We were current in 1978. The work itself may have seemed peculiar in that time, but our tooling would have fit right in. We have found ourselves as neither primitive nor cutting-edge (by any stretch), but somewhere happily in-between- right where it’s groovy.
One of our most essential tools is our hand-held grinder. We keep four in operation, each one with a specific wheel for a specific job. Ben uses each one in the course of making antlers for one of our animal sculptures. There is one for cleaning metal, one for cutting metal, one for heavy grinding (before and after welding) and one is for polishing.
It’s a lot of grinding, often for many hours each day. The high-pitched whining sound is reportedly heard on occasion by our very distant neighbors.
As you might expect these hand-held electric grinders don’t last forever; the motors go, and the switches break. Thankfully, they’re not a highly specialized tool, and are easy to find. So, we replace them and keep on grinding.
Our tools may not be as modern nor as traditional as some, but they do the trick for us – keeping it hands-on with just the right amount of function and control. Right on!