Ralph Brendler wrote:


> The DAT (fellow galoot Bob Nelson's labor of love) is a particularly
> amazing font of knowledge.

I've been waiting for this TLA (Three Letter Acronym) to be expanded
since it's come up frequently lately. What means DAT?

I've been spliting my books purchases between tools and homebrewing
lately, but picked up "How to Make Carpentry Tools", Aaron Moore with
Musaemura Sithole. (ISBN 1-85339-406-8) I'm not past the Introduction
yet, but it was written for teaching practising artisans in developing
countries: namely, Africa. Hand drawn pictures and simple instructions
show you how to make everything from a mallet to a plough plane.

The Introduction, at least, is very good. It goes into the social and
economic challenges faced by these carpenters. Well-meaning Europeans go
in and try to help folks learn skills with machinery that they cannot
afford once the class is over. Blacksmithing knowlege is fading fast.
The guys that wrote this book are trying to restore the reality of
handtools to the media-washed masses much the same as some folks here
have done at the tool shows.

Norm's shop ain't worth a cr*p when you got no lectricty.

Cheers, Kyle Accardi