An early wake-up call
It was Saturday morning. I’d just completed another week of middle school and I was excited to sleep in. And then I was awakened by a knock. Then I hear my dad say it’s time to get up - get dressed and ready. Ready? Ready for what I questioned in my head. It was Saturday morning. It was sleep in time. Why is he waking me up early? And then I hear - hurry up, we need to get going.
I roll myself out of bed, realizing my thoughts of some extra sleep will no longer materialize. I get dressed and ready and then into the truck dad and I go. Where are we going? The response was - you’ll see when we get there. Here we were, driving down the road, all the while I’m trying to figure out where we’re going and why I had to go on a Saturday morning. A little while later, we arrive. I don’t remember all the exact details, but I remember getting out and going into a building or a garage or something. There were several other people around. Apparently we were at some sort of estate sale, and now I’m really wondering why we were there - that isn’t something my parents did, much less take me along. My dad apparently knows someone because he’s having a conversation with them. I hear the other man say that what dad is looking for is over there. And then he says he isn’t sure of their condition, but all the motors are good. Motors are good? I’m totally confused.
Then we walk over, and before my eyes covered with rust, corrosion, and dust was an old scroll saw that has seen better days, a sander that was probably older than my dad, a bandsaw that looked promising, and then the gem - a little 8” Homecraft table saw may by - Rockwell. Oh baby! I may have not even been a teenager, but I knew the name Rockwell. Delta Rockwell. Norm Abram - sponsored by Delta Rockwell. It was small, but it was my size. It was covered in rust, but I knew it could come back to life. Dad looked at me and said - what do you think? I was a bit unsure of the scroll saw and sander. I thought it would be cool to learn to use a bandsaw, and that table saw with maybe a 10” rip capacity - it was going to take some work but I knew it was a game changer. If I recall, dad paid the man $150 for the 4 pieces of equipment and motors, which in the 1980’s wasn’t just pocket change, and said this should give me a good start.
Over the next few days, dad and I built stands for each of the machines and mounted the motors. I continued to clean them, getting rid of years of rust, corrosion, and sawdust. I was never able to get the scroll saw and sander back to a sustainable life. The bandsaw gave me some experience but eventually caused me more chasing of problems then creating solutions. But that table saw, that little Homecraft by Rockwell table saw with it’s 3/4 HP motor…that was the starting point for what is today Design and Refine Woodworks.
That table saw made project after project, birdhouse after birdhouse, box after box, key holder after - you get it. I made enough money using that saw that when I was 16, I made my first major independent purchase - a Craftsman cast-iron table saw with a 1 HP motor that develops 2 HP (yeah right…) and a 26” rip fence. My friends were trying to buy cars, and I just paid $474 for a new table saw. Now you tell me who had their priorities straight!
Looking back, that was the best sleep I never got that Saturday morning. Also, making the stands for those tools was one of the very few projects my dad and I did together. The shop was really my thing, not so much his, but he made an investment in my future. For that, I am thankful.
