Shoutout to the old guy at the hardware store who saved my journal

I was at Ace Hardware on Grand Ave last Tuesday looking for sandpaper and got talking to this retired carpenter named Bill. He saw my beat up leather journal in my back pocket and said "you know you can fix that spine with a little bookbinding tape and waxed thread." He spent 10 minutes showing me how to do it right there by the paint section. Has anyone else gotten random hobby advice from strangers in weird places?

2 comments

2 Comments

kellys7810d agoMost Upvoted

Gasped when I read about the waxed thread. That's some old school craftsman stuff right there. I had a retired seamstress at JoAnn Fabrics teach me how to darn a hole in my favorite hoodie using a darning egg she pulled out of her purse. She was so excited someone actually wanted to learn.

blair_webb9d agoProlific Poster

Bumped into an old machinist at a flea market who saw me admiring his vintage hand plane and spent twenty minutes showing me how to sharpen a chisel on a whetstone with oil. He even drew me a little diagram on a napkin showing the correct angle and which grits to use. That napkin is still tucked in my toolbox three years later, works way better than any YouTube video I've found.