October 21, 2016

ROAD TRIP to a HAMMER FACTORY

Woke up this morning in a foul mood and nauseated by the election. You too? Try this palette cleanser. It's casual, real, and utterly lacking in artifice on every level.

As described by one of my new favorite sites, HappyAcres

Educational: as in, should be shown to every schoolchild (and adult) as a reality check

Want to know where the stuff at Home Depot comes from? Jump to the 4:00 minute mark to enter the factory.

As a machinist, Tubal visits as curiosity seeker, marveling at the practical solutions that make a piece-part factory work. It is a marvel to be sure, that man can so organize himself and the material world.

A viewer with soft hands, though, may marvel at Blake’s dark satanic mill surviving into our own age, surviving because it works, because it provides a paycheck to rough tough people with no illusions, because it gives you a cheap high-quality hammer.

The working class… is it really a thing? What does a working class person look like? What does a working class person do for the paycheck he takes home to his family?

And those factories that newspapers say are disappearing from America… what do they look like, can you give me an image?

You’ll never think about hammers or white trash the same again. You’ll have a real image.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at October 21, 2016 9:25 AM
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Comments:

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"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.

OK, this is just too damn weird. I purchased a hammer yesterday for the first time in 20+ years. It's a Craftsman 48 oz. Engineers Hammer that is on the bottom shelf in the video at the 4:56 mark.

Just freakin' weird.

Posted by: tim at October 21, 2016 10:25 AM

"NOTE THAT NO ONE IS LOAFING"

Note that no one is obese...or soft!

Posted by: My Shari'a Moor at October 21, 2016 5:22 PM

You'll Feel Like Thor with the Craftsman 48-oz. Fiberglass Hammer

Only $21.99

I just call it a 3lb sledge and use mine all the time. It's a Craftsman, like many of my hand tools, and has a red fiberglass handle with rubber sheath and it cost about $7 25+ years ago.

That, and a 2' piece of railroad track are staples in the workshop.

Posted by: ghostsniper at October 21, 2016 5:29 PM

I'll be dipped in sh*t. I am a fan of the Tubalcain machinist videos channel on You Tube. Last night I just so happened to click on this same video which was a real step back in time. Real men making real hammers and what not with forges complete with flying sparks and flame. I saw no leftist skinny armed corn h*lers in the entire video.

I have a bunch of various hammers made by Vaughn. Excellent hammers.

Posted by: Terry at October 21, 2016 6:47 PM

The decay started when Vo-Tech was de-emphasized in high schools,along with Home Ec. Real skills make really good people.

Posted by: Nori at October 21, 2016 8:06 PM

Capitalism made all this happen. High quality and low cost. If the owners of this company didn't figure out how to do it and compete with the cheap crap from China, then they would be out of business. I admire all the workers here, hustling to make their product. With the industry I work in, we compete with Malaysia, Philippines and China every day. We have our niche and work to exploit it daily...or we will be out of business.

Posted by: Snakepit Kansas at October 22, 2016 6:20 AM

Just for fun,research the original Tubal Cain.

Posted by: itor at October 22, 2016 7:43 PM

Itor: Good advice,thanks. Deep roots in that name,fascinating.

Posted by: Nori at October 23, 2016 6:58 AM