A Well-Trained Spouse

15 Responses to “A Well-Trained Spouse”

1. JSG on December 27th, 2007 11:19 am

   That’s hilarious. My husband has said similar things, albeit not related to wood working tools–at least not yet. I like how guys take everything as a victory for men. You’re a cute couple.

   Kind Regards,
   JSG

2. Chet Kloss on December 27th, 2007 11:48 am

   On a similar note…
   My staff gave me a sizable gift card from Home Depot as a Christmas present. The first thing my wife said when I told her was “Why didn’t they just call me? don’t any of them use real tools…”

   I just love that gal :)

3. Allen Lindsey (AlleninOH) on December 27th, 2007 12:20 pm

   I have more than a few Ridgid tools, table saw, jointer and planer, router combo with a plunge and fixed base and a brad nailer… Some of which were purchased because I got decent deals on, some of which because my employer gave me, for my 10th anniversary with the firm, a very nice-sized gift card from a selection of stores and retaurants. The only one I could buy anything useful from was Home Depot (does anyone really need $1000 gift card for Applebee’s?) and so a-shoppin’ I went.

   All of them have served me very well so far. The only problem I’ve had was a screw hole in the plunge router base stripping out (one of the two you tighten down when attaching an edge guide.) My only quibble is their Warranty policy which requires you to bring the entire tool to their service center. Not a big deal in the case of the router, but if something went wrong with the jointer or the table saw I have no idea how I’d transport them.

   Whenever possible and affordable I buy the bigger name stuff, i.e. my mortiser and dust collectors which are Jet, my oscillating spindle sander is a Delta, router in my router table is a Porter Cable etc. but sometimes finances dictate the purchase of a mid-range quality tool.

4. Allen Lindsey (AlleninOH) on December 27th, 2007 12:26 pm

   Almost forgot… I got one of those cards from Rockler, “Bring this in with your magic number… could be worth up to $500 (but expect it to be $5 just like everyone else.” I took mine in yesterday as I needed some micro-mesh and figured I’d save the five bucks…

   It turned out to be worth $250.00! So papa bought himself some Christmas presents, courtesy of Rockler - New set of Marples chisels, a PC4212 dovetail jig and, with a small amount of money tossed on top from a work bonus my wife didn’t know about and a Worksharp with an extra glass wheel and honing abrasive kit. Gotta keep those new chisels sharp, ya know. I always get the best Christmas presents from myself.

   It made up for my wife completely ignoring my easy to find and well organized and prioritized woodworking wishlist and instead buying me three pairs of pants that don’t fit and tickets to see “Wicked” which I had no real desire to see.

5. runningwood on December 27th, 2007 12:38 pm

   so if Nicole is so well trained, what did she get you for Christmas ?

6. Vic on December 27th, 2007 12:55 pm

   I laugh because my wife is always thinking she’s training me. Little does she know how devious and patient we men can be. Sylvia believes my new shop will benefit her the most of anyone. Of course, the first dozen or so projects out will be for her (except my plumbers kitchen, gotta keep the bartering system alive!)

7. muddler mike on December 27th, 2007 1:40 pm

   I hear ya brothers!

   while putting up the christmas lights, I ran into a situation when I needed a dremmel tool. The funny part of it was that, once she heared about my problem, she immediately responded with “yeah, but you can just trim that off with the dremmel.” Worded not as a question mind you, but mater-of-fact. I just smiled and mentioned that i was proud of her for not only knowing the name of the tool, but it’s capabilities as well and was impressed at her quick-to-reach-for-the-power-tool problem solving. Still, when ordering my new PC biscuit joiner for Christmas this year, she was under the impression that she was buying a “jointer” and was suprised that the “joiner” came in such a small box. She still needs work, but she’s well on her way!

8. Kaleo Kala on December 27th, 2007 2:13 pm

   In the begining of my program here at school, my wife called me a “furniture snob”. After the program is over now and she looks at furniture and goes look at that gap there and look how that doesn’t match. She has become a “furniture snob” as well.

9. Vic on December 27th, 2007 2:58 pm

   Here’s to well trained wives!

10. Nicole on December 27th, 2007 7:05 pm

    And husbands ;)

11. Danny Boy on December 27th, 2007 8:43 pm

    I’m glad that my wife pays attention to good programming. She watched the clamps episode and I ended up with a new set of Jet parallel clamps. Damn those are nice! Funny thing is, those are the most professional tools in my little basement shop!

12. Randall on December 28th, 2007 10:12 am

    Ah come on now! I own all Ridgid, except for my Dewalt thickness planer because it was a gift. I beat them up, use and abuse them and they keep going. I’ve never had to replace any since beginning wood working in 01. I believe the real winners are the ones who don’t get screwed when buying their tools.

    For example, I like Festool as well, but come on. Let’s be real. They are expensive only because they are also good, which creates demand, but you got to realize they limit their production to keep those prices high. I guarantee Ridgid is just as good. If their 6″ orbital sander was $300, people would ‘think’ that it’s the best one out there also.

    It’s like playing tennis. I’m a 4.0 player, and I guarantee I can beat most similar skilled players with a normal raquet that doesn’t cost double.

13. Randy Krum on December 30th, 2007 7:47 am

    I never got into Rigid tools, I bought into the Porter Cable 19.2V cordless system. So last week my 8-year old drill motor started smoking, and I called the Porter Cable Service Center to figure out how much it was going to cost to repair it.

    I told my wife about my dilemma, and her response was “If you buy a new drill you get a new battery too don’t you. That’s not a hard choice.” I love my wife.

14. William on December 30th, 2007 8:35 am

    My wife has learned a trick or two from my tool acquisition strategy playbook. She applies the same criteria for quality in buying her kitchen gadgetry along with many of the same buying tactics - secret purchases, “must-have” tools, five-course dinners to celebrate the new cooktop (the kitchen equivalent of the table saw).

    Fortunately, she’s a much better cook than I am a woodworker!

15. Eric on April 14th, 2008 1:53 am

    That’s classic! Love it.

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