Putting a $300 Saddle on a $25 horse...

[MTCowpoke22]

Today I had the honor of attending the funeral of a teacher, friend, and mentor who left us too soon.

 

I got my start with woodworking in shop class and this man was my teacher. Yes, we still had shop where we learned welding, small engine repair, building construction, and woodworking. During my first woods class he got us started on the scroll saw, doing intarsia by blowing up pictures from The Wooden Teddy Bear, or some other magazine (he wasn't going to blow his budget on buying patterns for a bunch of snot-nosed kids). I was hooked. And while not all of his students continued with industrial arts after high school, so many of us remember how he taught us to solve problems with our hands and heads. And there are more than a few of us that are still doing woodworking and welding due to the start and inspiration he gave us.

 

Later in life he moved from wood to metal, and created his own art style that he called metarsia- intarsia with metal. He uses a grinder and heat to create colors and patterns in metal to create beautiful pictures. The picture below shows just how talented he was with this new art form.

 

Today, his son mentioned how you knew you had a decent project if he dropped one of his famous one-liners. The most popular were "That looks good enough for the girls you're trying to impress." and "That looks like a $300 saddle on a $25 horse." If he didn't say anything, no matter what you thought, you weren't done with your project.

 

While we are celebrating the life he lived, it makes me wonder... Who encouraged you to first sit down at a scroll saw, or any saw, and what advice did they give?  

[Chiloquinruss]

My dad.  I was 8 years old and wanted a quarter midget like the ones we watched on Friday evenings at the local park.  My dad went and bought a Curtis Hawk, top of the line midget.  He and a neighbor completely dismantled it and put it into several boxes along with the manuals.  I got it for my birthday and 'pop' said put it together and lets go racing!  Took me a year with lots of help but I only got help if I explained what I didn't understand to get some part together.  Later on I went from midgets, to go-karts (I got too big), to motorcycles.  That is what I call mentoring.  I also had the luxury of being able to attend some wonderful shop classes in jr. high and high school.  My working life was mostly computers but we always had a motorcycle around, in fact I'm 72 and still ride a 650cc dirt bike.  Russ

[amazingkevin]

My dad.  I was 8 years old and wanted a quarter midget like the ones we watched on Friday evenings at the local park.  My dad went and bought a Curtis Hawk, top of the line midget.  He and a neighbor completely dismantled it and put it into several boxes along with the manuals.  I got it for my birthday and 'pop' said put it together and lets go racing!  Took me a year with lots of help but I only got help if I explained what I didn't understand to get some part together.  Later on I went from midgets, to go-karts (I got too big), to motorcycles.  That is what I call mentoring.  I also had the luxury of being able to attend some wonderful shop classes in jr. high and high school.  My working life was mostly computers but we always had a motorcycle around, in fact I'm 72 and still ride a 650cc dirt bike.  Russ

Life if good!