On Thursday, November 16, 2017 at 1:16:58 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Wednesday, November 15, 2017 at 6:16:01 PM UTC-6, Markem wrote:
So I was going through the tools I brought home from my parents condo,
the tool I remember my dad using was his router a Stanley 8-B. It is
still in running condition has a bit in it that is sharp. It is the
memories with old tools that are the best.

My grandfather was a notorious skinflint, and thought tools were a necessary evil he had to have to do minor home repairs and work on his fishing boat and trailer. He bought the absolutely cheapest tools he could and never took care of them.

My Dad learned from his Dad, and in fairness, neither of them made a living using hand tools. My Dad loved a good bargain on a tool, and when he passed most of the tools he had were of no value or were broken simply from their low quality.

There was one time he bought a good tool; he sprang for a Rockwell circular saw, the famous 346C. By the time I went in the trades in '72 it was already and old timer and was only in production a couple more years after that. It was his only big investment in tools and he loved that saw. I came with its own steel case, a special set of wrenches to remove the blade and a tube of genuine "Rockwell machinery grade lubricating grease". My Dad loved that saw and never made anything but straight cuts with it. He kept it clean, greased, and worked the hell out of it even on small projects because he never would buy a new blade. The saw was always working harder than it should have.

But I remember back in those days when I was shown how to touch up a circular saw blade with a #8 mill ******* file. If the blade had not been damaged in use and all you were doing was sharpening, then with a file you could get an edge on the blade that was better than any edge you got from the factory. Although that saw hasn't been turned on in 20 years, I still have it.

My fondest memory of him and his prized saw was how completely pleased the look on his face was after I hand sharpened a blade for him and let him cut a couple of boards with his first hand filed blade. He loved that saw, and that file sharpened blade made him love it even more. Those hand filed blades are still on the "saw blade card" I made for him. Some are still sharp as he didn't want to use them enough to dull the edges, even though that was the reason I sharpened them in the first place.

My Dad and me didn't have much in common. But something he could spend hours talking to me about was building little projects and using that saw. I am glad I still have it.

Robert

You should use the saw to make something in his honor. Some "little project", like he would have
used it for.