American Woodworker Show in Novi, Michigan

On September 19 and 20 I attended the American Woodworker Show in Novi, Michigan. Entering the arena the first thing one sees is Roy Underhill building a replica of the cabin that Henry David Thoreau built at Walden Pond in 1845. when he saw my Galoot hat, Roy yelled out: "Oh no, the Galoot contingent is here. Can't I get away from these guys?" Just as others have said, Roy is a nice guy to talk with. He took the usual digs at all the power tools being fired off in the place, and he was good at getting the audience involved. He said that Frank Klausz came by while setting up on the first day. Frank saw the condition of Roy's chisels, muttered something about them not being right, took them away, and sharpened them. Cool, eh?

Paraphrasing the Bard, Roy quoted :"Alas, poor Galoot, I knew him Horatio..."


Roy demonstrates the method for turning a found log into a square log. He didn't shed a drop of blood during the entire weekend, though I did notice one of the Normite demonstrators with an oozing finger wrap and a hospital band.	A fine group of Galoots, from Left to Right: Alan Graham, Gil Chesbro, Bruce Mosher, Dennis Heyza, and me: Joe Palazzolo. Notice the fine, free, yellow tote that was being handed out by that garage door opener company from back East.

For the past two years I've attended the AWW show with Dave Swanson, my old college buddy (and I do mean old). Dave's a pretty nice guy, despite his Normish tendencies, and he does share the Galoot love of the garage sale and resale shop. While we were digging through his tool box I noticed an interesting item. When I asked him if he knew what it was, he said no, that it was something his grandfather had given him. Above is a picture of Dave with his legacy. The grin is a result of my telling him what an Odd Jobs with the original ruler is worth.

Here's another picture of the Odd Jobs. It is in great shape - the ruler is straight and the pin at the end is firmly in place. The nickel is peeling a bit, but so what? Dave has taken the tool out of the tool box and put it in a safer place. (IMHO, a safer place would be my house, but who am I to say?) Dave's cat, Slate. Hey, I had to put something here to fill in the table. Just a couple of bachelor's rooming together, and only one of them has been neutered.

The AWW show was definitely a good time. Gil gave me a homemade holdfast (a report will be issued when I get a chance to try it out). I got to attend a seminar by Frank Klausz, and see and talk to Roy Underhill, Ian Kirby, Wayne Barton, Toshio Odate, and a bunch of other woodworking "legends." I successfully resisted the urge to buy some r**t*r bits, but I did get some cool books. Definitely worth the price of admission.

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For the past two years I've attended the AWW show with Dave Swanson, my old college buddy (and I do mean old). Dave's a pretty nice guy, despite his Normish tendencies, and he does share the Galoot love of the garage sale and resale shop. While we were digging through his tool box I noticed an interesting item. When I asked him if he knew what it was, he said no, that it was something his grandfather had given him.	Above is a picture of Dave with his legacy. The grin is a result of my telling him what an Odd Jobs with the original ruler is worth.

Here's another picture of the Odd Jobs. It is in great shape - the ruler is straight and the pin at the end is firmly in place. The nickel is peeling a bit, but so what? Dave has taken the tool out of the tool box and put it in a safer place. (IMHO, a safer place would be my house, but who am I to say?)	Dave's cat, Slate. Hey, I had to put something here to fill in the table. Just a couple of bachelor's rooming together, and only one of them has been neutered.