OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

63546 Andy Tait <andy@f...> 1998‑11‑08 Bio
Hello everyone.

I came to the list by a roundabout route, and didn't realise that I was
supposed to post a biographical sketch 'til last night, so with
apologies here it is, better late than never.  BTW, I'm fairly new to
all this email and newsgroups stuff, so please bear with me if I haven't
quite got the hang of the style and vocabulary etc just yet.

I'm a cabinetmaker from just outside Bradford, England; I've been in the
furniture trade all my working life [if you don't count a year of
computer cabling].  I'm working for Designer Maker Furniture in
Micklethwaite, soon moving to Oxenhope, two insignificant dots on the
map in the area known to some as "Bronte Country".  We make mostly
one-off furniture of all kinds, but also runs of veneered humidors and
boxes, computer screen surrounds and other "prestige" items.  We're very
much at the labour intensive end of the market, and there's plenty of
handwork involved, though I ought to admit to a fair bit of machining as
well on our collection of elderly but well maintained equipment.  In
short , I'm lucky enough to have a job which doesn't seem like one.

My main interest is furniture, inevitably, but I'm also enthusiastic
about veneering and marquetry, musical instruments of the stringed
variety, tool making and low tech metalwork.  I'm slowly filling up my
house with increasingly elaborate picture frames, as well as timber and
tools.  I'm not really a collector, but I am after good usable tools,
which means either used, Japanese, or very expensive [or make your
own].  I'm mystified why modern mainstream tool manufacturers seem
incapable of making anything more sophisticated than a nail punch to a
decent standard.

When I'm not woodworking I might be found playing guitar badly, but it's
more likely that I'll be planning another project or spending whatever
time is left with my partner, who absolutely refuses to be referred to
as SWMBO, and who am I to argue?

Hope this is the sort of thing required, and that I haven't committed
any gross breaches of etiquette.  I promise I'll get round to reading
the FAQ soon, so I'll have a better idea of what I've got myself into.

Regards

Andy Tait

PS please ignore any dates my machine sends: it's living in the past.



Recent Bios FAQ