The Port-A-Strop Story
Lynn and Sandy Scism live on Camano Island in Washington. They originally moved to Everett from California in 2000. Then the Scism's bought a home on Camano Island in 2003. Lynn has been interested in carving every since he was in high school (a long time ago) but really got serious about it when he retired in 2000. Both Sandy and Lynn have been involved with the Quilceda Carvers organization since 2001. Lynn has been teaching at Senior Centers located in Lake Forest, Bothell and on our Island since 2003. Lynn has also taught classes at several carving rendezvous: Quilceda Carver’s Spit-N-Whittle, Lincoln City, Spokane, Missoula, and Glacier National Park in Montana. He also does short classes at carving shows. We travel all over the Northwest as "Carving With U In Mind" selling cutouts and finished works. Lynn’s personal goal is to become a Master Carver.
How Port-A-Strop was born.
Lynn was taking his sharpening system with him every week to sharpen tools for his students. This sharpening system was bulky, hard to carry around and intimidated his students. They would not use it to sharpen their tools. This meant Lynn spent half of his time sharpening their tools. He looked all around for a portable system he could carry with him but was unable to find one so he decided to build one.
Port-A-Strop has gone through many changes in its short life but the main idea has remained constant. It is Portable, Rechargeable, and weighs less than 5lbs. It is slow enough that it does not get the metal too hot, and it has built in safety features. Women especially are comfortable with it as it is very user friendly. We introduced it at the Kitsap Show in Washington in 2003. It has been accepted very well by everyone. Now Lynn’s students sharpen their own tools. We took it with us to the Glacier Rendezvous which is where we think it is really worth its weight in gold. It is perfect for the RV owners that are Carvers because it is Portable. When you go to a rendezvous, Carve In with friends, Carve in the Park, or wherever there is no power, it is perfect. You just charge it up before you leave and it is good to go for at least 5 hours of sharpening. What a wonderful concept, sharp tools. You will be the envy of your group.