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100230 Rob Brophy <broph@s...> 2001‑11‑29 Bio: Rob Brophy
Greetings Galoots,

I build props and furniture for a large Canadian theatre company in
Niagara on the lake, Ontario. Our shop has about a dozen craftsmen (and
ladies) building custom items to designer specs. Quite often we have to
reproduce antiques that can't take the abuse of 90 performances or build
custom pieces from drawings. We do a good amount of metalwork and
moldmaking as well as cabinetry. All of our prop builders are expected
to know cabinetry, MIG welding, Acetylene welding, finishing, faux
finishing, upholstery, adhesives, moldmaking, fibreglass/resin
techniques, and more.

My Wife (who is also a prop builder) and I live in an old Baptist Church
in Niagara Falls that we are slowly turning into a great place to live.
Most of our furniture was either built or refinished by  us.  We have
built a nice shop in the basement with a nine foot ceiling and plenty of
light. The main advantage to working in two spaces is being able to say
to LOML "this isn't new, it's been at the other shop for years"

The old tool obsession started about 5 years ago, after a few good flea
market and yard sale finds. Our markets up here don't compare to those
around the suburbs of Price, Maryland, but I've managed to complete my
set of iron planes from 1 to 8 without resorting to ebay. Yup... found a
#1 in the wild...$3.50 CDN...can I get a "you suck"?.  Now I'm working
on getting the Bedrock set...only need the 603 and 608. These were all
found in the wild as well.

I probably have around 200 iron planes now ( it depends if I'm counting
or LOML is), and around 20 wooden planes. It's not a huge collection but
there are some nice tools in it. When you get over 50 of anything you
have to admit it's a collection. I'm sort of drifting away from the
antique tools now and thinking of  building some for myself.  Steve
Knight and Todd Hughes have been a big source of inspiration for me.

My other interest is working on an old Triumph coupe that I dragged out
of a field a few years ago. The engine was seized solid, so I fitted it
with a big ol' Buick engine and have been having a great time ever
since. It's good to get out of the woodshop once in a while.

Hope there's room for one more knuckle dragger on the Porch

Rob Brophy
Nov. 2001



Recent Bios FAQ