Very Interesting. Then I suppose a garage sale in your town won't net mu=
ch
in the way of old hand tools?=0D
=0D
Regards,=0D
Col. Huck=0D
 =0D
-------Original Message-------=0D
 =0D
From: Kevin Tan=0D
Date: Monday, June 23, 2003 1:45:32 AM=0D
To: oldtools=0D
Subject: [oldtools] Bios from Singapore=0D
 =0D
Hello all,=0D
 =0D
I'm Kevin Tan and I first saw daylight exactly 42 years ago (Today being=0D
my birthday), and grew up here in Singapore, an island situated in=0D
South-East Asia with a paltry landmass of 250 square miles, but filled to=
=0D
the brim with about 4 million people.=0D
 =0D
My current day job is film/video directing & producing, and I've been=0D
married for about 2 years, and have been involved with woodworking for=0D
about 6 - 7 years.=0D
 =0D
When I was a kid in junior high, I had a couple of years fooling around=0D
the wood shop, but most of my wood working skills was picked up during my=
=0D
2 1/2 years miltary conscription service which is compulsory for all male=
=0D
citizen of Singapore between the age of 18 to 21. A knee injury took me=0D
out of active training and my CO gave me a choice of being the company=0D
clerk or to take charge of the camp wood shop, and I chose the latter for=
=0D
the simple reason of staying out of the brass' sight!=0D
 =0D
I'm not sure if I'm a galoot in the true sense of the word, as not all of=
=0D
the 150 odd pieces of handtools in my collection are of vintage origin.=0D
Within this lot, about 50 pieces are hand planes with the rest being=0D
chisels, saws, bit braces, drills and lay-out/marking tools. As mentioned=
,=0D
this was collected over the past 5 years or so, some locally, some from=0D
e-Bay, aome from familiar names like Patrick Leach, Bob Kaune, Martin=0D
Donnelly, Tom Bruce, etc. The non-vintage tools comes from Lie-Nielsen,=0D
Veritas, ECE and others.=0D
 =0D
Before all this came to be, I'd started out as a DIY enthusiast with a=0D
whole bunch of tailed tools, which I hardly use today, preferring the=0D
relative silence and peace of non corded hand tools, and the obvious=0D
pleasure of their usage.=0D
 =0D
Being a wood-worker bent on working with hand tools in Singapore is=0D
summed-up in one word; Lonely! To date, I've not met another tool=0D
enthusiast here in Singapore who can be bothered with using fine hand=0D
tools and absolutely nobody I can show-off my prized Stanley #85 scraper=0D
or anyone who can appreciate my favorite pre-war Norris smoother. I read=0D
with envy about handplane competition and meetings for tools auctions...=0D
 =0D
Recently, I met Steve Reynold on the internet and he was intrigued that I=
=0D
might just be the sole Singaporean who'd qualify as a galoot and he urged=
=0D
me to join the porch, so here I am.=0D
 =0D
It would be my pleasure to hear from anyone hanging round the porch who=0D
would like to know about practicing woodworking in Singapore.=0D
 =0D
Warmly,=0D
Kevin Tan, Singapore=0D
June 23rd 2003.=0D
 =0D