Two months ago, I saw in Fine Woodworking Magazine a handmade plane
fabricated by Scott Grandstaff. It was a work of art. The caption to the
picture listed his residence as Happy Camp, California, so I looked up
his name in the local phone directory since I will be his neighbor
before long. Scott began educating me on the subject of old tools and
told me about this Internet community.

Name =AD Gary Curtis. Retired. Foreign correspondent =AD 24 years.
Mostly in Tokyo. Aviation technical writer =AD 12 years. Pilot training
on the DC-8 and
747. Worked for Flying Tigers, then FedEx. No, I don=B9t know where your
     package is! Lived in New York, Tokyo, Honolulu, Dominican Republic.
     Own a Charles Roberts steel road bicycle and covered 4000 miles
     last year. Steel is the best, in my opinion.

Tools. My father was a machinist and was proud that he fabricated
airplane props in our hometown, Milwaukee, during WW-II. Worked for a
company named
A.O. Smith. He taught me how to read a micrometer at age 7. Moved to
     California, where dad worked for Hughes Aircraft. In about 1953, he
     told me about seeing his boss, the richest man in America, as he
     walked through the hangars in a suit with white tennis shoes. (go
     see the Aviator, at a theatr= e near you.) The Spruce Goose was
     long gone at that point, but dad machined parts of the Surveyor
     Spacecraft which made a landing (soft/hard?) on the Moon. Or did it
     merely orbit?

I want to work in wood, and have no training or experience. Nor tools. I
worked metal. Have a full top and bottom box of Snap On equipment.
Restore= d 8 old cars, mostly late =8C30s Buicks and a 47 Lincoln
Continental. In particular, I love doing the metal work. While lacquer
was an option, I would classify myself as a B+ quality painter. An old
Mercedes I sprayed wa= s parked on a Beverly Hills street and it drew a
small crowd of admirers. I used an old Cadillac color with metallic,
Burn Sienna, and though unconventional on a Mercedes, it had a certain
magic to it.

Now, to wood. My friend who owns a high end cabinet shop in Santa
Monica, accepted my proposal to accept me as an apprentice (for no pay)
in his 3-ma= n business. This spring, My wife and I are building a
1700=B9 home in Trinity County, and I will construct an 800 ft/sq shop.
I=B9ll build the cabinets and the shelving in our library. If I do well,
I might sell cabinets to others. Bear in mind there are not many
=8Cothers=B9 in Trinity. Area =AD 2 million acres (100 miles x 50
miles), populaton 13,600. Somebody must need cabinets.

To kick the fossil fuel habit, I am installing a Geothermal Heat Pump
for heating & cooling. I=B9ve installed 2 Hydronic radiant systems in
homes in Lo= s Angeles and saw a 40% fuel savings, besides the wonderful
qualities of radiant. The geothermal uses 25% of the energy of
conventional systems. Geothermal is the rage in Europe, where fuel oil
sells at $6 per gallon.

I just acquired my first three tools. A #6 Stanley jackplane from an old
galoot. And a Bridgeport Vertical Mill and un-named clunky drill press
from the =8C50s. I wanted the mill because of possible machining work on
a small plane.

So I want to work with wood, and ended up with my first tools being
machining. At least I found the supply channels, just need to tailor
my purchases. Got the mill and drill from a defunct aviation
mechanic school.

Now I need to fill a shop with wood tools. The power tools scare the
poop out of me, and I have begun taking notice of the missing fingers on
woodworkers I meet. But, doing cabinet work, I know I am going to need a
table saw and jointer. Neanderthal lifestyle might be a luxury for me.

I=B9ve read your emails here for 3 weeks and expect to find the array of
tool= s I need for sale here. And I hope to get many lessons, online.
Oh, my dad=B9s last job at Hughes was manager of the tool crib. He left
me his wooden machinist=B9s tool chest full of micrometers, etc. And,
about 5 tool boxes full of things like countersinks, end mills,
broaches, star cutters .... An= d little shiny gadgets I can=B9t
identify. But, I treasure them all.

Gary Curtis Los Angeles

______________________________________________________________

Welcome to Oldtools Gary. I retired from Flying Tigers when FedEx took over 
FTL. My retirement income is from
FedEx  ;^ )

Dan
I Use'm, but Don't Abuse'm
West Covina, CA

______________________________________________________________

 Hey Welcome Aboard Gary
 Bout time you plopped down in a rocker and put your feet up in the 
shade of the porch
  This is the place 8^D
 yours, Scott

********** Scott Grandstaff, Box 409, Happy Camp, CA 96039 ********* 
Tools:http://users.snowcrest.net/kitty/scott/scotts/tools/tools.html 
PageWorks:http://www.snowcrest.net/kitty/hpages/

______________________________________________________________

 =0D
Whoa Gary, Whoa, you're making me dizzy.=0D
And you are only 24 you say (Grin)=0D
=0D
Nice to meet you cyberspace wise.=0D
 =0D
Peter in Perth =0D
 =0D
-------Original Message-------=0D
 =0D
From: Gary Curtis=0D
Date: Saturday, 22 January 2005 05:24:26=0D
To: oldtools=0D
Subject: [oldtools] Bio of New Galoot in Training=0D
 =0D
Two months ago, I saw in Fine Woodworking Magazine a handmade plane=0D
fabricated by Scott Grandstaff. It was a work of art. The caption to the=0D
picture listed his residence as Happy Camp, California, so I looked up hi=
s=0D
name in the local phone directory since I will be his neighbor before lon=
g.=0D
Scott began educating me on the subject of old tools and told me about th=
is=0D
Internet community.=0D
 =0D
Name =AD Gary Curtis. Retired. Foreign correspondent =AD 24 years. Mostly=
 in=0D
Tokyo. Aviation technical writer =AD 12 years. Pilot training on the DC-8=
 and=0D
747. Worked for Flying Tigers, then FedEx. No, I don=B9t know where your=0D
package is! Lived in New York, Tokyo, Honolulu, Dominican Republic. Own a=
=0D
Charles Roberts steel road bicycle and covered 4000 miles last year. Stee=
l=0D
is the best, in my opinion.=0D
 =0D
Tools. My father was a machinist and was proud that he fabricated airplan=
e=0D
props in our hometown, Milwaukee, during WW-II. Worked for a company name=
d=0D
A.O. Smith. He taught me how to read a micrometer at age 7. Moved to=0D
California, where dad worked for Hughes Aircraft. In about 1953, he told =
me=0D
about seeing his boss, the richest man in America, as he walked through t=
he=0D
hangars in a suit with white tennis shoes. (go see the Aviator, at a thea=
tre=0D
near you.) The Spruce Goose was long gone at that point, but dad machined=
=0D
parts of the Surveyor Spacecraft which made a landing (soft/hard?) on the=
=0D
Moon. Or did it merely orbit?=0D
 =0D
I want to work in wood, and have no training or experience. Nor tools. I=0D
worked metal. Have a full top and bottom box of Snap On equipment. Restor=
ed=0D
8 old cars, mostly late =8C30s Buicks and a 47 Lincoln Continental. In=0D
particular, I love doing the metal work. While lacquer was an option, I=0D
would classify myself as a B+ quality painter. An old Mercedes I sprayed =
was=0D
parked on a Beverly Hills street and it drew a small crowd of admirers. I=
=0D
used an old Cadillac color with metallic, Burn Sienna, and though=0D
unconventional on a Mercedes, it had a certain magic to it.=0D
 =0D
Now, to wood. My friend who owns a high end cabinet shop in Santa Monica,=
=0D
accepted my proposal to accept me as an apprentice (for no pay) in his 3-=
man=0D
business. This spring, My wife and I are building a 1700=B9 home in Trini=
ty=0D
County, and I will construct an 800 ft/sq shop. I=B9ll build the cabinets=
 and=0D
the shelving in our library. If I do well, I might sell cabinets to other=
s.=0D
Bear in mind there are not many =8Cothers=B9 in Trinity. Area =AD 2 milli=
on acres=0D
(100 miles x 50 miles), populaton 13,600. Somebody must need cabinets.=0D
 =0D
To kick the fossil fuel habit, I am installing a Geothermal Heat Pump for=
=0D
heating & cooling. I=B9ve installed 2 Hydronic radiant systems in homes i=
n Los=0D
Angeles and saw a 40% fuel savings, besides the wonderful qualities of=0D
radiant. The geothermal uses 25% of the energy of conventional systems.=0D
Geothermal is the rage in Europe, where fuel oil sells at $6 per gallon.=0D
 =0D
I just acquired my first three tools. A #6 Stanley jackplane from an old=0D
galoot. And a Bridgeport Vertical Mill and un-named clunky drill press fr=
om=0D
the =8C50s. I wanted the mill because of possible machining work on a sma=
ll=0D
plane.=0D
 =0D
So I want to work with wood, and ended up with my first tools being=0D
machining. At least I found the supply channels, just need to tailor my=0D
purchases. Got the mill and drill from a defunct aviation mechanic school=
=2E=0D
 =0D
Now I need to fill a shop with wood tools. The power tools scare the poop=
=0D
out of me, and I have begun taking notice of the missing fingers on=0D
woodworkers I meet. But, doing cabinet work, I know I am going to need a=0D
table saw and jointer. Neanderthal lifestyle might be a luxury for me.=0D
 =0D
I=B9ve read your emails here for 3 weeks and expect to find the array of =
tools=0D
I need for sale here. And I hope to get many lessons, online. Oh, my dad=B9=
s=0D
last job at Hughes was manager of the tool crib. He left me his wooden=0D
machinist=B9s tool chest full of micrometers, etc. And, about 5 tool boxe=
s=0D
full of things like countersinks, end mills, broaches, star cutters .... =
And=0D
little shiny gadgets I can=B9t identify. But, I treasure them all.=0D
 =0D
Gary Curtis=0D
Los Angeles=0D
 =0D
 =0D
 =0D
______________________________________________________________=0D