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Recent Bios FAQ

86925 "Jeff Schmidt" jjbhs@v... 2000‑11‑30 Bio - Jeff Schmidt
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Greetings Galoots,

I hail from the Commonwealth of Kentucky near the confluence of the=20
Ohio and Mississippi rivers. I am husband to Beth and father to Sarah=20
(9), Peter (7), Nathan (5), and John (2). By day I  practice=20
mechanical design engineering in the turbomachinery industry.

I have been interested in woodworking since I was a teenager,=20
however, I did not get serious until a colleague introduced me to=20
vintage iron of the tailed variety, in addition to his fine period=20
reproduction furniture. This propelled me to restore a shopful of=20
p*w*r tools. However, over the years I found the noise and dust to be=20
increasingly irksome and I had this sense that something was missing.

Although I have religiously watched _The Woodwright's Shop _
since its inception, I  never pursued hand work until several years=20
ago when Mr. Krenov's expositions struck a chord. At the time,
other latent Luddite tendencies were working together to push me over=20
the edge. Since then, I have feebly attempted to learn more skills=20
and perform more tasks by hand to my utter joy and I am  slowly=20
adding hand tools as resources permit. I have found Charles
Hayward's and Graham Blackburn's writings quite helpful in
learning basic skills but I still have much to learn.  I have=20
particularly benefited from those on this list who have shared their=20
insights on various techniques as well as the history behind the=20
sundry tools and trades.

I must say that I have been quite impressed by this electronic=20
assemblage. It is truly uncommon to find such a wealth of knowledge,=20
experience, civility, and humor. I continue to ponder the irony =
presented
by the contrast between the focus of this group and the medium through
which it flourishes.=20


Jeff Schmidt




Recent Bios FAQ