Gracious Galoots,

Well, it does seem all the rage at the moment, so I thought I'd join
in.  I remain a relative newcomer, both to the Porch and woodworking,
although I've managed to expand my range of tools to include most that
I think I'll need.  Several members of the porch have fed my needs
(Ray, Bruce, Z., Ed, and others I can't remember at the moment as I
often suffer from CRS.)  Divorce looms large on the near horizon and
my workshop is in a different, but better home.  SWMNLBO has no
interest in my rusty stuff, to my great relief.

I've built little, although I did attend a Normite woodworking class
that only confirmed my desire to work cordless.  Still have some
electron-consuming tools, but use them less and less.  My workbench is
nearing completion.  Set in the vises on Saturday, will glue up the
two top sections and put it together over the winter break.
Discovered that a router plane would have been great to use, as my
handwork with a paring chisel remains rough.  My approach, though, is
to just go at what needs doing, using what I have, and trying to
figure out the best way.

Better at sharpening, sticking with Scary Sharp.  Tried wetstones
through the generosity of a friend and liked them, but I'm sticking
with paper abrasives until I really have it down.  I feel strongly
that jumping from method to method without acquiring some level of
expertise and understanding before moving on means never really
grasping why a method might be worthwhile or not.  Still not doing
freehand sharpening.

Got more tools than I really need (yeah, right!), but I love these
pieces of history and find it extremely satisfying to begin to feel
that I tune them and can use them to build things.  Saws, chisels, odd
tools are my weakness.

Been a great couple years here on the Porch.  Joined some
conversations, lurked a lot, and laughed a lot.  Haven't met in person
as many of you as I'd like to, but there's time.  Sure did enjoy
meeting the California crew (almost got that Union #3 ready to use)
and a few folks at one of the LFOD auctions.

Getting my G-claus package ready.  Think it'll be a great year.  I
wish the same to all of you!

Regards,

Dwight
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