Eccentric Toolworks

And it’s usually me! The guy who is pulling pranks and trying to get people to laugh. I love a good practical joke. So this last weekend at Woodworking In America at Valley Forge, the tables were turned and I got a taste of my own medicine. Luckily for me I’m also the guy who never minds a good laugh at his own expense!

(A shot of the Benchcrafted, Brese Plane, and Czeck Edge area as it adjoined mine on the day before the show)

Woodworking In America was my first show as an actual exhibitor, and some of my buddies decided to give me a special welcome. My booth was situated right beside the space occupied by Ron Brese, Bob Zajicek, and Jameel Abraham. Jameel’s brother Father John Abraham was also there, and he’s just as ornery as Jameel. They arrived early on Thursday to set up their space, and then left. I did not arrive until later in the afternoon and was very stooped and road weary. I was just kind of shuffling along, and when I get back to my booth I look up and see this:

Now, I can be a bit gullible, but also being tired, my powers of b.s. detection were especially weak, so when I saw this sign I felt a bit crestfallen and thought, “Oh great. I’m on a hand scrawled sign, and they think I’m a rep for Harbor Freight.” I set down my things and shuffled over to the check-in table to ask about it. The staff at the booth thought it must have been some kind of mistake, so I just took the sign down and set up my stuff. Needless to say, Jameel, Father John, Ron, and Bob all had a very good laugh at my expense. And so did I. Especially when they found out that I’d actually gone to the check-in table to ask about it!

Periodically throughout the weekend people would stop by and ask, “Where’s Harbor Freight? I thought Harbor Freight was here.” Good stuff.

Then, just to make sure I got the full Abraham brothers experience, on Saturday when I took a bathroom break, I return to see Jameel standing near the border of our respective spaces by this donut box we’d all been plundering. He’d make a terrible poker player–he looked like a guy trying to conceal that he’d just been dealt a full house.

“Hungry?” he asks.

“I’m doing OK. Why? You hungry?” He grinned and shrugged.

“I think you got a customer.” He nodded behind me. I turn around and sure enough there is a gentleman looking at my saws. And there, tastefully displayed along with all of my other saws, is this:

Like I said, there’s always gotta be one. But in this case it was more like two, or three, or four! Did I even have a chance? I’ve already told them to be on guard, because I will hunt them down one by one just like in a horror movie and get them when they least expect it. Only instead of a hockey mask or something like that, I think I’ll wear a mosquito headnet from Harbor Freight!