Long time follower, but new to the actual forums.

[mtngrown]

I've been a fan and promoter of the site for a little more than a year, and always have looked forward to getting the newsletter in my inbox. It's one of the few (along with instructables.com) that doesn't get deleted without being read first.

I'm a general jack of all trades from the mountains of NC. I've worked construction right out of highschool, spent five years in small arms repair in the Army, three years in a garage as general auto mechanic, seven years working then managing an electronics retail/repair store, and have always felt that anything can be fixed, even if it's not always expedient or frugal to do so. My grandfather was a machinist and a mechanic; my father was a lineman and mechanic, and they've passed along to me that mountain "can-do" attitude. Poverty has ensured that I put that attitude to good use.

The disposable society we live in "gits in my craw". Planned obsolescence, be it an engineered lack of durability or trend movement, is the bane of Western Culture, but a real friend to the workshop stockpile. Dumpster diving didn't used to have such a stigma, and my son and I still bond over family trips to the dump, scrounging for parts or materials. Now that it's becoming fashionable to use "upcycled" stuff, or to deck out a house in antiques for "shabby chic" styles, many of the old tools Pappaw used are hard to come by at a price that is justifiable, unless you can find 'em at the junkyard, dump, or landfill.

Regardless, those of us who are likeminded and see an opportunity to fix something as a reason to make a new tool are becoming fewer and fewer. I'm very glad to be a part of this community, and thank all y'all for the inspiration you've given me over the years when it's come time for me to make something instead of buying it. You've been a great help and a real blessing. Thankfully, my son feels the same way, and so does my wife when she's not looking at the junk pile in the back yard.

[kbalch]

Hi mtngrown,

Welcome! Thanks for the kind words; we're glad to have you here. We completely agree with your sentiments regarding our increasingly disposable society and the detriments inherent with engineered obsolescence of consumer goods.

Sounds as though you've had a long and interesting/eclectic career (thanks for your Army service!!). When you're ready to share some of your own homemade tools, we'd love to see them. Please post them directly in the Homemade Tools, subforum. We'll add each one to the database, as well as to your builder page on the site.

Non-tool items should be shared in the Not a Tool, but Homemade subforum.

Ken