to a amplifier, speakers and a turntable and becoming quietly irate after friends nagged me to unpack the setup and start it up so that we could listen to some vinyls. It was much too premature for my liking.
Yes, I am also that guy who reads the manual as part of the process.
You may think that this shouldn’t be so much of an issue as long as it doesn’t cause any harm to other people or animals but this is exactly where I’ve gotten stuck.
If you’ve spent enough time around here you may have learnt that I am now making less projects for customers as a source of income and shifting my business to training and offering products on line. One of the areas that is taking a lot of time to grow the business is making videos for social media and YouTube as well as writing many, many pages for the blog in an effort to keep my visitors up to date. Being one who is constantly on the lookout for material I have latched onto the strategy of showing both readers and viewers out there what equipment and tools I have acquired, how to use them or share an unboxing and review of the particular item.
All perfectly fine if I had the time to generate the material.
Side note, if you have any desire to start an online presence and business be warned it is hard work and it will take time. It’s not particularly difficult but man is the learning curve steep!
That’s where I am now and it takes me about double the time to get things recorded, typed, edited and ready for consumption. So I’m between a rock and a very hard place so to speak. I have a long list of items I would like to start using and show you but although I may have time to unwrap and use it, I may not have time to record or write about the process, or when I have time to write or record anything I am doing so for another project that may enjoy higher priority, paying customer projects being a regular culprit - we have to eat after all.
In effect I’m caught in a bit of a feedback loop, largely due to my weirdness and not being able to find the time to get on with it.
In the mean time storage for unopened packages is running out, I am actually needing some of the items I have acquired and I am getting tired of carrying old projects over to new to-do lists, so the time has come to do something about it and I am making a commitment to start tearing packages open and telling you more about what’s inside.
I hope you are ready and as a start here is a teaser.
CAT
Starting with the most recent first.
I have been looking to upgrade my drill in the workshop for a very long time and buying into a cordless system is like getting into a camera system, once you are in you are in, batteries, chargers and the lot. The amount of research that went into this one was staggering and I ended up buying into a system that was nowhere near on my radar when I started the process.
I know a guy who dropped his CAT drill from a roof and it is still working, I think that was the deciding factor.
All I need to do now is figure out how I’m going to film the dramatic slow motion intro.
The Blue Bag
Mostly blue at least.
This one has three items hidden inside. The first and likely the most pressing is the Kakuri plane setting hammer. I make my own wooden planes and the blades are seeing a lot of abuse as a result of using a small iron hammer to set the blades. The Kakuri version needs to be in use soon as I am doing hand plane demos at an upcoming woodworking show.
The other two items are Veritas blade kits, which will be used in a top secret project, so watch this space.
Shopping Bag
Yes we still use plastic bags in South Africa.
This one wasn’t shipped to me but does contain some goodies I’m exited about. The first is a set of four Narex Richter chisels and if they are anywhere near as good as I hear I am looking forward to get them set up and sharpened and letting you know if the rumours are true.
The second item is the MilesCraft ScribeTec and it’s less exiting than the project I will be using it on especially if you are my wife and that project involves a long standing request for two new chairs in the lounge.
The last one is a universal vacuum adapter because I don’t have all Festool in the workshop.
Luban Block Plane
Possibly one of the most long standing items on the to-do list and one that I am the most exited to open up, at least it’s out of the bag it came in!
This one is a rebate block plane that I am itching to try and also happens to be at the top of the YouTube hit list I wrote down when deciding to shift my business on-line about four months ago.
Narex Rasps
Got these for shaping hand plane handles, only one problem, I haven’t made any planes this year!
Rockler Small Piece Holder
Sad story this one, I got it for my router table after getting a bad catch while shaping a plane handle and I have since sworn off using a router table ever again, at least until I can fit a router with a variable speed into it.
Until then it is likely to gather dust.
That about covers it.
Of course I can help myself catch up by NOT buying any more equipment.
Yeah right!!!