OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

67322 Jeff Youngstrom <jeffy@W...> 1999‑08‑31 BIO
Greetings, Gentle Galoots!

I've been lurking for a month or so and reading the Bio
archives, so I guess it's about time I submitted my own Bio
for your delectation and amusement.  It's absurdly long
(sorry digesters), but this is probably the most you'll hear
from me except for the occasional easy question, so as of
August 1999 I am Jeff Youngstrom.

In a nutshell: Yet Another Galoot Wannabe

I'm a 33-year-old, long-haired, bearded, overweight,
tie-dye wearing, bicycle commuting, night owl, hand
drumming, bread-baking, UNIX geek living in Issaquah,
Washington, USA.

Grew up in Sonora, CA (Sierra Nevada foothills.  Gold rush
country), went to college in Turlock, CA (Central valley,
flat with ground fog winters and 100+F summers), moved to
Sunnyvale, CA (Silicon valley), then settled in Issaquah.

For tool money, I write software for an ultrasound imaging
system made by Siemens right here in Issaquah.

I've been married for 10 years this September to a
wonderfully tolerant SWMBO, Becky..  With woodworking I get
eyerolls from her just like I do about all my other various
and sundry hobbies, but with woodworking, there's a crafty
gleam there that I think I can interpret as "you WILL make
me stuff if you keep on with this".  Yes, dear.  We have two
adorable cats.

We rent a damp little concrete block house at the end of a
dead-end alley right up against the flank of Tiger Mountain.
I have to lie on the floor at the back of the house to see
the top of the hill that rises from the back wall.  The hill
is covered in second or third growth alder and maple and
cedar and hemlock and fir, none of which have fallen on the
house (yet).  The house doesn't have a garage or basement,
and it's barely big enough to contain our thousands of
books, so my woodworking space is on the carport which
shouldn't be too bad for most of the year.  Oh, and there's
no power (except for the porch light) without running a cord
from inside.  Bench was given me by a friend, made by his
father.  (sounds good so far, hey?)  Hollow-core closet door
on a frame of 2x4s.  It's good to read in the Bios that I'm
not the only one trying to do stuff on a sub-optimal bench.

As a kid I was often rousted out of bed at the crack of dawn
(10am) to help my dad with one project or other.  Mostly, I
was the human extension table for the t*bl* s*w.  I learned
a lot from helping dad.

I took a woodworking class at the local junior college last
spring.  There were bench planes and saws on the wall, but
god forbid that anyone should actually use one of them.  It
was like Norm school.  I was all set to buy a t*bl* s*w, and
the folks on rec.norm had me thinking a r**t*r was the path
to woodworking nirvana.  Then I had to clean up a through
mortise gone wrong (and no wonder!  The h*ll*w ch*s*l
mortiser was down, so obviously the right way to cut the
mortises was with a c*rdl*ss dr*ll and a j*gs*w after taping
the two pieces to be morticed together so both could be cut
at the same time.  Sigh.  Thanks, teach.), and through some
miracle the "teacher" handed me the shop's set of bench
chisels made by Freud of all people, brand new in the box.
"These are *sharp*," he warned.  I spent half an hour paring
away at those sorry mortises with those ground, but not
sharpened chisels, and it was the most fun I had in that
whole class.  And I actually got them cleaned up enough that
that part of the project went together pretty well.  That
was the beginning of the end of my tendencies toward the
dark side.

Since then I put in a big order to Lee Valley and got a
bunch of new tools.  Blue Chips, gent's saw, sharpening
gear, marking gauge, mallet, scrapers, a ryoba, inline
vise.  I just about have the tools I need to finish my
project.  (step stool from Woodsmith #111).  I had bought a
block plane from my local hardware store (which is over 100
years old (the store, not the plane)) before I discovered
the porch or even thought about using hand tools.  I'm not
sure what I was thinking.  I guess it just looked cool.
Anyway, it's a Master Mechanic ;-}.  I haven't lapped the
sole, but I did put a decent edge on the blade and was able
to use it to trim the ends of the tenons I'd left proud on
my step stool.  What fun!

I cut my first dovetails on some old pine scrap.  They look
like sh*t, but not as bad as I expected.  Need to go find
myself some hardwood scraps.

When I first came on the list I really appreciated everyone
translating the numbers into descriptions for me.  Then I
figured out that I was not the numerically challenged Jeff
to whom you were addressing these parenthetical
clarifications.  Now I've got Patrick's Blood & Gore
conveniently bookmarked so I can survive without the hints.

I've started stopping at yard sales.  I've only seen one
bench plane ($25, #5C (Jack, Jeff), not Bailey), but I
don't trust my ability to recognize junk so I left it.  I
did buy a handle-less froe the other day.  It just looked
cool, and I've read enough Underhill to have half a clue
how to use it.  I think I may be in trouble.  MofA, expect
my email.

I love hanging out on the Porch.  I've never been anywhere
so pleasant in all my years on the net (since about 1986).
If you don't mind, I'll just sit on the floor over in this
corner here and lean back up against that post.  I'll try to
keep the huge sucking sound of me soaking up everything you
all have to teach me down to a minimum.  I've got a number
of questions, but I figure it as a public service to the
folks who are still trudging up the learning curve.  They're
bound to know the answers and so can feel like they're
getting somewhere ;-)

Peace,
jeffy



Recent Bios FAQ