Here's my bio, hopefully it will give you some idea of who I think I am and
how I got into "hand tools". As for the basics, I'm married with 3 kids and a
fourth on the way next month, and age-wise seem to be on a par with O'Deen,
although I forget how old that is :^) Personality-wise, I tend to think of
myself as shy and reserved, although all that sorta goes out the window once I
feel that I know someone. I also seem to have a rather unfortunate ability to
see humor in the most impossible situations. This may at times come across as me
being somewhat insensitive, I suppose, but I'm equally likely to laugh at myself
as others, for the bone-headed things I always seem to be doing.
I'm relatively new to woodworking with hand tools; most of my the
"woodworking" that I did prior to the last couple of years was home building /
renovation. I still do a lot of that, but have found a way to incorporate my
hand tool "skills" into that. In a way, it's amazing I gave hand tools a second
try after my first failed attempt in childhood. Growing up in England, part of
my "education" was woodworking class, where we were confronted with blunt
chisels, poorly set hand saws, and T-5 jack planes with missing side handles.
Seeing how we treated some of the stuff, I don't suppose it could have been any
other way. The instructor, who bore a striking resemblance to old Adolf, was a
harsh disciplinarian who seemed to delight in demonstrating his caning ability
to the class. Seeing how difficult it was to use the tools provided to work
wood, it was only natural we turned to other media, such as potatoes and
modeling clay, from which we were able to construct some remarkably lifelike
effigies of the 'tyrant'. Naturally, he took a rather dim view of this, with the
result that I saw rather more contact with the tip of a cane across my rear than
with any particular woodworking project during my tenure there. The mold was set
- woodworking with hand tools was *not* fun.
15 odd years later, with home ownership, I again discovered
woodworking, this time with power tools. Hey, this was fun..... one problem
though....... I *always* seemed to need some other tool or gizmo to complete a
project. I also had this misguided notion that I could *buy* accuracy and
neatness by better tools and gadgets. Also, the initial investment to get into
woodworking in a serious way; things like jointers and planers, seemed outta
reach. It finally reached a head one day as I was installing a forced air
furnace which necessitated cutting through a joist to route the ductwork. I had
the floor and ceiling below neatly cut away, but couldn't see *any* way to get a
power tool in there to that do the job. Sure, I could make the hole bigger to
give clearance for a circular saw, but I didn't want to do that. I wanted it to
look as neat and tidy as possible. I mulled over this for a day or two while I
considered what "power tool" might be designed to get into a tight space like
this and whether I could afford it. When it suddenly occurred to me that a hand
saw would do exactly what I needed, I was rather embarrassed by my
shortsightedness. Gritting my teeth, remembering experiences from childhood, I
set to work and was amazed at the speed and ease of the work. This from a
Craftsman saw, too.
Well, that was the beginning, and before long I'd acquired an old Stanley
#7, and read enough to learn to sharpen it. Soon I picked up another plane, and
another, and another and another, and before I knew it I had a whole damn
cabinet full o'them. Planing was fun, and none of that annoying dust either.
I have my wife to thank for introducing me to life in the city, and along
with this came renovation - and dust, dust, dust. It's not like I need any more
*wood* dust along with all the plaster dust and soot. With our latest house, an
1890's Queen Anne / Romanesque style *home* in downtown St. Louis, in which
we're up to our necks restoring, I found I had a pretty reasonable justification
for additional tool acquisitions. At least my wife thinks so anyway. It's pretty
intact, but there's enough little projects requiring odd pieces of molding made
to match the original that I should be pretty adept at handling a combination
plane by the time we're done. And with 7500 sq. ft to work with, it's unlikely
I'll finish in this lifetime :^) So far, I've been fairly amazed at the stuff I
can do that I can't see any way to with a routah. My main problem seems to be
time.... with the kids, and other interests such as gardening and
runnning/cycling,...... work on the house progresses by crisis management rather
than by some ordered plan. Maybe one day I might have time to sit down a and
make a piece of furniture, until then it's going to be little dribs and drabs of
stuff that need doing on the house.
So, in summary, I'm a relative newcomer to the woodworking scene, but
one who's found hand tools to give much more enjoyment and satisfaction than
power tools, but who remembers they're still there for that odd job that needs
to be done in a hurry. I'm also impressed by the versatility hand tools give -
basically if one has the patience and inclination, there's not many things that
can't be made by made, whereas with power tools I don't think one enjoys that
versatility. I also enjoy hand tools for the thoughts they conjure up; While
handling them I often find myself thinking of the craftsmen that might have used
these tools in the past and what they may have made with them. Well, enough of
this bleary eyed stuff......
Mike
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