I've gotten several emails over the years asking about the name Wirecutter, who gave it to me? What did I do to earn it?
I hate to dissapoint you kiddies but I gave it to myself in a perfectly innocent way. I collect antique barbed wire and I went on ebay to see if they had any for sale. Not only did they have a wide selection but they had some really rare pieces so I registered for ebay. My first screen name was Fencecutter but them damned old cowboys kept refusing my bids until finally one of them wrote me and let me know that fence cutting is a bullwhipping offense damned near everywhere and folks weren't seeing the humor in my name. I probably should've thought that one through a little better. So I changed my name to Wirecutter and eventually bought and sold several thousand dollars worth of collectable barbed wire on ebay, and becoming well known enough around the valley that I've got several barbed wire displays loaned to cowboy/western museums in California.
So there you have it. No big deal.
People collect barbed wire? And chunks of it are worth money? Huh. Somebody collects everything, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteIt's not unusual for a standard 18" balanced cut piece of wire to go for several hundred bucks depending on it's rarity and condition. I've got one display on my wall that has 4 pieces of wire and a tool that's worth about $900 and that's just the price of the wires, not the artistic displaying of them. I'm tacking on another hundred bucks for that.
ReplyDeleteAnd here I thought that maybe you were a dike. (Diagonal cutting plier, like the ones made by Klein & son).
ReplyDeleteFuck Obama.
My Dad had a small barbed wire collection back when I was a kid. Its amazing how many varieties there was of the stuff back in the day.
ReplyDeleteHey, I just realized that your profile pic looks like the wire is shooting the bird... yeah, I'm slow sometimes :)
OMG, so you're not just infamous, you're famous too! My great grandad collected barbed wire, some are amazingly beautiful, very artistic.
ReplyDeleteNow what's the meaning behind "ogdaa"? "Oh God, Don't Ask Again"?
Hey Wirecutter, I bought some old barbed wire from a old lady she was selling at her farm. Then I was looking at all the tools she had and this one tool was really weird looking. Couldn't figure out what the fuck it was, I bought it anyway for $5. What does a barbed wire tool look like. You said it was on your wall, but for the life of me I can't find it..I did click on the FU barbed wire pic. Saw your profile and fuck man you sound just like me or I sound just like you, don't think I'm a gay fuck either. I meant the music, hunting and bacon shit. Let me know where the tool pic is..thanks
ReplyDeleteB.R.
BR - if you can send me a picture of the tool and a manufacturer's name or mark, I can tell you what it is, patent date and value. Send it to k59lane@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteThere were hundreds of different tools - pliers, stretchers, etc.