At first reading of the charter, I would tend to agree
with the "Tools Only" definition of on topic. 
However, regarding the discussion of plywood, I
believe that, as a manufactured product, it is as much
tool as material, and thus on topic.  Granted, it's
not an old tool, but plywood in its various forms has
been around for a long time.

Regarding the discussion of the furniture maker, if e
limit the discussion of tools strictly to what they
are and how to use and acquire them, we're somewhat
talking about them in a vacuum.  If the list goes that
route, we should just all admit to ourselves that we
are collectors, not users.  Part of defining what an
object "is" is knowing what it's used for; lacking the
usage data, many tools become no more than the logical
equivalents of paperweights or hammers.

Basically, I believe that understanding a tool
requires more than an understanding of how to acquire
or restore it; we have to know how to use it too. 
This is accomplished through seeing the results and
the techniques of a tool's usage; this is definitely
on topic for the list.

Just my thoughts.

Mickey

--- Larry Marshall <larry@w...> wrote:
>  Civility is nice, Jim, but you've missed my point. 
> We used to discuss the
>  acquisition and USE of hand tools.  Now we're
> talking about whether one
>  should like (or not) furniture of one maker,
> whether plywood is good, etc.
>  Possibly the mandate of the list has changed; maybe
> not.  In any case, at
>  the moment, it's stated goal is:
> 
>  "The purpose of this list is to provide an
> entertaining,
>  not-quite-moderated, light-hearted, fun, jolly,
> happy, informative forum to
>  discuss the history, usage, value, location,
> availability, collectibility,
>  and restoration of traditional woodworking tools."
> -
>  http://www.brendlers.net/oldtools/oldtools.html
> 
>  I fail to see how the virtues of plywood fit into
> this mandate.  More
>  importantly, I see little, currently, in the list
> that relates to that
>  stated purpose.  It's this second thing that is
> most bothersome, not the
>  occasional jaunt outside the bounds.

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