I stepped off the porch some months ago when my wife was diagnosed with a
significant illness. Things have now calmed down somewhat & we've gotten
into a treatment routine so thought I would check back in.
I was reading my bio, posted in Aug. 1997. Has it really been that
long? It's thin on substance. My name is David Brown, I'm 59 years. old
& have lived my entire life in So.Cal the last 46 years in Huntington
Beach. Right after high school I joined the Carpenters & Joinners Union,
Local 1453. Started out picking up nails on the job site & ended up
running my own framing crew.
As the tract work moved east I decided to take a shot at finish work. I
was between wives & decided to take a pay cut to work in the boat
yards. They didn't feel a nail pounder could make the transition but guess
they were desperate so gave me a shot at it. I took to the work & was soon
doing teak decks, hatches & companionways on the Westsail 43'. It was a
beautiful sail boat but was jokingly referred to as the wet snail in the
Ensenada race. As I remember it had a 10,000 lb. keel, built for comfort
not speed. I learned a lot there but that job really didn't pay enough so
my next endeavor was working in a cabinet shop.
After a year of working there I decided to open up my own shop. Why
not? I already know everything right? The first year was a very
humbling experience. I underbid & lost money. I overbid & lost jobs. And
most of the time I wasn't in the shop anyway because the calls I was
getting were for patio covers, decks & even the occasional fence job. My
wife was my only employee in the early days & to say she wasn't thrilled
with her boss much of the time would be a gross understatement. In the
years that followed I learned what I should have known before I started & I
had a successful business that lasted 28 years. I sold the shop in 2000 &
bought a small tract house here in town , which in all likelihood I
probably framed in 1968 & began renovations. Given the state of the
economy I have a feeling my early retirement is about to abruptly end.
I collected old tools from the mid 70s up through the 80s. I was
constantly refining my collection until at one point I decided that most of
the stuff was too valuable to use. Kind of took the fun out of it so I
sold it off. I vowed never to be a collector again, only a user, & I've
pretty much stuck to that. I had a little problem with chisels & turning
tools but I've now even pared those down to only what I've convinced myself
I need. Over the years I've split my time between OT & OWWM & have enjoyed
my time on both lists.
I still enjoy woodworking & do quite a bit of it although my eyesight is
not what it used to be. But I've also added other interests. I've had
about a year of instruction in blacksmithing at a local museum & am really
having fun with that. I have most of what I need to set up a small smithy
at home to get more forge time. I'm also interested in the hand forming of
sheet metal however to date I've only managed to turn perfectly good sheet
stock into unrecognizable crap. But it's fun & eventually I'll get the
hang of it.
Below is a photo of a recent swap meet find that I thought some might find
interesting. It's a corner brace with owner modification I believe. I
think the metal on the handle was cut down (which btw, probably had the
maker's name on it) to allow this to be used in even tighter places than
originally designed. Really a clean mod. A beautiful piece of rosewood,
nice nickel & smooth operating. I didn't need it but just couldn't leave
it sitting there on the ground for 2 bucks. I'm thinking maybe a
Goddell-Pratt?
http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/cliffs/5074/brace.jpg
David Brown
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