Gift - Bob Beard Spcial

[gtwister09]

I was blessed to receive a gift of a Bob Beard Special last night. Even though I am "maul poor", it will be a cherished gift. Ed said that he had a special piece of wood set aside for me since I was a "woodie" and I must say that this piece of wood fit the bill.

Unfortunately my Photoshop was broken so I had to resort to Paint as an editing tool.... Not the best tool for the job but it still should allow you to see the fit, finish and distinctness of the wood. I have one that shows 3 side photos of the maul that shows 3 distinct patterns in this piece of cocobolo. The other one just shows a side perspective with end views of the bolt and cap. Reduced them to 30%. Sorry for the less than adequate compilations of the photos.

Thanks once again Ed!

Regards,

Ben

[bruce johnson]

"Maul poor", I like that. That is a very cool maul. Ed outdid himself yet again.

[Jbear]

"Wow " you got maul #2 quite an honor, on top of being another amazing piece of craftsmanship by the BearMan.

[CitizenKate]

Very cool! Congratulations, Ben. Very nice work, Ed, and a very nice gesture, too.

Kate

[gtwister09]

Bruce --- Yes. He did outdo himself..

JBear --- #2 is an honor.

Kate --- Yes it was a nice gesture. It's really nice to get something from someone when you help them out and it was not expected.

Regards,

Ben

[hidepounder]

Ben, congratulations on a beautiful maul from Ed! I know how much you appreciate the gesture as I too have been blessed by Ed's kindness. I was going make a separate post but decided it would be appropriate to show another example of Ed's workmanship and generousity here. Mine is #3 and is a beautiful work of art! I'm having a hard time leaving it on the bench. I find myself packing it back in the house where I can keep my eye on it, LOL! Thank you Ed!

I would also like to tell everyone about another item which Ed is making. It is a terrific little rubstick and he calls it the "Snake". He tells me it is an old time design and I had never seen one before. It is a very handy shape and size (about 5" long) and I'm really excited about it!

(I defintely need to apologize for my lack of photography skills.....it doesn't do justice to either piece)

Edited September 28, 2010 by hidepounder

[gtwister09]

Bob,

Congratulations! Ed has been a busy man.

I have seen a similar design when talking to a couple of older saddlemakers. They called theirs the twisting snake. Their design had a more slender tip so that they could get into the belt holes and into the oblong punched holes to slick them. Both of theirs also had a cylinder top because they used theirs in their hands and by rubbing back and forth they created a rotating motion. They used them like an unpowered drill. In fact one of them had a bow that he added to his so that he turn his more quickly than just running it with his two hands. It's interesting to talk to these guys about older tools and methods. When you think that you've made something new these guys can almost always burst your bubble.

Regards,

Ben

[BearMan]

Good Morning everybody,

Thank You all for all the wonderful compliments!! I always try to make things that could be nice enough to pass down. I kind of do the same as Bob,,, once I finish with something special, I tend to "inspect" it for a day or so,,, until I let it go.

Let me tell you a little story about a present my Mother recieved from my Father while he was in Vietnam,,, for the first or second time. My Mother recieved a big box of very nice china, that my Father had sent. Upon returning home, my Father was very surprized & somewhat upset that we hadn't been using the china. My Mother told him that it was "Too nice to use". So my Father promtly removed all the other dishes, we'd been using, so that we had to start using the "Nice China". My Mother still uses, & has most of that "Nice China" sill today.

So,,, the moral of the story is,,, just like my Father,,, I don't care how "Nice" they are,,, they are intended to use!! hehehe

The "Snake" rub stick, is a copy of a copy, of a copy, of one that I recieved from Bob Dellis, that he told me was a design that him & Ray Hackbarth came up with. Reguardless,,, it is a very nice & usefull design. I use mine to help define some of the tooling I do.

Here are a couple pictures of #3 & the snake,,, somehow, I let #2 get away from me, before I took any pictures.

Thanks Again Ben & Bob, for all your help! Ed the"BearMan"

[gtwister09]

Ed,

That was the same story that Bob relayed to me as well. They had seen the" twisters" which were actually closer to the burnisher shapes and were making this more for a modeling tool to open up the cuts and lift designs. The one I have from Bob is presently lent out but I will see if I can get a picture from the one using it. Once I received Peter's modeling tool, I started using Peter's a lot more. However once I lent Bob's out I realized how much I did use it. I have an old pointed piece of lignum vitae that I use in place of it. Not my brightest moment lending it out.

As always I was more than happy to help and once again thanks for the gift. It was not expected or even necessary.

Regards,

Ben