Iron Oak Farm: The Romace of Collecting Antique Woodworking Tools

Zach enjoys collecting and restoring old wood working tools. So for his birthday I took him antiquing. This is what he found.

A nice simple box plain.

A saw set which is a tool used to set or "tune" the teeth of a saw a uniform or correct distance and angle from the blade and from each other.

And a hand crank boring machine used for timber framing. The boring machine is used to drill out the bulk of material in a piece of timber that will then be squared off with a chisel to create the mortise in mortise and tenon construction.

Zach spied the boring machine from across a few booths and almost plowed over two unsuspecting ladies looking at clown figurines in the bee-line. (serves them right for liking clowns...clowns are creepy.)

"Oh my gosh this is awesome!" As he started moving by-standing antiques out of the way so he could properly turn the handles.

"Look at how cool this is!"

I can always tell when Zach is truly excited about something. He's a quiet guy. It takes a lot for him to get riled up but when he is, it's all over his face...he's genuine that way.

"I've wanted one of these forever!"

So I asked him. "Will this be your birthday choice?"

He turned the handles a few more times with stars in his eyes, and fingered the price tag gingerly. "No,...no, it's ok."

Zach and I are on a strict budget for the next couple years. We have goals and plans that need adhering to. So frivolous purchases, even in the name of birthdays are still hard for both of us. Spending money for us, takes lots of consideration and usually results in one of us talking the other person into the splurge. It's frustrating at it times, but it helps us appreciate what we do have, and a new "toy" is always treasured.

I told him to take it down for me so I could take a turn at rotating the handles. He lifted the awkward thing off the shelf and tried to set it on a lower surface.

It was an antique store so there wasn't a surface not filled with, well...antiques.

"Here, just hand it to me."

I grabbed the boring machine and cradled the big thing in my arms.

"You won't be able to turn it if you're holding it."

"I have no intentions of turning it." And with that, I marched the boring machine up to the register and paid for it.

It's so funny how an old piece of wood, some gears and a big stick of twisted metal can bring so much joy to my husband. But that's why I love him. The fact that things like this DO bring him joy, and I know why it does, and I know that we share the same passion between us. Almost like a secret.

There's a million different reasons why we both love history, antiques, simple tools, old ways of doing things...we've hashed those reasons out many times over the 19 years we've been together. (We started dating when we were 14 and been friends since first grade.)

We've sat many nights, oranged faced with the soft glow of a bonfire warming our fronts while our backs freeze to the cool night air talking. Or laying on the dewy grass staring at a slice of moon and discussing tidbits of things we've read about how things "used to be done."

It's our romance, our nostalgia of a time that we've never lived, but for our own reasons, feel connected to.

And here sits an 80 year old boring machine on my coffee table.