OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

12052 Patrick White <patbob@s...> 1997‑01‑16 Time to delurk for my bio
Ok.. time to delurk for my bio..

	I'm not exactly a Normite convert, but I'm already tending that way and
I'm getting more that way with each passing month.  I've found that over the
years I'm sort of a tool acquirer -- I get tools for specific jobs when I'm
ready to do that job.  I've still ended up with a sort of collection, but at
least I can more easily justifiy it to myself and SWMBO :-)
	Since my daughter's birth, I've gotten a lot more interested in
handtools -- her bedroom is directly over my basement shop and I'd rather spend
time with her than in the shop (where she won't willingly go) when we're both
home and awake.  Ergo, I don't make it down to the shop till after she's
asleep, a time when using power tools isn't allowed.  However, I can get away
with using some of the quieter handtools (planes, chisels, etc.), so I'm
starting to get a lot more interested in them.  My hopes for my daughter are
that she'll be less imtimidated by the noise of the hand tools and therefore
more interested in learning how to use them.
	Given the choice of low quality new vintage tools or higher quality
older tools, I've decided that there's some value in acquiring, caring for and
using the older tools.  Since I'm completely clueless about everything
oldtools, I've joined this list to try to learn something before I go out and
waste lots of money.
	So, that's what's behind my interest in old tools, but what to do with
the wood :-).  So far, I'm still just learning how to work wood (hate to admit
it, but it's true).  Aside from some framing carpentry, which doesn't count,
and my high school wood shop experience, which I didn't learn much, I'm still
learning how to do the simple things, like joints, glueing panels, etc.  The
only project I can claim to have actually completed to date is making about
eight storms windows for the house (need some nifty ideas for wooden storm
windows, just ask).  I've learned a lot just from that, but it's still a far
cry from cabinetry and furniture making (where I'd eventually like to take my
skills).

	My immediate goals for joining this list are to learn enough about
older hand tools to not waste lots of money trying to acquire a few good
condition users (so far, doing well there), to learn more about using those
tools (ditto here) and to learn more about working wood into other than
sawdust and chips (getting there).

	And on to the non-wood related background.  Mostly computer (my job
and education) with a fairly strong education in science in general and
chemistry in particular.

-- 
later,
Pat White (work: patbob@s..., (503) 578-3463, fax: (503) 578-5797)
Aloha, Oregon: USDA zone 8, Sunset zone 6 (or so they say) 



Recent Bios FAQ