There may be some envy there, for some folks. But I can't help wonder if 
some posts are simply venting some irritation at having been shilled by 
some of the contemporary promoters of woodworking tools and products, or 
seeing others getting shilled.

  I'm not envious because I'm retired and can finally spend time doing 
things I like that I put off too much when I was younger. But I do 
regret having made some purchases because some expert or other promoted 
a product (which I didn't need) as the best thing since sliced bread, 
and I was gullible and ignorant enough to believe it. I am learning 
better now, and spending less, in part because I have realized that I 
can find some old tools at reasonable prices and make them perform as 
well or better than I can expect. That is helped by the many internet 
sources, including this list and its precious archive, but especially 
the many writers of previous generations who actually worked the trades 
and are no longer living, hence have nothing to sell me. But in the 
meanwhile, as example,  I accumulated a supply of sharpening jigs, 
oilstone, waterstones - diamond even - and hardly use quite a few of 
them...

I appreciate the Schwarz, St Roy and Sellars et al when when they teach 
us how to do things, sharing their skill and experience, and especially 
when they show us how to get by with what's cheap and readily available! 
Not so much if they're clearly promoting the latest geegaw.... I go back 
to Kremov, Tage Frid, Joyce, Hasluck and others just because they 
understood the tools of the trade and explained how they made them work. 
As example, Tage Frid saying you really only need rip bowsaws makes a 
huge impact on somebody starting out. Quite the opposite of suggesting 
you need a stable of 12 saws! .But to be fair, one only needs so many 
demos of dovetailing, sawing, etc., so the contemporary writers have to 
keep finding things to show us, just like the manufacturers & retailers 
have to keep coming up with new things to sell to us. It's the way of 
the world, at least in this lifetime...

FWIW, my C$0.02
Don


On 4/25/2014 4:22 PM, Ron Harper wrote:
> This and a few other comments of a similar nature like it it recently might
> suggest that the real problem withThe Schwarz and Sellers is that they have
> figured out a way to get some notoriety and a pretty decent revenue
> stream,doing what they love. Smells a little like envy to me.