Tools with a story to tell

[Dodgy Loner]

I was back in Georgia this weekend visiting with my family. I decided to take an old brace from my Dad's shop to fix up – the chuck was rusted tight, and I wanted to get it working again. The brace belonged to my great-grandfather, Jehu Tyson ("Papa", as we called him). Papa spent his whole life as a farmer in Tifton, Georgia. He passed away when I was in high school, around 2000 or 2001, when he was about 90 years old.

I told my Dad and Granddad that I was taking the brace back home to fix it up, I also mentioned to Granddad that I had gotten a lot of use over the last 6-7 years out of Papa's old drawknife. It has always been one of my favorite tools, simply because of my connection to him. Granddad always has the best stories, and Papa's drawknife will be even more special now because of the story he told when I mentioned it:

"When I was in middle school, we had a bad outbreak of fleas at the farm. It was so bad, you could walk from the house to the barn, and your legs would be black from all the fleas clinging to you. You would walk through the yard and they would scatter everywhere. Everyone got sick from the fleas. Dad caught typhus and nearly died. He told me and Carlton (Granddad's brother) to go to the woods and cut down some pine poles. We drug the poles back up to the house and used that drawknife to shave off the bark. We'd shave the inner bark off in long strips, and we'd scatter them all over the yard. The sap would bleed out of the bark, and after a few days, the bark would be black from all the fleas stuck to it. We'd burn the bark and then go cut some more pine poles to peel. We did that for months before the outbreak was over."



And here I am, shaving handles for old tools, because it's fun. It wasn't that long ago that my Granddad was shaving pine saplings to save his family's lives. I'll probably think about that the next time I get nostalgic about "the good ole days".

Anybody else got tools with a good story behind them?

[mesquite buckeye]

Yep. I'll tell you one day...

[DanG]

Dodgy, I have an old drawknife that could certainly tell some stories if it could talk.  I picked it up at an antique shop a few years ago.  The dealer had brought it back from a buying trip in France.  I guess if it ever tells its stories, we'll have to get Marcel to translate them. :D :D  Anyway, the blade is worn down from thousands of sharpenings, and the handle have deep depressions in them from the years that old Frenchman gripped them with his thumbs.  Maybe I'll remember to take a pic later.

[Jeff]

I have an icesaw that started the Forestry Forum.

[Dodgy Loner]

Do go on...

[Jeff]

There is  whole topic about it called the origins of the Forestry Forum here:
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,30658.0.html

But I'll try to summarize.  :D

My Granddad made ice cream during the depression.
He used an old saw to cut the ice to fill the icehouse from the river to have during the summer.
My Aunt gave my dad the old icesaw, and he gave it to me.
I tired to get someone to paint a picture of the old farm on the saw but could not afford it.
I told Tammy I was going to do it myself, get me some paints so I can practice.
Tammy Laughed.
A year later I had sold over 100 paintings and had 2 one man gallery shows.
I built a website to promote my paintings
The website attracted more attention than the art.
I got my first job building a commercial website for a grocery store chain.
I had something happen at the mill that made me come home and pretend I had 40 acres and was looking for a timberbuyer.
I built the Timber Buyers Network.
The forum came from that website.

Whew.  The link to the original topic is a little more interesting.

Picture of the saw from a few years ago.

[loggah]

Jeff, Great story,its amazing how life twists and turns !!! whatever you do ,don't drop that saw on your stocking feet on that floor !!!! I got to get me one of those ice saws, i have used them 45 years ago but dont own one! Don

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

First ice saw I've seen. If only it could talk.  Way to go Jeff.

[Peter Drouin]

Nice saw Boss

[isawlogs]

 dodgy, I can see some pine sap on the handles, well i like to beleive i see it.  ;)

I also have my great grand fathers drawknife, it is very much like yours, I will take a pic of it if I can remember to bring the amera to the shop... :D
  My grandmother told me that when she was a child, they would use the drawknife to cut shavings to get the fire going if it ever went out, she went on to show me a scare she had on her leg from where the drawknife had cut her open while doing some shavings,.  After the story telling she gave me the drawknife and asked to not imitate her ...  I have so far kept my word  :D I use all kinds of other sharp and not so shrp objects to puncture my skin   :-\