My Grandson will be two years old on 12-29. He is a tool nut! He loves my workshop, work van and tools. He can hit a nail every time with his 7 oz hammer. For his birthday I bought him a classic 12oz Estwing with the leather grip…sweet. What should I have engraved on the shank?
I like “Any jackass can knock down a house but it takes a carpenter to build one”. My wife didn’t like that one.
“Measure twice and cut once”…that would be for a saw.
Any suggestions?
You get out of life what you put into it……minus taxes.
Marv
Replies
Everything looks like a nail?
Like the bumper sticker....
"My other hammer's a Vaughn".
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
"My other hammer's a Vaughn".
I'm kind of partial to Estwing, they're made in my hometown. Great quotes...keep em coming.You get out of life what you put into it......minus taxes.
Marv
Here's the boy.
View Image
You get out of life what you put into it......minus taxes.
Marv
Edited 12/21/2007 9:22 pm by Marv
"I let my Jack hammer do the talkin"
Zeeya
I think its going to be "Hit it like you mean it" on one side and "To Jack with love from Grandpa 12-29-07" on the other. Thanks for all the stories and suggestions. I'll probably give him a hammer every year for his Bday...Lots of time for him to grow into some of the other quotes!You get out of life what you put into it......minus taxes.
Marv
I'd go with "Stay in school" and hope he goes through college. Mike
Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.
What a great looking kid. You must be a proud grandfather!He'll have that hammer (hopefully) the rest of his life. I lean toward "By hammer and hand do all things stand"Or you could do part of that John Ruskin quote:When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for; and let us think, as we lay stone on stone, that a time is to come when those stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as they look upon the labor and wrought substance of them, "See! This our father did for us."I love that quote.
When I first started out in this business, I worked for a guy with a short fuse....he quickly tired of endless questions from those of us not quite sure of what we were doing.
Sooner or later, each and every day, you'd hear him lose it.
"NAIL IT!"
With that, the questions would cease.
I realize it is of no relevence to you and your "helper"....but it's to the point.
J. D. ReynoldsHome Improvements
from Simon and Garfunkel-
"I'd rather be a hammer than a nail..."
"If two nails won't hold it...
twelve won't."
If you are ready for votes, my 2 favorites are:
Everything looks like a Nail
and
I'd rather be a hammer than a nail (though that one dates me a little)
Can't see it from my house.
We're not building a grand piano here.
:)
"Can't see it from my house."
I absolutely despise that saying.
For people who actually build homes and aren't burned out at their job, every house is "my house".
or good enough for goverment work.....
the must have never worked on a goverment project....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Come to think of it the only real government job I had I was working as a carp on an airforce base (many moons ago). Among other things, the boss man had us building reusable concrete forms out of MDO plywood, and he wanted them within a 32nd!!! I think for him it was not so much about the building as it was more of whipping us young punks into shape and making real carpenters out of us - knowing all the time that a 32nd didn't mean squat but wanting us to gain the skill to actually wear the "blue hardhat" with the union logo on it.
This is a bit wordy. Gonna be my new tagline and something I believe with all my heart.
"The best reward for a job well done is the opportunity to do another".
How 'bout
"Love Grandpa"
By Hammer and Hand, All Things Do Stand.
The guy said he'd pay me what I'm worth....h ell, I can't afford to work for that!!!!
"If 'tis to be,'twil be done by me."
keep fingers clear at all times
"it aint the work I mind,
It's the feeling of falling further behind."
Bozini Latini
http://www.ingrainedwoodworking.com
I like Bills'
"Love Grandpa"
It'll still ring true through all his years...buic
Plus it'll look great on his desk when he's a buildin' tycoon!
Here's my entry:
"hit it like you mean it" combined with the "love grandpa".
Or, "if she looks good, nail it". (He will have to grow into that one...)
Marv,
My grandfather used to tell me: "know your role and shut your hole."
MeaningIf you are the chief, act like it, if you are a laborer act like it. That way we all can go home sooner.
My grandfather and his 3 sons were union carpenters all week, then framed a house a weekend. I was brought along for cleanup. I learned alot by watching what I still consider a human ant colony. At half their age I still can't scare a nail in like they could. In my eyes they will always be 10 ft tall and bullet proof.
I had to earn one of my grandfathers saws. A 10-1/4" SkilSaw. At 26 I framed a 6 sets of winder stairs to earn it. My grandfather was long gone but my uncles approved hands down. That gave me all the confidence I will ever need. I will be buried with what I consider the holy grail in my family. I can't have children so I am the end of the line.
You are a lucky man, I remember those early days and would go back to them for anything. Teach him he is entitled to nothing he has to earn it.
Woods favorite carpenter
FKA- Stilletto
"hit it like you mean it"
My vote is for this one.
"make sure it's the right nail"
My quote is $99,500.
Wait a minute, this is a different kind of "quote" thread...
Jon Blakemore
RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
I definitely think you should get your name and the year into it. My grandparents gave me some books from their collection and they always put their name and the year plus the event (Christmas, birthday) in the inside of the cover.
One of my students had a t shirt that said
"It takes studs to build a house"
I thought it was good but not appropriate for a young boy.
Have a good day
Cliffy
This is one we use for laughs when someone screws up: " There's nothing we can't do twice"
My Dad's
Anything worth doing right is worth doing over.
"Drive it home"
or
"Hit it like you mean it"
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
Milwaukee had an ad campaign that said "no one ever got a blister building a website". I love that one.
A builder I used to work for as a sub before I became a builder used a great line, "we don't build an exceptional number of homes, just a number of exceptional ones".
On our own jobs we always say "hit it like you live" (hard).
Merry Christmas,
Chris Calhoun
Blackstone Builders
Probably long for your purposes, but I'm liking all the quotes. Here's one of my favorites:
"He who works with his hands is a laborer.
He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman
He who works with his hands, his head, and his heart is an artist".
St. Francis of Assisi
PJ
Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.
'we dont need no stinking level"
Thanks again to all who responded. The quotes are all great.You get out of life what you put into it......minus taxes.
Marv
All.............Move left hand swing right hand.
Or "Not the THUMB Nail"
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Bend one drop one drive one.