I bought one almost 15 years ago to use on my 1858 home. My house has white cedar shingles with a 12 1/2 inch exposure, so it was tricky. I renailed every shingle and then proceed to shave them. Carla is correct in saying that you need to be careful, but I found with practice that I could get it to work pretty well. You can adjust the depth of the cut so that you're actually taking off more paint and less wood. This machine would definitely work better on clapboard than shingles due to the relative straightness of calpboard as compared to shingles. Also, I purchased the sander that they sell as well, which was a mistake. It's basically a small electric grinder fitted with a sanding disc. I found it very difficult to sand and not leave marks in the wood. I purchased a Porter-Cable orbital sander, hooked it up to my shopvac, and it works exceptionally well. Hope this helps. Charlie

I've had several of the battery operated shavers. Some work well, others don't. I haven't noticed that the size mattered. You can try the safety razor, but as you can imagine, you will need to be very careful. I tried it once, and the razor fills up with the pills along the cutting edge and needs to be cleaned out after only a couple of swipes. And be careful not to cut yourself while doing it. I have never used a sweater stone, but I've heard knitters rave about them. I gather that they are a lot like the stones you use on your feet for calluses.

Well, I used the U.S. Consumer Price Index calculator (available from several Web sites), so, for better or for worse, that's the number I came up with. I'm not even sure if $100 was a reasonable price for a washer back then; I couldn't find any vintage ads with prices on them. It is mildly amusing (to me, anyway) to hear people in the U.S. and Canada whine about (US)$3/gallon gasoline when it is $6.00-7.00 throughout much of Europe. The problem is that gasoline (and diesel) have been so cheap for so long here that our society didn't bother to think about not having petroleum available at low prices. This has had its pluses, as North Americans enjoy detached-single-family homes at a rate that people in many cities across the world can only envy. But it also causes some hardship when someone who bought a "me-too" SUV or pickup finds out that they're filling it up twice a week at US$60-70 a pop. Pays yer money, takes yer choice. On this morning's news they mentioned that U.S. Senate Republicans are talking about a US$100 rebate to (U.S.) motorists to help alleviate the high price of fuel (funny considering how much of that increase was brought about by their Supreme Leader, but I digress). Only hitch is that the rebate will be tied to drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. Now at least we know the actual wage of sin. :-(

I've always felt I was old enough to understand and benefit from the much denigrated women's movement, yet young enough not to have actually be involved. Just to benefit. I have McCall's sewing patterns from the 40s, 50s, 60s, and my own from the 70s. Even that much was interesting to notice the difference in the sketch models. Kitchens I can't speak to. But I can tell you in 1964 my mom built a house with metal cabinets, that were a dark, slate/turquoise/cadet blue. Open to the dining area (seperate formal dining room,) Linoleum, a DW, built-in butcher block counter, a pantry with roll-outs, whole house pocket doors. My mom was always ahead of the game. I'd love to see the articles!