Got a new toy in the shop and no, it’s not Festool. Let me tell you about it.
Twenty five years or so ago, I designed sewage lift stations for land developers. One day a salesperson came by with a demonstration pump on a small trailer behind his truck. All the trailer sides rolled up so we could walk around the pump and get a feel for size and installation issues. I remember standing there with the distinct impression the pump was running, but there was no electrical connection or generator. I could hear it running and feel the vibration through the floor of the trailer. No sewage either, thank goodness. (It may be sewage to you, but it’s bread and butter to me!) I searched for a minute to see where the noise and vibration was coming from, and finally realized it was from a Bose radio down in the front of the trailer playing a recording of a pump running. I have wanted a Bose radio ever since.
Bose Shop Radio
Finally sprung for one for my birthday last week. I ordered the attachment for Bluetooth to go with it. What that means for you Luddites out there, is that I can play music off my phone and my iPad and it comes through the radio. It is a radio of course, but it will also play CD’s. The sound is nothing short of fantastic and will rattle the walls of the shop. It will drown out almost any power tool in the shop and it may drive bugs out of the sawdust pile, depending on what kind of music I play and how loud I make it.
I spend many hours at the lathe and I can hear my new radio while I am working. I also listen to podcasts, (look on iTunes — ask your grandchildren to help you! ) and there is one particular podcast I really like called “Stuff You Missed in History Class”. Excellent discussions on some really arcane subjects (did you know that only five people actually died at the Boston Massacre?), but very well done. Podcasts typically download automatically once you subscribe and there are thousands out there on hundreds of subjects including many on woodworking.
Get yourself set up with a good radio or a Bluetooth speaker and enjoy music and a whole bunch of other good stuff while you work in the shop.
While you are out there, by the way, go look up Bluetooth and the connection with Hedy Lamar, the famous actress. What a remarkable woman.
Editor’s Note: Some great woodworking podcasts include: Wood Talk and The Modern Woodworkers Association.