screwdriver #1: Admit it, fix it, and move on... (now with pix!)

I’m with you Scott.

But yesterday I started to repair a stool that my son had loosened up. After taking it all apart and finding all of the dried glue. I asked my wife what it would cost to buy another one. She said $5.00.

The existing one became firewood.

No heairloom here: Just Tiawan materials.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

The old handle is (will be) gonzo. Up in smoke. Could have been saved, but in the end not necc… But why was I so happy to save the metal bits? I could have started over without them.

I’d heard LL Bean’s return rate for his first line of his (now famous) duck boots exceeded 80%. But he knew something about customer service, and it seems to have worked well for him. But still, I’m hoping to do a little (if not considerably) better than that.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

I think if you made a display stand, sort of like a small knife stand, that held the screwdriver like a work of art, he wouldn’t be using it for anything other than as sculpture. What was he thinking?

hang in there,
Mark

-- Mark DeCou - American Contemporary Craft Artisan - www.decoustudio.com

Better yet mount it to a board in a frame to hang on the wall. That will show him.

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

Yes, tools as art!

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

Hi Scott;
—-yes, I like it! ”....’tools as art’, brought to you by the makers of ‘wood art’....”

GODSPEED,
Frank

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/

i can relate to the fix it/toss it dilemma. But that’s another story! :)

Maybe the old pieces could have been turned into the stand for the new tool. Or saved to be included in a sculpture: “lost but not forgotten”, including pieces of all the “oops” woodworking moments.

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Scott, such a mishap is the basis of learning. I’m sure that with the knowledge you gained and shared that the remake and any future tools you make will last for future generations. A chairmaker once said to his students that if a joint fails on a chair that they should investigate why it failed as part of the learning process. Once the cause of the failure was understood, then the process needed to prevent the failure could be learned. I await the new screwdriver.

-- Jesus is Lord!

Hey, Why am I the bad guy here? I just tried to use the tool for the intended purpose…While it is a piece of art, should I own two of everything, one to mount on the wall with a plaque and the other to actually use? I think not.

Scott, I appreciate you efforts and you customer service, please don’t let me interfere too much with the progress of the lilac lamp. I’ll have to print off these blogs/posts to pass along the story to my grandchildren along with the new tool, er, uh or art….
Thanks!

-- Rob (A) Waxahachie,TX

Yes, perhaps this is why new restaurants “practice” on friends and family. At least they’ll come back!

Ok, I’m not tossing the old pieces, thanks for planting great idea seeds!

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

Oops, posting at the same time Rob. You’re not the bad guy… that old rusty screw (and my less than thorough product testing process) was. – Note to self, get some really small calipers. – Just embellishing the history, as it were, for the legacy we’re leaving.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

Hey RobS, what were you prying with that screw driver anyway? LOL! ;^)

-- Jesus is Lord!

I’ll post photos later, he wan’t prying, the handle just shattered as part of it was barely thicker than paper. The design was to discourage prying. The first miracle of this piece was not destroying it on the lathe, with tool, or sandpaper! felt pretty solid in the hand. I think the grain was a little to blame as well. Didn’t take much force to create new cracks in 3/8 thick wood that was epoxied to the copper pipe!

If only I could have designed that on purpose – you know make gag tools, like the exploding golf balls :)

Wait until you see the work in progress, flimsy is not part of it’s vocabulary!

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

I was just picking with Rob. No harm meant, Scott.

-- Jesus is Lord!

OS - None meant, and none taken. Rob’s a big boy, he can take care of himself.

Of course if he was prying then he’d have felt bad for having voided the warranty, and paid full cost for the replacement!

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

but without Rob’s contribution you wouldn’t have received all of these BRILLIANT ideas of how to use the pieces!! See?? There’s always a reason behind everything.

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Full disclosure, for better or worse. I’ve added photos of the damage, and potential repair. But having recovered all metal bits, I’ve opted to start over. The next one will be cherry! (two cherry and one maple in fact.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

Lady and gentle-jocks, here’s the story, I was simply puting up a shelf with a molly bolt and upon tightening the bolt….snap-o! Although I did have Wheaties that morning, hmmmm! I felt terrible and did not want to make the call to ScottB Drivers-r-us, but thought he would want to made aware of the “feature”.

-- Rob (A) Waxahachie,TX

Mahogany is too soft to use as a tool. Better picture frames and writing tables.

-- http://ye-olde-cabinet-shoppe.com/

Oh, and the reason you kept the pieces, is because you’re a lumberjock. You can fix it. Don’t throw away to mechanical parts just becaue the ornamental part breaks.

-- http://ye-olde-cabinet-shoppe.com/

Scott
Why don’t you convert the broken handle into a salt shaker, or toothpick holder, if you don’t want to throw it away.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

Scott (and Rob) I feel your pain! Here is a pix of a Black Walnut Adirondack chair I made for a friend – the next pix is what I made from what was left of the chair after he forgot it was in the garage and parked his truck on it! (the top of the “wind chime” is the arm from the chair) I was able to repair it, call him a redneck (cause he still has the wind chime) and we both got a great story out of it! – so, like I said – I feel your pain!

-- The Gnarly Wood Shoppe

hahahaa now that is funny. and sad…. and painful.

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Good story.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Ouch, I would have felt worse if I ran over the screwdriver. He may have felt worse breaking it by just sitting it, I don’t think that would have happened though, it was a great chair.

-- Rob (A) Waxahachie,TX

Thanks for sharing Schroeder. I’m feeling much better now….

Sorry about the chair.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

I hope he did not make that windchime (emptying the cans) before parking the truck.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

To Bad,
If the chair was made out of steel, you could have made a nice boat anchor.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

Bill you read my mind about the makings of that wind chime. LOL.

-- Jesus is Lord!