On 04/19/12, Charlie Driggs wrote:

 For me, I just don't get to the storied "Field of Dreams" much anymore,
 maybe in part because it had become a dry hole for me for a couple of
 years, and in part because the day job had become a black hole for my
 waking hours until recently. [snip]
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Yep, dry hole. Frickin dry, Dry, DDDRRRRRYYYYY hole. Ain?t no field of
dreams anymore. Dr. D8 and I have not found anything worth gloating
about in years. I haven?t seen Todd there in over a year, sothat is some
indicator of the dryness of the hole. To my mind, good old tools have
migrated toonline sales. You can compare it to thedearth of tools being
sold here on the Porch since the rise of venues to sellthem online.


                I haveone recent gloat, though. The good Dr.and I were
                at a bike swap. It was mostlywhole bikes being swapped,
                but some people had tables with odds and ends. I was
                busy wasting time looking at some dreckwhen I noticed
                Tom looking intently at a table full of good
                components. The little bastuhd was fingering the
                treasurewithout so much as nod of the head to get my
                attention. I hustled over to mine some treasure. Now
                I?m busy looking through bike componentsfor a while
                before I notice he was under the table going through
                some oldtools. Not old bike tools, oldwoodworking
                tools. He stands up holdingthe stock of a wooden block
                plane, turns it around some while considering it,and
                tosses it back into the tote under the table. I wander
                over, pick it up and notice that itis a nice ECE
                blockplane that is missing the blade and levercap. A
                little more inspection revels it cannot bethe same No.
                649 model that I scored last fall because it has a
                wooden palmrest where the No. 649 has that elegant
                adjusting knob that doubles as the palmrest. Being a
                diligent oldtooler, (ascontrasted to a bike crazed one-
                time oldtooler) I know that it is likely thatthe blade
                and a wedge are somewhere in the tote or on the
                vendor?s table. I start digging in the tote. A wedge is
                uncovered about mid-level, and ablade at the bottom. A
                Bell System 2101brace is keeping the blade company.
                Ihold them all up and ask for a price, and happily pay
                the $6 he asks. It is while this transaction is taking
                placethat the bike maniac notices and utters the first
                expletive filled imprecationabout my bastuhdisim. Ah,
                what sweetmusic to my ears. I was to hear thisjoyous
                music a number of times that day, and reminded of it
                numerous times inthe following week. Nothing like
                takingtools out from under the nose of your buddy.


                Someonline searching leads me to think this blockplane
                is a No. 249P. It looks like ECEmmerich no longer
                producethis model. I?d appreciate anyinformation anyone
                has on this model.

Regards, Steve

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