starryNight

As a beginner woodworker I was fortunate enough to purchase a used collection of power tools from one fellow. For $650 I got a 14" band saw, 6" jointer, 12" thickness planer and a drill press all in one shot. None of which are exceptional pieces but they all work just fine. I recently sold my jointer and bought a Lee Valley 22" jointer hand plane with a fence. Because my projects are few and far between (and there is no production deadline) I'm realizing the ease and pleasure of using hand tools when I can. I love precision power tools as much as the next guy but the premium expense of the tool itself and the residuals like dust collection, space, noise, safety precautions and even electricity are so high that I'm starting to think outside the box. The jointer I felt was taking up way too much space and for the one job that it did, I feel I have replaced it with a more versatile and pleasing tool that I love to use (and is actually beautiful to look at). Now I'm starting to feel like I was taking in by the hype of aquiring power tools and neglected to consider how enjoyable hand tools are. Just my $.02 oh, and yes, I use my band saw way more than my table saw.

This is a subject that really gets my Irish up (and i'm not even Irish!) so exuse me in advance if I upset anyone's sensibilities. If you think for one minute that large American corporations are morally accountable to their workers then you are blinded by a misguided belief. Corporations are resposible to their SHAREHOLDERS. the very definition of capitalism is to profit from and idea or creation in anyway shape or form. Workers are there simply to meet that need. When the US pushed Canada and Mexico to sign the NAFTA agreement who's best interest do you think they were looking out for - definately not the American working men and women. So now not only do we have American corporations like Nike and Shell and GM (and many more) exploiting workers in the US, they can now exploit workers in other countries where regulations on labor laws and environmental control are not enforced for the sake of stuffing the shareholders pockets. This does double damage as you know because it leaves the US citizen at the unemployment line. The average joe like you and me are the loosers in this equation. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for excellence through health competition, but not when at the expense of people's lives, their children's education and the environment. Obviously no one wants to be under the control of a dictating government, but is having 10s of thousands of hard working people layed off or living as one of the "working poor" really that fair and ethically responsible? The irony is that as woodworkers we applaud hard work and attention to detail through mastery yet we want convenient, cheap tools that make woodworking easy and fast. And do we really need 20 different table saws to choose from?