I have always regarded the angle grinder with a special sense of awe. Also the guys that run them. I admire the guys that run them all day every day and know all the special tricks. I admire the farmer type that run them with efficiency if not dexterity.

 Although I fall in the latter category of farmer type, I don’t admire my skill with a grinder. It leaves a lot to be desired. I run it stiffly, jerkily with arms outstretched and whatever PPE I happen to have on when necessity calls for a grinder. Clumsily I give my best to the job at hand. But the sparks hurt. And hey, I know friends that have been seriously wounded by these things spinning out of control. All this changed one day in the field.

 I was plowing many miles from the shop on a rented farm. Before we go on, let me give just a brief explanation of plowing. To the uninitiated plowing means harrowing or discing or some type of effortless tillage. To me, plowing is something entirely different. Plowing is with a 6 bottom moldboard plow. These affairs often break in our rocky Northern Maine soil, requiring many stops to practice patience and fixing.

 Ok, back to the grinder. On this particular day I had broken a piece on the plow for at least the second time before lunch. It required immediate attention. The owner of the farm, who is a friend of mine, had been plowing with his own tractor but came over when he saw I was stopped. This breakdown called for a grinder. Ok, no problem. Pull up the truck and whip out the M18 grinder. Now for the grinding part. I did have fairly decent PPE at the moment so I proceeded stiffly, awkwardly as usual.

 After a short time my friend said, If you want, I will show you a trick. I looked up at him from my battle station on the ground. I saw his bald head and weathered face against the deep blue of the autumn sky. Suddenly I saw him once again in the South Pacific Ocean on a warship. Again he was a navy engineer. Again someone needed technical advice.

 He showed me his trick, which was useful to the situation at hand. But what impressed me more than the trick of the trade, was his deftness with that grinder. He plied it like an artist would a paintbrush, or a writer would a pencil. I was amazed.

 He showed me that, like many other things, grinding is an art. I had just been approaching it all wrong.

 So to my friend. Thanks for showing me much more than a simple trick. And thank you for your service to our country.

Levi Jantzen