OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

19928 Gary Paine <gppaine@t...> 1997‑06‑09 BIO
A lurker for some time now, it's time I stepped up and introduced myself.   My n
ame is Gary Paine.   I live in Davison, Michigan with SWAMBO   Susan.   We thoug
ht we were empty nesters having passed the half century mark, but seem to see mo
re of the grandkids than I did of the children (3 daughters).

I've been around and working with tools for as long as I can remember.   I start
ed with the hand tools because they were all I had to work with, but admired Gra
ndpa working on his "tailed apprentices".   As the years passed, I was able to g
radually acquire a complete shop full of noisy machinery, and my skills and proj
ects improved a great deal.   It really wasn't until Grandpa was unable to use h
is shop equipment and "sold" me (for a song) his tools that I learned to really 
appreciate fine hand tools.   It sort of whetted my appetite for more.   As my a
quisitions of more and more tools, especially specialized planes, grew, I reache
d a point where I too had to insist there was a useful purpose for the new piece
, I will use it, and I "ain't no stinkin collector".   Alas, that was some years
 ago, and many aquisitions lately are too valuable to actually work with and dec
orate my den instead of my shop.   I buy and read about everything I can find on
 tools, their use, history, and value.   And, yes, I belong to MWTCA.

Nonetheless, I love to use the old tools and feel they have a strong place in my
 woodworking daily.   A scrub plane and a couple swipes with a jack make short w
ork of flattening a twist or bow before feeding a roughsawn board to the thickne
ss planer.   A jointer plane is the only way to go on a 14 footer to prepare the
 edge.   I do not rip or presurface boards by hand.   I do not sand much anymore
, though, because I'm doing most of my work with hardwood and have learned the f
inesse of smoothing and scraper planes. Besides, there is something very satisfy
ing about turning off the screaming machines and doing joinery and final fitting
 and surfacing by hand, but now I'm preaching to the choir.



Recent Bios FAQ