Author Topic: FOG, remembering the old days. (Read 7791 times)

Brice Burrell · « **on:** May 08, 2021, 08:59 PM »

I spent the morning going back and looking at some of the content from the early days here on the FOG. It was great to remember the old days when this site was new, and Festool was still a small company that was more actively involved with the site. I had even more fun seeing the names of so many old FOG friends again. Many have long since gone from this site, but a surprising number of the old gang still check in regularly. If you're an old salt here, and you haven't recently, I suggest you take a trip down memory lane with the early posts here. Also, if you are one of the long time members that still stops by from time to time, how about drop a reply here and let us know how you're doing.

First posts on the FOG.
Here is some old content I enjoyed today.
Per Swenson, From Rough Sawn to Workable TS75 and 850 Power Plane
PatR/Llap Goch, Kapex (Greek for Spending my Childrens Inheritence)
Frank Pellow, Restoring the Exterior of a Cedar Cabin Using Three Festool Sanders
Overtime, Euro Cabinets 101-2 A Beginner's Guide
Forrest Anderson, Consolidated List of Festool Links (Reviews, Videos, Brochures, Manuals etc)

BTW, I still check in somewhat regularly. I don't post much anymore since I don't have the interest in tools like I used to. About five years ago I stopped working as a contractor and focused on being a full time landlord. I don't miss the hustle of being a contractor at all, and I still get to pick up my tools once in a while to remember the satisfaction you can only get by making something with your own two hands.

neilc · « **Reply #1 on:** May 08, 2021, 09:19 PM »

Nice to see your post, Brice. You were one of those early contributors and I learned a lot from your experience.

I’m still active here weekly. Those are definitely some flashbacks to some great contributors.

Who was the guy John ? - he had the website and videos that always had female helpers. Lots of Festool tips. Passed away maybe 10 years ago.

Michael Kellough · « **Reply #2 on:** May 08, 2021, 09:34 PM »

Thanks for checking in Brice and letting us know you’ve “graduated”.

And thanks for posting that post of Per’s. Still one of the very best.

Neil, that was John Luccas. I was wondering that myself not long ago and had to ask Seth.
Over and his father (Bob RIP) went from NJ to visit John Luccas one weekend and Tinker made the trip from Conn.

Might be that his name was spelled Lucas instead of with two C’s.

Brice Burrell · « **Reply #3 on:** May 08, 2021, 10:08 PM »

Quote from: Michael Kellough on May 08, 2021, 09:34 PM

Neil, that was John Luccas. I was wondering that myself not long ago and had to ask Seth.
Over and his father (Bob RIP) went from NJ to visit John Luccas one weekend and Tinker made the trip from Conn.

Might be that his name was spelled Lucas instead of with two C’s.

It was John Lucas, with one C. The old archive of his site seems to be gone. The best I could find was from the way back machine. Waybackmachine, Woodshop Demo.

How about this for a flashback. Do you remember Bill Esposito's old sites?
Bill-e's WoodWorking Page and New Hampshire Woodworker

MrToolJunkie · « **Reply #4 on:** May 09, 2021, 12:35 AM »

Great thread - thanks for posting these threads, Brice and it is good to see you checking in. These were all great threads. I also remember Bill Esposito's site. Also, don't forget Jerry Work and The Dovetail Joint http://www.jerrywork.com/. Of course, Roger Savatterri had some great posts as did Eiji Fuller. I remember the old days - although Festool was more mainstream before I bought my first tool. I always enjoyed your posts and articles too - the MFS Template is one of the best.

T. Ernsberger · « **Reply #5 on:** May 09, 2021, 06:40 PM »

Some of the old timers are active on Instagram

Brice Burrell · « **Reply #6 on:** May 09, 2021, 08:45 PM »

Quote from: T. Ernsberger on May 09, 2021, 06:40 PM

Some of the old timers are active on Instagram

I never got into instagram. I know Erock was active there. Who else is making content there?

deepcreek · « **Reply #7 on:** May 09, 2021, 11:34 PM »

@Brice Burrell Good to see you! I have Instagram but don't use it like I should. https://www.instagram.com/timberfirestudio/ I find it easier to post photos on Facebook from my computer after editing but Instagram won't support that. I've gotten out of trim carpentry/remodeling from my old JLC Online days and design/build custom furniture.

tjbnwi · « **Reply #8 on:** May 10, 2021, 12:06 AM »

I was told I have an Instagram page for the company and I hear from others it is pretty good. I have no clue what the info is, the guys wont let me know how to get in it so I don’t mess it up.....

Brice, good to see you post.

Tom

Stan Tillinghast · « **Reply #9 on:** May 10, 2021, 03:21 PM »

I had to look it up...I joined in March 2007. I can't recall how I heard about Festool or the FOG; I was building beds for a vacation rental home then; went quite for some years, bought more Festool stuff when living in Hawaii (had to use Amazon Prime then), then again after moving to San Diego. Now getting closer to doing some useful stuff with the Festool collection again (as opposed to handyman-type stuff).
I have learned a lot here.

HowardH · « **Reply #10 on:** May 25, 2021, 11:17 PM »

Per Swenson was always one of my favorites. He is real, WYSIWYG, and had some really great homespun humor. I hope he is well.

jobsworth · « **Reply #11 on:** May 26, 2021, 11:22 AM »

Good to see you Brice...

The post I remember most is Vinnies (He had another name but thats what I called him) long post w step by step remodeling his moms kitchen.

Pers Wow I got some of his stuff book mark along with some of your you tube videos.

it seems things have changed from major project threads like Vinnies to What tools do i need to....

Richard/RMW · « **Reply #12 on:** May 29, 2021, 03:09 PM »

Wow, Frank Pellow's cabin project. Too bad the full photos were lost, I recall a lot of great threads around that timeframe. Like this.

FWIW, I randomly dropped in today, first time since January. Rainy/windy weekend at the Jurzy shore, too bad for everyone who months ago rented a place for the holiday.

@Brice Burrell thanks for the timely stroll down memory lane.

@Tinker you out there? Storytime.

RMW

Tinker · « **Reply #13 on:** May 30, 2021, 03:49 PM »

I still stop by now and then. I now send stories to my stepdaughter who my son just married three years ago. She brought a couple of daughters into the family. My grandson has also just bought a house that he in fixing up. I have lots of stories for him. My son is now in the process of buying the family farm and I am in the process of bringing him up to date (up to date is the previous century on the history of that farm. I am starting off in 1899 when my Great Uncle graduated from Cornell with a degree in civil engineering. I have information all the way back "in them thar days." My life started when I moved to that farm for two weeks stretching to forever. My son, who has a business requiring much bigger toys than my Festoys has begun to stretch that life beyond forever. I had a heart attack 5 or 6 years ago; I have not been into woodworking since. I am still working every day when it is not storming. I am still in landscaping business so I have not dropped of the face of the earth. After all, I am only 39. I know I am 39 because I have been 39 for 51 years.

It is good to hear, thru this thread, about all the old timers. I wonder if Vinney was successful in his education to be a surgeon (MD type) I am pretty smart. I got my AMD without cracking a book. Vinny has had to study thru several years of extra schooling to get his MD.

I have fond memories RichardWarren (RMW). PerSwenson has also been mentioned. He was one of my favorite story tellers. Brice Burell has opened up my memory bank with this thread. My friendship with John Lucas, I still have a table saw that i bought from him. I remember the trip to John's shop in Rhode Island. Charles Wilson drove up there, I rode from Newington to Providence with him. I write to him every two or three years. I miss all the old back and forth chats we often got into with the "Old Timers"

Thanks for the memories
Tinker

Bob Marino · « **Reply #14 on:** June 02, 2021, 01:33 PM »

Wow, what a very nice post Brice. Thanks so much for posting. Glad to see you are doing well. Nice to see the 'old" names. Wonderful memories.

RIP, John Lucas and Bob Swenson - such nice guys - had the pleasure of meeting both of them, Bob more frequently as he was here quite often when Per built my shop.

Yeah, the good old days in Festool Land, with Christian Oltzcher (sic) at the helm, David McGibbon running Repairs and Service, Independent Sales Agents (ISA's) selling the tools and doing the WW shows - national and local. It was a good time to be a part of the team.

Tinker · « **Reply #15 on:** June 03, 2021, 08:28 AM »

I got introduced to The Fog from indirectly John Lucas. I was discussing a recent instructive demo when John directed me to @Bob Marino. Bob, when I was discussing a purchase suggested I hook up with The FOG. That was before it was taken over by Festool.
The rest is history.

I recall the piles of bubble wrap on my living room floor whenever I got package from Bob. My grandson had a great time stomping on the bubbles when he came to visit.

Bob Swenson and I had a great time swapping stories. He was a great story teller. I see where his son, Per, got his habit from.

Tinker

jobsworth · « **Reply #16 on:** June 03, 2021, 12:09 PM »

Going through this thread I remembered Tom Bellmare.
Tom was awesome, when I called to order from him we would stay o the phone chatting for at least a hour.
I remember the day I called him to oder something. He was a little short to me. I thought he was having a bad day.
He called me back and apologized (wasnt a need for him to do that) then he told me the news about his cancer. I was shocked and saddened. Even more saddened at his passing.

I found one of his cards in a sortainer drawer the other day.

Brought back some found memories of him.

Also writing this reminded me of the guy (forget his name) who started making the systainer first aid kits. He was a great guy to who I miss.

Wow memory lane.....

Michael Kellough · « **Reply #17 on:** June 03, 2021, 04:27 PM »

Quote from: jobsworth on June 03, 2021, 12:09 PM

Going through this thread I remembered Tom Bellmare.
Tom was awesome, when I called to order from him we would stay o the phone chatting for at least a hour.
I remember the day I called him to oder something. He was a little short to me. I thought he was having a bad day.
He called me back and apologized (wasnt a need for him to do that) then he told me the news about his cancer. I was shocked and saddened. Even more saddened at his passing.

I found one of his cards in a sortainer drawer the other day.

Brought back some found memories of him.

Also writing this reminded me of the guy (forget his name) who started making the systainer first aid kits. He was a great guy to who I miss.

Wow memory lane.....

If I remember correctly “WOW” was his handle, or something close to that.

Runhard · « **Reply #18 on:** June 03, 2021, 04:55 PM »

I’m glad I stop by the FOG today and to see this thread. I stopped in to look for an old post about kitchen knives. I didn’t post much but I was on the site daily beginning in 2012. I haven’t been on the site much at all the past few years. I enjoyed all the stories, project pictures, and amazing wealth of information. I too have good memories of Tom! Bob and Tom were my go to dealers! Shane was great here on the site and was always a tremendous ohelp. This group helped me spend 10’s of thousands of dollars in tools, most sit unused or still crated up. I have a new Hammer A3-41 and Commercial SawStop that have never been open. I’ve been thinking about selling some of these larger items, but it’s hard to let them go thinking (hoping) that I will use them one day.

Take care everyone and be safe out there!

Daniel

SRSemenza · « **Reply #19 on:** June 03, 2021, 05:22 PM »

Quote from: Runhard on June 03, 2021, 04:55 PM

I’m glad I stop by the FOG today and to see this thread. I stopped in to look for an old post about kitchen knives. I didn’t post much but I was on the site daily beginning in 2012. I haven’t been on the site much at all the past few years. I enjoyed all the stories, project pictures, and amazing wealth of information. I too have good memories of Tom! Bob and Tom were my go to dealers! Shane was great here on the site and was always a tremendous ohelp. This group helped me spend 10’s of thousands of dollars in tools, most sit unused or still crated up. I have a new Hammer A3-41 and Commercial SawStop that have never been open. I’ve been thinking about selling some of these larger items, but it’s hard to let them go thinking (hoping) that I will use them one day.

Take care everyone and be safe out there!

Daniel

I don't know, only 815 posts? What a slacker.

I would call that much , much more than ..................... "I didn't post much"

Seth

Runhard · « **Reply #20 on:** June 03, 2021, 05:51 PM »

Well, if you factor in the amount of time I was on the site, 815 post doesn’t seem like much. Sometimes I would spend hours at a time on the FOG. Anyway, I’m shopping for Shun premier knives now! My Blendtec pro 800 blender arrived yesterday and I need to start eating healthier, hence the new knives. I fell for the marketing gimmick and bought the Coolina knives. They’re ok, but not what I was hoping for.

We now have an 11 month old baby girl. She is our only child and I’m almost 46. I jokingly say that she’s my first grandchild to people I don’t really know. I want to start building her some things with my tool collection, instead of everything collecting dust. So, I’ll probably be around more. Maybe I can achieve 1,000 post!

neilc · « **Reply #21 on:** June 03, 2021, 06:46 PM »

There was the original effort pre FOG threaded discussion board that Matthew ran. Was it Yahoo? I remember being involved back then before FT took over FOG.

@Bob Marino - I wish Christian and others from FT were still active here. They were early to the game in using digital to build a fan base. Too bad they have backed off from direct customer engagement.

Michael Kellough · « **Reply #22 on:** June 03, 2021, 07:26 PM »

Quote from: neilc on June 03, 2021, 06:46 PM

There was the original effort pre FOG threaded discussion board that Matthew ran. Was it Yahoo? I remember being involved back then before FT took over FOG.

@Bob Marino - I wish Christian and others from FT were still active here. They were early to the game in using digital to build a fan base. Too bad they have backed off from direct customer engagement.

From a post of Matthew’s in 2016,

“Sometimes, I can't believe that a simple idea that came to me one afternoon in August 2004 to "see who else is out there who uses these tools" ended up leading to a forum like this! I have all the e-mails and messages exchanged back in 2004 with Bob Marino and Christian Oltzscher and a few others, and it's fun to look back at them sometimes!

Recently, I have been getting back into woodworking again, and I am very happy to see how Festool has developed as a company. When I first started the Yahoo group, and this forum, Festool was still kind of small. Now, anyone who does woodworking knows about them.

Hope you are all well.

Matthew”

jmbfestool · « **Reply #23 on:** June 29, 2022, 04:07 PM »

Quote from: jobsworth on June 03, 2021, 12:09 PM

Going through this thread I remembered Tom Bellmare.
Tom was awesome, when I called to order from him we would stay o the phone chatting for at least a hour.
I remember the day I called him to oder something. He was a little short to me. I thought he was having a bad day.
He called me back and apologized (wasnt a need for him to do that) then he told me the news about his cancer. I was shocked and saddened. Even more saddened at his passing.

I found one of his cards in a sortainer drawer the other day.

Brought back some found memories of him.

Also writing this reminded me of the guy (forget his name) who started making the systainer first aid kits. He was a great guy to who I miss.

Wow memory lane.....

Wow.... aka Wayne was a nice bloke. I remember him messaging me, offering help with an issue I was having.

We were messaging back and forth and he was writing a few emails for me.

One day he responded by saying..... sorry he didn't get back to me sooner because he's in hospital.

I didn't think too much off at the time, little did I know he was extremely unwell.

It wasn't long after he passed away.

It got to me because even though he was so unwell in hospital, he was still spending his time helping others...me.

I wish I knew how serious it was at the time..

jobsworth · « **Reply #24 on:** June 29, 2022, 04:24 PM »

@ jmbfestool

Wow what a surprise seeing you posting here James.

Good to see you.

How have you been?

Last I remember you were building your shop?

How's that working out for?

greg mann · « **Reply #25 on:** June 29, 2022, 05:10 PM »

There are a host of guys I think about all the time. This has been a great place
to hang out and never devolved away from the initial civility we all shared. That isn’t all that typical in this digital venue. Nice to hear from you, Brice.

For my part, I owe Michael K. a phone call to get caught up. Life gets busy and time flies by.

Lincoln · « **Reply #26 on:** June 29, 2022, 05:31 PM »

[/quote]

Wow.... aka Wayne was a nice bloke. I remember him messaging me, offering help with an issue I was having.

We were messaging back and forth and he was writing a few emails for me.

One day he responded by saying..... sorry he didn't get back to me sooner because he's in hospital.

I didn't think too much off at the time, little did I know he was extremely unwell.

It wasn't long after he passed away.

It got to me because even though he was so unwell in hospital, he was still spending his time helping others...me.

I wish I knew how serious it was at the time..

[/quote]

Wayne (WOW) offered to buy, and post to me, a set of Snappy Centrotec countersink bits, as they weren't available in Australia. Always remember him as a helpful, friendly, welcoming guy - you can't ask for much more than that.

Throwback7r · « **Reply #27 on:** June 30, 2022, 08:10 AM »

I still have my WOW first aid kit and will be using it today! I was even lucky enough to get the second mini first aid kit his kids finished after his departure from this world.

He was a great guy!

jmbfestool · « **Reply #28 on:** July 03, 2022, 02:41 PM »

Quote from: jobsworth on June 29, 2022, 04:24 PM

@ jmbfestool

Wow what a surprise seeing you posting here James.

Good to see you.

How have you been?

Last I remember you were building your shop?

How's that working out for?

Fine thanks, you?

The workshop has been up and running a while but in terms of being finished.... um ongoing lol

I think I should have finished it fully before going in and starting jobs with it....

Plus few other projects and kids don't help

jobsworth · « **Reply #29 on:** July 03, 2022, 06:12 PM »

@ jmbfestool

I get james, Ive got a stand alone work shop now been in it for a couple of years. Thought i was done setting it up... nope everytime I get out there I find myself wanting to make changes.