OldTools Archive

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71876 B108cious@a... 1999‑12‑03 Bio-Long
Gentle Galoots,
Our upcoming gift exchange has provided me w/ the necessary impetus to
finally get a bio on the table.
So here goes:

I'm 44 years old and live in La Costa, California.  This is in the northern
end of San Diego County and is
one of those areas where finding tools is more challenging than in New
England or on the other side of
the pond.  I'm married and have a 15-year-old son and 10 year old daughter.
My first efforts at working
w/ wood were as a young man having just finished a bachelor's degree in
experimental psych at U. C. S. D.   I
was very interested in woodworking, and started making frames for stained
glass makers. They would in
turn, take the frame and install it in some home in one of the higher rent
districts of the area. I mostly
bartered for nice pieces of stained glass and was pretty basic in my skills.
Soon after, I found a job using
my degree and slowly began to work towards graduate school.  I have now been
in private practice as
Marriage and Family Therapist for many years.  My interests in woodworking
had taken kind of a back
seat (present but somewhat unseen...like a virus I suppose) until about 5
years ago.  Then it happened.

Each year, the county fair is held in a nice local little town named Del Mar.
 I had gone since I was young,
and had for many years been taken w/ the incredible woodworking pieces which
were put together by the
San Diego Fine Woodworkers Association.  The summer of 94 at the show I was
talking with the guys who
were there as representative of the SDFWA and learned that many of the gifted
woodworker's had gotten
their start at Palomar College.  I had never thought of Palomar as anything
but a local junior college, and
was kinda surprised that they had developed this aspect of their program.

At the time, I had a small shop w/ a number of power tools but had many gaps
in my knowledge and very
little comfort w/ hand tools.  The one plane I owned (a Mathieson razzed
jointer) had not worked well when
I had tried to use it (what do you mean you have to sharpen the blade; it
looks kinda sharp already)?  I
happened across a L-N low angle jack and the storeowner took out back to show
me just how "cool" it
was.  Blew me away!  I told him to put it on hold, went home and told my
incredibly loving wife what I
wanted for Christmas and where it was "on hold."  She's great and made sure
it happened.  That was it!  I
started using it to plane some cherry I had each night.  I didn't have much
of a bench so I drove a nail in a
piece of MDF as a stop and started learning about grain orientation,
sharpness, stance, thickness of cut,
and read anything I could get my hands on.  I was really drawn to the quiet
swoosh the plane made and
the incredibly translucent shavings it made. I had never seen cherry look so
beautiful.  I also loved the
calming feeling after a long day's work.  Little did I know that the lack of
hair on top of my left wrist was
the beginning of "Galoot Pattern Baldness."

I don't think things have really changed that much since then.  I am quite a
bit more skilled now.  I've made
some very nice pieces and won a couple of awards for workmanship and design.
I built a workbench in my
second semester and it was the smartest move I could have made.  Anybody just
getting into this will
hear from lots of long time woodworkers to build a bench.  Just trust their
advice and do it!  It changed
my woodworking completely!  I have placed a couple pictures of the workbench
and one of a display table I
made at the following site: http://hometown.aol.com/Afinewoodworker/index.html

I haven't got as much time as I would like to work on projects.  In danger of
becoming a theoretical woodworker
if I'm not careful...good tools, great plans...no output.  Between being w/
he kids, spending time
w/ my wife, working, and all the mundane stuff that has to get done, not a
lot is left.  I'm also finding that
tool maintenance can become way too time consuming.  Southern Cal is a
serious haven for rust development
and any tool left exposed will oxidize in a heartbeat.

I'm really fond of older planes, chisels and â¦OK this is supposed to be
honestâ¦. just about any older
tools I can get my hands on.  Earlier in the year, I found a beautiful old
tool chest on a family trip to England.
Early Easter morning I dragged the family w/ me to a "car boot" in York,
England.  This is the English
term for having lots of folks drive to an area and open up the trunk (boot)
of their car and start selling
whatever stuff they have.  I got to the chest just before another rust hunter
and ended up carrying it all
over England on the top of a Fiat.  The family just loved that one.

Last year I was asked by the people at the college to teach a course on
Planemaking.  I felt
ill prepared for the job, as professional Planemaker have generally built
hundreds of planes.  I got through
the class OK and managed to be relatively helpful.  What I lacked in
structure, I think I made up for in passion.
The people in the class made some really great tools and many have talked
about how their new fondness for planes
 has changed their woodworking.  Music to my ears.  First thing I passed out
in class was the story about
"Tool Heaven" and hand tools.  It set a nice stage for the course.  I would
gladly welcome any pictures and
especially plans anyone has and would share.  Advice and suggestions are also
welcome.

My grandfather was a professional woodworker and carver, but died the year I
was born.  I never met him.
I have three chisels which were his (unmarked but they are very similar to
everlasting chisels) as well as a
couple Addis and one Buck carving chisels.  I hope to one day be able to come
near to his skill level.  I've
got a ways to go.

Tool Highlights:

Best Ever Gloats: Norris 1 1/4" shoulder plane, gunmetal w/ dovetailed steel
sole $225.00 or the English
Cabinetmaker's chest for $140.00

Most Recent Gloat: A gaggle of excellent saws (Simonds 5A and 5; Disston 12,
15, and mitre saw; and
two Atkins saws (one w/ a beautiful rosewood handle)) all given to me as a
gift for helping a friend sort
out his grandfather's galootish shop.  (Along w/ a Stanley 8c, a 35, and an
older chest for a very fair price.)
This man had a serious accumulator's gene.  The Simonds 5A is unlike any saw
I've seen.  It has a beautiful
brass piece wrapped under the lower horn.

Please forgive the length of this bio.  I got kind of carried away.  I really
appreciate the opportunity to
learn from so many knowledgeable and gifted woodworkers



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