My name is Martin and I'm a collector....
I actually started collecting tools around 1970. I was visiting my
friend Ryan in Bowling Green, Ohio and we went to some kind of flea
market. I innocently picked up a handmade wooden smoother with a tote,
and it _exactly_ fit _my_ hand. Never mind that it had cracked, been
pegged, resoled, and cracked again, and was entirely unusable. It was
sculpture.
I joined MWTC, went to a few meetings, but I needed money so I relocated
to start a career, then went into remission for a couple decades.
Here I am, back on the slope, thanks to Andy Anderson's Santa Monica Old
Tools store and his gol darn quarterly get-together tailgating and now,
alas, auctions. Joe Huld, the fiend, answered my question about
subscribing to the oldtools list.
Between the list and auction previews, I no longer make anything.
Actually, I never made much. I did make a rowboat once. Took me seven
years, no kidding. Came out nice, though. It's sometimes used in
commercials (if you see an Audi Station Wagon ad, look very closely).
I am definitely a bottom-feeder newbie around you guys, but I aspire to
Galoot ideals, whatever they are.... Seriously, I am amazed at the
civilized way you all behave. Thanks, Joe.
Martin Gardner
Venice, CA
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