Tradesmen's Entrance

Bellingham is a great place to live if you're a woodworker or any kind of DIY enthusiast. Not only do we have the big box stores that you find everywhere, but we have smaller local businesses where the staff are knowledgeable and helpful. A good example is Hardware Sales. Grizzly is another great place, although it's hardly small, and then there's Bob's Super Saw Service, which sells and sharpens saws (and just about anything else that can be sharpened).

Bob's used to be located on Cornwall Avenue in the center of town in a funky old building with wooden floors. The first time I walked inside I felt as if I'd been transported back in time. The owners were very helpful and I enjoyed going there on the few occasions I needed their services. When I decided to resume woodworking after a couple of years of inactivity and needed some tools sharpened, I couldn't find Bob's. I wasn't sure which street it had been on and drove up and down Cornwall and then Railroad Avenue. I began to wonder if the place had been a figment of my imagination or had just gone out of business.

It didn't take long to find out that Bob's had moved to a new location just across the alley behind James Street Hair. Today was haircut day, and my first visit to Bob's since the move. While C was having her hair cut, Miss Annie and I walked across the alley and through Bob's open door. We found ourselves surrounded by machinery, with no service counter in sight. We'd walked in the back door and there were two ways to get to the front. The outside route down the alley and around to the next street would have taken at least five minutes at Miss Annie's walking and sniffing pace. Luckily we were allowed to take the short cut through the machine shop.

The new building doesn't have the charm of the old one, but I'm pleased to say the service is just as good.