I am in favor of short messages that tell us where to find a specific
thing or where it might be available.  In the 990901 MMD there was an
message from someone saying that he made round leather belts.  Several
years ago, before I was a MMD subscriber, I spent a lot of time looking
for a custom made leather belt.  I am now in the process of looking at
getting some bronze castings duplicated.  The person I talked to was
mentioned few months ago.  That is two "ads" I have found helpful in
just a few months.

I am not in a buying position right now but still enjoy seeing what the
eBay listings are.  I usually don't read the whole thing but just the
index listing.

When I teach my "Nifty Shop Tools and Technics" class at the national
PTG convention I try to keep in the back of my mind that it is more
important to tell people where to get these tools than to tell them
what they do.  We are a small market and I think our major problem is
learning what is out there.

John Dewey