I was fortunate to grow up in a series of three houses that my family continually remodeled. This meant a basement workshop in each one. I remember working with my father on countless projects and I learned from him on each one. At age nine I used his jig saw and made miniature buildings and trestles for my model train layout. Later, at twelve, Dad and I invested $50.00 each and purchased a used radial arm saw. (By now my lawn mowing business was bringing in really big money, at two or three dollars per lawn.) This was our first real bench tool. We used this saw to build everything from furniture to a family room. While there were never any formal lessons I learned much from the many hours in the workshop with Dad. Each year our projects grew in complexity and my skills improved. Now my basement workshop takes nearly the whole basement, rather than the corner in Dad's, but the lessons learned in that corner find daily application today.

I am glad my father gave me the freedom to explore those basement workshops. Many parents today would shrink at the risk of real tools, sometimes without supervision. But, the advantages were wonderful for me.

Thanks Dad

Joseph Phillip Linck

1924 - 2005