Greetings Galoots,

I've been lurking for a while and joined a week or so ago. In my
original post (about an Everkeen plane I found) I publicly stated that I
would post a bio, so since the GITs and the SWMBO are sleeping, I
thought this would be the only 10 free minutes I might have in a while.

I am married in my 30's, wonderful wife and two GITs (4 and 2 yrs old).
I grew up in Wisconsin, have a B.A. from Madison. I have an M.A. in
Theology and did Ph.D. work in the same field in Atlanta for 7 years
(never quite finished). It was hot in Atlanta. Lots of traffic too. And
smog. Did I mention the heat? Anyway, we moved back to Wisconsin when I
took a job working with computers (a natural progression from theology,
right? You gotta have faith in both fields. [Well, not really, but
that's a different story]). Here's where woodworking comes in. I now
have a basement, and a place to put tools. My father, who is a very
skilled woodworker, gave me his old t*bl*s*w and I became fascinated
with making sawdust. I would go downstairs to my "shop" and cut wood and
occaisionally emerge with a finished product. Nothing fancy, but my
skills increased until the point where people would compliment me on my
work. I was pleased I could Create Something. I began to religi! ously
watch Norm and drool over tailed tools of every shape and size and
price. Not being a rich man, this quickly became depressing. Still, I
made due, and was having fun.

And then my t*bl*s*w died.

Well, not died really. It still works, but there is an irreplacable part
that is worn and getting worse. I was lost. No longer could I Create.
Nights were quiet, without the sounds of sharp teeth slicing into dead
trees. My family slept. I was bummed.

I would read the wreck everyday, just to keep my spirits up.
Occaisionally I would see a post about someone named Stanley, who always
had a different number. Or scary sharp. Or the joy of handcut dovetails.
What's this? Sounds intriguing. People were actually working with wood
without power. I began to investigate this possibility, and I recalled
my father had an old Stanley plane. I thought I would give this a shot.
It was a Stanley Handyman, but I was undeterred. I fixed it up and
produced shavings. I was hooked. I visited the Museum of Woodworking
Tools. I couldn't stop looking at the Blood and Gore. I became
fascintated by the idea of shaving my arms, with humungous razors, so I
started to go to the Disstonian Institute for therapy. And I started
hitting garage and estate sales. My first find was two Atkins panel
saws. My second and third were a Millers Falls #67 and a Sargent #79. I
was in love. A neighbor gave me this beautiful Everkeen transitional !
plane (looks like a Stanley #26) and the way I looked at it the first
time I saw it made my wife jealous.

So I'm going down that slipperly slope. My wife doesn't mind as long as
I promise I will actually make something besides shavings. I'm not ready
to completely abandon all my tailed tools (I have my new t*bl*s*w all
picked out, just waiting for the funds to be released), but I have found
an unexpected joy in working with handtools. I have enjoyed the hunt,
the restoration, and the using. I'm just beginning, but I'm having fun.

The Porch has been a wonderful resource. It is now my lunchtime reading
at work (and sometimes my morning and afternoon reading as well). Expect
to see a lot of stupid questions from me, hopefully those will decrease
over time. Someday I might actually add to the answers instead of the
questions. Someday.

Well, thanks for reading. It's almost time to turn in for the day, but I
think I'll go cut another rabbet in some scrap piece of wood over in the
shop. The family is sleeping, but it's quiet work.

dave

Dave,

Pull up a chair and know it's good to have you on the porch. Welcome!

Glad to have another dad who uses the "snick, snick, snick" sound of 
planes to ease the little GITs off to sleep.

Steve in Brainerd

On Thursday, Jun 26, 2003, at 21:33 US/Central, David Charnon wrote:

> Greetings Galoots,
>
> I've been lurking for a while and joined a week or so ago.  In my 
> original post (about an Everkeen plane I found) I publicly stated that 
> I would post a bio, so since the GITs and the SWMBO are sleeping, I 
> thought this would be the only 10 free minutes I might have in a > while.
>
> I am married in my 30's, wonderful wife and two GITs (4 and 2 yrs 
> old).  I grew up in Wisconsin, have a B.A. from Madison.  I have an 
> M.A. in Theology and did Ph.D. work in the same field in Atlanta for 7 
> years (never quite finished).  It was hot in Atlanta.  Lots of traffic 
> too.  And smog.  Did I mention the heat?  Anyway, we moved back to 
> Wisconsin when I took a job working with computers (a natural 
> progression from theology, right?  You gotta have faith in both 
> fields. [Well, not really, but that's a different story]).  Here's 
> where woodworking comes in.  I now have a basement, and a place to put 
> tools.  My father, who is a very skilled woodworker, gave me his old 
> t*bl*s*w and I became fascinated with making sawdust.  I would go 
> downstairs to my "shop" and cut wood and occaisionally emerge with a 
> finished product.  Nothing fancy, but my skills increased until the 
> point where people would compliment me on my work.  I was pleased I 
> could Create Something.  I began to religi!
>  ously watch Norm and drool over tailed tools of every shape and size 
> and price.  Not being a rich man, this quickly became depressing.  
> Still, I made due, and was having fun.
>
> And then my t*bl*s*w died.
>
> Well, not died really.  It still works, but there is an irreplacable 
> part that is worn and getting worse.  I was lost.  No longer could I 
> Create.  Nights were quiet, without the sounds of sharp teeth slicing 
> into dead trees.  My family slept.  I was bummed.
>
> I would read the wreck everyday, just to keep my spirits up.  
> Occaisionally I would see a post about someone named Stanley, who 
> always had a different number.  Or scary sharp.  Or the joy of handcut 
> dovetails.  What's this?  Sounds intriguing.  People were actually 
> working with wood without power.  I began to investigate this 
> possibility, and I recalled my father had an old Stanley plane.  I 
> thought I would give this a shot.  It was a Stanley Handyman, but I 
> was undeterred.  I fixed it up and produced shavings.  I was hooked.  
> I visited the Museum of Woodworking Tools.  I couldn't stop looking at 
> the Blood and Gore.  I became fascintated by the idea of shaving my 
> arms, with humungous razors, so I started to go to the Disstonian 
> Institute for therapy.  And I started hitting garage and estate sales. 
>  My first find was two Atkins panel saws.  My second and third were a 
> Millers Falls #67 and a Sargent #79.  I was in love.  A neighbor gave 
> me this beautiful Everkeen transitional !
>  plane (looks like a Stanley #26) and the way I looked at it the first 
> time I saw it made my wife jealous.
>
> So I'm going down that slipperly slope.  My wife doesn't mind as long 
> as I promise I will actually make something besides shavings.  I'm not 
> ready to completely abandon all my tailed tools (I have my new 
> t*bl*s*w all picked out, just waiting for the funds to be released), 
> but I have found an unexpected joy in working with handtools.  I have 
> enjoyed the hunt, the restoration, and the using.  I'm just beginning, 
> but I'm having fun.
>
> The Porch has been a wonderful resource.  It is now my lunchtime 
> reading at work (and sometimes my morning and afternoon reading as 
> well).  Expect to see a lot of stupid questions from me, hopefully 
> those will decrease over time.  Someday I might actually add to the 
> answers instead of the questions.  Someday.
>
> Well, thanks for reading.  It's almost time to turn in for the day, 
> but I think I'll go cut another rabbet in some scrap piece of wood 
> over in the shop.  The family is sleeping, but it's quiet work.
>
> dave
>
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