Father’s Day tool giveaway reminder

Don’t forget that the purveyors of fine toolboxes for your belt, The Leatherman Tool Group, is giving one lucky MAKE reader a new Super Tool 300 (19 tools in 1). To be eligible, all you have to do is go to the original post and submit a reminiscence about your dad and his relationship to tools. Eligible entries will end at noon tomorrow (6/20) and the winner will be announced a few minutes later.

Father’s Day tool giveaway, sponsored by Leatherman

6 thoughts on “Father’s Day tool giveaway reminder

  1. wwench says:

    My Dad wasn’t a worker of wood, or a car mechanic, or a builder. My Dad’s passion was radio and computers. He built his own computer from a Radio Shack kit, and I remember the old Commodore 64. He was a HAM radio operator – tinkering with the set to bring in ghostly voices from far far awa or sending and receiving in secretive Morse code – how magical! He would receive CQ cards in the mail from distant lands. He gave a love of learning to all of his children. He was a great man.

  2. Gareth Branwyn says:

    @wwench
    Thanks for that. But to be eligible for the drawing, can you please add it to the comments of the original post:

    http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/06/fathers_day_tool_giveaway_sponsored.html

  3. baucco says:

    My father’s relationship with tools seemed to us,as children,to be nearly fanatical.He’s a quiet man with a very deep respect for good tools and what can be accomplished with them.He had few rules for us growing up that were likely to earn us a real punishment. But woe to the kid that left a saw or hammer outside when the project of the day was finished. He had a very unusual way in which to deal with those of us that didn’t show that same respect. The offending party would be led outside and made to hold some sort of tool,usually heavy,while my father would crawl under the car and tinker around.If the offender tried to wander off,or even sit down,my father would say,”No,just hold that,it’s important. I’ll need it in just a minute.” And he would go back to quietly tinkering.Very quietly it seemed. The offending kid would shuffle from foot to foot,stare at the sky,yawn,fidget and generally be bored senseless for maybe an hour or so.Until finally,my father would emerge from under the car,apparently finished with the job.
    ‘You didn’t need this?”,the offender would ask incredulously.”No,I was able to do without.” and then he would wander inside to wash up leaving a very frustrated kid to clean up and put away the tools.My father taught all 6 of us kids,how to build or repair,rather than waste and replace.With 6 kids it was a necessity that we never saw the reason for because of his thrift.As a group,we gutted and restored the old house we had bought for 12 thousand dollars,added two bedrooms,plastered walls,sanded floors and woodwork,replaced plumbing or wiring and reroofed more than once all under the tutelage of my father,who nearly never lost his patience with us(or was very good at hiding it.)Now as an adult I understand his obsession with what were fairly expensive and well made tools.My father gave me some of his old tools when I was starting out on my own and they always make me think of him.Looking back I’m sure he was napping under the car the whole time we thought he was fixing it and I couldn’t wait to have kids so I could pull this little stunt on them.

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Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.

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