OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

141282 "Mike Guenther" <milegu1@y...> 2005‑01‑30 Bio Update plus original (Long)
Well fellow Galoots,

   It would be hard to top my previous bio, so I'll let it stand other
   than to gloat about my new grandson. WooHoo, someone to teach the
   nuances of rust hunting and how to gloat with panache, someone to
   teach the finer points of working wood and which is better tails
   first or pins first.

 Sure I've bought more tools to fill out my collection and can never
 pass up a flea market or yardsale without my nose twitching and my
 hands trembling on the steering wheel. But way I figure it is you can't
 have too many tools. I've even got my lovely wife kind of interested in
 old tools, but her interest is more on the "how much can I make selling
 it on the "bay"." Sometimes I'll take the purchase from the auction or
 whatever and hide it in my shop. If I'm successful, about 60% of the
 time, I get to keep it.(grin) It's the "Honey...whatever happened to
 that "thingamabob" we bought at the auction a few months ago. I kind of
 cring and try to play dumb. That works about 50% of the time, so I
 figure I get to keep about 25% of the tools we find. I figure that's
 pretty good odds and the wife's happy, I'm happy, Everybody's happy.

Anyway, here's the original bio I posted a couple of years ago
plus update;

GIT Mike Guenther's Bio;

  Hi Folks. My real name is David, but my friends call me Mike. I've
  been in the construction business for over 20 years, mostly custom
  home building. I've had an interest in woodworking since I was a kid
  helping my dad in his garage workshop. We lived in a nice suburb in
  San Diego, CA. My dad's shop had a 16' work bench with a 60's model
  Craftsman radial arm saw on one end and the same year Lathe on the
  other end of the bench. He had even fashioned a drop-in routah for
  shaping operations. My dad was an auto mechanic and had all the hand
  tools he could handle at work. I guess for my dad, the tools were a
  means to an end. He knew he could build just about anything he wanted,
  but he wanted to do it in the quickest and easiest way possible. I on
  the other hand, use power tools at work. So when I want to work in my
  shop, hand tools are the order of business for most things. I have a
  modest collection...err...tool chest full of hand tools. The way I got
  them is the story.

   A couple of years ago, I had a pretty good start on a tool
   collection. Then we sold our house and moved into a furnished rental
   for a while. About 90% of everything we owned was in a storage
   building, including most of my tools, except for the ones I used at
   work and my power tools. A year and a half ago, there was a fire and
   everything was lost. I found some bent spring steel that used to be
   hand saws and parts of a couple of hand planes. I think one of the
   volunteer firemen was a tool collector because the only plane parts I
   couldn't find were from my Type 7 $% and my 78 from the late 1800's.
   Swmbo knew how much I missed the tools, so when we saw an ad in the
   local paper for a yard sale with tools, she said let's go. I, being
   the obediant husband, went along for the ride. When we got to the
   yard sale, there was the usual collection of old paperbacks, clothes
   and golfclubs looking for a new home. I was starting to think it was
   a waste of time, when I spotted two ancient looking tool chests
   behind the table. I tried to open them, but they were locked. First,
   I asked if she had the key. She thought she had them, but wasn't
   sure, and she wouldn't let me try to pick the locks. Then, while her
   husband was searching for the keys, I asked her how much. I thought
   her price was a little high and tried to dicker with her. Still no
   keys. A couple of other guys are standing there now, wanting to look
   over the plunder. I stood firmly with my legs astraddle the tool
   chests and got out my checkbook, still waiting for the keys to show
   up. Swmbo told me to write the check and hurry before these other
   vultures had a chance to look at the treasure. I finished writing the
   check and about the time I handed the woman her check, her husband
   comes out with the keys. I was fairly salivating as my trembling hand
   put the first key into the lock and opened the biggest chest. I don't
   think there is enough bandwidth to describe all the stuff I found in
   that first chest. Along with a type 2 Stanley 45 and an early Stanley
   71 routerplane, there was several L&J White gouges, an early type
   No.6 and No.7 Stanley bench plane, plus a bunch of L.S.S. dividers
   and calipers of different sizes. There was also a bunch of the misc.
   junk that seems to accumulate in the trays of a person's tool box.
   After pulling out the six trays and giving it a cursory examination,
   I opened the smaller chest. In it, I found three small JS Addis sweep
   gouges in fine condition with original handles. There was a Stanley
   Transitional plane in OK shape, a couple of Disston and Son's saws,
   and three spoke shaves, all wood except for the brass mouth inserts.
   There was a complete L.S.S. 24" No.4 ruler with all the attachments.
   There were also a couple of Stanley shrinkage rulers in the mix,
   along with some more misc. junk. There were taps and files, Shaper
   bits and drill bits, stuff I had no earthly idea about. Since most of
   my earlier tools had been bought on ebay, and Swmbo sold stuff on
   ebay,( Can y'all see where this is going?), I had to make some hard
   decisions about what I wanted to keep and what she could sell. I
   found a good home for the L&J White gouges. They went to a boat
   builder out in Oregon. I don't have a proclivity for carving so
   thought another woodworker could put them to use better than I.
   Anyway, to make a long story short, I kept some of the booty, and let
   Swmbo sell the rest. I guess it took her four months to sell
   everything I couldn't manage to hide in my shop. I don't know what
   value you'd put on the tools I kept, maybe 5 or 6 hundred bucks, and
   the lovely wife made about 1500 bucks on the rest. I sold the larger
   chest, it was too big for me, and kept the smaller chest. They are
   both Craftsman-made with the hidden dovetail joinery. The one I sold
   looked to be made of Mahogany, and the one I kept is hard to tell
   with the paint on it. I'm thinking about refinishing it, since I'm
   keeping it. If I'm lucky, it's made of Chestnut.

    Oh yeah...I forgot to name the price I paid...$500.00 for both
    chests. I think I did pretty good.

   As stated in an earlier post, I try to use hand tools whenever
   possible at work. The tool I use most besides my low angle block
   plane, is my hinge morticing plane. I have to hang a lot of doors and
   install a lot of locks and I can do it faster, and better than I can
   with a tailed router. Next would be my tool handle and push drill.

   Hope y'all enjoyed my bio and story. I don't live in S. Cal anymore.
   We live in Lake and Mountain country in the upstate of S. Carolina.

Mike G. Mild mannered Carpenter by day, Knuckle draggin' Galoot by night
______________________________________________________________


Recent Bios FAQ