Retirement Won’t Mean Boredom To Local Man

by Ronda Lickteig
R-T News Writer

Most people know Steve Spencer as the owner of Precision Machine and Welding, which makes sense because he’s been hanging around the shop on Tinsman Avenue for the past 50 years. What they might not know is that Spencer is an artist, an historian and a teacher with a passion for not only creating items with a craftsmanship rarely found today, but for passing on what he’s learned to another generation.
Spencer, who recently retired, has been a fixture at the shop since he was a child, watching his father work in the business owned by Charlie Holmes.
“My dad started working there in high school. He got out of school in the afternoons and worked there on weekends. He ended up working there for 25 years, so I grew up being out in that shop,” Spencer recalled.
When he was 14, Spencer started working there, recalling the first time he helped an actual customer.
“Dad said ‘If you’re going to hang around, you might as well do some work’.”
Spencer remembers his father asking him if working as a machinist was something he might want to do as a career.
“I thought, ‘no,’ but didn’t want to hurt his feelings,” he said.
But apparently the work grew on the youngster, whose father died when Spencer was just 15.
Spencer said his years at Precision Machine and Welding have left him with a wealth of memories. While most of his business was agricultural in nature, he loved the variety of work each day brought, knowing himself well enough that he wouldn’t have liked repetition. His abilities were called upon in numerous situations, including one that proved to be a true emergency.
Spencer said one day in the 1980s he received a phone call from a local physician who said a surgeon had forgotten to pack a special tool he needed to perform hip surgery at Wright Memorial Hospital. The local doctor wanted to know if Spencer could make the tool.
“I asked him how soon they needed it. He said ‘Right now!’ I asked if the patient was already under anesthesia and he said ‘Not just under anesthesia, but opened up!’.”
Spencer made the tool, which was picked up by ambulance with lights and sirens going. The tool was sterilized, used one time and discarded.
Another interesting project he worked on was the re-creation of lids for crystal salt and pepper shakers that a collector needed. Spencer said he didn’t think the person would want to pay the $60 or so that it would take to re-create the lids for the shakers, but the owner told him the shakers were very valuable and couldn’t be displayed without lids. Spencer was able to create a nearly identical lid and later recreated one for the same collector that was in the shape of the Taj Mahal. He later learned that the shakers were worth thousands of dollars.
He also worked on projects such as repairing the bars at the old Grundy County Jail after inmates attempted to break out using a hack saw.
“The inmates weren’t very happy to see me up there!” he said. “They’d put a lot of work into it!”
Spencer’s father took a great interest in helping him learn how to work with his hands, not only letting him use his tools in the shop but also teaching him to tie flies for fly fishing. Spencer believes that was an important influence in his life and that parents today need to remember that.
“I tell people to encourage kids to learn by doing things with their hands. Let them help if you’re doing something. That was key for me when I was a little kid,” he said.
Even though he works with his hands all day, his hobbies also require him to work with his hands – but his projects usually start in his mind and include a large amount of research. One of those hobbies is gun-making, an interest that could warrant a feature story all its own.
“I’m only interested in antique firearms. I like the old stuff. I research it and build it and I’m not done with the project until I take game with it,” he said.
The guns he makes can be compared with pieces of art. The wood for the stock is carefully chosen, as is the metal. The carvings are intricate. He researches the type of gun he is making or restoring – one is a type that was used in about 1460, while others also date back hundreds of years. His wife, Barb, said that while other people can see the end product, her husband can see all the steps in between.
The engraving, which is done with a hammer and chisel, is the hardest part, he said.
“The engraving is really a challenge. You can ruin it really easily,” he said.
Another interest is atlatl, the ancient art of throwing a long dart. Of course, Spencer isn’t just interested in throwing the dart, he likes to make the thrower and to improve on the design to maximize the scoring. Spencer has been thrilled to have atlatl be a part of the annual Missouri Day Festival, where young people are encouraged to try the sport.
“I love sharing it with other people,” he said. “That’s why Missouri Days is such a great thing. There’s nothing else like it in Missouri. I just love the band day – to have all those kids out there who have an opportunity to try it. We openly encourage the kids to just walk up and do it and you don’t really find that anywhere else.”
Spencer said he wants Trenton to become the Atlatl Capital of the Missouri, if not the world. Per capita, he said, Trenton has more throwers than anywhere in the state and possibly in the world.
In atlatl, points are collected based on the part of the target that is hit and a score of 70 and over rates a thrower in the national rankings while women need to have a 60 or higher and youth a score of 40 or higher. When Spencer considers his “bucket list” of items he’d like to accomplish in his lifetime, atlatl figures prominently into two of them.
“I haven’t got a whitetail with the atlatl -that’s on the bucket list – and I want to score a 90 on the atlatl. I had it in my grasp last year. I could have done it. I took my last turn and totally missed the target!”
His interest in both gun-making and the atlatl have resulted in Spencer delving into history, with the internet making that much easier than in the past. He also likes to look for artifacts, noting that many arrowheads were actually used for the atlatl rather than arrows as is usually assumed. His interest in the atlatl is a family affair, with Barb, daughter and son-in-law Trisha and Scott Sharp and grandchildren Owen and Carly all spending time as participants or spectators. A 1990 Missouri State Archery Champion, Spencer makes bows and at a family Christmas gathering last year, he rounded up all the little ones and spent time with them shooting bows. He plans to make bows for those youngsters now. He has also re-created an ancient Chinese crossbow that shoots darts in a rapid-fire succession and was very deadly on the battlefield.
With the doors closed at Precision Machine and Welding, a sale is in the works as the building is owned by North Central Missouri College. There will be some things that won’t be sold, such as a box of tools that Spencer’s father received from the government after completing a training course at the Rock Barn. Some tools will go home with Spencer to allow him to continue his hobbies in his basement workshop.
There’s no doubt that Spencer is an incredibly curious and patient man, researching and developing plans for a gun or atlatl thrower, and then meticulously creating it. He lies in wait for many more hours in hopes of taking game with a gun such as was used centuries ago. He doesn’t seem to mind putting in the time to get a quality end result – and that’s true for the time he put into his business. In addition to a good living and a creative way to spend his days, Spencer has developed relationships with his customers and their families over the past many years.
“I’ve loved watching the families of my customers grow,” he said. “We have guys who came in as little boys who are now coming in as grown men.”
Of course, as the little boys grow up, their fathers and grandfathers grow older too and many of Spencer’s best customers are no longer here to see him retire.
“I was looking at some of the old ledgers and just seeing the names of all the good customers I’ve had over the years who have died….that’s kind of sad,” he said. “But that’s what I’m going to miss the most, the people. The guys that have been in there over the years.”
While he may miss the day-to-day contact with people that being in the shop brought him, it’s hard to believe that Spencer will be lonely or bored. There’s no doubt he’ll find ways to keep his hands – and his mind- creating for many years to come.